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One Thursday, one Friday After being closed for nearly four months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Maine’s two casinos will reopen this week. Oxford Casino will welcome back guests at 9:00am on Thursday, while Hollywood Casino Bangor will open its doors at noon on Friday. Naturally, as we have seen throughout the country, both casinos… Read more »
Mask use is mandatory at casinos With COVID-19 cases continuing to escalate in the United States, casino operators appear to be taking at least one safety measure very seriously. Caesars, Las Vegas Sands, and MGM Resorts International have all reportedly told their employees to wear protective face masks or find somewhere else to work. According… Read more »
Casinos allegedly skirting pandemic regulations As COVID-19 cases rise dramatically across the United States, taking proper care to be clean and safe is of the utmost importance. The Culinary Local 226 union in Las Vegas does not believe some casino properties are being responsible in the face of the health crisis and have sued several… Read more »
We’ve all had some version of that Back to the Future II fantasy. We have knowledge of the results of sporting events – with or without a sports almanac – and take advantage of that information by racking up sports betting winnings. An imperfect but quite profitable variation of the fantasy happened in Las Vegas… Read more »
No food, no dice Atlantic City casinos will reopen on July 2 after more than 100 days in timeout because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Borgata will not be one of them. After New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy reversed course and announced on Monday that indoor dining would not be allowed to restart, Borgata officials… Read more »
Casinos ask for licensing pause With casinos continuing to reopen across the United States, it appears that two North Las Vegas casinos may stay closed for another year. According to Eater Las Vegas, Texas Station and Fiesta Rancho, both Station Casinos properties, have no plans on reopening any time soon. Eater’s evidence, despite no confirmation… Read more »
Time to start taking things seriously Caesars Entertainment is finally doing something it should have done before it reopened its first casino: it has made the waring of protective face masks mandatory for everyone who steps foot inside one of its properties. The company announced the policy change on Wednesday, June 24. It took effect… Read more »
Poker players will have to wait On Tuesday, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission approved the health and safety guidelines for reopening casinos. The main takeaway for our readers: there will be no poker for a while. No date has been set yet for when Encore Boston Harbor, MGM Springfield, and Plainridge Park Casino will be allowed… Read more »
Closed indefinitely More than three-quarters of the casinos in the United States have reopened after closing for at least two months because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The problem with celebrating being “OPEN FOR BUSINESS” is that you expose more people to the virus, especially in a crowded, closed environment like a casino. Now, I’m not… Read more »
At long last More than three months after closing because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Atlantic City casinos finally have a reopening date: July 2. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced the date on Twitter Monday afternoon. Murphy minced no words, saying, “If any visitor refuses to comply with our simple safeguards, they’ll be escorted out,”… Read more »
Pandemic has taken its toll Live poker has already taken a series of blows to the midsection during the COVID-19 pandemic, but even when more casinos open and poker begins its comeback, it will not fully recover. Genting Casinos has decided to discontinue its live poker operations in the United Kingdom. This is not a… Read more »
Last Thursday night, the wee morning hours of June 11, a man robbed the main cage of the newly-reopened New York-New York casino on the Las Vegas Strip. He was apprehended less than two hours later, but until Monday, not much was known about what happened except that nobody was injured. Las Vegas police have… Read more »
I have never charged my cell phone at a public charging station. I think it’s cool when they are available – there was even one at my nearby urgent care clinic the last time I had to take my kid (he’s fine!) – but I have never needed one. If I did, though, I don’t… Read more »
MGM feeling confident Las Vegas has been “reopened” for a week, so it is just about time to reopen it some more. On Tuesday, MGM Resorts International announced that Luxor, The Shoppes at Mandalay Bay Place, ARIA, Mandalay Bay proper, and Four Seasons Las Vegas will be the company’s next properties to welcome back guests.… Read more »
No date has been set for Detroit’s three commercial casinos to reopen, but they now have a set of official health and safety protocols for when they finally do welcome back guests. On Monday, the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) issued its minimum guidelines that MotorCity, MGM Grand, and Greektown casinos must follow in order… Read more »
The UK’s Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has announced that casinos in England can reopen in a month, on July 4.* The country’s casinos have been closed to help slow the spread of the coronavirus since March 23. The government actually set July 4 as a target date last month for the third and final… Read more »
Meadows is cleared for takeoff The Meadows Racetrack & Casino will become the first of Pennsylvania’s dozen casinos to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic. The facility southwest of Pittsburgh plans to welcome its first guests in over two months on Tuesday, June 9. It is able to do so because it is in Washington County,… Read more »
Gambling, but with smaller crowds As many Las Vegas casinos ready themselves to reopen on Thursday, June 4, final preparations are underway to make sure the return of guests goes as smoothly as possible. On Monday, local news station KSNV got a tour of the Bellagio as one of the center pieces of the Strip… Read more »
$135,000 to charity The poker world is stepping for a good cause once again. On Thursday, May 28 at 8:00pm ET, the King’s Celebrity Poker Challenge on ClubWPT will premiere Twitch. Simulcast are multiple Twitch channels, including Budweiser and World Surf League, the two-hour special will feature six celebrities competing in a poker match to… Read more »
Long-awaited announcement has arrived Nevada locals and tourists yearning for a trip to Las Vegas can finally get excited. On Friday, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak announced via a press release that “pending the evaluation of trends in Nevada’s COVID-19 data,” he will allow the state’s casinos to reopen on June 4. Casinos have been closed… Read more »
Casino jumped the gun A California casino was shut down by the governor for violating the state’s lockdown order just a day after it reopened. The Towers Casino in Grass Valley excitedly announced on its Facebook page that it was open on Monday after being closed for two months. Unfortunately for the casino, it was… Read more »
Governor believes tribes are jumping the gun As casinos around the United States are starting to reopen after two months of closure, California Governor Gavin Newsom wants to some Native American tribes to reconsider. On Friday, he asked the tribes that operate three casinos to think twice about getting back to business. Most tribal casinos… Read more »
As the decision to “reopen the economy” during the COVID-19 pandemic is up to state governments largely because of the lack of a plan on the federal level, different states are naturally doing different things. Wise or not (mostly not, probably), many states are trying to return to some semblance of “normalcy.” For some, regular… Read more »
The heist A man who robbed the home of the World Series of Poker in 2011 has been arrested by the FBI’s L.A. Fugitive Task Force. FBI Los Angeles tweeted the news on Monday, saying that Steven Gao is now awaiting extradition to Las Vegas. Gao was a problem gambler and owed his friend Edward… Read more »
King’s Resort, home of the World Series of Poker Europe, reopened its poker room on Monday. The 160-table poker room, the largest in Europe, was closed for nearly two months because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sister casinos Admiral Casino and King’s Prague also opened. In addition to poker, King’s Resort has also made casino games… Read more »
