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Of all the Colorado businesses reopening during recent weeks amid the COVID-19 crisis, casinos face some of the biggest challenges. After all, a significant portion of their clientele is in the sixty-and-up demographic that's most at risk of fatal consequences from the novel coronavirus, and casino operators need to persuade such folks that they won't be gambling with their lives while gambling away their children's inheritance.

To see how this pitch is working, we headed to Black Hawk, one of Colorado's three mountain towns that allow gambling, on Saturday, June 27, and visited two of the community's largest gaming establishments, Ameristar Casino, Resort and Spa and The Lodge Casino. What we found there were decent, if not overwhelming, crowds of customers more diverse in terms of age, if not ethnicity, than stereotypes might suggest, and the vast majority gave at least a nod toward social distancing and wore facial coverings.

Whether they wore them correctly is another matter.

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The Central City Parkway was far from jammed during our drive up from Denver. Still, the lower levels of the Ameristar parking garage were mostly filled upon our arrival, and the line to enter the casino, complete with floor stickers placed six feet apart, grew to around thirty people while we waited.

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At a kiosk placed in front of escalators leading to the main floor, Ameristar employees stood ready to insert our driver's licenses into the slot of a small gadget connected to a contraption that combined temperature-taking with facial recognition.

After passing both tests, we rode an escalator down to the primary gambling zone. At first glance, few risk-takers were in sight, in part because gaming tables aren't yet operating, owing to the health issues related to multiple people handling cards, chips and the like.

But deeper into the casino, where most of the slot machines are grouped, the scene changed.

By our estimate, around 30 percent of the slots were being used at any given time, and few casino-goers from different parties sat directly next to each other. A gap of a machine or more was common, and as soon as someone moved on, an Ameristar employee would swoop in and disinfect the buttons, levers and seats so they'd be ready for the next person.

Likewise, sanitation stations with hand sanitizer were strategically placed in high-traffic areas.

Gamblers at least made a nod to following safety precautions; we saw only a few who eschewed a mask. But 10 to 20 percent of the customers at Ameristar wore their facial coverings underneath their nose, making their use utterly pointless.

A block away, the Lodge Casino used a different admission process. A masked employee handed us stickers reading 'TEMP CHECK' that we were told would be automatically scanned on our way to the gaming area to determine if we were running a fever. If we failed, we would be stopped by another staffer, but no one blocked our way, rendering the other word on the sticker — 'APPROVED' — entirely accurate.

The Lodge was a bit busier than Ameristar. Its gaming tables had been nixed, too, but approximately 40 to 50 percent of the slot machines were in use. Spacing between individuals or groups was also in evidence, and sanitation options were readily available.

Again, only a few customers had ditched their masks entirely, but 20 percent or so had them placed in such a nose-exposing way that they would have been equally effective in their pockets.

As people passed each other in the walkways between gambling pods, most of them allowed for six feet or more of space between them and others, just as signage featuring Yosemite Sam directed — and the volume of customers made that possible.

Over time, higher attendance at Black Hawk casinos could make social distancing more difficult — and because many gamblers spend entire days in such places, the risk of breathing the same recirculated air for hour upon hour could certainly come into play.

Which makes sense — since casinos are all about chance.

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For three months, Colorado casino operations were at a standstill, after the state closed gambling venues to flatten the COVID-19 curve. That closure led to a massive financial hit for the gaming industry, with many workers furloughed or laid off.

In June, the state allowed casinos to reopen under strict public-health guidelines. Slot machines were allowed, but table games such as blackjack and craps — key revenue generators for many casinos — remained forbidden.

'Playing a slot machine is basically the most socially isolating thing you can do. It’s one human with an inanimate object,' says David Farahi, chief operating officer of the Monarch Casino and Resort in Black Hawk. 'With table games, at a minimum, you have a dealer and a player. Because it’s more challenging to make it safe, I think that’s the reason why the state didn’t allow table games at the onset.'

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And that meant more hardship for Gilpin County, which gets 85 percent of its budget from the gaming industry.

'One of the things that was a little disappointing coming from the [state] was that in that initial variance, it had a few extra things, like, 'In two weeks, we'll revisit opening table games,' explains Ron Engels, a Gilpin County commissioner. 'Two weeks came and went, and then nothing. Those two weeks turned into two months.'

Finally, on September 8, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment granted three counties permission to move to the Protect Our Neighbors level of operations, with less stringent guidelines, because the counties had met certain goals related to case numbers, health care and testing capacity. Rio Blanco and Mesa counties made the cut. So did Gilpin.

With that status change, casinos in the Gilpin County gaming towns of Black Hawk and Central City are now able to offer table games — though they will look much different this time around.

'Since Colorado is the only state that allowed casinos to open with slot machines only and not table games, there are some best practices that have been developed across the country that we’re going to deploy here in Colorado,' says Farahi.

At Monarch, table games will now be 'touch-free on the cards,' according to Farahi. So for blackjack, the only version of the game that will be allowed is one in which the first card is dealt face up, like all of the other face-up cards in a player's hand. That way, only the dealer will be touching the cards. There will be hand sanitizer at every table, and casino workers will sanitize chips throughout the day.

Monarch guests interested in playing games that require a player to touch cards, such as pai gow poker, will be out of luck, however. 'We decided to not offer that game right now so that we can avoid that issue,' says Farahi.

But it will have craps. 'The shooter will sanitize their hands before shooting,' explains table games manager Steve Zlobin. 'The dice will be sanitized as well. When the shooter changes, the dice will again be sanitized and the shooter will sanitize before they shoot. Rinse and repeat.”

All of these precautions add to what Monarch has been doing since it was able to turn its slot machines back on in June. Staffers, including the hundred or so dealers who are about to restart work, are being tested for COVID. Surfaces in the casino have been covered with an antimicrobial coating designed to protect them from germs and viruses, and they're being cleaned more frequently. Air circulation has been increased. And, of course, everyone inside the casinos must wear masks.

Although slot machines generate the most money for casinos, table games play a key role in the gaming business — and not just because they generate the second-highest revenue for a place like Monarch.

'There are couples. One person likes table games, another likes slots. If there are no table games, neither comes,' explains Farahi. 'Another way where it’s really meaningful is that there are literally thousands of dealers here in the industry in Colorado who have mostly been out of work.'

Monarch is bringing back nearly all of its dealers, and other dealers are returning to other casinos in the county. Teller County, which is home to Cripple Creek, Colorado's third gaming town, still hasn't received the green light from the state to reopen table games. “Counties that cannot meet the Protect our Neighbors criteria have disease transmission levels that present increased risk, particularly in situations where people are indoors and unable to socially distance,' according to the Colorado State Joint Information Center.

As casinos expand their offerings in Gilpin County, the numbers may start to turn in their favor after a bleak spring and disappointing summer. But it's going to take a while for the county itself to come back.

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'For the next several years, we’re going to be hurting,' Engels says.

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Keep Westword Free... Since we started Westword, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver, and we would like to keep it that way. Offering our readers free access to incisive coverage of local news, food and culture. Producing stories on everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with gutsy reporting, stylish writing, and staffers who've won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi feature-writing award to the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with local journalism's existence under siege and advertising revenue setbacks having a larger impact, it is important now more than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our 'I Support' membership program, allowing us to keep covering Denver with no paywalls.

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