If you live in New York and you think you need to travel to Atlantic City or Connecticut for casino gambling, you’d be wrong. New York has begun to allow casinos and one of the first is the Mighty M Gaming Casino in Monticello, New York. The casino is part of the larger (and semi-famous) Monticello racetrack, which offers live harness racing for those of you who don’t enjoy the slots.

Some things are probably a little different than you’d expect at a casino. For starters, there are only slot machines and all are the newer ‘video’ type machines. You won’t find the older mechanized ones (with the spinning wheels). In addition to only have slot machines, none of the machines dispense cash. All of the slot machines are of the cashless type, where when you cash out you get a ticket that can either be put into another machine – or taken to the main cage where you can get the cash for it.

However if you can live with that and you are looking for a well maintained, clean, and nicely put together casino – then you shouldn’t be disappointed with the Mighty M Gaming Casino.

Monticello, where’s that?

Okay, I’ll admit it – I grew up in the mid-Hudson Valley in New York and in the northeastern Catskill Mountains and beyond knowing that there was a Monticello in New York, when I heard a casino was going in I was like “where the heck is that!” People would tell me that it was in the Catskills and it wasn’t in the mountains that I knew of.

Turns out that Monticello is in Sullivan County on the western side of the Hudson River, just off of Route 17 and it is in the Catskills, just not the part that I was familiar with. It’s in the part of the Catskills where there were many resorts back in the 50’s (think of that resort in the movie Dirty Dancing). So beyond Monticello proper, and a few smaller towns – there isn’t that much nearby beyond hills and woods.

The casino is about an hour from my parents’ place – which is near Poughkeepsie, about 2 hours from New York City, and about 2 hours from Albany. Route 17 is a fairly well developed road (it is becoming an interstate in the future) and the drive is quite easy – from either the north of the south. The Mighty M Gaming Casino is located off of Exit 104 and is about a ½ mile off the highway – the way is clearly marked and no one should have trouble finding the place once they are off the highway.

There are a few restaurants and gas stations in Monticello and the surrounding towns, along with some hotels and a few larger vacation resorts to the north on Route 17 if you’re looking to make this part of a larger trip or you want to eat somewhere outside of the casino.

Getting in

Never having been to the Monticello area before – I wasn’t sure what to expect when my Mom, my Brother and I came off the highway and entered the racetrack/casino parking lots.

The signage for parking is fairly clear – with both self-parking available and some limited valet parking. There is also a specific, smaller lot for handicapped parking. While it’s not difficult to figure out where to park, my Mother and I both did have to yell at my Brother to get into the right lane to get to the self-parking, so be careful.

All of the parking is fairly close to the main entrance for the Mighty M Gaming Casino and the racetrack.

Like all casinos the Mighty M Gaming Casino doesn’t allow children onto the gaming floor. Anyone in the casino must be at least 18 years old to enter and to play the slot machines. I wouldn’t suggest bringing children, as there is very little space where they could be and there is nothing to keep them occupied.

What’s there?

Upon entering the building you’re in a small lobby that is located at the head of the casino and is next to the bus lobby and the buffet entrance. There’s also a small gift shop in the lobby.

From the lobby – you can either head into the casino, or into the bus lobby and the buffet entrance. If you head into the casino – younger looking people will need to show ID and once you’re in – you’re located at the base of a large rectangular shaped casino.

The casino is nowhere near the size of the larger casinos in Connecticut and Atlantic City. It’s basically one large room with the slots set up throughout the room is a somewhat orderly pattern (basically smaller and smaller concentric rectangles). There are about 1800 slots and while it doesn’t feel crowded on the gaming floor – the machines are packed in and there will be times that you might feel crowded in.

The slot machines in the casino run the spread of what you’d find in most other casinos, from games like “Leprechaun Gold,” to “Instant Winner,” and just about anything else in between. Several banks of the slots were of games I hadn’t seen elsewhere and some were different versions of some older slots.

If you decide to go into the buffet – it’s more or less no different from any other casino buffet. Prices are around $12 for a lunch buffet and $19 for a dinner buffet. All the standbys are available like prime rib. Food quality is decent – but no one will be writing home about the food.

The bus lobby is a sort of waiting area for people getting onto or getting off of buses. It’s also the only place in the entire casino where there are ATMs should you want to take out additional money to play. As I found out wandering for a good 20 minutes when I first got there – there are no ATMs on the casino floor.

