Nevada To Limit The Number Of People At Casinos Upon Reopening

• The Nevada Gaming Control Board said that when casinos reopen, they must limit occupancy to no more than 50%.
• No date has been set that will allow casinos in Nevada to reopen.
• Safety requirements upon reopening include no more than six guests at gaming tables.

LAS VEGAS - The coronavirus pandemic has completely shifted some aspects of the gambling economy. As brick-and-mortar casinos were forced to close, online casino sites have seen a boom in the number of players on their servers.

The shift to online casinos has presented a problem for land-based casinos that didn’t focus on building an online platform for gambling.

However, the wait for casinos to open back up could be coming to an end as the Nevada Gaming Control Board has released its guidelines for casinos when they’re allowed to open back up.

The memo laid out the requirements each casino must meet before and after reopening. The seven-page memo covers everything from the sanitizing gaming machines to restaurants and bars procedures for reopening as well. Most if not all requirements fall in line with CDC regulations.

Table Games Will See Reduced Players

One of the most notable rules that gamblers will notice is that they will have more elbow room at table games.

“Plans must limit the number of patrons based on type of game to ensure proper distance between players by limiting the number of seats or betting positions per table. For example, player limit per table should be limited to: three players per blackjack table, six players per craps table, four players per roulette table, and four players per poker table.”

Furthermore, another requirement was that hand sanitizer must be available for use by players and dealers alike. Sanitation stations will likely be visible throughout each casino floor.

Casino Occupancy Limits

Not only will the table games feature fewer players, but the casinos as a whole will be half-full at best in order to comply with Nevada’s rules.

“In order to achieve the social distancing guidelines issued by federal, state, and local health authorities, Plans must limit a property’s occupancy to no more than fifty percent (50%) of the occupancy limit assigned to each gaming area of the property by local building and fire codes.”

The memo also had general guidelines laid out for sanitizing and social distancing among other topics covered.

“Prior to reopening, each nonrestricted licensee shall clean and disinfect all of its hard and soft surfaces in accordance with the guidelines published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)”

Nevada recently extended its closure of casinos till at least May 15th. These new guidelines force casinos to have a plan to deal with a COVID-19 outbreak and to put procedures in place to prevent the spread of the disease. With these guidelines in place, it should give bettors hope that the end of the lockdown in Sin City is near but when bettors return to the casinos it’ll be far from the usual experience before the pandemic.