Pandemic pushes card games outside
Tracy casino is first in state to reopen tables
Shaded from the blazing sun by canopies and refreshed by fans, gamblers on Sunday regained some sense of normalcy by returning to an outdoor cardroom in Tracy.
Stars Casino opened for the first extended period since midMarch, becoming the first cardroom in the state allowed to reopen with outdoor gaming. It could become a model for Bay Area casinos and cardrooms that are leaking money.
“Not every place has a patio or parking lots where tables and tents could be set up, but it works great here,” said Tateo Yoshida, who is usually a prop poker player at Stars Casino, but is currently working as a floor assistant. “People just want to get out of their houses. You can see their smiles through their masks.”
Working closely with San Joaquin County and the state, which closed cardrooms under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s July 13 orders, Stars Casino Chief Operating Officer Emmanuel Macalino presented a safety plan that was approved for outdoor operation on the casino’s spacious backyard patio.
The cardroom had previously reopened July 12, only to be forced to shut back down within hours.
This time, gamblers have to show identification, get their temperatures checked and sanitize their hands before entering the patio. Any time a player leaves a table, the unoccupied seat is disinfected.
Once inside the canopies, masked gamblers find properly distanced tables and seats to play blackjack, baccarat, threecard poker, Pai Gow and Ultimate Texas Hold ’Em. Other forms of poker that often require eight or nine players are not allowed, as each table seats only three or four maximum.
Dealer Carol Lussier said the outdoor cardroom is working at about half of its indoor capacity, but she’ll take what she can get on the patio, which before the pandemic was used as a lounge and party area. She said the tips she can make far outweigh the unemployment she has collected since midMarch and will allow her to take better care of her mother, a 77yearold stroke victim.
The Stars Casino parking lot was about half full just after its noon opening on Sunday, and about a dozen players were spread among eight tables. Workers said there were about 30 to 40 gamblers Saturday night as a huge purple sign on the front of the building has started to alert customers: “OUTDOOR GAMING NOW OPEN.”
“We went through our reserves rather quickly, because without income and (with) fixed expenses, it’s hard to survive,” Macalino said. “For us, to have an opportunity to rehire employees and provide them with employment and a paycheck, and, at the same time run a viable business, it’s a great opportunity for us. We hope that it will serve as a model for other cardrooms and other businesses to follow.”
It hasn’t been easy for any casino. Oaks Card Club in Emeryville is closed, as is Parkwest Casino 580 in Livermore. San Pablo Lytton Casino is allowing machine gaming, but neither card games nor dining are expected to return anytime soon.
The California Grand Casino in Pacheco has been closed since March and does not have the outdoor space to mimic the Stars Casino model.
“If we cannot reopen in the near future, we are concerned for the welfare of our staff, especially with unemployment benefits declining,” California Grand Casino General Counsel David Fried said. “Unfortunately, opening outdoors is not viable for most cardrooms, economically and due to space and security constraints. Even when we can reopen indoors, our best hope is that we can put most everyone back to work while breaking even until this terrible crises is over.”
Closing in on five months, the pandemic has seen little positive movement for casinos and cardrooms. The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and other tribes across California voluntarily closed their gaming floors in hopes of slowing the coronavirus spread in March.
Cache Creek Casino Resort in Brooks, owned by the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, was the first Northern California casino to close, making the decision before Yolo County’s health mandates. The casino reopened June 8, but without card games, valet service or buffets. It still offers electronic games and slot machines, some dining, a limited entertainment schedule and hotel services.
The California Gaming Association, the trade group representing cardrooms across the state, does not think it’s fair that indoor electronic machine gaming and slot machines are being allowed in some casinos while indoor card games are not. (The state believes electronic games tend to be safer because they are a more solitary activity.) California’s cardrooms are an estimated $5 billion industry, according to the association.
“We believe you have the authority to order ALL casino operations, including tribal casinos, to cease operations in the affected counties,” the association wrote in a letter to Newsom last month.
But many public health experts believe moving outdoors could be a solution. They say that having health checks before entering the outdoor space and being distanced during games that sometimes call for players to linger in one spot for hours can mitigate the risks.
“People are doing what they’re supposed to do,” Yoshida said. “They don’t want to risk losing the opportunity again.”