Saratoga Casino Holdings had an information technology failure late last week, rendering some activities at the company’s three commercial casinos inaccessible. Three days later, the company’s Colorado and Mississippi casinos remained closed.
Saratoga Holdings is situated in Saratoga Springs, upstate New York. Saratoga Hotel, the company’s eponymous facility, is a horse racetrack and casino with 1,200 slot-style video lottery terminals and electronic table games.
The company also owns and runs Saratoga Casino Black Hawk in Colorado and Magnolia Bluffs Casino in Natchez, Mississippi. Saratoga Casino Holdings announced on social media over the weekend that an IT issue at its casinos in Colorado and Mississippi caused them to close momentarily.
Our IT staff has made work in addressing the issue, and we plan to reopen as soon as possible,” the Saratoga Casino Black Hawk Facebook page stated. “Thank you for your understanding and we apologize for any inconvenience.”
Magnolia Bluffs sent a similar statement.
Magnolia Bluffs will stay closed. “We will keep you updated as we work to resolve the issue,” a Facebook post noted.
Saratoga Casino Black Hawk and Magnolia Bluffs remained closed as of midday Monday.
Saratoga, along with its three casinos, is a member of a consortium pursuing a casino license in downstate New York for an integrated resort on Coney Island.
Patron Complaints at Saratoga Casino
Saratoga Holdings closed its Colorado and Mississippi casinos owing to technological issues, while the Saratoga Casino Hotel remained operational as of Monday. Patrons resorted to social media to vent their dissatisfaction with the casino’s limited operations, which included the discontinuation of loyalty cards and some incentives.
“We’ve just departed. The system is still offline. “No free play, no points earned,” stated customer Sharon Gates.
Some wondered if players would be paid for not receiving their rewards promotions and not being informed of the casino’s IT issues until they arrived. While Saratoga Black Hawk and Magnolia Bluffs posted social media alerts concerning operational challenges, Saratoga Casino Hotel released a tweet encouraging customers to take advantage of the additional hour granted by daylight savings time and “try your luck and make every minute count.”
“That extra hour could lead to a jackpot!” the casino advertised.
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Culprit Unknown
Saratoga Casino Holdings has not publicly said what is causing the IT issues or whether the problem was caused by a hacking event.
“Every property was affected in some way,” said Amy Brannigan, Saratoga Casino Holdings’ marketing director. “Unfortunately, we have no update on a timeframe for reopening.”
Casinos have been targeted by hackers and ransomware gangs in recent years.
MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment, two of the largest casino operators in the United States, were both notably attacked last year by a hacker organization that employed “social engineering” to get access to the firms’ key computer servers.
The attacks cost MGM more than $100 million because it refused to pay a ransom. Caesars acknowledged to paying the hackers $15 million to repair its systems with minimum inconvenience.
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