Manitoba, Canada’s government-operated casinos are introducing “stadium gaming” once the Covid-19 pandemic recedes sufficiently.
The new type of gaming fits into a socially distancing atmosphere as it allows dealer to operate from a distance while players sit at their own video display well away from others.
This innovation—well underway at neighboring Canadian provinces—will be introduced by Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries at Winnipeg casinos, whose doors closed last October. An unnamed spokesman said, “This pivot in operations will allow us to call back table game employees when the casinos reopen.”
Not coincidentally, this will allow the Club Regent Casino, McPhillips Station Casino and Shark Club Gaming Centre casinos to operate with fewer employees, although the gaming authority did not say how many jobs would be cut. It had intended to shift to more electronic gaming before the pandemic.
Unifor, the union representing casino employees said 150 employees were offered a severance package and that 124 accepted the offer.
Paul Burns, chief executive officer and president of the Canadian Gaming Association, explained in a statement to CBC News that stadium games are meant to attract people to gaming who might be intimidated to try them.
“It’s a player experience that’s vastly different. It does break down some of the intimidation of the table games.” He added, “The table dealer acts as a bit a host, and sometimes I’ve seen it done where they’re mic’d and they can talk to everybody.”
Burns said the pandemic had accelerated a trend that had already begun. “You’ve seen it in some of the regional markets in the United States for these, they’ve brought back more of their electronic table games and other table games have come on later as capacity restrictions have been reduced,” he told CBC.
