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Raymond Leaves Foxwoods
Foxwoods newly expanded poker room is scheduled to open on March 18th, but
the beginning of a new era for the casino will also mark the end of a
relationship.
Kathy Raymond, whom some call Foxwoods “Queen of Poker” will open the
expanded room on Saturday before leaving the employ of Foxwoods to begin a
new job at the Venetian Casino in Las Vegas.
Raymond began as a Day One dealer when the Resort Casino opened in 1992, and
made her way up the ladder to become the director of poker operations for
Foxwoods. Whne the game’s popularity exploded, Raymond rode the wave as the
casino grew in popularity by developing the largest poker room on the East
Coast and by entertaining some of the poker world’s biggest events and its
best players.
Ken Davie, Foxwoods vice president of table games, reluctantly accepted that
Raymond is moving on. She plans to depart Monday to oversee the opening of
the Venetian casino's new poker room. "I think she's probably one of the
best people we could have had," said Davie. "She's the queen of poker. She's
very high profile in the poker world. She's excellent at the game. She knows
people throughout the industry, and we've had a very successful run at it."
Raymond says that her time at Foxwoods has been a blast, and that the
decision to leave was not an easy one. She maintains that the time for the
move is right for her family, though, as her husband has recently sold his
custom motorcycle business.
The Venetian is going to have the largest poker room in Las Vegas, with 40
tables. Raymond relishes the idea of the room’s state-of-the-art seating
system and other technological innovations. She feels some pangs when she
thinks about not being at Foxwoods for the grand opening on March 23rd. With
Raymond’s departure, Terry Chiaradio will be serving as interim poker
director at Foxwoods. Chiaradio also joined the casino in 1992, and has been
serving as the poker manager during the graveyard shift.
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