The Gardens Casino Reopens Under Strict Health Rules and Protocols

The Gardens Casino reopened today Oct. 5.

By Tammye McDuff • October 5, 2020

As businesses struggle to find creative solutions to reopening, casinos seem to be last on the list of organizations to receive permission.

In August of this year the city of Hawaiian Gardens declared a fiscal emergency, with a letter being sent to Governor Gavin Newsom regarding the Gardens Casino. The City receives more than 70 percent of its revenue from the Casino, which has been closed during the pandemic.

Hawaiian Gardens slashed their budget almost in half and laid off more than 20 percent of the city’s workforce. The City applied for and received federal stimulus funds, cut non-essential and essential services, but as long as Casino Gardens is closed, the City is losing millions.

Finally receiving guidelines from Sacramento, the Gardens was able to reopen with very strict regulations.

The entrance where they take customer’s temperature and exercise other health protocols.

Keith Sharp, General Counsel for the Gardens Casino, introduced the Casino’s new outdoor gaming area today, October 5.

In order to follow all state and federal ordinances, the Gardens  has transformed their former drive up valet area into an outdoor gaming room, rebuilding an outdoor casino from the sub-flooring, carpet, chairs, tables, equipment, tress work, security cameras, and even air conditioning. “We had to totally think outside the box. Basically everything that was indoors is now outdoors,” said Sharp.

Clear dividers have been added to every table and every seat. All patrons must wear a mask, dealers wear the clear face protectors and each time they deal, they must sanitize their hands. Paper card decks are used in place of the plastic decks, so they can be tossed after each dealer rotation. Chips are sanitized on a regular basis, “it is like a chip dish washer,” said Sharp, ”they are collected and sent to the back of the house and cleaned with a heated sanitizer, so that all chips coming back on the floor are clean.”

When the Casino was fully opened, their license was for 225 tables, and on a good weekend would see about 200 tables open, they have only able to open 45 tables, with roughly six seats per table. Games that are currently running are Baccarat, three card poker, ultimate Texas Hold ’Em, Blackjack and Pai Gow.

Table with plexiglass separators for each player and the dealer.

The Gardens is running with moderated hours from 9:00 am to 2:00 am, closing to be able to deep clean the room, tables and chairs. “We come through with EPA approved misters, in the middle of the trusses you will see cleaning equipment so that when a player leaves a game, an employee can come in and sanitize the entire area,” added Sharp.