“We're ready to hit it up, go big and hit it hard, and bring home cash,” said his friend, Johnny Solis, also of Willow Grove, as he slipped off his sneaker and pulled out a damp wad of $1,000 in cash.

“Accept, adapt and have fun,” said Mike McLaughlin of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. Others were fine with doing whatever would let them gamble as quickly as possible. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia newsletters. Get Philly local news, weather forecasts, sports and entertainment stories to your inbox.

I'm a smoker and I'm trying to find some way around this.”

“It's great to be back,” said Tony Revaman of Atlantic City, who visited the casinos at least twice a week before they shut down March 16. Patrons for the most part observed social distancing guidelines as well, helped along by plexiglass dividers between seats at card, craps and roulette tables, and slot machines turned off at certain intervals to create distance between players. The casinos are limited to no more than 25% of usual capacity, but that did not appear to be a problem Thursday morning. A few wore full face-covering hoods that extended to their chests. In 2 1/2 hours on the gambling floor of the Hard Rock casino, an Associated Press reporter did not see a single customer without a face mask. Phil Murphy appeared to be nearly universal, at least in the early going. Eager to hit the slot machines and table games after a 108-day absence, gamblers wore face masks and did without smoking and drinking Thursday as Atlantic City's casinos reopened amid the coronavirus pandemic that has drastically changed things both inside and outside the casino walls.Ĭompliance with a series of anti-virus measures imposed by New Jersey Gov.

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