Crown Casino Melbourne Closing Time
Crown has casinos in Melbourne and Perth, and is building one in Sydney. If breaches are proven, it could face millions of dollars in fines and threats to its casino licences. A Crown Melbourne security guard patrols the casino entrance. (Image: Scott Barbour/AAP Image) Effective 11:59 pm local time July 8, and running for at least six weeks, 5.2 million Victorians will. Melbourne’s only casino has been closed since 23 March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with earlier plans to reopen in the middle of the year thwarted by a second wave that resulted in a statewide shutdown of non-essential services.
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(Image: VisitMelbourne.com)
Crown to Reopen Melbourne Casino
Crown Resorts’ Melbourne casino is planning to reopen its doors on Thursday, November 12 after months of closure.
Vegas Slots Online reports that following the all-clear from health officials, the company will reopen its flagship casino while following strict public health advice.
Only VIP members will be permitted entry as the number of patrons allowed in the venue is capped at 100. The property has been closed since March 23, as Australian authorities tried to contain the virus. There were plans to reopen in July, but this did not eventuate after a second wave of the virus took hold, once again shelving plans for Crown’s reopening.
Lockdowns in Australia have been easing in recent weeks as the number of new virus cases comes down. This has paved the way for Crown’s reopening. Chief executive officer Ken Barton said the company had been working with the Victorian government and health authorities about how to safely reopen the casino.
Together, they developed extensive hygiene and physical distancing measures.
“We are pleased to be able to commence the process of welcoming back our employees and customers to Crown Melbourne,” Mr Barton said.
As part of the restrictions, only every second electronic table game and poker machine will be open for use. There can also only be up to 10 customers in a maximum of 10 designated VIP areas. All guests may only stay at the facility for up to 90 minutes and there will be a COVID Marshal at every gaming floor to ensure patrons comply with rules.
Crown Resorts has been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons in recent times. At the conclusion of a seven-week public hearing last week, the New South Wales Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority inquiry said that the casino company was not suitable to maintain a gaming licence in the state.
Some of the reasons mentioned include its links to organised crime, the allowance of money laundering, and putting its employees at risk on assignments in China. There were also concerns about the behaviour of former chief executive and significant shareholder James Packer.
Crown Resorts is planning to open its $2 billion casino and hotel complex in Sydney on December 14. With the inquiry not set to report its final findings until February, there is pressure to delay the opening.
The Victorian Commission for Gaming and Liquor Regulation is waiting for the NSW authorities to conclude its inquiry before fully investigating Crown’s Melbourne operations.
Victorian regulator slow to produce Crown report
Crown Resorts staff who were arrested and imprisoned in China for illegally promoting gambling activities weren’t interviewed by Victoria’s gambling regulator until years after the watchdog launched an investigation into their arrests.
The Guardian reported in early November that the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation’s annual report showed the progress the investigation had made, which is not yet complete, despite starting in 2017.
It is likely to further alarm critics of the regulator, who have derided it as a “toothless tiger” that is captured by Crown and “worse than useless.”
VCGLR staff only attempted to interview Crown staff who were arrested in China after serious allegations, including that organised crime was involved in junkets that bring high rollers to the group’s casinos, were aired by Nine Entertainment outlets in July 2019.
The regulator is responsible for oversight of Crown’s biggest casino, which an inquiry in NSW has heard included one junket, Suncity, allegedly linked to organised crime gangs. Nineteen Crown staff were arrested by Chinese authorities in 2016 and subsequently convicted of illegally promoting gambling.
One of the Crown employees, Jenny Jiang, was heavily featured on Nine’s TV current affairs show, 60 Minutes, and in the media groups’ newspaper coverage.
Crown Casino Melbourne Closing Times
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The whole world is struggling to cope with the outbreak of Covid-19 and Australia is no different as the confirmed cases of the virus reaches above 2000.
The federal government has announced a lockdown on all non-essential services, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison saying on Sunday that all casinos, restaurants, clubs, bars, gyms, and places of worship were to remain shut during this crisis.
Crown Casino, which is a unit of one of Australia’s largest gaming and entertainment groups Crown Limited, announced on Monday that they would be closing all their restaurants, bars and gaming activities.
This is a big blow for the gambling giant whose shares have already fallen by half since late February.
Crown was facing a lot of public criticism for continuing its operations despite the crisis in the country.
Even though Crown enforced social distancing at their gaming tables, many critics questioned the government’s logic of prioritizing the financial well-being of a major tax contributor over public health.
“COVID-19 has created unprecedented challenges for Crown and many others in Australia,' The CEO of the gambling giant Ken Barton said in a statement.
“In accordance with the statements issued by the Commonwealth Government and the Direction of the Victorian Deputy Chief Health Officer, we have closed certain of Crown’s facilities in Melbourne and Perth.
Crown Casino Melbourne Time Zone
“Crown is a major employer in both Victoria and Western Australia with over 18,500 people working across our complexes.
“We continue to balance our responsibilities to our people in a manner which is in the interests of the health and safety of Crown employees, customers and the broader community.”
Meanwhile, Australia’s other leading gambling entertainment group Tabcorp has also been badly affected by the outbreak of this virus.
Tabcorp, who employs more than 5000 people and has betting terminals in pubs, clubs and retail agencies, also closed in order to control the spread of Coronavirus.
It is said that their shares fell 14.5 per cent on Monday while the value of its stocks have also decreased by half since late February.
Tabcorp’s chief executive David Attenborough said in a statement that they are working with all the relevant stakeholders in order to control the impact of the virus on their businesses and customers.
The company is said to be focusing on encouraging its customers to wager online, like CasinoAdvisers.com, rather than placing bets in pubs or retail outlets.
According to JP Morgan expert Don Carducci, racing would likely get disrupted in the present situation, with the United Kingdom already cancelled the 2020 Grand National-the most valuable jump race in Europe.
This could have a huge impact on Tabcorp as racing make up 86 per cent of the company’s wagering revenue.
Businesses around the world have suffered severely due to the spread of the Coronavirus, which went largely ignored when it first originated in China.
The virus has been spreading at a greatly alarming speed, with China, Italy, USA, Spain, Germany, France and Iran as some of the worst-affected countries.
Total cases of Coronavirus have reached almost 70,000 in Italy, taking its death toll to about 6800, while the USA has been grappling with above 50,000 total cases of the virus.
The situation in Australia does not look as severe as China or the US, with its cases a little over 2000, but the country is taking great precautionary measures to avoid the fate of these countries.
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