Seminole Hard Rock Poker Room Tampa

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TAMPA — The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa remains open, but is closing its poker room at 7 p.m. Tuesday until further notice, has turned off many slot machines to add “significant distance” between gamblers and limited the number of players at table games.

Hard Rock Tampa reopening May 21, including poker. Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa, including its poker games, will reopen at 7 p.m. May 21 under new and stringent “Safe and Sound” program guidelines. The guidelines include multiple new initiatives designed to create a Hard Rock entertainment experience in an environment that helps to keep guests and team members safe. TAMPA — The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa remains open, but is closing its poker room at 7 p.m. Tuesday until further notice, has turned off many slot machines to add “significant. Anyone been to the Seminole Hard Rock in Tampa lately? Any thoughts or comments on their poker room, the cash games and/or promos? Anything to be wary of, or take advantage of? Tampa’s Hard Rock has 46 poker tables, the second-most in Central Florida behind Derby Lane in St. Petersburg (51). In South Florida, the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood is among the largest card.

“Seminole casinos in Florida are currently open and constantly monitoring the coronavirus situation,” Seminole Hard Rock said in a statement issued Monday through spokesman Gary Bitner.

The steps follow Seminole Hard Rock Tampa decisions last week to postpone concerts, shows and pool parties at the casino near Interstate 4 east of Tampa because of the spread of the coronavirus. The company said turning off slot machines aims to create social distancing between players.

On Sunday night, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommended that gatherings of 50 or more people be suspended or cancelled. The Los Angeles Times reported that companies that own more than a dozen hotels and casinos in Las Vegas announced they were closing for two weeks starting Tuesday.

Meanwhile, casino operations have been suspended or curtailed in Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

On Monday, a couple of patrons said they think the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa should follow the lead of other businesses.

“They need to close that place,” said Millie Conard of Tampa, who goes to the casino to play slots about once a month. She last went about three weeks ago and said she always takes a bottle of Purell with her to clean the button on the slot machine.

By allowing thousands of people to pass through the place, the virus could quickly be passed to people who could spread it to their families and in the community, and “it would be worse than it is now,' she said.

Michelle Goodwin of Orlando, who has hotel reservations for next week, said the casino “should close down for the safety of everyone that’s in the community.”

“Selfishly, I would like them to stay open because I would like to enjoy our 25th wedding anniversary like we had planned, but I think they need to follow the CDC guidelines,” she said.

The Tampa casino, which late last year completed a $720 million expansion, has nearly 5,000 slot machines, 179 table games, a poker room with 46 tables and 10 restaurants.

Typically, the casino said in 2018, 10,000 to 15,000 customers a day come through the property, more than 20,000 on weekends. The hotel and casino have about 4,800 employees.

By comparison, the cruise ships that last week suspended sailings out of Port Tampa Bay tend to carry a little more than 2,000 passengers and a crew of perhaps 1,000.

The Seminole Hard Rock Tampa is the flagship of Hard Rock International, generating $1 billion a year in revenue for a corporation with total revenues of nearly $6 billion annually.

From a profitability standpoint, the Tampa casino is the most successful casino in North America and ranks fourth or fifth in the world, according to Jim Allen, chairman of Hard Rock International and president of Seminole Gaming.

The Tampa casino is popular with retirees, and it’s not unheard of to see a gambler with a motorized scooter or a portable oxygen tank on the casino floor.

That said, Seminole Hard Rock management believes the expanded 245,000-square-foot casino is laid out so that patrons can put some distance between themselves if they wish, especially during off-peak hours. Slot machines are not arranged in continuous rows that create a canyon of machines with one center aisle, but include spaces between smaller banks of several machines.

That’s a different seating option than is available at the casino’s new concert venue, where shows have been postponed, Bitner said. Local musicians have continued to play at the resort’s bars and restaurants.

Seminole Hard Rock Poker Room Tampa Pa

On Friday, when the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa announced the shows were suspended, casino management said it was committed “to intensive cleaning of the resort, with special attention paid to high-touch' areas like lobbies, front desks, slot machines, table tops, table game surfaces, restrooms, hotel rooms, door knobs and elevators.

Hand-sanitizing stations are available on the casino floor, at the entrances and throughout the property, and disinfectant wipes are available on request, the company said. The casino is using a peroxide-based disinfectant that it says kills 99.9 percent of all viruses and bacteria, and its employees apply disinfectant with an electrostatic sprayer that delivers faster and more complete coverage.

Seminole Hard Rock also said it:

? Eliminated the use of self-service utensils at all buffets.

? Restricted casino team members who have traveled to or through any restricted countries from its facilities for 14 days.

