Casinos closed into 2021
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has signed an official Order to close the state's casinos for three weeks, from 12:01am on December 12 to 8:00am on January 4, 2021. The Order applies to all indoor entertainment, as well as indoor dining, indoor gyms and fitness centers, in-person school extracurricular activities, and youth sports.
Pennsylvania's casinos saw a large decrease in revenue last year. Casino closures contributed to the decrease last year. Casino closure days totaled 1,473 days last year, or 33 percent of the number of days the 13 casinos would have been operating in a normal year, and video gaming terminals were shut down for a similar percentage of days due to Covid-19 safety measures, according to the. Rivers Casino Philadelphia is closing voluntarily today, Sunday, March 15, and it will remain closed for 14 days. At the same time, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto has been considering a state of emergency that would effectively let the local authorities ban gatherings. A day after PA casinos were ordered closed, video game terminal rooms were also included on the list. Like the casinos, truck stop machines were also shut down on December 12th at 12:01 AM and can reopen on January 4th at 8:00 AM, should no changes be made.
In his announcement Thursday afternoon, Governor Wolf laid out three goals for the strict mitigation measures. The first and most obvious is to stop the spread of COVID-19. The second is to ease the burden on Pennsylvania's hospitals and health care workers. The third goal is related to the first: to get people through the holiday season safely and closer to the vaccine rollout.
It will help all of us get back to normal, and back to all of the things we've missed, faster.'
It will help all of us get back to normal, and back to all of the things we've missed, faster.'
'It will help all of us get back to normal, and back to all of the things we've missed, faster,' said Wolf, who himself was just diagnosed with COVID-19. 'And it means more Pennsylvanians will be alive to celebrate that brighter future.'
Situation is worse than in March
Ersatzteile. The first round of mandatory Pennsylvania casino closures lasted three and a half months, from March 16 to July 2. The Meadows Racetrack and Casino and Rivers Casino Pittsburgh were the first to reopen on June 9.
On November 20, Governor Wolf said that there was no evidence of any outbreaks stemming from the state's casinos. Nevertheless, things have gotten so bad in Pennsylvania that he and health officials felt that a strict, blanket shutdown was needed.
the virus continues to strain our health care systems'
Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said on Thursday that each of the last two days have seen more deaths than any day since the very beginning of the pandemic. She warned: 'The virus continues to strain our health care systems and the dramatic rise in cases among all age groups, including among school-age children, is alarming.'
Internet gaming choices abound
Fortunately for gamblers in the Keystone State, there are plenty of online options for people to have fun with from the safety of home. Most of Pennsylvania's 13 casinos have internet versions that offer games like blackjack, slots, and roulette. BetMGM became the most reason operator to launch an online casino, doing so last week.
There are also ten sportsbook apps in the state and one online poker room, PokerStars. On December 27, PokerStars will host the $200 buy-in 'Pennsyl-MANIA' tournament, guaranteeing a prize pool of at least $500,000, the largest ever in the state.
Pennsylvania also recently became the second state with live dealer online games when Evolution opened its studio in late October. Evolution is supplying its games to Rush Street Interactive's PlaySugarHouse and BetRivers online casinos and DraftKings. It later launched with Caesars in November.
Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf has ordered the closure of various businesses including casinos in an effort to slow down the out-of-control spread of the coronavirus in the Keystone state.
The closure is set to take effect on Saturday, December 12, 2020, at 12:01 a.m. and will end on January 4, 2021, at 8:00 a.m. The orders are the most drastic since Wolf shut down all non-essential businesses last March at the onset of the pandemic. Aside from casinos, the order also covers indoor restaurant dining, sports activities, gyms, museums, bowling alleys, theaters and other entertainments venues. Likewise, all businesses serving the public will be limited to 50% capacity only.
In a statement, Wolf said:
'With these measures in place, we hope to accomplish three goals. First, stop the devastating spread of COVID-19 in the Commonwealth. Second, keep our hospitals and healthcare workers from becoming overwhelmed. And third, help Pennsylvanians get through the holiday season — and closer to a widely available vaccine — as safely as possible.'
COVID-19 Spread
As in the case with many other states in the U.S., Pennsylvania is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases. With its shutdown, Pennsylvania becomes the third state to declare full casino shutdown. Last November 18, Michigan closed all casinos in a move that was first said to be good for three months but now has been changed to indefinitely. Two days after the Wolverine state, Illinois also declared an indefinite shutdown.
One of the fears in Pennsylvania is that the hospitals and health care workers could get overwhelmed. As of Thursday noon,there were a total of 5,877 people hospitalized with COVID-19, the most since the pandemic started. Gov. Wolf is hoping that the three-week shutdown of will slow down the numbers.
Pennsylvania Gaming Was Doing Well
Are All Pa Casinos Closed
Pennsylvania gaming were doing well despite the earlier restrictions. During the third quarter of 2020, the gross gaming revenue (GGR) from land-based casinos, online casinos, and brick-and-mortar sports betting shops totaled $891.3M which is 3% more than the July-September 2019 figures. Requiring them to shut down again will affect whatever gains they had.
Which Pa Casinos Are Closed
There are a total of 12 Pennsylvania casinos and racinos with a total gaming revenue of $3.38B in 2019. The Philadelphia gaming market ranked 7th among the United States gaming industry's top markets, per the American Gaming Association's 2019 State of the States report. Rivers Casino, the only casino within the Philadelphia limits, has been closed since November 20. With the governor's new orders, the other Philadelphia area casinos including Parx and Harrah's Philadelphia will now be closed as well.
