Morongo Casino Is Set to Go Cashless with the Marker Trax System while California Goes into a Lockdown Once More

Article by : Helen Dec 15, 2020

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As the COVID-19 rages on, casino frequenters become more and more vigilant when it comes to avoiding getting infected. And, when there is a certain demand or concern from customers, casinos better do their best to address it. Morongo Casino is one of such casinos: it is set to go cashless where slot and video poker machines are involved with the help of the Marker Trax system at the beginning of 2021. If no one beats them to it, Morongo Casino will become California first one to go cashless – and the first tribal gaming venue in the United States to do so.

The Marker Trax system will allow the Morongo Casino players to fund their wagering account via an app secured with PIN-code access. In this particular casino, the customer account will be connected to their Morongo membership rewards program.

The cashless system has already been tested in the field, at Ellis Island Casino, Hotel & Brewery earlier this year – and the results were successful. The casino clients spoke well of the new system, with Passport Players Club Member D’Ante Garner commenting on his experience the following: “Using the Marker Trax system at Ellis Island is a very easy way to play and allows me to never have to withdraw at an ATM machine. It’s a unique and convenient way of gaming, and I believe it’s the future.”

The American Gaming Association is also in favor of cashless payments in the gambling industry. In its new Principles for Casino Gaming Payments Modernization that were published in June 2020, it proposes enabling “gaming companies to incorporate digital payment options into operational best practices amid the COVID-19 pandemic”.

The AGA also emphasized in their press release that contact payment are more than just a publicity stunt for casinos these days because “the majority (57%) of past-year casino visitors report the option for digital or contactless payments on the casino floor is important to them because of the COVID-19 pandemic.” It called on the regulators to update their regulations and allow such payment methods into casino establishments.

Morongo Casino is a tribal one – it is run by the sovereign nation of Morongo Band of Mission Indians. This status gives the casino a significant advantage – it doesn’t have to oblige the state regulations as it is deemed self-governing and is subject to regulations imposed by the Congress and the federal government only. So, as the state goes into a severe lockdown once more, under a new regional stay-at-home order issued by the California governor that came into effect on Sunday, December 6, the tribal casinos can remain open. Morongo Casino closed at the beginning of the pandemic, however: after the necessary precautions were put into place, it reopened its doors on May 22.

The new restrictions that include, among other measures, closing down cardrooms are applied in case the county reports its available ICU capacity dropping below 15%. Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley, as well as five other counties in the San Francisco Bay area, are among such areas – so, these measures will affect most of the state.

The stay-at-home order is expected to last well past Christmas, for at least three weeks. The Bay Area order, however, is planned to remain in place at least until January 4.

California is at the precipice of overwhelming its healthcare system as the daily new cases surged from several thousand at the end of October to a staggering 30 thousand new infections in a single day on December 5 – a new record for the state.