Twin River Blackjack Minimum Bet

LINCOLN — It's a sure bet that Sean Willard isn't worrying about picking up COVID-19 at Twin River's blackjack tables.

He did catch $300 there the other day while the cards fell right. (He eventually gave most of it back.) But this pandemic? A big bluff, says the 45-year-old Greenville contractor.

For instance, if Twin River sports betting platform is to be efficiently backed by IGT, smart betting features like in-play bets will be possible right from the betting kiosk. Other than the fact that PlayShot is a B2B solution for sportsbook operators, it will also be able to offer players very convenient services like online sports betting. Twin River reopened its two casinos in Rhode Island on Monday, minus the smoking, free soft drinks, table games, sports betting, and entertainment that make it worth visiting.

'I've got 20 first cousins in this state,' he said. 'My mother's got a lot more than I got. Nobody's sick. Nobody knows anybody who's sick. They named the common cold, that's what they did. They named the common cold so they could pull the wool over our eyes for a [bogus] election.'

Whatever rationale Willard entertains to gamble against the pandemic, come Nov. 30, his Twin River visits — and those of about 6,000 daily visitors — will be on temporary hold.

Casinos to close

Last week, Gov. Gina Raimondo announced the state's two casinos — Twin River Casino Hotel in Lincoln and its sister, the Tiverton Casino Hotel — would be among those businesses closing for two weeks to try to contain the pandemic's spread.

While there have been sporadic instances of people testing positive for COVID who report they had visited one of the casinos in the last 14 days, 'We don't know that these people got sick there,' state Health Department spokesman Joseph Wendelken said. 'We have not seen any large clusters of cases there.'

An ordered shutdown was one part of Twin River's operational plan Craig Sculos and his team couldn't control.

'It's an old expression but one I live by — we're playing the cards dealt,' the Twin River vice president and general manager said on the casino floor on a recent afternoon.

Nearby, a roulette croupier, wearing clear latex gloves, sent the little white ball zipping along the rim of the spinning wheel as her three masked customers stretched under protective sheets of plexiglass to place their last chips.

'We've taken a very simple approach,' Sculos said. 'We can only contain what happens within our four walls.' Safety 'has been the number-one governing principle for everything that we have done. So, if a lockdown comes, a lockdown comes. We've done everything we can to make sure we are in compliance with what the expectation of the governor's office is.'

Twin River was forced to close once before, on March 13, in the early days of the pandemic. It remained shuttered until June 8, when it reopened initially for invited guests only with a limited number of operating video lottery terminals (to meet social-distancing requirements), no tables games and early closures.

Sports betting remained open. But with most professional sports shut down then, gamblers were left to wager on European soccer and, yes, even Chinese Ping-Pong.

As another closure nears, Twin River's Event Center and hotel remain closed, almost half of its 4,100 video lottery terminals are shut down and those table games in operation are limited to half-capacity, usually three players. That means no poker games, which usually have six players.

Consequently, revenue is down. Lottery data show that the VLTs were down 35% this September from a year ago and the table games down 43%.

Two-thirds of the casino's 2,500-member workforce who had returned in recent months will be furloughed during the two-week 'pause.'

But until the doors are locked again, many determined gamblers are still showing up.

They are 'your more serious players, those that were most frequently coming to the casino pre-COVID,' Sculos said. 'Then, on weekends, we see a slight mixture of the casual client, individuals who are probably predisposed to gamble and also looking to get out just a little bit.'

'Fringe players,' those looking at the casino for entertainment and dining opportunities, have all but disappeared.

'That's the portion of the population that's not coming because we really don't offer that' at the moment, Sculos said.

Twin River Blackjack Minimum Betting

Another segment noticeably absent? The crowds of white-haired elderly taking up positions in front of the VLT machines. COVID concerns could be a reason, Sculos said.

Those VLT players who do play slide in between partitions of plexiglass — with a good distance separating operating games.

Before the pandemic, Twin River saw about 15,000 daily visitors. Today, it is operating at about 40% capacity.

All casino visitors must wear masks and enter through the valet entrance, where they are directed down a hallway. There, a thermal imaging device resembling an oversized pair of binoculars stares down from a tripod. It registers each visitor's temperature before a casino employee reads the finding and offers an impassive 'OK' – or not.

Visitors then must drop their driver's licenses into what resembles a tiny toaster. It snaps a picture of the information before popping the license back up. The information is used for contact tracing later, if necessary.

Sean Willard's conspiracy theory isn't likely the major contributor as to why gamblers are playing through a pandemic.

A better explanation seems more aligned with phenomena like why birds migrate.

'I gotta get my football bets in,' explained Tom P., 69, of Warwick, somewhat surprised by the 'Why' question. (Standing at his car, he won't give his full last name in case his boss finds out he's not on the job.)

After a moment of consideration, he said, 'If I could set up the account right [on his phone] for betting football, I wouldn't be here. My wife won't come. We got a couple of health issues. I make my football bets and then I'm out.'

