Pennsylvania casinos have been greenlighted to reopen as of Monday, Jan. 4, rekindling revenue streams that fund Thoroughbred purses in the state.
TL;DR: Pennsylvania officials are weighing a new ban on indoor dining and the closure of gyms and casinos, and a decision is likely within days, according to a source not authorized to speak publicly. Here are the current COVID-19 restrictions in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. Pennsylvania lifted a series of temporary Covid-19 mitigation orders today that prohibited in-person dining at restaurants and a ban on indoor gatherings of more than 10 people, among other measures. Q: Are the identities of individuals on the Pennsylvania Casino Self-Exclusion list protected from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests from media or the general public, similar to Michigan House Bills 4926-4928? A: This is not specified by existing PA casino self-exclusion laws. However, individuals on the voluntary self-exclusion list.
Pennsylvania Casinos to Reopen as COVID-19 Restrictions Ease Pennsylvania casinos can reopen on January 4 after closing on December 12 Rivers Casino Pittsburgh, Hollywood Casino, Meadows Casino and Racetrack will reopen Monday Casinos will still need to operate at a maximum capacity of 50%. Casinos are open but with limitations to allow social distancing and disinfection of machines between uses. Activities are limited to gaming machines and equipment that do not require a dealer and that can be played by one customer at a time and disinfected between uses.
Governor Tom Wolf announced Dec. 30 that because COVID-19 mitigation efforts have been working to tamp down the spread of the pandemic, he will allow more stringent safety restrictions that went into effect Dec. 12 to expire as planned.
But that doesn't mean a full-blown opening for the 13 casinos in the state: Mitigation efforts will roll back to what they were on Dec. 11, which still caps casinos at 50% of occupancy. Similar restrictions were also eased for other social activities, like indoor dining, gyms, theaters and high school sports.
Parx and Penn National are the only two Thoroughbred tracks operating in Pennsylvania at this time of year.
“I think that's really good news. We can go back to getting monies from the casinos, and that's very important to us,” said Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association President Sal DeBunda in a video message posted to the organization's website Dec.31.
Michigan Casino Restrictions
DeBunda noted owners will still not be able to enter the winner's circle to pose with their horses, “so it's not a total open situation, but it's back to the old rules before the mitigation rules were put in.”
Pa Casinos Reopening
Earlier this week, Penn National had announced a contingency plan to stay open through the month of January based on maintaining a nightly handle benchmark of $1.4 million in the event that Wolf had decided to extend the casino shutdown.