Many businesses closed Thursday and employees were asked to stay home, but that scenario didn't play out at the region's two casinos, where employees were put up in on-site hotels and guests found gaming tables, restaurants and other entertainment venues open for business.

At Foxwoods Resort Casino, which has never closed, hundreds of employees stayed in hotel rooms on the sprawling property Wednesday night so that they’d be available to work Thursday’s early shifts, said Jason Guyot, vice president of resort operations and development.

Guyot, who drove to work Thursday from his Mystic home, said Foxwoods staff had met Wednesday afternoon to begin preparing for the storm.

“It’s like putting a puzzle together,” he said. “Every storm is different. What you do depends on when it occurs and how much snow falls. Safety and security is our No. 1 concern for guests and team members (employees) alike. We have to make sure we’ve got enough staff on hand to function.” 

Foxwoods’ hotel space was about 85 percent booked Wednesday night, leaving about 300 rooms for employees, said Guyot, who estimated as many as 500 to 600 employees spent the night.

Typically, some 2,000 Foxwoods employees work any one shift, he said, meaning about a quarter of that was on hand Thursday.

Mohegan Sun also accommodated casino employees who needed to stay there Wednesday and planned to do so again Thursday night, Ray Pineault, Mohegan Sun’s president and general manager, said in a statement.

“For our guests, many operations are still in place with a few closings and cancellations,” he said, adding that updates are available online at bit.ly/MoheganSunClosures.

 “The safety of our team members, guests, partners and vendors is always of utmost concern on days like today,” Pineault said Thursday. “Our leadership team, alongside vital departments like our Tribal Safety, Transportation and Emergency Operations, all work together in making the best and appropriate decisions as storms like this one near and while they're happening.”

Foxwoods “shrinks” its property during storms like Thursday’s, Guyot said.

Only a handful of the casino’s 37 restaurants were open Thursday. The stores in the Tanger outlet mall were closed. All the privately operated buses that bring customers to the property had been canceled by the carriers. 

Pressed for an estimate of how many customers were on the property at mid-day, Guyot said “maybe 1,000 to 1,500” — about a tenth of the usual weekday traffic. 

“We’ve got 23 table games up and running and 1,000 slots (all in the Grand Pequot Tower), bars, the buffet,” he said. “There’s no better place to be stranded.”

b.hallenbeck@theday.com