Las Vegas reopens from historic coronavirus casino closure

The casino coronavirus closure has ended. Cards are being dealt, dice are rolling and slot machines flashed and jingled for the first customers who started gambling again early Thursday in Las Vegas and throughout Nevada. “The past few months have presented our city with an unprecedented challenge," said Derek Stevens, owner of two downtown Las Vegas casinos that were shuttered along with all gambling establishments in the state 79 days ago. “We are excited to get our employees back to work and to welcome guests to the entertainment capital of the world.” Hotel-casinos in suburban Las Vegas were the first to open at 12:01 a.m., to be followed later in the morning by a restart of the iconic Bellagio fountain and reopenings of several resorts on the Las Vegas Strip.

Wynn Resorts pushed back its planned opening to daylight hours in a nod to ongoing nighttime protests over George Floyd's death in Minnesota. Floyd, a black man, died after a white officer pressed his knee into his neck. There are big hopes for recovery from an unprecedented and expensive shutdown prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.

“There's a tremendous amount on the line, not only for casinos, but for the community and the state,” said Alan Feldman, a longtime casino executive who is now a fellow at the International Gaming Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “This is an extremely important moment.” Casino resorts that had been famously always open were shuttered March 17 after Gov. Steve Sisolak's emergency order closed nonessential businesses to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Property owners, state regulators and Sisolak, a Democrat who has been criticized for the closure, balanced health concerns against the loss of billions of dollars a month in gambling revenue and unemployment that topped 28% during an idled April.

They're betting that safety measures — disinfected dice; hand sanitizer and face masks; limited numbers of players at tables; temperature checks at entrances to some resorts; touchless cellphone check-ins — will lure tourists back. “I'm optimistic that customers will see that gaming properties invested time and effort to welcome them back to a safe and entertaining environment,” state Gaming Control Board chief Sandra Douglass Morgan said Wednesday.

The regulatory board required detailed health safety plans from resort owners by last week, before giving the go-ahead to reopen. Feldman said he thinks it will take a long time for the sector to recover.

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