The venues in Las Vegas are slowly making big re-opening plans that would be in line with CDC recommendations of social distancing. However, poker players will not have as many opportunities to enjoy the card game, as one casino already announced that it will not open the poker room until further notice.
According to a report published on Bloomberg, Wynn Resorts is getting ready to be back in business, but those wishing to play poker games will not be able to do it. This was done to keep the contact among people to a minimum. This applies to both Encore in Las Vegas and Boston. The rooms will open as soon as executives feel that it’s safe enough to offer poker once again.
Brian Gullbrants, the President of Encore Boston Harbor, stated for Bloomberg that they wanted to make the environment as safe as possible. Moreover, he added that the “situation was evolving.”
This announcement somewhat hinted that the Wynn Summer Classic would not take place this summer. This poker tournament will, therefore, become the last one this year to be either canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic that has been raging on, especially in the US. Other big tournaments that were supposed to take place in Vegas this summer but were canceled were the World Series of Poker and the Summer High Roller Series at the Aria.
Wynn Released Health and Safety Guidelines
Wynn Resorts was one of the few operators which publicly released the safety guidelines that should help both employees and visitors stay protected. According to Section 11, there are clear protocols regarding poker rooms that aim to keep the environment clean.
One such protocol is that dealers need to change decks every two hours. Moreover, the area where poker players sit to play the game needs to be cleaned frequently, and a distance needs to be set between the tables.
However, the executives don’t think it’s a good idea to open poker rooms just yet. Simply put, they feel poker rooms could be a source of infection as many players touch cards and chips often.
But then again, there’s another point of view when it comes to live poker. Namely, many players simply don’t like the idea of going to a poker room and would rather stay at home and play online poker, instead. It’s possible that executives fear that poker rooms will simply not be feasible for a while, so they want to make sure that there are no additional losses.
On top of that, poker tables will not be able to host the maximum number of players. According to guidelines by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, poker rooms shouldn’t accept more than four players at a time.
Finally, poker tables need to have Plexiglass protection and poker players need to wear masks at all times. Many players agree that this sort of thing can kill the mood, especially when they have to adhere to all those rules, so it’s quite possible many wouldn’t consider going to a casino poker room at all.
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