Back in business

Station Casinos reopened three of its poker rooms in Las Vegas on August 3, offering patrons the opportunity to participate in eight-handed games. Plexiglass barriers are now in place at these venues to separate players from each other and from the dealer. 

The Nevada-based hotel and casino gaming company released images on Twitter as poker games got back in action at its facilities:

The reopened poker rooms are located at Santa Fe Station, Boulder Station, and Red Rock Resort. Games restarted at 9am on Monday and will be running 24/7. The card rooms were planning to resume activity with up to six-person poker games before recently getting regulatory approval to extend their offering to eight-handed play.

There are ten poker tables at Boulder Station, 14 tables at Santa Fe, and 20 tables at Red Rock. Omaha and Texas hold’em will be the main featured games, with a number of promotions running alongside them. The poker rooms are all non-smoking venues.

Health and safety considerations

In addition to the barriers separating players at the poker table, other health and safety protocols have been implemented at the newly reopened Station Casinos poker rooms. These include mandatory face coverings for all workers and players at the facilities, as well as regular temperature checks and enhanced cleaning protocols. 

mandatory face coverings for all workers and players

There are ten full-scale casinos operated by Station Casinos in Nevada, along with some smaller properties. While most of these properties have been back up and running for some time, the poker rooms remained closed.

Reopening of Nevada casinos

Casinos in Nevada were able to start reopening on June 4, having been closed since the middle of March following the outbreak of COVID-19. Originally, the Nevada Gaming Control Board was only allowing a maximum of four players per poker table, but these restrictions have since been eased. 

still 17 card rooms in Las Vegas that remain shut

On the weekend that casinos were getting back to business at the start of June, only four card rooms reopened in Las Vegas. These were housed inside the Venetian, the Orleans, the Golden Nugget, and South Point. The list of open card rooms now sits at 14, meaning there are still 17 card rooms in Las Vegas that remain shut.