At the top end of the casino room is a food court that offers basic foods like pizza, hamburgers, hotdogs, fries and soda. The lines here are generally fairly short and the prices are what you would expect to find in a casino (slightly higher than average).

In addition to the casino, the food court and the buffet, there’s also a lounge with nightly entertainment. The night we were there – there was a comedian performing. For those of us looking for some alcohol with our gambling – there is a full-service bar located on the casino floor – but no beverage service is available (or at least was apparent when I was there), on the floor.

If you’re more of a horse-racing person – you can head over to the racetrack where there is live harness racing in the summertime and betting on other racings elsewhere through simulcasting.

The entire facility is very well maintained and very clean – especially for a casino. I think part of it is the statewide smoking ban in New York, which applies to the Mighty M Gaming Casino and the racetrack. Having just quit smoking at the time, it was a welcome change to be in a casino that wasn’t covered in a haze of cigarette smoke. I’m sure that the lack of smoking alone makes the entire place that much cleaner. But beyond that, staff is attentive to messes and keeps everything quite clean. One of the first things I said to my Mom was how surprised I was that it was so clean.

Hours

Unlike the bigger casinos, the Mighty M Gaming Casino isn’t open 24 hours a day. Instead it’s open from 10am to 2am on Friday and Saturday and from 10am to 12am the rest of the week.

When closing time comes – all the machines automatically turn off and print tickets for whatever cash balance is left on the machine. Then the mad dash for the cages starts for everyone to get their cash.

Playing…

I didn’t go expecting much – but my Mom had heard stories from all of her friends of people winning big. Our experiences? Well none of us won big – but my Brother, who had only gambled once before managed to take $5 and turn it into $75. My Mother and I managed to leave what we had planned on gambling with there.

I didn’t notice a lot of large jackpots, but it’s hard to tell with the ticket cash-out system – since the machines are significantly quieter and you don’t see an attendant paying out hand pays like you would in other casinos.

They are having quite a few promotional events because the Mighty M Gaming Casino is still quite new. When I was there – they were randomly selecting people to play a scratch-off game. I was picked and you scratched a ticket to see how much money you won. For sitting at the right machine at the right time, I picked up $40, which I thought was pretty cool.

When you do have a big hit – the tax withholding requirements seem to be more stringent here than any other casino I’ve been at. I saw a person cashing out with a couple of hundred dollars having to fill out the tax paperwork – whereas in other casinos it’s usually somewhere around $1500 or so before they will take the tax out.

The Mighty M Gaming Casino offers a players club that keeps track of your playing and lets you earn points that can be used in the restaurants there and the gift shops. I’m not sure of the exact breakdown of points per dollar (I signed up for the card only because my Mom and Brother did) – but with about 4 hours of playing – I walked out with 50 points. I’ve also gotten flyers in the mail advertising special ‘double points’ periods and other incentives that players’ club members get.

All things considered…

I doubt that many people would change their gambling habits of going to Connecticut, Atlantic City or even to Las Vegas over the Mighty M Gaming Casino, but it is a decent casino that is quite close to the metro-New York region.

There’s a respectable amount of slot machines to choose from, the staff is friendly, courteous and attentive and there are some entertainment options beyond strictly gambling while you are there.

I wouldn’t suggest making a special trip out of it – but if you live in the area or you’re passing through – a stop at the Mighty M Gaming Casino will probably be quite fun if you enjoy casinos.

For me – if I’m home visiting my parents and my Mom wants to gamble, I’ll suggest we go to the Mighty M Gaming Casino instead of Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun, simply because it’s a shorter drive and I won’t have to put up with the hassle of Connecticut roads and the casinos themselves. But considering I live in Massachusetts – there’s no way I’d make a special trip just to go to the Mighty M.

So…

Try it out if you’re nearby or you’re traveling through – but the Mighty M Gaming Casino is not really a destination in of itself. For those nearby though, it’s a great little casino to play at when you don’t want to be bothered with having to travel or deal with the bigger casinos elsewhere.


More Resort-Casino Reviews
Excalibur (Las Vegas) / Foxwoods (Connecticut) / Mohegan Sun (Connecticut) / Circus Circus (Las Vegas) / Mandalay Bay (Las Vegas) / New York-New York (Las Vegas)

Recommended: Yes

Best Suited For: Friends
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime