Pa Casinos To Reopen

4/6/2022 admin

Pennsylvania casinos have been greenlighted to reopen as of Monday, Jan. 4, rekindling revenue streams that fund Thoroughbred purses in the state.

Casinos will be allowed to reopen at 8 a.m. Yesterday I announced additional, temporary COVID mitigation measures for Pennsylvania. The new restrictions begin Saturday and will be in effect until 8 a.m. Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin in Fayette County is the one other casino in Pennsylvania that is located in one of the 16 green counties, but it has not given any indication regarding its plans to reopen yet. As per the state’s rules, entertainment facilities such as casinos, shopping malls, and theaters can only reopen at 50% capacity.

Governor Tom Wolf announced Dec. 30 that because COVID-19 mitigation efforts have been working to tamp down the spread of the pandemic, he will allow more stringent safety restrictions that went into effect Dec. 12 to expire as planned.

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But that doesn't mean a full-blown opening for the 13 casinos in the state: Mitigation efforts will roll back to what they were on Dec. 11, which still caps casinos at 50% of occupancy. Similar restrictions were also eased for other social activities, like indoor dining, gyms, theaters and high school sports.

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Parx and Penn National are the only two Thoroughbred tracks operating in Pennsylvania at this time of year.

“I think that's really good news. We can go back to getting monies from the casinos, and that's very important to us,” said Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association President Sal DeBunda in a video message posted to the organization's website Dec.31.

Pennsylvania Casinos To Reopen

DeBunda noted owners will still not be able to enter the winner's circle to pose with their horses, “so it's not a total open situation, but it's back to the old rules before the mitigation rules were put in.”