Boston-area residents questioned whether extending the game floor alcohol service to 4 a.m. could lead to an increase in drunken driving and other incidents near the Everett casino.
“The risk of people getting behind the wheel drunk or even mildly ‘drunk’ will increase, as they will have had a longer time to imbibe,” wrote Laura Poulin of Charlestown, one of several people expressing concerns during the public comment period.
The commission also received comments from locals supporting the move, including Everett Mayor Carlo Demaria and Malden Mayor Gary Christenson. Another supporter, David Iondono, called Boston’s nightlife “one of the most dull ones in the country.”
Wynn Resorts officials tried to assuage residents’ concerns on Wednesday, explaining how staffers would identify potentially drunk patrons and intervene.
It seems to have worked. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission unanimously approved the liquor license for the $2.6 billion casino and all but one commissioner approved the extension til 4 a.m.
Encore Boston Harbor faces several more restrictions in its alcohol service than casinos in other parts of the country, which allow 24-hour alcohol service. Commissioners said the casino poses different public safety challenges because mass transit doesn’t operate around the clock and the building sits along a waterfront near Boston (though some commenters argue that works to the casino’s advantage).
Here’s what to know about Encore Boston Harbor’s alcohol service and where it stands.
1. Encore Boston Harbor can serve drinks until 4 a.m.
The entire Everett casino is cleared to serve alcohol until 2 a.m., though not all eligible restaurants will be open until then, said Jacqui Krum, senior vice president and general counsel for the company. The company also was approved to serve complimentary drinks to people actively gaming on the casino floor.
The waiters will announce last call at 3:30 a.m. and let people order their last drinks. After 4 a.m, the servers will clean up and start rolling out coffee carts. Patrons will be encouraged to continue gaming and consuming non-alcoholic drinks.
The same rules apply to private gaming rooms.
2. Patrons must be ‘actively gaming’ to get drinks after 2 a.m.
That doesn’t mean standing by the slot machines. Patrons must be playing at a table, working the slot machines or otherwise “actively gaming,” Krum said.
Staffers are being trained to check on patrons to make sure they’re actively gaming before serving them alcohol, said Warren Richards, the executive director of food and beverage at Encore Boston Harbor. Staffers may see someone gaming, let them know they will be back to take the order and return after several minutes to get them a drink.
“It is not the case of turning the corner, then see someone in a gaming position and then assuming they’ve actively been gaming,” he said on Wednesday. “We are looking to establish through visual and also making repeated visits to the same area.”
Massachusetts gaming officials said that some people tried to snag free drinks at MGM Springfield when the casino started offering complimentary alcoholic beverages on the floor until 4 a.m., but that crowd dropped off once people realized they had to be actively gaming.
“I think it’s messaging on the front end and I think they’ll get the message similar to at MGM that you need to be actively gaming which may curtail some of the — some of that people coming here just for that late-night destination and that oasis for that last call type of thing,” said Massachusetts State Police Detective Lt. Brian Connors, who is part of the commission’s Investigations and Enforcement Bureau.
3. The drinks aren’t unlimited, either.
The pours are small enough and the number of drinks a patron is expected to be served per hour is limited enough to prevent someone from drinking too much, too fast while on the casino floor, Richards said.
The staffers will be trained to check on multiple guests across the gaming floor and ideally serve guests a maximum of three alcoholic drinks an hour.
“It is a service," he said. “We want them to receive a beverage, but we’re looking to pace it to three drinks an hour,” he said.
A standard pour will be under 1 ounce of liquor for those beverages, lower than the typical 1.25-ounce or 1.5-ounce pours at other gaming establishments around the country.
Bottle service will be available for private service and at the restaurants, as well as at the salon and spa. Only a supervisor will be allowed to handle the alcohol at the salon and spa.
4. Servers, bartenders and security guards are trained to detect drunk patrons.
Richards said the Training for Intervention Procedures, also known as TIPS, is the basis of the company’s training to detect and prevent public intoxication. Servers, bartenders and security guards are trained to analyze customers’ body language and speech to determine whether they should keep drinking. Servers are encouraged to ask a supervisor or a security official for a second opinion.
Often, these are split-second decisions staff members are making and need to feel confident about a customer’s sobriety level, Richards says. One tactic that servers use to gauge that is to offer a customer who has had a few drinks a non-alcoholic beverage.
“Typically, we know if there’s an aggressive reaction, maybe we did make the right call,” Richards said. “If it’s someone that is being very reasonable with us, they’ll typically accept a cup of coffee or something different and that allows us to confirm whether or not they ... should have received service in the first place.”
Offering alternatives in such a situation is a common strategy to prevent someone from drinking too much in the premises, said Trevor Estelle, vice president of Health Communications Inc.
The company’s leaders developed the TIPS program three decades ago and has certified 5.5 million people globally, Estelle said.
The TIPS training typically includes a day-long class and pass a certification exam. The training covers behavioral cues, factors affecting the intoxication rates, regulations and theoretical scenarios.
Encore Boston Harbor is seen in Everett, Massachusetts, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. MGM Resorts International says it will no longer pursue buying Encore Boston Harbor from Wynn Resorts.AP
5. Encore Boston Harbor staffers will send patrons home if they’re publicly intoxicated.
Wynn Resorts officials said that a possibly intoxicated patron trying to leave would get stopped by a server, an employee at the front or one of the security guards on bicycles monitoring the entrance.
Patrons are encouraged to take mass transit and avoid driving anyway because of the anticipated impact on Everett’s traffic.
But what happens if a patron is drunk and trying to leave after the buses and T shut down? Encore Boston Harbor President Robert DeSalvio said he has no problem with employees sending a customer home, whether it’s in an Uber, a Lyft, a bus or a car service.
“I want to make sure our staff 100% knows that if they have any question about a customer and their ability to operate a motor vehicle, they have the full authority to provide them a ride home,” he told commissioners on Wednesday.
Commissioner Enrique Zuniga later asked whether the rides would be provided on a complimentary basis or simply offered as an alternative? Krum said the rides would be complimentary.
Another alternative company officials mentioned was shepherding patrons to the late-night restaurants and 24-hour cafes to eat some food and sober up before leaving the casino.
“You’re taking that guest and tempting them with food and hoping that, you know, they move into one of those venues late,” Richards said. The casino will have Dunkin’ and a store called Brew.