Poker venues like casinos tend to be pretty energy-intensive. Land-based casinos need incredible amounts of electricity to power their gaming machines, fancy lighting systems, entertainment equipment, and heating. Many casinos also run on 24-hour operations, which only increases the energy they spend.
Fortunately, more casinos are making an effort to transform themselves into eco-friendly venues. From installing LED lights and solar panels to banning plastic usage, these casinos and poker venues are doing their part to their negative environmental impact. Poker fans can visit eco-friendly casinos to satisfy their need for live, in-person poker action without worrying too much about their carbon footprint. Below, we’ll go over a few of the most eco-friendly poker venues worldwide.
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Source: @rwsentosa on Instagram
One of Singapore’s biggest tourist destinations is Resorts World Sentosa, the integrated resort where Universal Studios Singapore, Adventure Cove Water Park, S.E.A. Aquarium, and the Resorts World Sentosa Casino are located. Recently, the integrated resort has been gaining attention for its sustainability efforts. In 2018, the resorts had banned the use of plastic straws and single-use plastic bottles within all of its facilities. The island resort of Sentosa as a whole also plans on becoming a carbon-neutral destination by 2030.
The Resorts World Sentosa Casino also houses Singapore’s only poker room. This designated poker area has a total of seven poker tables, which host daily games for poker variants like No Limit Hold’em, Progressive Texas Hold’em, Progressive Three Card Poker, and Casino Stud Poker. With high blinds and minimum buy-ins, it’s a good location for intermediate players looking to game for high stakes.
Mandalay Bay
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Source: @mandalaybay on Instagram
MGM Resorts International is taking tremendous steps to reduce its carbon footprint. In support of this eco-friendly initiative, the company started a project to install an 8.3-megawatt solar panel array on the roof of one of its most famous Vegas resorts, Mandalay Bay. Once completed, it will be the largest rooftop solar array in the United States. The use of solar panels will allow the resort to harness clean energy and reduce its carbon footprint.
But Mandalay Bay isn’t just friendly to the environment. It’s also friendly to newbie poker players. From Monday through Thursday at 2:00 PM, the Mandalay Bay poker room hosts free poker lessons, where beginners can stop by to learn the rules of poker. Studying the ever-popular Texas Hold’em and Omaha variants would be a good place to start. The Mandalay Bay poker room hosts games of Texas Hold’em daily, excluding Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
The Venetian Macao
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In 2018, the luxurious Venetian Macao was awarded the Macao Green Hotel Platinum Award for its sustainability efforts for the establishment’s numerous efforts to improve sustainability. The hotel’s eco-friendly initiatives included switching to LEDs, a kind of lighting system that uses 75% less energy. The Venetian Macao also provided charging stations and parking for electric cars, which their staff use to save on energy. The establishment also conducts regular carbon audits to monitor and adjust its carbon footprint.
At the Venetian Macao, visitors will find the Poker King Club, a luxury poker venue known for its extreme exclusivity. Often, guests have to wait up to six hours just to earn a spot at one of the room’s eight cash tables. Two of the establishment’s poker tables are reserved for VIPs, namely players that are willing to pay high buy-ins and play for extremely high stakes.
Every industry should play a part in taking care of the environment. In the gaming industry, establishments like MGM Resorts, Resorts World Sentosa, and Venetian Macau are leading the charge, with sustainability efforts such as plastic reduction, carbon audits, and switching to eco-friendly products like solar panels and LED lights. Hopefully, more casinos and gaming venues will follow suit.
