Until about two weeks ago, sitting around a table and dealing with the same game cards and chips with nine strangers seemed like a perfectly normal and fun way for this avid poker player.
Today, not only is the simple act of playing a live poker game considered frowned upon or abhorrent, but it will also be nearly impossible due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has closed casinos and poker rooms worldwide. 안전놀이터
As concerns over the coronavirus outbreak grow ever more serious, we fully expect that one day, whether it’s Easter Sunday (or, silly) as U.S. President Donald Trump vowed on Tuesday, or a year later, our lives will eventually begin to return to normal. Schools, public spaces, and restaurants will reopen. People will have the confidence to fly, and land-based casinos will reopen in the face of pent-up demand from gamblers who have been stuck at home for longer than expected.
“Maybe until the vaccine is complete, I feel the whole landscape will change for a long time,” said Melanie Weissner, a 33-year-old poker pro from Houston who has more than $870,000 in live career income and 36 World Series poker cash in her name. “Even if they are allowed to reopen in the near future, live card rooms will experience a lack of player activity. Since poker tables are more of the worst petri dishes you can imagine, I believe live poker will not exist for a while.”
While the prospects for Weissner and other players are bleak, WSOP Vice President Seth Fallonski told Casino City earlier this week that no cancellations or postponements have been announced yet as this year’s event schedule does not start until May 26 at the Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino.
“We will do the right thing. We will follow the guidelines of our medical professionals and make decisions when the time is right,” Fallonsky explained. “But for now, we remain optimistic. It would be nice if we could host it. It would be sad if we couldn’t do it. But life will go either way.”
But some of the poker pros we talked about didn’t see a scenario where WSOP could host a live event in Las Vegas this summer.