? Would compensate team members quarantined by health officials and waive charges for coronavirus tests ordered by a doctor. In addition, the company said Monday, team members can stay home and use paid time off, even if they have a zero balance of paid time off.

? Allow Tampa and Immokalee hotel guests with bookings through April 30 to modify their reservations as long as the stay is completed within a year of the original stay date at the same hotel.

? Increased communications with guests, employees and business partners, with an emphasis on hand-washing and hygiene.

“We have no reports of actual or suspected coronavirus cases among our team members or guests,” Bitner said in an email to the Tampa Bay Times.

On a conference call Monday with Broward County officials, Florida Division of Emergency Management director Jared Moskowitz said casinos will be getting some new guidance.

The state of Florida’s gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe mostly concerns issues like what games are allowed at the tribe’s properties, what the minimum average payouts of the slot machines will be, when and how state inspectors do their business and how much of the revenue the tribe must share with the state.

But part of the compact says the tribe will take reasonable measures to “assure the physical safety of facility patrons.” Another part of the agreement also touches on the health of patrons.

“The tribe and the state recognize that opportunities to engage in gaming in smoke-free or reduced-smoke environments provides both health and other benefits to patrons,” the compact says.

To that end, the 2010 compact said the tribe already had opened a non-smoking section at its Hollywood casino, would include ventilation at new facilities to remove tobacco smoke “under existing state-of-the-art technology” and would designate non-smoking areas for gaming at all of its facilities within five years.

Mary Ellen Klas of the Times/Herald Tallahassee bureau contributed to this report.

Tampa Bay Times coronavirus guide

Q&A: The latest and all your questions answered.

EVENT CANCELLATIONS: Get the latest updates on events planned in the Tampa Bay area in the coming weeks.

PROTECT YOURSELF: Household cleaners can kill the virus on most surfaces, including your phone screen.

BE PREPARED: Guidelines for essentials to keep in your home should you have to stay inside.

STOCK UP YOUR PANTRY: Foods that should always be in your kitchen, for emergencies and everyday life.

FACE MASKS: They offer some protection, but studies debate their effectiveness.

WORKPLACE RISK: A list of five things employers could be doing to help curb the spread of the disease.

Seminole Hard Rock Poker Room Tampa 2020

READER BEWARE: Look out for bad information as false claims are spreading online.

OTHER CORONAVIRUS WEBSITES:

? Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

? Florida Department of Health

We’re working hard to bring you the latest news on the coronavirus in Florida. This effort takes a lot of resources to gather and update. If you haven’t already subscribed, please consider buying a print or digital subscription.

———

©2020 the Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.)

Visit the Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.) at www.tampabay.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Stories about the coronavirus pandemic are free to read as a public service at tampabay.com/coronavirus. Sign up for our DayStarter newsletter to receive updates weekday mornings. If this coverage is important to you, consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Tampa Bay Times at tampabay.com/subscribe.

TAMPA — The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa remains open, but is closing its poker room at 7 p.m. Tuesday until further notice, has turned off many slot machines to add “significant distance” between gamblers and limited the number of players at table games.

“Seminole casinos in Florida are currently open and constantly monitoring the coronavirus situation,” Seminole Hard Rock said in a statement issued Monday through spokesman Gary Bitner.

The steps follow Seminole Hard Rock Tampa decisions last week to postpone concerts, shows and pool parties at the casino near Interstate 4 east of Tampa because of the spread of the coronavirus. The company said turning off slot machines aims to create social distancing between players.

On Sunday night, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommended that gatherings of 50 or more people be suspended or cancelled. The Los Angeles Times reported that companies that own more than a dozen hotels and casinos in Las Vegas announced they were closing for two weeks starting Tuesday.

Meanwhile, casino operations have been suspended or curtailed in Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

On Monday, a couple of patrons said they think the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa should follow the lead of other businesses.

“They need to close that place,” said Millie Conard of Tampa, who goes to the casino to play slots about once a month. She last went about three weeks ago and said she always takes a bottle of Purell with her to clean the button on the slot machine.

By allowing thousands of people to pass through the place, the virus could quickly be passed to people who could spread it to their families and in the community, and “it would be worse than it is now,' she said.

Michelle Goodwin of Orlando, who has hotel reservations for next week, said the casino “should close down for the safety of everyone that’s in the community.”

“Selfishly, I would like them to stay open because I would like to enjoy our 25th wedding anniversary like we had planned, but I think they need to follow the CDC guidelines,” she said.

The Tampa casino, which late last year completed a $720 million expansion, has nearly 5,000 slot machines, 179 table games, a poker room with 46 tables and 10 restaurants.

