Casinos in Ontario are still open, holy crap

The BBQ Pit
1

Amidst all the COVID-19 closings, Ontario’s casinos remain cheerily open for business.

I am a poker player. I love playing live poker in casinos and I’m reasonably good at it, but I wouldn’t come within a mile of a casino right now. Casinos are atrocious vectors of disease and germs; a casino chip is basically the viral and bacterial mass transit system. A slot machine will be touched by the grubby hands of any number of degenerate gamblers, and of course the crowd at most casinos is REALLY old. Senior citizens adore casinos.

I am just flabbergasted that the Province of Ontario is allowing them to stay open. It’s ridiculous.

2

Just saw the same for a local casino, Resorts World in Ozone Park, NY. Hey, the casinos’ creditors won’t care, nor will those who just have to get their fix. From Goodfellas:

3

…especially with all the people kissing their money goodbye.

More seriously, does First Nations sovereignty enter into the calculus of whether the Canadian government CAN force the casinos to suspend operations?

4

Going to casinos now allows you to gamble for the highest stakes possible. Adds to the excitement. :dubious:

5

“Gambling is the first thing a man needs in a strange place. It can take the worry out of his soul.”

–Cordwainer Smith, “When The People Fell”

6

It’s a provincial thing, not federal.

Most casinos in Ontario are not on First Nations land. Quite a few are in largish cities, including two right in the heart of Niagara Falls, and there’s even one in Ottawa. Casino Rama is, but even it is licensed by the provincial gaming corporation and has to play by provincial rules.

7

Looks like the Vegas casinos are also still open, but hey, they closed their buffet restaurants…

8

We’ve got a casino down the street here (in Ohio, US). I was thinking about it yesterday…it’s just a slots casino so it’s all touching, all the time. And most of the patrons are old people. And there’s a buffet. I mean, it’s got to be a HUGE vector for spreading disease.

Closing it down has also got to be a loss of a lot of money in a very short time.

It’s still open. The buffet is still open. Concerts are canceled, at least. They’re just disinfecting the hell out of everything.

I hope vulnerable people are staying away!

9

The casinos are open, taking bets. Pot is legal. Prostitution is legal. You have a chance to die quickly of plague (spin that wheel!).
It’s a Ryan Reynolds paradise…!

10

My first reaction upon reading the OP was to mutter, “Znid suddabit!”

11

p.s. For those familiar with Cordwainer Smith’s writing, my comment was, of course, directed at the idiots keeping the casino open, not at RickJay. For those not familiar with Smith’s stuff, here’s a spoiler:

“Znid suddabit” is an interjection, literally meaning “Kill the humans!” Apparently (in the story) “sudabit” is the Ulleran word for “human” and comes from the English “son of a bitch”.

12

This thread is really making me think that I should cancel my casino cruise…

13

Uller Uprising is by H. Beam Piper, not Cordwainer Smith.

14

Rats, I was looking forward to licking your face.

15

Joke shamelessly stolen: People don’t go to casinos to remember their problems.

16

Has the Ontario government directed the closure of anything yet?

17

*Always *bet on hack… and cough and sneeze and rasp etc.

18

Right. :smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack: Don’t know how I mucked that one up.

19

Ohio casinos finally closed. Doesn’t seem like they were happy about it.

20

Niagara appears to be open, Rama is closing due to pressure from the union.