Massachusetts casinos to remain closed until at least June 1

Massachusetts’ slots parlor and casinos will remain closed until at least June 1 and each establishment is developing a plan to open with limited capacity, health screenings and temperature checks for all employees, physical distancing reminders and, at the casinos, voting booth-like plexiglass dividers at gaming tables.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission met remotely Thursday afternoon to begin talking with its three licensees — Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville, MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor in Everett — about the plans each facility has in mind for whenever they are allowed to reopen. The commission also voted Thursday to extend its mandated shutdown to at least June 1.

The temporary order had been due to expire Monday, when Gov. Charlie Baker’s stay-at-home order also ends. The governor has rolled out the broad strokes of a four-phase reopening after that date but hasn’t given a timeline or elaborated on what industries will reopen, and when.

All three Massachusetts gambling facilities have been closed since March 17. The companies said Thursday that they expect casinos in other states will open back up before Massachusetts casinos and that they will update their Bay State plans based on the experiences of their sister casinos elsewhere.

“By no means do we believe we should be in one of the earliest phases,” Brian Gullbrants, president of Encore Boston Harbor casino in Everett, said about the governor’s plan, as reported by Boston Herald.  

Gullbrants and officials from MGM Springfield and Plainridge Park Casino — the other two casinos in the commonwealth — joined the members of the Gaming Commission and other state officials on a conference call Thursday.

“All of us are expecting a much later opening,” Gullbrants said. The casinos appeared to be three of a kind throughout much of the call, echoing that sentiment and all saying they’re planning major efforts to keep the premises clean and people separated when they do open up.

Encore, at $2.3 billion, was the most expensive private construction project in the history of the state, opening last June. Gullbrants outlined a range of steps the casino plans, including thermal cameras taking the temperature of everyone going in and out, and all staff and visitors being required to wear a mask. He said the casino will sanitize all machines every hour and will use “disinfectant guns” that blast an electrified mist of cleaning products.

Encore and MGM officials both talked about the possibility of installing plexiglass between gamblers, especially at tables. Plainridge, which is a much smaller casino, said it expects to open even later, and, like the other two, expects to have many of its machines off, spacing gamblers out.

An Encore spokeswoman said Thursday that the casino, which hired thousands last year, is “committed” to paying all employees through the end of the month. 

MGM Springfield warned regulators this week that as many as 1,887 people could be laid off at the end of August as the pandemic continues to batter the economy.