After many weeks of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic-related lockdowns and other safety and protection measures employed, casinos in New Zealand including three venues operated and owned by SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited have been fully re-open. SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited is a local casino operator that just recently revealed that its three gambling-friendly venues in New Zealand have been re-opened without coronavirus-related protocols that enforce social distancing measures.

The Sydney and Wellington-listed casino operator used one of its latest official fillings to share more details about re-opening its three venues. First of all, SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited made the re-opening move shortly after the New Zealand government lowered the nation’s’ four-level coronavirus alert warning to the least concerning Level One. This immediately eliminated all of those previously enforced measures and restrictions caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic except those which relate to foreign travel.

SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited Casinos

As previously mentioned, SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited or simply SkyCity is one of the leading entertainment and gaming companies in the region based in Auckland, New Zealand. The company owns and operates five gambling-friendly venues in Australia and New Zealand that do not only include rich casino floors, but also two high-end hotels, bars as well as restaurants and more.

The firm’s shares are traded on the New Zealand and Australian Stock Exchange. Since its establishment back in 1996, SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited took over operations from the Harrah’s Entertainment complex within the Skycity Auckland complex. The company opened its very first Auckland, New Zealand-based gambling-friendly venue back in February of 1996 before expanding its business operations to other Australian and New Zealand cities.

In June of 2000, the firm purchased the Adelaide Casino property while several months later, it added the Skycity Queenstown resort to its growing portfolio of luxury properties. In July of 22004, SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited purchased the Darwin Casino and Hotel property from the MGM Mirage firm and re-named it to SkyCity Darwin.

Its gambling-friendly venues in New Zealand which have just recently re-opened include the SkyCity Auckland venue which is the nation’s biggest casino located in Central Auckland. It features slot and table gaming activities with over one hundred gaming tables and over one thousand and six hundred gaming machines. The SkyCity Auckland property features two hotels, a seven hundred-seat theater, convention center, as well as more than twenty restaurants and bars.

The company’s SkyCity Hamilton property opened in September of 2002. Its casino floor is packed with twenty-three tables and over three hundred gaming machines. Other amenities include a bar and restaurant which commonly host live music performances. The SkyCity Queenstown property opened twenty years ago in 2000. It features twelve gaming tables and eighty-six gaming machines.

Normal Casino Activities Return

SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited was forced to temporarily shut down operations at its three gambling-friendly venues back on the 23^rd of March. Some twenty-six days ago, the casino operator was allowed to partially re-open the three casinos after the New Zealand government updated its health management framework. According to this framework, casinos had to have their gaming floor divided into different zones.

At the time, the operator’s three casinos started welcoming their first guests who had to practice social distancing measures while the operator had to increase the distance between gaming tables and slot machines. Today, all of these measures have been removed which means that trio of SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited casinos return to their normal business operations and normal working hours.

Veikkaus Oy, the Finnish betting agency owned by the government has revealed a brand new responsible gambling campaign designed to reduce the number and traffic on the slot machines in this Scandinavian country. The operator’s officials have announced that they would reduce their number of slot machines by twice as many as was previously planned. An official press release was sent out to the media regarding the new campaign.

In this official press release, it was revealed that the company has over 18,500 slot machines at sites across the Scandinavian nation. Initially, the plan was to reduce its slot machine estate for around forty percent or to 11,000 by the end of this year. This campaign was actually launched back in December of 2019 after the company came under fire for lack of responsible gaming protocols and for not doing enough to prevent gaming and gambling-related harms.

The company was also under fire for not doing enough to help vulnerable players from developing harmful gaming habits. To spread awareness about the importance of responsible gaming campaigns, the company’s new slot machine estate reduction plan includes further cuts which will leave Veikkaus Oy with some 10,500 slot machines in the following years.

Veikkaus Oy Since 2017

As previously mentioned, Veikkaus Oy is the government-operated and owned betting agency that currently holds a monopoly over gambling and gambling activities in Finland. The betting agency emerged on the stage in 2017 and it was established through a merger of three other betting agencies including Finland’s Slot Machine Association, Fintoto, and Veikkaus.

Back in January of last year, Veikkaus Oy announced its plan to reduce its current workforce by around four hundred positions. At the same time, the company also announced overhauls of its gaming locations as well as its responsible gaming campaign which will see the company reduce its massive slot machine estate. When it comes to the company’s profit distribution, it is determined by the law and according to the law, fifty-three percent of its profits go to the Ministry of Education and Culture, forty-three percent go to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and four percent go to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

Post-Coronavirus Revival

According to the company’s officials, the company is stepping up its game when it comes to responsible gaming policies and protocols. Moreover, the company’s plan is to hit its long-term goals of its envisioned slot machine estate reduction by the end of this year by which the company hopes to have at least eight thousand fewer slot machines across the nation.

The betting agency also revealed that its envisioned reduction and accelerated exercise will be conducted in several stages throughout this year in hopes of delivering a secure and safe business experience for those who are at risk of developing any kind of gambling-related addiction. Jari Heino who works for Jari Heino used one of the company’s latest press releases to proclaim that his company’s network of Feel Vegas and Pelaamot gaming clubs in addition to Casino Helsinki will soon emerge from lockdowns triggered by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic from the 26^th of June. While the venues will open their doors to the public, they will start by welcoming only a limited number of visitors.

