The question is a simple one that is being asked around the world, the answer is not however, as everyone now has their own personal safety and health considerations.

Unfortunately, while there are risks, thousands of potential job losses in the hospitality industry group of which casinos are part, have already seen some closures. The British Government like other countries have told the public to avoid pubs, casinos, restaurants, cinemas and clubs. There has been financial support from the start of the lockdown which was part of the furlough salary support. This is now coming to an end and the operating costs remain, as the business start to open on restricted hours the pressure is onto perform. The current social distancing and the Covid issue still remain and will do for a long time, so lets me go back to the original questions, “Are they safe and would you consider going to a casino?”

To start to answer this, you must go back to the period prior to any Covid situation. Most casinos require you to be a member and show some form of photographic ID plus being over 21years old before allowing you to enter. There are other casinos where you do not have to join their membership, but I would suggest that these are now a bit lower on the attendance consideration list. The reason I suggest the later is that in a members’ only casino or club, the identity and address of every person present is known. Prior to Covid this was not only necessary for licensing regulations, but it also assisted in criminal and public order issues. However, now with social distancing and contact tracing the system is ready to be applied.

Initially, at the start of lock down like all hospitality premises the casinos closed to the public. Some kept on minimal maintenance staff whilst other just stopped everything and secured the building. When the lock down started there was no real indication as to how long it was going to last and it everyone was left waiting for the next Government announcement.

After a couple of months there was an indication of a potential opening period and the Gaming Commission started to also advise on proposed social distancing guidelines. Some casinos and hospitality businesses started to install thermal cameras and detectors at receptions and various points around the gaming floor. Their aim was to use this as a primarily indication of a person who may have the Covid-19 virus. If an alter was activated then after a period of time, a second temperature test would be taken, the result of this would decide whether the member was to be allowed in or sent home.

Once inside, the premises each venue developed their own strategy for customer and staff protection however, the casinos started to excel in their theirs. The premises gets a regular deep clean, and some go for a full mist or vapour deep clean as it has been suggested that manual cleaning, can lead to viral remnants being left behind by unintentional and unavoidable human error, where has the vapour deep cleaning technologies have the power to completely decontaminate a space and eliminate the virus.

With the building cleaned, masked are required to be worn all the time by customers except when they are eating, and staff have the option of a mask and/or face visors. The poker tables and competitions are a thing of the past because of social distancing and everyone being in contact with the cards. However, the gaming tables and card tables are still there with the large acrylic screens between the players, around three people only per table and hand gel at every playing location. This equates to around a 60-65% reduction in actual player on the tables, to counteract this most casinos have increased their maximum stake figures hoping to increase the “take” figures. It is not just the number of players that have been reduced, as an example a Grosvenor Casinos capacity was 1050 before the pandemic hit, but now, it has reduced massively to just 200 people at any one time.

At the tables, the cards are shredded at least once a day, and all the chips are cleaned either by UV light within the shufflers and chippers or by hand at the table which is a necessary addition preventive measure.

The slots machine and terminals now have substantial full acrylic screens between them, and their size prevents immediate contact with your gaming neighbour. All this was in place and ready for the big announcement from the Government allowing them to open. Unfortunately, after five long months the casinos were poised to reopen in England, but the Prime Minister Boris Johnson pushed it back, due to a spike in coronavirus cases. This happened the day before the original reopening date after staff and provisions had been brought back, another financial hit to the casinos.

A few week later, on the 24^th September, the casinos and hospitality got the green light to open but they had to be closed by 10pm. Unfortunately, around 70% of their business is done after 10pm so this was not expected but at least they are now open. Representatives of the casino industry have suggested that they be allowed to remain open providing there is no food or alcohol served after the 10pm curfew but this has not yet been excepted. While every business awaits the next Government announcement, indicating more local lockdowns, the casinos have been adopting various opening hours 

in an attempt to balance overheads with monies taken.

Casino36 - mostly Electronic Gaming Noon to 10pm, Live Gaming 2pm to 10pm.

Genting - mostly Electronic Gaming 10am to 10pm, Live Gaming 12am to 10pm.

Napoleons - mostly Noon to 10pm and but a 5am start at one site for all gaming.

Grosvenor - mostly Electronic Gaming 8am to 10pm, Live Gaming 2pm tom10pm.

On a positive note, this is the “new” normal and fortunately, there are several actions operators of casinos and gaming operations can take to help lower the risk of COVID-19 exposure and spread. I doubt if any other business enterprise has done more to protect both its staff and customers. So, if you want to venture out into the new normal environment, then a casino is a good safe starting point. There is no need to gaming as the food can be very good. As I was once told by the owner of a casino   group “The only thing frozen in the kitchens  of our casinos are the ice cubes”

David Brock CMgr. CMI

Brock Business Support 2020

If you have any questions or enquires please contact  - dave.brock@brockbusinesssupport.com or please feel free to use the button below.