Land Based Casinos Facing Slow Developments, More Restrictions On Online Casinos
The casino hotel Encore on the Strip in Las Vegas is responding to lower visitor numbers with changed opening times. This was announced by operator Wynn Resorts on Tuesday. Recently, hotel guests can only check-in for a long weekend. The casino is also temporarily closed.
According to management, the hotel and play areas of the Encore are to remain closed to the public from Monday lunchtime to Thursday afternoon until further notice. The Wynn Poker Room, which was only reopened on September 30 and is also located in the Encore complex, is meanwhile moving to the neighboring sister resort of Wynn Las Vegas. Here the operator is sticking to its 24/7 offer.
The reason for the decision to adjust the opening times of the Encore is the lower number of overnight stays in the gaming city. In particular, the trade fairs and major events that were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic seem to have a major impact.
Restrictions in other casinos too?
David Schwartz, a gambling researcher at the University of Las Vegas, believes that other resorts in Las Vegas could follow the Encore’s lead. In particular, operators who have several locations should try to reduce their operating costs through restricted opening times.
Nevertheless, Schwartz told local media, the temporary decision by the Wynn management did not mean undue cause for panic: Las Vegas, according to the researcher, is a place of longing for many people. Even if the time cannot yet be foreseen, he has no doubt that the glittering metropolis will find its way back to its old form.
Shift to Online Casinos
With the land-based casinos facing strict regulations and slow progress due to the (still ongoing) fight against corona, people are shifting to online casinos like xe88. But more regulations are being introduced to further protect the people from too much gambling.
UK Wagering Limits
An example would be the Wagering Limits imposed by many governments on Online Casinos. The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), the UK’s gambling supervisor, could introduce fixed betting limits of GBP 2 (approx. EUR 2.4) for online gambling from August 2020.UKGC boss Neil McArthur announced this in a speech to the Gambling-Related Harm All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG).
The APPG had already requested in November 2019 to introduce a stake limit for online gambling, which should be based on the stake maximum of the land-based fixed-odds betting terminals. Since April 2019, a maximum of GBP 2 per game round can be used on the devices.