Pennsylvania Casinos Announce Reopenings, as State Counties Enter ‘Green Phase’
Posted on: June 8, 2020, 10:59h.
Last updated on: June 8, 2020, 11:55h.
Three Pennsylvania casinos are reopening this week that are located in counties in the “green phase” of Governor Tom Wolf’s (D) reopening plan.
All 12 land-based casinos in Pennsylvania have been shuttered since March 16, as Wolf ordered all nonessential businesses to close. Keystone State gamblers have been limited to online casinos since. But that will change this week.
Rivers Casino Pittsburgh will be the first to reopen, the venue welcoming back guests beginning tomorrow morning, June 9, at 9 a.m. The Meadows Casino will follow three hours later at noon, and Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin on Friday, June 12, at 10 a.m.
All three casinos are located in the southwestern part of the state. The three counties where the properties are located entered the state’s green phase on June 5.
In green, gatherings of up to 250 people are permitted, restaurants and bars are allowed to reopen at 50 percent capacity, and all entertainment venues – including casinos – can resume operations at 50 percent capacity.
Restrictions in Place
Pennsylvania has more than 80,000 COVID-19 cases and some 6,000 deaths. That ranks the Keystone State as the sixth-most-infected coronavirus state.
However, the majority of the cases have been reported in the eastern part of the state. New York and New Jersey rank No. 1 and No. 2 in the number of coronavirus cases.
With COVID-19 seemingly under control in Western Pennsylvania, Wolf is allowing gaming operations to resume. They’re doing so with numerous health safety measures in place.
Rivers Casino Pittsburgh was the top casino in the western part of Pennsylvania last year, gaming win totaling $392 million. Rivers says come tomorrow, guests will find more than 100 hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipe stations across the gaming floor.
The casino will require everyone to wear face masks, and poker will remain closed. But table games will be open with modifications. Blackjack will be limited to three players, four for roulette, and six at craps. Smoking will be permitted, but not while seated at a table game.
The Meadows says every other slot machine will be disabled, and table game seating will be limited. Masks are required. Lady Luck has yet to announce specifics on its June 12 reopening.
Nine Others Wait
Parx Casino near Philadelphia and Wind Creek Bethlehem on the eastern border of the state took the top two spots in terms of 2019 gross gaming revenue (GGR) – the venues respectively winning $639.4 million and $522.1 million.
Park and Wind Creek, along with the seven other casinos in Pennsylvania, are in counties still in the yellow phase, where all entertainment businesses must keep their doors locked. Twenty-one of the 67 counties in Pennsylvania remain in yellow.
The three Philadelphia area casinos – Parx, Rivers Casino Philadelphia, and Harrah’s Philadelphia – were responsible for more than $1.2 billion of the state’s $3.4 billion gaming revenue haul last year.
The state is losing tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue during the casino shutdown. Of every dollar won by each slot machine, 54 cents is returned to Pennsylvanians by way of taxes.
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Last Comments ( 12 )
I was at Mt Airy Casino today. It was horrible. People without masks everywhere. Scary situation.
Good job Governor, you are responsible for helping keep us safe. Let the whiners whine. They are the same ones who are irresponsible and will spread the virus. Thanks for keeping us safe.
Larrybowa
The people pissed off about having to follow COVID regulations are the same ignorant assholes that are going to keep the pandemic going longer by continuous selfishness as stupid as not wearing masks. Other countries are doing better because they didn't constantly take every minor inconvenience as a major attack on their rights. You're upset that your family couldn't go to Hershey? Give me a break. The people in these comments refuse to wear a mask when they go to WalMart but walk around all day wearing their asses for hats.
Thanks to your gov. My family vacation to HERSHEY was canceled. Along the gov of New Jersey. Their both jackasses. Thanks so much for screwing my family plans
Wake up Wolf ! What can't you learn from Gulfstream, Santa Anita and Churchill. You are ignoring the economic welfare of owners,trainers and grooms ! Simple testing can make this possible-easily. No good reason for Parx to be closed. Then again I am sure this has not effected your 401. Thank you-much
70% of covid deaths were caused by the idiot governor wolf putting sick and infected people into nursing homes. There is no excuse to have Delaware county in the yellow phase it should be in the green and harrah's should be OPEN.
The SCAMdemic continues. I guess the writer of this article is all in. 0.02% chance of death, and that is when using the inflated BS numbers. The media is an absolute DISGRACE.
THE EMERGENCY DECLARATION IN PA HAS BEEN ENDED. ALL BUSINESSES MAY OPEN, NO PHASES, NO RESTRICTIONS.
Mike is just plain wrong on the facts and science. Even Trump's own team has stated how many hundreds of thousands of lives were saved by drastic measures. All one needs to do is look at unexpected/unexplained deaths versus prior year numbers which has always been used by scientists and governments to understand how bad an outbreak is. For all of the talking about fake news the radical right is always doing, they themselves and their idiotic non-belief in things like science spread 99.9% of news that can be factually proven as fake.
When will Presque isle casino open their in western PA.
All casinos & restaurants should open bc the Covid numbers are inflated drastically. If you die of a heart attack but it’s discovered you had a low-grade fever, they consider that a Covid death. Such crap. That’s why autopsies have not been performed on anyone because the numbers are so minuscule, less than the flu!!!