What cash does MGM have? None.
Zero.
They’ve liquidated all their land to get cash for Japan.
Just zip it for once in your life lol

This is brilliant! A company who paid their shareholders $70M in dividends last year, repurchased $150M in common stock 15 months ago, and had $1 BILLION in free cash flow last year......has zero cash. Ummm, ok.

Yes, they were highly leveraged prior to the asset sale that raised over $5B to become more flexible for Japan and to pay down debt while also owning a majority stake in the REIT that partnered with Blackstone to acquire Bellagio which is still a cash cow for them.

So major gaming companies from Las Vegas, to Colorado. Casinos in OK, all over California, have all decided to pay their employees. Anywhere from 2-6 weeks. You don’t see corrupt Twin River Holdings doing cause they’re that, that’s all state $.

Even tribal casinos in other states have stepped up to pay employees, only ones we haven’t heard is, you know them greedy CT casinos.
At this point in time, goes to show ya who really cares about their workforce.

So what if it starts a trend? Wynn Resorts CEO was the first one out there exposing to the world what he was gonna do. GOOD FOR HIM.

It is a math problem the accountants and HR will have to keep working on because if you lay off a certain amount of people and they go get other jobs when you do re-open you have to train new people which is time/money/bad service and more and what is that worth vs paying and hopefully your experienced good people stay. I have no idea what they value/perceive this to be but I am sure it might be worth 2 months of pay to keep someone who has been working there 8 years or a new great employee, etc... now if we keep this going for more months when will everyone break... if there was a loan system where people can borrow from future hours, etc...

I know the new federal law CARES ACT allows you to borrow up to 100k vs 50k from your own 401k to repay yourself was just passed. You can also do a withdrawal up to 100k w/o penalty and no tax withhold and you have 3 years to pay your taxes on that 100k vs you owe the taxes 4/15/2021.

There will be much more laws being passed during this economic collapse.

Layed off workers, provided they do not owe back child support, will receive their regular state unemployment PLUS $600 per week from the stimulus bill. Many workers will be making MORE money for staying home than they would have from working while making a few phone calls to gain relief from mortgage payments, car loans, and credit card payments and if they worked at Twin Rivers will still have their health insurance. Smart people will be able to stockpile savings while using their free time to complete online courses, learn new skills, etc. Assuming this continues into the start of summer and/or returns in the fall which sounds likely, the government has indicated that there will be more stimulus to not financially destroy people.

The problem isn't putting money into the pockets of laid off workers.....this is happening now.....it is ensuring that people are able to maintain their health insurance and to keep them out of stores and away from people.

Two weeks without a post so I figured I'd do one. At least the casino is doing some things on their twitter account to remind people they're around.

https://twitter.com/EncoreResortBH

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-h...-idUSKBN2210PW

Unlikely but we'll see.

I know it's the same company, but each state is doing their own thing, so I don't think what they do with their Vegas property has any bearing on this one.

Yea, you're really talking about two different places. To put it into perspective, as of right now MA has 38,000 cases and Nevada has 3,700 (Which is actually surprising to me considering Vegas itself is like the most visited place in the US and the whole thing seems like a tinderbox of risks: casual contact, Asian tourists, chips, cards, dice, clubs, etc).

I could see myself returning here for video poker with a mask and santizer for machine. I won't feel comrtable at poker table anytime soon though. The tables at Encore sit you pretty tight/close too.

Those of us looking for pre Covid19 poker conditions, will not be playing poker before vaccine, which is over a year away.

one would have thought....agreed. Except- wife and I were actually in LV on March 14-16. And they had started with the early interventions as of that date. First spot we played and gambled was The Mirage, and it was a ghost town. The hotel on Friday, March 13, had an 8% occ.rate. By Saturday not only were they wiping down slots and seats after every player, they had closed the buffets, and poker rooms also got the word on Saturday that it was over as of Monday.
The Sunday night Horse MTT at Orleans went on as sched'ed, but they went to 5-max, as did all their cash games, by later in the afternoon. They shut off every other slot machine, as did all the casinos we saw (Orleans, Mirage, Harrahs, Linq)
We had brunch Sunday at Giada with a golf buddy and spouse- the place was maybe 20% full. Usually you cannot get in for brunch w/out a resy.
I do not know what Massachusetts did, and when they did it. But Las Vegas seemed to know something pretty early, when you put timelines down in writing.
We drove home together Monday and heard on radio that all the CA Bay Area counties were issuing a shelter in place order. That was pretty early Compared to the rest of the country. (3-16-20) I think Gov. Newsome sheltered the whole state by Thursday eve (3-19-20)
It does indeed look like early local and targeted intervention did have a great effect on the spread.