Typically, the casino said in 2018, 10,000 to 15,000 customers a day come through the property, more than 20,000 on weekends. The hotel and casino have about 4,800 employees.

By comparison, the cruise ships that last week suspended sailings out of Port Tampa Bay tend to carry a little more than 2,000 passengers and a crew of perhaps 1,000.

The Seminole Hard Rock Tampa is the flagship of Hard Rock International, generating $1 billion a year in revenue for a corporation with total revenues of nearly $6 billion annually.

From a profitability standpoint, the Tampa casino is the most successful casino in North America and ranks fourth or fifth in the world, according to Jim Allen, chairman of Hard Rock International and president of Seminole Gaming.

The Tampa casino is popular with retirees, and it’s not unheard of to see a gambler with a motorized scooter or a portable oxygen tank on the casino floor.

That said, Seminole Hard Rock management believes the expanded 245,000-square-foot casino is laid out so that patrons can put some distance between themselves if they wish, especially during off-peak hours. Slot machines are not arranged in continuous rows that create a canyon of machines with one center aisle, but include spaces between smaller banks of several machines.

That’s a different seating option than is available at the casino’s new concert venue, where shows have been postponed, Bitner said. Local musicians have continued to play at the resort’s bars and restaurants.

On Friday, when the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa announced the shows were suspended, casino management said it was committed “to intensive cleaning of the resort, with special attention paid to high-touch' areas like lobbies, front desks, slot machines, table tops, table game surfaces, restrooms, hotel rooms, door knobs and elevators.

Hand-sanitizing stations are available on the casino floor, at the entrances and throughout the property, and disinfectant wipes are available on request, the company said. The casino is using a peroxide-based disinfectant that it says kills 99.9 percent of all viruses and bacteria, and its employees apply disinfectant with an electrostatic sprayer that delivers faster and more complete coverage.

Seminole Hard Rock Poker Room Tampa

Seminole Hard Rock also said it:

? Eliminated the use of self-service utensils at all buffets.

? Restricted casino team members who have traveled to or through any restricted countries from its facilities for 14 days.

? Would compensate team members quarantined by health officials and waive charges for coronavirus tests ordered by a doctor. In addition, the company said Monday, team members can stay home and use paid time off, even if they have a zero balance of paid time off.

? Allow Tampa and Immokalee hotel guests with bookings through April 30 to modify their reservations as long as the stay is completed within a year of the original stay date at the same hotel.

? Increased communications with guests, employees and business partners, with an emphasis on hand-washing and hygiene.

“We have no reports of actual or suspected coronavirus cases among our team members or guests,” Bitner said in an email to the Tampa Bay Times.

On a conference call Monday with Broward County officials, Florida Division of Emergency Management director Jared Moskowitz said casinos will be getting some new guidance.

The state of Florida’s gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe mostly concerns issues like what games are allowed at the tribe’s properties, what the minimum average payouts of the slot machines will be, when and how state inspectors do their business and how much of the revenue the tribe must share with the state.

But part of the compact says the tribe will take reasonable measures to “assure the physical safety of facility patrons.” Another part of the agreement also touches on the health of patrons.

“The tribe and the state recognize that opportunities to engage in gaming in smoke-free or reduced-smoke environments provides both health and other benefits to patrons,” the compact says.

To that end, the 2010 compact said the tribe already had opened a non-smoking section at its Hollywood casino, would include ventilation at new facilities to remove tobacco smoke “under existing state-of-the-art technology” and would designate non-smoking areas for gaming at all of its facilities within five years.

Mary Ellen Klas of the Times/Herald Tallahassee bureau contributed to this report.

Tampa Bay Times coronavirus guide

Q&A: The latest and all your questions answered.

EVENT CANCELLATIONS: Get the latest updates on events planned in the Tampa Bay area in the coming weeks.

PROTECT YOURSELF: Household cleaners can kill the virus on most surfaces, including your phone screen.

BE PREPARED: Guidelines for essentials to keep in your home should you have to stay inside.

STOCK UP YOUR PANTRY: Foods that should always be in your kitchen, for emergencies and everyday life.

FACE MASKS: They offer some protection, but studies debate their effectiveness.

WORKPLACE RISK: A list of five things employers could be doing to help curb the spread of the disease.

READER BEWARE: Look out for bad information as false claims are spreading online.

Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Poker Room Reviews

OTHER CORONAVIRUS WEBSITES:

? Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

? Florida Department of Health

We’re working hard to bring you the latest news on the coronavirus in Florida. This effort takes a lot of resources to gather and update. If you haven’t already subscribed, please consider buying a print or digital subscription.

Seminole Hard Rock Poker Room Tampa Address

———

©2020 the Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.)

Visit the Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.) at www.tampabay.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.