Borgata Casino Hotel & Spa has reopened its poker room in Atlantic City. The popular poker hub went back into operation, with limited capacity, on October 21 at 10 a.m. following its closure earlier this year amidst the coronavirus crisis.
Borgata Poker will now operate with 30 socially distanced tables following the company’s comprehensive health and safety protocols designed to protect employees and customers.
“We are happy to welcome back our loyal players as we reopen Atlantic City’s market-leading East Coast poker destination,” said Melonie Johnson, President & Chief Operating Officer of Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. “We have made some changes to enhance our guest’s experience and are excited to reintroduce live poker and the Borgata Poker brand more safely.”
All poker play will be live cash games on seven-handed tables with polycarbonate barriers. Borgata’s Bad Beat Jackpot will immediately initiate, giving players the opportunity to lose their hand but win a prize of $100,000. Hand sanitizing dispensers will be accessible throughout The Poker Room, with frequent disinfecting of high touch points. Masks are required in all public areas and spectators will not be permitted in The Poker Room.
Poker is the most difficult table game that casinos have had to contend with due to the pandemic. While blackjack, craps and other table games returned to all Atlantic City properties after reopening in July, poker, with its close player proximity, has remained closed at most casinos.
“A live poker room does not bring a great deal directly to the bottom line,” said Bob Ambrose, a gaming industry consultant, professor of casino management and former Atlantic City executive. “It does bring bottom line revenues to the other property amenities, such as restaurants, bars and even other non-poker gaming. … I would say you gain more from it as a marketing tool for visitation.”
Big events, such as the World Series of Poker, bring attention and visitors but not the kind of gaming revenue slots and other table games do. Casinos get a small commission in poker, known as the rake.
Borgata, with the largest poker room, generated nearly $17.9 million in poker revenue in 2019. Compare that to Bally’s and Harrah’s, which combined earned less than $5 million and it goes down from there.
But that doesn’t send poker rooms to the dust bin of history.
“Many serious players like the slower pace and methodical experience of a live game,” Ambrose said. “The poker footprint in the casino is a must have for diversification of gaming product and experience for the player.”
Las Vegas poker rooms have table capacity limits and dividers between players, and Borgata Poker will take its cues from them.
Earlier this year, Borgata implemented the MGM Resorts’ “Seven-Point Safety Plan,” a multi-layered set of protocols and procedures designed in conjunction with medical and scientific experts. The plan balances the high level of customer service guests expect from Borgata with policies that continually evolve based on data, science, and public health guidelines. Key initiatives from the plan include:
- Employee screening, temperature checks and COVID-19 specific training.
- Masks required in all public areas for both employees and guests (and provided free of charge).
- Guest screening and temperature checks with limited casino entrance points.
- A physical distancing policy with floor guides serving as reminders.
- For areas where physical distancing presents challenges, polycarbonate barriers will be installed, or other measures will be used to reduce risks.
- Standalone handwashing stations designed by MGM Resorts conveniently located on the casino floor.
- Guestroom Attendants will wear masks and gloves while cleaning each room and will change gloves between guestrooms.
- In addition to increased and enhanced routine cleaning of guestrooms and public spaces based on CDC guidance, electrostatic sprayers will be utilized in many large public spaces so that disinfectant is applied efficiently.
MGM, Borgata’s parent company, has compiled its own internal team and processes to respond if a guest or employee tests positive for COVID-19. They ask that if a guest tests positive after visiting one of its properties, they alert them through a special email address (covid19@mgmresorts.com). Borgata officials vowed to immediately report any positive test results to the local health department and assist with contact tracing to support the health department investigators.
