Massachusetts has exactly three casino floors, and anyone deciding where to spend an evening ends up comparing the same three names: Encore Boston Harbor, MGM Springfield, and Plainridge Park Casino. This page lines them up using what we can actually measure — Google's own rating and review-count data for each venue, plus verified floor facts we've confirmed for slot counts, table counts, and poker rooms. It's not a ranking based on vibes; it's what's documented.
The three venues at a glance
| Venue | City / Region | Type | Google rating | Google reviews | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Encore Boston Harbor | Everett · Greater Boston | Commercial | 4.3 | 20,450 | Open 24 hours daily |
| MGM Springfield | Springfield · Western Massachusetts | Commercial | 4.0 | 13,424 | Open 24 hours daily |
| Plainridge Park Casino | Plainville · Southeastern Massachusetts | Racino | 3.7 | 5,677 | Open 24 hours daily |
All three list 24-hour operation every day of the week, so hours alone won't decide your trip — the floor itself will.
Slot machines, table games, and poker rooms
Encore Boston Harbor is the largest floor in the state by a wide margin: roughly 2,700 slot machines, more than 170 table games, and a 24-table poker room — one of the bigger live poker rooms in New England. Encore also offers free self-parking, which matters for a Boston-area property where paid garages are the norm nearby.
MGM Springfield runs a smaller but still substantial floor: about 2,550 slot machines and 120 table games, with a poker room that's regularly busy. It's the only commercial casino floor in Western Massachusetts, which is a big part of why it draws the volume it does from that side of the state.
Plainridge Park Casino is a different category of venue entirely. It's a racino, not a full casino — about 1,250 slot-style machines and electronic table games, with no live-dealer blackjack, roulette, or poker room. What Plainridge has that the other two don't is live harness racing, run April through November, which is the reason a lot of visitors show up in the first place.
Ratings and review volume
Encore's 4.3 rating across 20,450 reviews is the highest of the three, and it's also the biggest review sample, which makes that rating harder to dismiss as a fluke. MGM Springfield sits at 4.0 across 13,424 reviews — solid, a step below Encore. Plainridge comes in at 3.7 across 5,677 reviews, the lowest rating and the smallest sample of the three, though 5,677 reviews is still a meaningful number for a racino-format property.
None of these ratings tell you why people rated the way they did — that requires reading the reviews themselves — but the pattern (Encore highest, Plainridge lowest, MGM Springfield in between) is consistent across rating and volume together. It's also worth noting that review volume roughly tracks the size of each venue's catchment area: Encore sits in Greater Boston, the most densely populated part of the state, while Plainridge draws from a smaller Southeastern Massachusetts radius. That doesn't explain the rating gap on its own, but it's a reasonable part of why the review counts differ as much as they do.
Location and region
Each of the three venues anchors a different part of the state, which is often the deciding factor before rating or floor size even comes into play. Encore Boston Harbor sits in Everett, inside the Greater Boston region — the closest option for anyone in or around the city, and the only one of the three reachable without a longer regional drive for most Eastern Massachusetts residents. MGM Springfield is in Springfield, serving Western Massachusetts as the region's lone commercial floor. Plainridge Park Casino is in Plainville, in Southeastern Massachusetts, positioned for players in that corridor and for the racing crowd specifically. If you're choosing based on drive time rather than floor size or rating, your region of the state will usually settle the question before anything else does.
Which venue fits which trip
- Want the biggest table games and poker scene in the state? Encore Boston Harbor is the clear pick — nothing else in Massachusetts comes close on table count or poker room size.
- Based in Western Massachusetts and want a full commercial floor without the drive to Boston? MGM Springfield is your only in-state option in that category.
- Want a racing-day atmosphere, don't need live dealers, and are fine with electronic table games? Plainridge Park Casino is built for that, especially April through November when harness racing is running.
Age and access
Massachusetts state law requires anyone entering a casino floor to be 21 or older — that applies at all three properties, Encore, MGM Springfield, and Plainridge alike. Bring valid photo ID; each venue checks it at entry, and none of the three make exceptions for the racing side of Plainridge's operation.
Frequently asked questions
Is Encore Boston Harbor bigger than MGM Springfield?
Yes, on every measured dimension. Encore runs roughly 2,700 slot machines and more than 170 table games with a 24-table poker room; MGM Springfield runs about 2,550 slot machines and 120 tables. Encore also has more Google reviews (20,450 vs. 13,424) and a higher rating (4.3 vs. 4.0).
Does Plainridge Park Casino have table games?
Plainridge offers electronic table games only — there's no live-dealer blackjack, roulette, or poker room on the floor. If live-dealer games matter to your trip, Encore or MGM Springfield are the venues that have them.
Are all three Massachusetts casinos open 24 hours?
Yes. Encore Boston Harbor, MGM Springfield, and Plainridge Park Casino each list 24-hour operation, every day of the week, on their venue listings.
More on Massachusetts casino play
We've published a full review of Encore Boston Harbor and a profile of MGM Springfield if you want more detail on either property. We don't yet have a standalone page live for Plainridge Park Casino — when it's up, we'll link it here. If you're weighing online play alongside a trip to one of these floors, see our breakdown of sweepstakes casinos and Massachusetts law and our ranked list of the best sweepstakes casinos in Massachusetts.