Twin River Blackjack Minimum Bets

The new sports betting parlor rule — politely enforced by casino workers — is 'bet and go.'

Gone are the pre-COVID days during which bettors would come in and set their game bets and then linger around the casino, perhaps have a beer and nachos and play some hands of poker before returning to the betting parlor to bet on the next set of games.

Twin River Blackjack Minimum Beta

'They would make a day of it,' Sculos said. 'Now it's bet and go.'

For social-distancing reasons, 'we are asking them to leave the space,' he said. 'We are really trying to promote sports betting through the [phone] app.'

Willard said that if it weren't for Twin River's safety protocol of limiting blackjack tables to three players, he'd be playing at Foxwoods Resort Casino, in Connecticut, which allows four players at a table.

'It's an old expression but one I live by — we're playing the cards dealt,' the Twin River vice president and general manager said on the casino floor on a recent afternoon.

Nearby, a roulette croupier, wearing clear latex gloves, sent the little white ball zipping along the rim of the spinning wheel as her three masked customers stretched under protective sheets of plexiglass to place their last chips.

'We've taken a very simple approach,' Sculos said. 'We can only contain what happens within our four walls.' Safety 'has been the number-one governing principle for everything that we have done. So, if a lockdown comes, a lockdown comes. We've done everything we can to make sure we are in compliance with what the expectation of the governor's office is.'

Twin River was forced to close once before, on March 13, in the early days of the pandemic. It remained shuttered until June 8, when it reopened initially for invited guests only with a limited number of operating video lottery terminals (to meet social-distancing requirements), no tables games and early closures.

Sports betting remained open. But with most professional sports shut down then, gamblers were left to wager on European soccer and, yes, even Chinese Ping-Pong.

As another closure nears, Twin River's Event Center and hotel remain closed, almost half of its 4,100 video lottery terminals are shut down and those table games in operation are limited to half-capacity, usually three players. That means no poker games, which usually have six players.

Consequently, revenue is down. Lottery data show that the VLTs were down 35% this September from a year ago and the table games down 43%.

Two-thirds of the casino's 2,500-member workforce who had returned in recent months will be furloughed during the two-week 'pause.'

But until the doors are locked again, many determined gamblers are still showing up.

They are 'your more serious players, those that were most frequently coming to the casino pre-COVID,' Sculos said. 'Then, on weekends, we see a slight mixture of the casual client, individuals who are probably predisposed to gamble and also looking to get out just a little bit.'

'Fringe players,' those looking at the casino for entertainment and dining opportunities, have all but disappeared.

'That's the portion of the population that's not coming because we really don't offer that' at the moment, Sculos said.

Twin River Blackjack Minimum Betting

Another segment noticeably absent? The crowds of white-haired elderly taking up positions in front of the VLT machines. COVID concerns could be a reason, Sculos said.

Those VLT players who do play slide in between partitions of plexiglass — with a good distance separating operating games.

Before the pandemic, Twin River saw about 15,000 daily visitors. Today, it is operating at about 40% capacity.

All casino visitors must wear masks and enter through the valet entrance, where they are directed down a hallway. There, a thermal imaging device resembling an oversized pair of binoculars stares down from a tripod. It registers each visitor's temperature before a casino employee reads the finding and offers an impassive 'OK' – or not.

Visitors then must drop their driver's licenses into what resembles a tiny toaster. It snaps a picture of the information before popping the license back up. The information is used for contact tracing later, if necessary.

Sean Willard's conspiracy theory isn't likely the major contributor as to why gamblers are playing through a pandemic.

A better explanation seems more aligned with phenomena like why birds migrate.

'I gotta get my football bets in,' explained Tom P., 69, of Warwick, somewhat surprised by the 'Why' question. (Standing at his car, he won't give his full last name in case his boss finds out he's not on the job.)

After a moment of consideration, he said, 'If I could set up the account right [on his phone] for betting football, I wouldn't be here. My wife won't come. We got a couple of health issues. I make my football bets and then I'm out.'

Twin River Blackjack Minimum Bets

The new sports betting parlor rule — politely enforced by casino workers — is 'bet and go.'

Gone are the pre-COVID days during which bettors would come in and set their game bets and then linger around the casino, perhaps have a beer and nachos and play some hands of poker before returning to the betting parlor to bet on the next set of games.

Twin River Blackjack Minimum Beta

'They would make a day of it,' Sculos said. 'Now it's bet and go.'

For social-distancing reasons, 'we are asking them to leave the space,' he said. 'We are really trying to promote sports betting through the [phone] app.'

Willard said that if it weren't for Twin River's safety protocol of limiting blackjack tables to three players, he'd be playing at Foxwoods Resort Casino, in Connecticut, which allows four players at a table.

'It seems anytime they pack the table, you lose.'

He's not sure the odds are actually any better with only three guys at a table.

But COVID or no COVID, he said, it's worth a try.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Gambling through a pandemic (for now) at Twin River