MGM Casinos vs. Employees
The gambling industry got almost coldcocked by the Covid pandemic. Almost every new online casino has basically equal chances to compete with the grand venues from Las Vegas or Monaco these days when people prefer gambling from home.
This naturally forces legislation and brick-and-mortar casinos to develop new tactics. One of these is the mandatory vaccination of the casino personnel.
MGM, which controls a whole constellation of resorts and casinos — from Las Vegas to Massachusetts and Maryland — beefs up their anti-Covid strategy.
Now all salaried employees will have to be inoculated, according to the new policy. The vaccination deadline is set for October 15 and the campaign has begun on August 15.
All workers who have to be personally present on the casino’s territory will have to go through this. Remote employees will be “spared” from vaccination.
As for those employees, who will reject vaccination, their contracts will be terminated immediately. So, if some new online casino opens after October 15, it will see a flood of candidates for employment.
According to Bill Humbuckle — the CEO of MGM casinos — the company wants their clients to know that MGM does everything possible to keep them safe.
At the same time, more and more states pass the legislation, which demands that indoor venue visitors get vaccinated or at least be able to produce a negative Covid-19 test. This applies to casinos as well.
It is expected that similar measures will be taken in Europe and Asia in the near future. So, if you feel reluctant to apply a vaccine just yet, it’s worth checking the new online casino.
Crypto Currencies for the Cyberpunk Casinos
Coronavirus isn’t the only factor that’s changing the gambling world right now. Gambling venues are also combating money-laundering schemes, which use considerable winnings as a disguise for the crime cash.
In light of the AML-policy, Macau’s casinos may employ the cyber Yuan. This is the first digital currency officially approved by a country’s government — the Communist Party introduced it as a replacement for major cryptocurrencies like BTC or ETH last April.
The problem is that massive funds are taken to Macau from the mainland and then laundered there by the triad criminal groups.
Macau’s representatives hope that cyber yuan, e-CNY, will help the industry revive. At least partly. While law enforcement will be able to track down the illegal operations, Beijing will also allow Macau to welcome more guests both from China and other countries.
This initiative will apply not only to the land-based venues but also to every old and new online casino that operates within the Chinese jurisdiction.
And it’s pretty hard for the outside casinos to penetrate the Chinese gambling market due to a number of reasons: a language barrier, the specific mentality of the customers, and total control of the Chinese cyberspace by the state security.
Las Vegas Sands chairman Robert Goldstein commented on the initiative:
“It may be a very positive thing for the Macau market as it becomes…more integrated into China and more consumer-friendly.”
And even though Chinese methods are seen as totalitarian in the Western world, it’s quite probable that other countries will mimic this strategy in the future.
Digital cryptocurrencies, officially launched by the state, will make it easier to track down the origins of funds thanks to blockchain technology. And gambling still remains a “problematic” industry in terms of money laundering.
