COVID rules FAQ

Coming into town in mid May for the first time in a long time, was hoping folks might be able to point me to what COVID rules are in place, things like: are masks required in the casinos while playing video poker; is there drink service to the VP machines. Just trying to set my expectations and brace for how different it will be from the past.

Hi Rock Dawg.  Things could change by the time of your visit, but don't count on it just yet.  Expect the strictest rules, be glad if rules have loosened.  Masks, yes everywhere.

Currently: masks are required everywhere in casinos including at every game.  Slots, VP, tables, all require masks.   There is drink service to VP machines (and all games).  You are expected to keep the mask on, pull it down or to the side enough to take sips but not take it off.   Most tables limit the number of players to 3, separated by plexiglas.  Not sure how many are allowed at POKER tables.  Dealers wear masks as well.   

Restaurants:  You may need reservations in the popular hotel restaurants since capacity is still limited.  In restaurants you keep your mask on until your first drink or food is brought to your table, at which time you may take your mask off while you eat and drink your meal.  When you finish eating/drinking, you are expected to put the mask back on if you sit and converse, etc.

Most limit the number of people on an elevator, usually 4-6 depending on elevator size, and keep your mask on while in the elevator.  

None of this is really disruptive to having fun, you get used to it pretty quickly.  What else are you wondering about?

Candy

Thanks Candy, only other question I have is if there is seating at the bar, I'll be solo on this trip and tend to prefer sitting at thr bar to at a table by myself.

Yes there is seating at bars, however not all bars are open

I think what's more germane is how prepared you are personally to act safely and responsibly. Are you prepared and willing to wear a mask at all times? For instance, will you use sipping a drink at a slot machine as an excuse to pull it down for minutes at a time? Are you prepared to practice social distancing ALL of the time, not only when it's convenient or easy?

It's much more about responsible behavior than the guidelines that happen to be in place at any given time (and yes, by the time you take your trip, those probably will have changed). The reason is, the casinos are, to put it charitably, irregular in their enforcement of the prevailing rules, and the state may punish small businesses for non-compliance but it will NEVER meaningfully sanction the casinos. Just remember, in Nevada, the casinos ARE the government.

Drink service at the machines has never stopped. Bar seating SHOULD be only every other seat occupied, since those seats are much less than six feet away from one another, but I haven't seen that enforced anywhere. I would ask myself whether I really want to sit next to someone who's wearing a mask, but only as a chin bra, and maybe puffing away on a cigarette to boot.

I edited my response above to say that I don't know about poker tables, how many players are seated.  I left out the word POKER.  Most other games it is 3 players.  Sorry!

Good luck, RockDawg

Candy

Most of the tables I've seen appear to have a physical limit of five or six players, due to the width and spacing of the plexiglass dividers. I did hear reports that some places are dealing seven-handed, though.

There's one casino that doesn't have dividers on its poker tables at all, but I don't remember which one. Anybody who plays at such a table is, how shall I put it, a real gambler.

Most strip poker rooms (and many of the others as well) use the Bravo player tracking system. If you download the free Bravo app, you can see the pandemic rules for any of these poker rooms. In addition, the app will also tell you what tables are currently running and how many players are waiting.