5 handed games with tables spread out could be the new normal for quite some time

I simply don't see the point. The risk differential between 9-max had 5-max games is negligible. Unless there are laws which mandate partons be kept a minimum distance apart, they should just play full table.

https://www.ktnv.com/news/coronaviru...-for-reopening

These are their plans for Vegas. It doesn’t mention poker specifically but it does say they will have social distancing in place. They will be removing chairs and opening every other table game and slot machine. Idk where poker falls into this scenario. I’m assuming their procedures for Boston will be similar.

Idk about anyone else, but I'm of the opinion there is no way poker opens five handed and succeeds in the live spectrum. If we see poker in 2020 again, it'll be full games and if they can't make them work with the guidelines being suggested, then it'll continue to wait.

I agree completely.

There is a link in this article titled, "Read The Full Plan" which is a 23-page PDF that includes Poker Operations on Page 11. The relevant notes include:

* Aside from sanitation protocol, under Poker Operations it lists, "b) Maximum seating to be established based on expert guidance"

* On Page 6 titled, "Physical Distancing' they state, "Throughout the resort we will meet or exceed state and local health authority guidelines on proper physical distancing.

* Included in Page 6, Restaurant and Bars will reduce seating capacity to allow for a minimum of 6 feet between each seated group/party of guests.

* Also in Page 6, Table Game Operations will have chairs removed and every other table will be open.

While this was released in anticipation of the Wynn Las Vegas opening in May, I feel it is relevant as they would surely utilize a similar protocol in Boston once we are ready to open (obv not in May).

The timeline appears fairly similar. Encore Boston closed on Sunday, March 15. By that time most in this area had recognized that walking into a casino was probably not a wise thing to do.

Totally agree. And I did not mean to hijack the thread in any way by talking about Las Vegas. Please forgive.
BUT- the point was made- why the widely disparate numbers of infection comparing Massachusetts and Nevada, and Las Vegas in particular. (of interest to me as a former resident of No.Central MA.)

And that I am not as familiar with what statewide measures were taken in Massachusetts compared to Las, Vegas, Nevada in general and the West Coast.
Sure, there was a TON of moaning and groaning in Vegas about the impending shutdowns, interventions, sobbing by employees (truly), chitchat among the regs about starting home games and playing online, etc. etc. Those moaners are probably not saying much now. I think a lot has changed in the last month.
I'm very stunned by the spread of the virus in Massachusetts.

Lockdown Survival 101 for Gamblers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBZ2fh_dtJM

When lockdowns began we had an influx of idiots from NY/NJ come here and probably spread. We also had a big convention where like 80 people butt****ed each other and got infected. Who knows how much those guys spread it around.

its quite sad walking around the area and seeing the mighty Encore in the sky only to realize its gonna be a long time before it gets back. i can't see it getting to where it was for a bit. i remember reading the paper when it opened and it basically started by saying now that the doors are open at the Encore they will never close again. well they were very wrong.

hope everyone is enjoying online poker or poker on the apps. i hope that this means online regulation comes soon so places like the encore. mgm will be able to offer. i'm sure the NJ and PA casinos are happy to have that revenue. maybe Encore Online in a few years?

I'm only playing small buyin rake free tournaments through Facebook group Poker Stars home games. I was ok with online years ago, these days I would never play any significant amount of money in any online site, regulated or not.

It is cool but it makes me think some type of backdoor deal was made with Owners and the powers that be. Casinos are obviously losing shittons and paying their employees whilst being utterly compliant with no complaint... It's a little strange no? Maybe they're only paying for an alotted period of time, i dunno..