Casino Morongo, the smaller sister property adjacent to Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa, went smoke-free Friday, July 17, and also added 100 slot machines and eight blackjack tables in the casinos former bingo room, a casino official said.

Simon Farmer, executive director of marketing for the Cabazon-area casinos, wrote in an emailed statement that the new gaming space inside of the former bingo hall was supposed to be a non-smoking room, but guest and Team Member feedback led the team to expand the non-smoking directive to the entire casino.

Designated smoking areas will be established outside, Farmer wrote.

The larger casino had already banned smoking and established smoking areas outside.

The new gaming space will have limited seating to meet social distancing guidelines and plexiglass shields have been installed between many of the slot machines, according to Farmer. He said face masks are still mandatory at both casinos.

An Instagram post on Morongos official account Thursday described Casino Morongo as having $5 blackjack with hundreds of new slot machines added with plexiglass dividers beginning at 2 p.m. July 17. It said that table games would be open Friday-Sunday from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.

As for what happens to bingo now that the bingo hall has been converted, that remains to be seen.

As discussed before, Morongo continues to explore options for safely reopening bingo, possibly in a new space, but no date has been set for its return, Farmer wrote.

As the novel coronavirus pandemic has persisted, more casinos in Southern California have made tweaks to their safety plans and that has often resulted in prohibiting smoking.

San Manuel Casino nearHighland announced in late June that it was prohibiting smoking indoors and also limiting alcohol service to people at slots and table games to keep people from walking up to bars and congregating.

Earlier this week, Soboba Casino Resort near San Jacinto announced it also was prohibiting smoking indoors.

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Casino Morongo replaces former bingo space with slots and table games, goes smoke-free - The Whittier Daily News