- Nevada tightens mask rules in casinos as coronavirus cases go up in Las Vegas.
- Philadelphia reports impressive online gambling revenue figures.
- Illinois gets its first online sportsbook.
For several weeks in a row, our casino industry weekly recap starts with COVID-19 talk. This time, news takes us to Clark County, where Las Vegas is located. Last week, the number of coronavirus cases went up, reaching a daily record number of new cases last Tuesday, when it reached 342.
Many believe that the reason for this lies in the fact that Las Vegas casinos went back to business two weeks ago. To deal with the situation, the Nevada Gaming Control Board has decided to implement new rules. Starting this week, Las Vegas gamblers will have to wear masks.
Las Vegas Gamblers Now Required to Wear Masks
Las Vegas casinos opened their doors to visitors on June 4, after taking a number of measures to reduce the risk of spreading the disease. One of those measures was to make sure the staff members wear face masks. The original rules did not require players to have them.
At least @WestgateVegas gets it! #masks #lasvegas pic.twitter.com/rPRHqEkerK
— Greg Chase (@GregJChase) June 18, 2020
With the recent update to the rules, Nevada’s gaming regulators have made it mandatory for visitors to wear masks when playing certain games. For table games, where there are no plexiglass partitions between the players and the dealer, wearing a face mask is a must.
“This requirement applies to table and card game players, spectators, and any other person within 6 feet of any table or card game.” – New rules regarding Las Vegas masks.
The new rule applies to those who play table games such as poker, blackjack, craps, roulette, and similar. All casino employees are also required to wear them at all times. Players who play slots, however, do not have to do it. Still, casinos will now have the job to encourage face masks, offering free masks to everyone in the venue.
Pennsylvania Casinos Report Over $38m Revenue on Online Slots
On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board released the revenue figures of online PA casinos for the month of May. The report shows that the revenue jumped 30% up in comparison to April.
| Online Casino | Online Slots Revenue | Total Internet Casino Revenue |
| Rivers Casino Philadelphia | $15,096,662 | $17,584,381 |
| Parx Casino | $5,470,581 | $6,873,540 |
| Penn National (HollywoodCasino.com) | $4,874,540 | $5,287,708 |
| Valley Forge Casino | $4,724,031 | $8,029,446 |
| Mount Airy Casino | $3,690,723 | $10,889,048 |
| Penn National (DraftKings.com) | $2,216,688 | $3,704,507 |
| Mohegan Sun Pocono | $1,794,502 | $2,401,843 |
| Harrah’s Philadelphia | $901,180 | $931,315 |
| Presque Isle Downs | $53,950 | $137,001 |
| Pennsylvania Total | $38,822,857 | $55,838,789 |
As you can see in the table above, slots are the most profitable games for the casinos. More than two-thirds of the total online casino revenue in PA comes from slot games. The reason is that internet slots are the most popular types of games in online gambling platforms in the US.
Online casino gambling is legal in Pennsylvania, and the same is the case in two more states. The other two, New Jersey and Delaware, have also reported a big revenue increase during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Garden State, for example, recorded an $85.9m online gambling revenue last month.
Rivers Casino Launches Illinois’ First Online Sportsbook
Illinois made online sports betting legal in 2019, but up until last week, there were no internet sportsbooks operating in this state. On Thursday, however, Illinois got its first online sports betting platform when Rivers Casino Des Plaines launched its online sportsbook.
To register an account, Illinois bettors don’t have to visit Rivers Casino in Des Plaines in person. Instead, they can sign up remotely, which wasn’t allowed under the original gambling law. It was stipulated that the players had to pay a visit to a land-based casino to confirm their identity before being able to create a sportsbook account.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing measured brought on by it, this rule was scrapped, at least for the time being. Two weeks ago, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed an order to suspend this rule until further notice.
What this practically means is that Illinois bettors now have the luxury to place sports bets without leaving their homes. Another good news for them is that professional sports are slowly making their comeback.
The NBA returns on July 30 in Disney World, Orlando, FL. The US Open is going to start on the last of August, while there are several UFC events scheduled for the summer. Across the ocean, European soccer is back in almost every country on the continent. The biggest news is that the English Premier League has returned on Wednesday.
