{"id":130342,"date":"2020-03-17T13:48:32","date_gmt":"2020-03-17T20:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=130342"},"modified":"2020-03-17T13:56:50","modified_gmt":"2020-03-17T20:56:50","slug":"crown-resorts-pulls-half-its-slot-machines-in-social-distancing-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-pulls-half-its-slot-machines-in-social-distancing-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"Crown Resorts Switches Off Half Its Slot Machines in Social Distancing Drive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia\u2019s Crown Resorts said Monday it is unplugging every second slot machine and electronic gaming table at its flagship Melbourne property in a bid to enforce social and physical distancing between its customers.<\/p>\n

\"Crown
Unlike many of their US counterparts, all Australian casinos remain open for business. (Xaume Olleros\/Bloomberg)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The company said the measures had been adopted after consultation with health officials.<\/p>\n

As of Tuesday afternoon, there had been at least 450 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia and five deaths. The country\u2019s prime minister, Scott Morrison, has denied there is a need for a \u201cEuropean-style lockdown,\u201d although anyone flying into the country is subject to a 14-day self-isolation period.<\/p>\n

On Monday, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade advised Australians abroad who wished to return to the country to do so as soon as possible or risk becoming stranded.<\/p>\n

Open for Business<\/strong><\/h2>\n

But unlike in the US, where many major operators have opted to temporarily shutter their casinos to contain the spread of the virus, Australia\u2019s two biggest casino companies, Crown and Star, are staying open \u2013 for now, at least.<\/p>\n

Crown said that additional containment measures at its Melbourne and Perth properties include restricting the use of conference and banqueting facilities to groups of 450 people, the \u201cprescribed maximum density.”<\/p>\n

\n

The Australian government has banned all \u201cnon-essential\u201d gatherings of more than 500 people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Crown is already bracing itself for a significant revenue hit to its VIP segment, as travel restrictions in China have interrupted the steady flow of Chinese whales to its high-stakes baccarat tables.<\/p>\n

Crown Investigation Halted<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Meanwhile, a public investigation into Crown Resorts suitability<\/a> for licensing in the state of New South Wales — which includes the country\u2019s capital, Sydney — has been put on hold because of the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

Crown is expected to complete a controversial $2 billion property in Sydney next year. But allegations in Australian media that the operator turned a blind eye to Chinese organized crime through its dealings with the Macau junket industry has called its licensing for the project into question.<\/p>\n

\n

The investigation was also looking into the acquisition of Crown Resorts shares by Hong Kong-based Melco Resorts because of Melco CEO Lawrence Ho\u2019s father, Stanley Ho\u2019s, alleged ties to organized crime.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Lawrence Ho reportedly has an interest in an obscure company that\u2019s blacklisted by Australian authorities because of its links to Ho Sr.<\/p>\n

Melco agreed to buy 20 percent of Crown Resorts from its billionaire founder James Packer, who has withdrawn from the business world because of mental health issues.<\/a><\/p>\n

It completed its acquisition of the first ten percent in June, and the second tranche was put on hold pending regulatory scrutiny. But Melco backed out of the deal for the remaining ten percent in early February, citing the pressure the coronavirus had put on its business in Macau.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australia\u2019s Crown Resorts said Monday it is unplugging every second slot machine and electronic gaming table at its flagship Melbourne property in a bid to enforce social and physical distancing between its customers. The company said the measures had been adopted after consultation with health officials. As of Tuesday afternoon, there had been at least […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":130343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCrown Resorts Pulls Half Its Slot Machines in Social Distancing Drive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Crown Resorts to unplug every second slot machine and electronic table game to promote social distancing in a bid to contain the coronavirus.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Crown Resorts Pulls Half Its Slot Machines in Social Distancing Drive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Crown Resorts to unplug every second slot machine and electronic table game to promote social distancing in a bid to contain the coronavirus.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-pulls-half-its-slot-machines-in-social-distancing-drive\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-17T20:48:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-03-17T20:56:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/CROWN.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-pulls-half-its-slot-machines-in-social-distancing-drive\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-pulls-half-its-slot-machines-in-social-distancing-drive\/\",\"name\":\"Crown Resorts Pulls Half Its Slot Machines in Social Distancing Drive\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-pulls-half-its-slot-machines-in-social-distancing-drive\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-pulls-half-its-slot-machines-in-social-distancing-drive\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/CROWN.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-17T20:48:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-17T20:56:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Crown Resorts to unplug every second slot machine and electronic table game to promote social distancing in a bid to contain the coronavirus.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-pulls-half-its-slot-machines-in-social-distancing-drive\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-pulls-half-its-slot-machines-in-social-distancing-drive\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-resorts-pulls-half-its-slot-machines-in-social-distancing-drive\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/CROWN.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/CROWN.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Unlike many of their US counterparts, all Australian casinos remain open for business. 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