Barely a week after announcing plans to reopen five Nevada-based casinos early this month, Eldorado Resorts (ERI) announced even more reopenings this morning.
"Eldorado plans to reopen Isle Casino Racing Pompano in Florida on Saturday, June 13, Tropicana Evansville in Indiana on Monday, June 15, Isle Casino Hotel Blackhawk and Lady Luck Casino Blackhawk in Colorado on Wednesday, June 17, and Eldorado Gaming Scioto Downs in Ohio on Friday, June 19," the company announced in a statement.
Image source: Getty Images.
Once these casinos have reopened, a total of 21 of Eldorado's 23 casino properties will be back in business -- 91% of the business. That being said, Eldorado still isn't operating at full capacity, even at the casinos that are now open.
As the company has previously explained, it is "implementing procedures that limit gaming capacity and casino floor occupancy and ensure proper social distancing." Within Eldorado casinos, patrons will be asked to "refrain from congregating in groups," to wear face masks (not mandatory, but encouraged), and to wash their hands frequently.
Perhaps more pertinently to investors, Eldorado will be spacing out its slot machines and limiting the number of customers who can play at any single blackjack, roulette, poker, or craps table at the same time -- both measures that will decrease utilization of each casino's floor space, and almost certainly therefore have an impact on revenue.
Yet even so, progress is being made, and something is better than nothing. Recognizing this, investors bid up Eldorado stock 9% through 12:30 p.m. EDT today.
