Casinos to reopen on May 17th!

As the nation draws closer to the third stage of roadmap out of lockdown, casinos up and down the country are preparing to reopen their doors to players. 

It was back in February that the Prime Minister announced his roadmap for easing the country back to normality, and with the successes the NHS has seen in the vaccine rollout, this roadmap has thankfully remained steady. 

Casinos, bingo halls, and bookmakers shut their doors indefinitely back in January, with some areas having already seen closures come earlier. Bookmakers, however, have been able to reopen for limited business since the 12th April when non-essential retail reopened, but casinos and bingo halls have remained closed. 

This is set to change on the 17th May. That is the date set for pubs and restaurants to be able to welcome customers inside again (no more windy dinners!) and is the date when casinos will also be able to invite players back through their doors. 

This news comes as a relief to many businesses, and especially to the casino industry which has invested great amounts of time and money into ensuring Covid-safe environments for its players and staff. Wes Himes of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) said that they were doing everything they could to make land-based venues safe for customers to return to and that “operators invested large funds in making sure that those premises were mitigating the risk of Covid-19.” 

While many players have been making the most of online casinos and slot sites, casinos can be a sociable hobby, and their reopening marks a stride towards the return of normality after more than a year of repeated lockdowns.