How Do Casinos Lock Their Doors?

I assume casinos and hotels in Las Vegas, since they never close, have no door locks. If that's true, how did they lock up now during the virus situation? And: There's a story going around the Internet that after the shutdown order, many of the Nevada casinos had to call locksmiths to put locks on their doors since they never needed them because they never close. Is there any truth to this?

A story in the March 21 Washington Post about the "devastating situation" in Las Vegas cited the owner of the Emerald Island in Henderson. "The front door of his 24-hour casino hadn’t been locked since he opened the place 18 years ago. Where on Earth are the keys? Anticipating a shutdown, Brooks called a locksmith and had a new lock installed."

We believe that's where the "rumors" started. But we assume that the door-lock conundrum applies mostly, if not solely, to the front and public-access entries.

Casinos large and small have any number of back-of-the-house doors: for employees, shipping and receiving, trash, warehouse, security, etc. Like any multi-door buildings, they have master-key systems that are serviced by outside locksmiths (for the smaller buildings) or the maintenance departments at the larger (this writer has a friend who for many years was one of three in-house locksmiths at MGM Grand). You better believe those doors have working locks with restricted access to the keys on the master system.

That said, for years, we've noticed that casinos' public doors don't have entry locks at all. Automatic doors can be locked by shutting down the electrical circuit (flick of a switch). Those with pull handles are usually double doors and those can be -- and have been -- locked with high-security cables and padlocks.

Actually, in many cases, you can't even get near the front doors. Access is blocked by roadblocks, barricades, temporary cyclone fencing, and other obstructions, some festooned with yellow "Keep Out!" police tape.

In addition, cops and casino security are all over the Strip and downtown, keeping a very close eye on everything.

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Adam Apr-02-2020

Festooned

My compliments to the author of the answer. I like the visual of "festooned with yellow "Keep Out!"police tape." Nice work.

Dave Apr-02-2020

Not all doors have locks

A google search will yield news stories and photos of the few casino doors that needed chains and padlocks to lock them.

Dave in Seattle. Apr-02-2020

We never close.

Also they are afraid to turn of the lights,for fear that they may not be able to turn them back on.The breakers have been ON for decades.

Question of the Day - 02 April 2020

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