COVID and Las Vegas

3 July 2021

By Jerry Stickman

The COVID-19 pandemic hit the world hard. Virtually no individual or business has been immune to its impact. Now that the country is starting to open up a bit, I thought I would take a tour of some casino destinations and report what I observed.

This article presents my observations while visiting Las Vegas recently.

This was a very short trip where I spent only one full day in Las Vegas, so not all casinos are included. Most of the downtown casinos were visited, as were Virgin Hotel / Mohegan Sun and Santa Fe Station.

Downtown casinos were all open except for MainStreet Station. Along Rancho Drive, Texas Station and Fiesta were both closed.

As was the case in Tunica, all of the casinos required coverings over the nose and mouth. A security guard at each entrance made sure the face coverings
were properly worn.

However, unlike the casinos in Tunica, the requirement was enforced quite vigorously. Apparently, some casinos were forced to close because they were lax on face covering enforcement.

None of the casinos visited were particularly busy, though all had some players. This could very well be because it was Wednesday.

As has been the case when times were good, the vast majority of players were at slot machines. There were a few video poker players at all locations. Except for one casino, table games were open in every downtown casino.

Like the casinos in Tunica, social distancing measures varied widely from casino to casino. Some casinos shut down every other slot machine to keep players separated.Others did not.

Some casinos put plastic dividers between slot or video poker machines if all machines were inactivated. Others did not.

Some casinos put dividers between table game players. Some just put dividers between the players and the dealers (but not between the players). Still others put up no dividers at all on the table games.

Some of the casinos with video poker games at the bars disabled every other machine. Others put up plastic barriers between each game. Still others had everything operating with no barriers.

None of the downtown casinos had buffets. Most just closed the buffet and let the other food outlets supply the food.

The Fremont Street Experience was quite active in the evening. Lots of acts and several groups of zipline flyers were observed. For those who have not been to the Fremont Street Experience recently, the updated overhead display is quite a sight. The resolution is amazing.

Las Vegas is certainly just a mere shadow of its former self. Business was absolutely hurt by the lockdowns and mask mandates. These are being slowly removed.

Time will tell how much things will change for the better.

As always, may all your wins be swift and large, and your losses be slow and
small.

Jerry “Stickman”


Jerry “Stickman” is an expert in craps, blackjack and video poker and advantage slot
machine play. He is a regular contributor to top gaming magazines. He authored the
video poker section of Everything Casino Poker: Get the Edge at Video Poker, Texas
Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo, and Pai Gow Poker! You can contact Jerry “Stickman” at
stickmanjerryg@gmail.com