Back on the 7^th of May, the main casino gaming regulator for the state of Nevada, the Nevada Gaming Commission has approved a collection of rules which have been carefully crafted in order to prevent the spread of highly-contagious coronavirus once the state’s four hundred and forty-one land-based, commercial casinos open their doors to the public after many weeks of being closed.

According to one report released by Las Vegas Review Journal, the Nevada Gaming Commission’s directives were issued several days ago by the state’s Gaming Control Board and all of the commercial casinos in the states will have to comply to these rules to resume their operations. According to these directives, re-opening commercial casinos in the state will have to halve their gaming floors’ capacity to be in line with local fire and building codes.

Moreover, these venues will only permit three players to enjoy blackjack games at a single table simultaneously. According to the same newspaper, these directives by the Nevada Gaming Commission will apply to all of the state’s commercial casinos which are eagerly waiting to re-open once the ongoing coronavirus-related safety measures including lockdowns are eased. In addition to limiting the number of players allowed at a single blackjack table simultaneously, other provisions will also include limitations to roulette and poker tables which will host a maximum of four players at the same table at the same time.

Post-Coronavirus Measures for Nevada Casinos

Needless to say, with over four hundred commercial casinos active in the state of Nevada, the state’s gambling industry is one of the most profitable, most thriving in the USA. Las Vegas is also home to some of the most iconic venues of this kind which have been thriving for years and even decades including The Mirage venue, The Mandalay Bay facility, Bellagio, Treasure Island, Caesars Palace and many others which have been negatively affected by the ongoing coronavirus-related lockdowns and other safety measures in place.

Nonetheless, all of the state’s four hundred and forty-one commercial casinos are preparing to resume their operations with certain precautions in place to prevent the spread of the highly-contagious coronavirus strain. As released by the Nevada Gaming Commission, precautions that these casinos will have to comply with resemble those measures which were previously introduced into Macau-based casinos after the end of Macau’s fifteen-day shutdown.

According to these safety precautions, all casinos including commercial casinos and resort-style gambling and hotel venues including the iconic Caesars Palace venue in Las Vegas with almost four thousand rooms are obliged to impose a strict limit of six players at one craps table at the same time. This is not everything as Nevada-based casino venues will be also obliged to follow a series of other measures that revolve around regularly cleaning all high-traffic surfaces such as elevator buttons and handrails.

Other Public Health Measures

Nevada-based casinos have been shut down since the 18^th of March when the state’s Governor Mr. Sisolak instituted a lockdown not only for casinos but also bars, restaurants, and other places that attract masses in the state. The state’s Gaming Control Board used one of its official public hearings to share more details about the re-opening measures and rules. These will probably include a variety of other public health measures that would see returning casino employees tested for highly-contagious coronavirus before returning to work. One thing is for sure, all casino employees will be provided with protective masks and gloves.

Officials of some of the leading, most prominent casino operators based in the United States are holding internal, informal meetings to discuss future business possibilities for the gambling capital. More specifically, representatives of the biggest casino operators are discussing ways to resume operations and open their Las Vegas-based venues once the coronavirus pandemic concludes.

According to one report released by the Bloomberg news outlet, these informal meetings between casino operators that concern the most iconic casino destination also examine whether the state of Nevada’s officials should allow smaller-scale businesses to re-open first to get the local residents back to work. These smaller businesses in question here are located near the iconic Las Vegas Strip.

The same news outlet also reported that all casino gambling-friendly venues located in the state of Nevada will remain closed until at least the end of this month. Executives of these facilities have also discussed the possibility of establishing specific venues that would allow all casino works and some tourists to easily get tested for the highly-contagious coronavirus strain.

Ideas for Re-Opening Las Vegas Casinos

Officials of the most iconic casino operators which are responsible for Las Vegas-based casinos also discussed a variety of other ideas regarding ways to re-open their venues. One idea is to open such venues with a reduced capacity including opening only one-third of hotel rooms, screening all guests and visitors for elevated pressure as well as requiring all of casino and hotel employees and workers to wear gloves and masks. Another idea is to institute significantly increased distances between slot machines and gaming tables.

As reported on the 21st of April, the highly-contagious, potentially-deadly coronavirus strain has killed over 42,000 individuals in the United States as well as infected over 800,000 individuals while over 73,000 of them have recovered. For this reason, the casino executives and officials have discussed whether to request from local union to institute a series of rathe enhanced cleaning measures and techniques to combat the spread of the highly-contagious coronavirus.

Commenting on this possible request, Geoconda Arguello-Kline working for the Culinary Workers Union of the Local 226 branch said that facilities of all sorts have to include more people in order to ensure that all areas which are frequented by visitors, players and other guests are always clean. She added that the Local 226 branch is asking the firms to conduct more cleaning across all areas and these include their casino floors, hotel rooms, bars, and others.

The Richest Casino Market Globally

The casino market in Las Vegas is doubtlessly the riches, the most thriving in the world as it is packed with a variety of iconic casino facilities that are operated by a handful of prominent casino operators including Wynn Resorts Limited, Las Vegas Sands Corporation, MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment Corporation.

These companies were ordered to temporarily close down their facilities including hotels and casino floors for at least thirty days. The order came from Nevada Governor Mr. Sisolak who made the decision back on the 18th of March. Once the period of thirty days was over, the initial shutdown period was extended until the 30th of April. With this date approaching, Las Vegas-based casino operators are discussing ways to combat the negative consequences of the coronavirus crisis as well as ways to get back to work and start welcoming guests while at the same time protecting every worker, employee, visitor and everyone else.