Game On: MGM Grand Detroit Officially Reopens Poker Room

Poker is coming back to one of Detroit’s commercial casinos.

MGM Grand Detroit has announced the reopening of its poker room on Friday. The official announcement on the MGM Grand Detroit website says the poker room will be open 24/7. Limit and No-Limit Texas Hold ‘Em, along with Pot-Limit Omaha, are some of the featured games at the MGM Grand Detroit poker room.

"It is my pleasure to announce the reopening of the MGM Grand Detroit Poker Room," Keith Frankel, manager of poker operations, wrote in an email to customers announcing the reopening of the casino’s poker room. "We're keeping the health and safety of our guests and employees at the forefront of all we do."

In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, MGM Grand Detroit announced the new safety protocols for the reopening of its poker room.

• Masks are required at all times in the poker room.
• Seating will be restricted to a maximum of 8-players per table.
• Plexiglass dividers will be used on all active poker tables.
• Poker tables have been spaced to increase distance between tables and comply with our social distancing guidelines.
• Poker cards will be removed from play and sanitized daily.
• All chips returned to the cashier cage will be cleaned.
• Chips in table banks will be cleaned regularly.
• When a player leaves the table, the rail will be cleaned with a sanitizing wipe prior to seating another player.
• Table and seat changes will not be permitted until further notice.
• Eating is not permitted in the poker room.
• Spectators are not permitted in the poker room.
• Players will be encouraged to keep chip stacks away from the plexiglass to limit the possible confusion with another player’s stack.
• All-in and Call buttons will be used.
• Possibly unclear action will be immediately clarified by the dealer.

First to Bring Back Poker

MGM Detroit is the first commercial casino in Detroit to bring back poker. MotorCity and Greektown have yet to make any announcements about their poker reopening plans.

Detroit’s casinos were forced to shut down in mid-March due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The facilities briefly reopened in August and were also forced to close in December before reopening a second time. During both reopenings, poker was still not permitted until now.

In September, MotorCity attempted to bring back poker and announced to its customers it would be returning. But MotorCity has yet to receive approval from the Michigan Gaming Control Board, and the plans never came to fruition.

“Poker will not resume at the Detroit casinos until the casinos’ management submits plans that comply with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s workplace safety executive order and the MGCB’s minimum reopening guidelines order,” MGCB Communications Specialist, Mary Kay Bean, said in an email in response to MotorCity’s plans in September. “The MGCB must approve the casinos’ plans on how social distancing and other health and safety requirements will be met. It is the same approach used prior to the reopening of the casinos.”