Mashantucket — He is either Mr. Las Vegas, or, by his own description, "the most boring person in the world."

One thing's for sure: When it comes to the casino world, Felix Rappaport's been there (Las Vegas), done that (managed, led).

Now, he's being asked to do it at Foxwoods Resort Casino, the southeastern Connecticut colossus that's grown way too big - if not too big to fail. The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, Foxwoods' owner, last week named Rappaport president and chief executive officer, the ninth man to lead the casino in its 22-year history.

"This property is a great canvas," Rappaport, 62, said in an interview this week. "It's a great opportunity to build on what we've accomplished. Going forward, with the proper vision and refocusing, we can certainly have more success than we've had in the last seven years."

Already, it's "we" - like he's been here all along.

"I'm just a cog in the machinery," Rappaport said. "I don't think I have all the answers."

Born in California and raised in Philadelphia, Rappaport, a rabid Eagles fan, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and took a job with the American Red Cross. He worked in the gaming and hospitality industries in Atlantic City and Pennsylvania, and in 1991 moved to Las Vegas, where he became vice president of hotel operations for The Mirage. He went on to become executive vice president of MGM Grand and president of such glitzy casinos as New York-New York, Luxor, Excalibur and The Mirage, which he left at the end of 2012.

Rappaport opened Steve Wynn's Treasure Island in 1993, a casino, he pointed out, that was the first to derive more revenue from its nongaming amenities than from slot machines and table games. Today, that's true of the casinos on the Las Vegas Strip as a whole - only 40 percent of their revenue comes from gaming itself.

At Foxwoods, Rappaport noted, gaming accounts for 80 percent of the revenue. That's going to change, he said, as the casino cuts back on the 5,800 slots it operates and the 350 table games it runs. In their place, new restaurants, attractions and shops will appear, not to mention the Tanger Outlets at Foxwoods, the $120 million mall scheduled to open in May.

"When you have six casinos (as Foxwoods does), you don't need all of them all the time," Rappaport said. "It's like Scott Butera (Rappaport's predecessor as Foxwoods' CEO) used to say, 'You can't build a church for Easter Sunday.' When you have 8.1 million square feet, you can put up a construction wall and make changes, and that's what we're going to do."

In addition, a tribal entity, Three Winds Development LLC, is pursuing a plan to develop a water park on the property, Rappaport said.

Foxwoods' sheer size, once an asset, now poses a challenge.

"I was just amazed at how big it was," Rappaport said, recalling his first visit to the property years ago. "The first time I drove up, I thought it was the most massive thing I'd ever seen ... We've got everything Las Vegas has and then some. We're like Las Vegas on steroids. But I don't think we've done a good job leveraging everything we have. We can improve our marketing, our PR."

"Even with our well-documented trials and tribulations," he said, quoting another colleague, Franco Pilli, a Foxwoods senior vice president, "this property is teed up for success."

Rappaport, as comfortable in an Eagles jersey as a business suit, believes a Vegas-style recovery can be achieved at Foxwoods.

"What's happened here is a normal part of the process. It's what happens to a business," he said. "In Las Vegas, I was there when everything we touched turned to gold. And I was there when CityCenter (a massive Las Vegas development) almost went into Chapter 11. I've been through it all - layoffs, downsizing, repurposing. When that's what the news is all about, you need a rallying cry.

"Before you can start winning, you have to stop losing."

Rappaport has injected new life into Foxwoods' entertainment since his arrival in February, relying on a formula that worked for him in Las Vegas. In May, he introduced Lion Fight, a mixed martial arts sport, which made its East Coast debut at Foxwoods. And since then he's booked "Menopause The Musical," comedian Carrot Top and magician Criss Angel, all Las Vegas fixtures.

"People said there was no way we'd sell out six Criss Angel concerts," Rappaport said. "Well, we sold them all out. And he got us on the "Today" show.

Rappaport firmly believes that what works in Las Vegas will work here.

"People are people," he said. "We are more like Las Vegas than any resort in the world. … If you set Foxwoods down in Las Vegas - assuming you could find room for it - the property would compete."

Donny and Marie Osmond are due around Christmastime.

Rappaport sounded like he's in it for the long run at Foxwoods.

"We've had a lot of CEOs, COOs - a lot of ohs here," he said. "I plan to be here a long time, building a strong team, listening to our customers. We have to be a lot of things to a lot of people."

Things were too easy in Foxwoods' heyday, he said, back when "the biggest problems were counting the money and crowd control."

The mindset never transitioned, he said, knowingly.

"This isn't my first rodeo."

b.hallenbeck@theday.com

Twitter: @bjhallenbeck

FOXWOODS' TOP EXECUTIVES

1992: Alfred J. "Al" Luciani, president/CEO

Jan. 1993-June 1997: G. Michael "Mickey" Brown, president/CEO

June 1997-June 2000: Floyd M. "Bud" Celey Jr., president/CEO

June 2000-June 2006: William J. Sherlock Jr., president/CEO

July 2006-Jan. 2008: John A. O'Brien, president

Jan.-Dec. 2008: Barry J. Cregan, interim president

Dec. 2008-June 2010: Michael F. Speller, president

June-November 2010: Sherlock, interim president

Nov. 2010-Oct. 2014: Scott C. Butera, president/CEO

Nov. 2014- Felix Rappaport, president/CEO