Three Pennsylvania Casinos Could Reopen June 5, Wind Creek Bethlehem Furloughs 2,100 Workers
Posted on: June 1, 2020, 08:16h.
Last updated on: June 1, 2020, 11:14h.
Three Pennsylvania casinos are in counties that are scheduled to enter the “green phase” of the state’s reopening plan on Friday, June 5.
Pennsylvania’s 12 brick-and-mortar casinos have been shuttered since March 16. As the Keystone State continues to slowly reopen after two and a half months, three gaming floors could be turning back on their slot machines and table games as early as Friday.
Rivers Casino Pittsburgh, Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin, and The Meadows Casino Racetrack Hotel are located in three counties, respectively Allegheny, Fayette, and Washington, that are to enter the green phase on Friday. Governor Tom Wolf (D) announced last Friday they are moving to green, along with 13 other counties.
In the green phase, casinos are permitted to reopen at a maximum 50 percent capacity. Each casino must also gain approval from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) that validates the facility has implemented the various health safety guidelines that the gaming regulatory released May 19.
Closures Leads to Furloughs
Wind Creek Bethlehem announced recently that the property is furloughing 84 percent of its staff. Some 2,100 employees became eligible to file and receive state unemployment benefits effective today. They can also apply to receive the federal $600 a week unemployment stimulus payment.
Wind Creek, owned and operated by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Alabama, says workers will continue to receive their health benefits during their furloughing. “They remain employed and that’s been critical to us,” Wind Creek Bethlehem President Jay Dorris told Lehigh Valley Live.
The Native American tribe acquired the commercial casino from Las Vegas Sands for $1.3 billion in May of 2019. Sands has continued to pay its workers in Las Vegas, Singapore, and Macau during the mandatory closures of its casinos.
The Bethlehem casino resort resides in Northampton County, which remains in the stay-at-home red phase. Northampton is expected to enter yellow on Friday.
A county must remain in the yellow phase for two weeks. “If overall risk remains mitigated for 14 days, we will transition the county to the green phase,” Governor Wolf’s Process to Reopen Pennsylvania guideline explains.
Joining Northampton in the yellow phase effective Friday is Bucks, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties. They are home to Parx Casino, Harrah’s Philadelphia, Valley Forge Casino Resort, and Rivers Casino Philadelphia.
Assuming the 14-day yellow phase is mitigated as needed, the earliest those casinos – and Wind Creek – could theoretically reopen would be June 19.
Four Others
The remaining casinos not discussed are Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course (Dauphin County), Presque Isle Downs & Casino (Erie), Mohegan Sun Pocono (Luzerne), and Mount Airy Casino Resort (Monroe).
All four of those counties have already entered the yellow phase. Dauphin, Luzerne, and Monroe entered the yellow phase on May 29.
Erie entered the yellow phase on May 8. However, the county is staying there after coronavirus cases continued to rise during the two-week interval, and state officials deemed it was not ready to go green.
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Last Comments ( 13 )
No Smoking Casinos!!! That’s the way to go!!
YOU MAKE SMOKE FREE- ASTA LA VISTA BABY, YOURE DONE
peopel have been smoking for decades and it has never been a problem i believe that people just want to be heard now a days and complain about everything.We have to be fair the casinos have smoking and non smoking sections if you do not like the smoke then feel free to go to non smoking we have to satisfy everyone its not fair for people who are spending all there money and cant enjoy a cigarette with a drink that we have been doing for years.Come on now people there are worse things to worry about in this life and not things that have been doing for years .Noone with die from cigarette smoke for a day at the casino come on people seriously.
Every casino has a smoking and non smoking section. The problem is the non smokers come into the smoking sections and sit there making faces and waving their hand in front of their faces, emitting fake coughing and dirty looks on their faces. STAY OUT OF THE SMOKING SECTION AND WE WILL ALL COEXIST. GOOD IDEA?????
NJ Atlantic City casinos tried to go mostly smoke free, and it decimated the business. They ended up putting in a lot more smoking areas. Gamblers went to PA instead where they could smoke. If PA went non smoking, the gamblers will go back to NJ where they can. If a casino loses 50% of their business, they might as well lock the doors.
How can you smoke with a mask on? You have to lift the mask up take a puff and blow the smoke out. That doesn't make any sense, they still blow out smoke and who knows what else GERMS. The casino should be all non smoking.
All casinos nationwide should be smoke free! Why is every indoor venue smoke free in the U.S. except casinos! Are gamblers and casino employees less valuable humans? There are child and other guests inhaling casino smoke too. COVID 19 worst cases are respiratory. I don't want anyone blowing their smoke with their droplets in it on me. No one should be blowing smoke or vape openly in public on anyone, anywhere!
Quite a bit of gamblers are smokers.I seriously don't think casinos would appreciate losing their business. Smoking is a choice and that's why the casinos have smoking have areas.The employees will now where mask so the smoke will no longer bother them. If they can't tolerate smokers then they should work in the non- smoking section -PERIOD.
If you make it smoke free you shouldn’t even open back up. Remember Revel Casino in Atlantic City NJ. Lasted how long being smoke free?
Smoke free work place every worker deserve for Pa casino to stop the spread of covid-19 an not lung and heart disease tells me that making more $$$ is more important that their worker health.
We have to take our temperature, wear a mask and gloves to keep Covid 19 from killing us I think the effects of smoking kill more people than Covid 19
I hope when these casinos reopen they make all of them smoke free,its bad enough having to wear a mask and worry about this corona-virus,and then having to breathe in the second hand smoke dosen't help the people or the environment.
Will the Casinos in Pennsylvania FINALLY GO SMOKE FREE. CAN'T FIGURE OUT HOW THE WORKERS WILL BE SAFE WEARIN A MASK A BREATHING SECOND HANE SMOKR.