BOSTON (AP) -- The two companies competing for the coveted license to operate the only resort casino in greater Boston delivered high-powered presentations to the state gambling commission on Wednesday, with both promising to be the superior choice to create jobs, generate tax revenue and attract tourists from around the world.

Mohegan Sun has applied to build a casino on land owned by Suffolk Downs in Revere, pending a Feb. 25 referendum, while Las Vegas casino operator Steve Wynn has proposed a casino along the Mystic River in Everett. Both locations lie just outside the city of Boston.

"We have the 'wow' that this market wants and what Massachusetts deserves," said Mitchell Etess, chief executive of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, during a 90-minute presentation that included charts, videos and architectural models.

Wynn, by contrast, offered a less glitzy and largely unscripted presentation that lasted less than one hour.

"I'm being hard-nosed today because today is not about theater, today is about how we get a destination resort up and running in Massachusetts," said Wynn, who openly mocked the Mohegan Sun proposal as a three-star resort compared to what he said would be a five-star operation if his company wins the license.

Wynn said the hotel rooms in the Everett resort would be nearly twice as large and far more luxurious that the competing proposal. He also sharply criticized Mohegan Sun's architect for a low-rise, "horizontal" design, as opposed to the 19-story high-rise tower he has proposed, saying a "vertical" development is more user friendly for guests — making it easier, for example, for room service to deliver hot breakfasts.

A spokesman for Mohegan Sun later said its primary hotel would be a four-star operation, while another, smaller hotel would be three-star.

Mohegan Sun's Revere-only plan emerged after an earlier proposal by Suffolk Downs, a 78-year-old thoroughbred racetrack, to develop a casino on the Boston-Revere border was rejected last November by voters in the East Boston neighborhood.

Etess acknowledged that the last few months had been a "whirlwind" for the company, which formed a partnership with Suffolk Downs after a failed attempt to develop a casino in the western Massachusetts town of Palmer.

Etess said that while Mohegan Sun has expanded its reach — opening the first casino in Pennsylvania under that state's gambling law — its roots were in the region where it opened its first facility in Connecticut 17 years ago.

"We have old-fashioned New England know-how and New England values," he said.

The Revere casino would be easily accessible by several major highways, public transportation and nearby Logan International Airport, Etess said. He also called the site "clean," an apparent reference to pollution at the former chemical plant where Wynn hopes to build, and predicted that the Mohegan Sun' casino could be up and running six months sooner than Wynn's and generate more annual tax revenue for Massachusetts.

Wynn, who has promised to pay for the cleanup of the Everett site, said his company would be the "worst nightmare" for Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods, Connecticut's other casino operator, because it would siphon off revenue from table games that are not taxed in Connecticut.

"If Wynn Resorts is selected, we have only one interest, this casino in Massachusetts," Wynn said. We don't give a damn about Connecticut."

The meeting room at the Boston convention center was crowded with supporters of the two projects, including Suffolk Downs workers who stood and cheered loudly when Mohegan Sun officials repeated a promise to preserve racing at Suffolk Downs, which would operate as a separate entity from the casino.

MGM Resorts International, which has proposed a resort casino in downtown Springfield, was scheduled to make a presentation to the commission on Thursday. MGM is the only remaining applicant for the western Massachusetts casino license.

The panel has set a tentative date of May 30 for awarding the regional licenses.

Click HERE to watch Mohegan Sun's Presentation

Flashback: Atlantic City, 1984. Come to Boardwalk Casino on Saturday, November 18th, and pick up your turkey basting pan (while supplies last)!

Flashback: Las Vegas, 1994. Cordless phone Friday! First 1,500 patrons to enter the casino ...

Flashback: New Mexico, 2004. It’s burger time with our George Foreman grill giveaway!

Flash-forward: Any Casino USA, 2014. Come visit us on Sunday, June 22nd, and choose a gift from a collection of ...

In case you haven’t noticed, one of the most recent trends in gifting for casino event giveaways and promotions is the gift of “choice.” As we have become accustomed to in our real world purchasing endeavors, telling us what we want vs. asking us what we want or need is frowned upon (not a reference to Obamacare, but if the prescrip- tion fits ...). The idea that 4,000 of your patrons can show up for a Saturday gift event and all walk away happy with another toaster oven, 49-pc. tool set, or a no-name MP3 player, has long since left the building.

Yet despite this trend, why are so many casinos still bulk buying a single widget to give away?

• Purchasing people hate choice. It takes the power out of their hands to negotiate amazing deals by dangling large orders in front of vendors and may involve cutting multiple purchase orders after the event. Truth is, with such low margins on most electronics and housewares today, there isn’t much of a cost difference between purchasing 200 or 2,000 of an item.

• Less thinking. It takes far less marketing time or merchandising skills to pick a single item, rather than display a number of items. Or to install web-based terminals for patrons choosing from hundreds or thousands of items, than it does to drag a bunch of pallets in to an event space, cut them open, and give the stuff away.

The reality is that the gift of choice should be embraced because it is appealing to players and event coordinators alike.