***mod note: Ideally this thread would have stayed on topic, covid in Vegas now, but no, of course it had to turn it a **** show. What we are definitely NOT going to have is multiple threads of name calling and political bs throughout LVL.

Therefore, this is now the catchall covid, mask, politics, vaccine, whatever thread. The other thread is going to be closed and warnings, infractions, and bans will be the result of having these topics escape to infect other threads. Thanks in advance for everyone's cooperation./mod note***

Hi,
I plan to travel to Vegas in a week and stay there maybe 3 weeks. And, of course, if Im there I will be spending much of my time in poker rooms.
I just found the news that the new coronavirus spreads has begun by the delta virus.
Im wondering how is the situation there. Since I never seen any news that saying casino or poker rooms causes the spreads or any poker players got virus effected.
Im kinda nervous since poker seems like the game at most risk in the casino due to distancing and circulation of the game.

If anyone got any thoughts or any updates would be appreciate.

Thank you.

Vegas is for gamblers so stay home if you're worried.
In all seriousness idk what the latest is from our corporate sponsored news so you might have to have someone else chime in. I've been to Vegas 4 times since lockdowns and no problems, and no problems for the dozens of other friends/coworkers that have visited as well.

Do what makes you comfortable and take your own precautions but don't let it get in the way of your trip and a good time. GL

Thoughts ....

Did you get vaccinated at least a couple of weeks ago ? If not, get yourself vaccinated and wait a couple of weeks before going.

Keep in mind that you will encounter people in Las Vegas coming from all over the US. A lot of them likely are not vaccinated, so you need to mask up if you plan on going to play poker or even visit a casino generally. Same for restaurants, bars, etc.

There is no mask required in Nevada, but use common sense. Do you need the government to TELL you how to protect your own health and that of your family ?

What you likely will see at the poker table are about 3 people masked and the rest not masked. Casino staff have been masked, that should give you a clue...... The threat perceived from Delta may skew those numbers, but don't bet your health either way.

There is no requirement for a poker player to wear a mask. There is no vaccine mandate either. Both a mask and a vaccine are good ideas however.

For many people, Las Vegas IS home. Casino workers mask up. The Covid rate in Nevada is rising, that is a problem for the non-vaccinated, whether visitor or resident.

I definitely don't but thats exactly what has transpired the last year and a half. The beautiful thing is now enough time has passed and all the info good or bad is out there so ppl can make their own decisions. So I think if the OP is concerned, he/she should use your advice and be overly cautious.

https://www.reviewjournal.com/7at7/?...ource=Homepage

Study of sources of Covid for Las Vegas residents.

As graphs and numbers show on Worldometer, Nevada seems to have a small uptick in cases last few weeks:

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/usa/nevada/

I'm fully vaccinated and wouldn't have a second of concern if I was allowed to travel to Vegas tomorrow (FU closed borders). I would also not for a second consider wearing a mask. And yet the biggest risk of anything severe happening to me would probably be the taxi to the airport, and not the actual stay in Vegas.

But if you seriously are worried about stuff like the Delta-variant (as if it's something special) and lack of distancing while playing poker, then you should probably stay home. Sounds like you will be too nervous to fully enjoy it.

I have been really sick (respiratory) for more than 8 days now after eating out at circus circus steak haus and playing a session at RW poker... I went to the Emergency room on Sunday but test came back negative... but I still just do not feel good/right.

The risk is obviously lower, in any context or situation, if you've been fully vaccinated. However, that risk is far higher than zero.

Vegas right now is a perfect breeding ground for the virus, with the massive crowds in close proximity to one another, people visiting from all over the country (including, of course, from all the dead-red no-vaxxer states), and the heat keeping people confined indoors. Then, while you're in the casino, you're cheek by jowl with literally thousands of people.

If you're concerned, that's legitimate. Don't listen to all those people implying that you're some kind of coward for being cautious about your health. This isn't some kind of giant dick-waving contest. Staying safe from something that has killed over six hundred thousand people in the US ain't chicken, as they say. It's owl.

Whatever impact the above argument may have, you might also factor in the recent rise in cases in Vegas and the resurgence of the Delta variant. Above all, don't make yourself uncomfortable or nervous. Vegas right now is a vastly overpriced, overcrowded shithole with drastically curtailed amenities and poor service. I would suggest, why not postpone your trip to later in the year, when BTW it won't be 115 degrees outside?

I think the service right now is the worst I've seen it. Was there a couple weeks ago and in general had far worse service than my January or last October trip. IMO restaurants are "opening up" 100% of their tables - but they are staffed to properly serve about half that. I love LV so it wont keep me from going back in a few months but if this sort of thing bothers you, its best to wait.

Any risk is "far higher" than zero.

Covid vaccination started in small scale in the US in December, and rapidly accelerated. CDC reports (July 6) a total of 5,186 people hospitalized with break-through infections (fully vaccinated people with covid) since the onset of vaccinations, and of these only 988 were fatal cases.

Compare these numbers to the 2.3 mill who have been hospitalized since the start of the outbreak, or the more then 4,000 people who died each and every day in the US back in January.

Or for that sake, compare to the close to 100 daily traffic fatalities NHTSA reported for 2019. Ten days on the road kill more people than half a year of vaccinated folks succumbing to covid.

Been residing in LV since early June, and cannot recognize this description.

As far as we can see, off-strip restaurant prices are up compared to past Dec/Jan, but no more than around 20%.

Calling it overpriced does not take into account the difficulties of keeping an eatery afloat in a landscape of unpredictable sourcing and staffing issues.

The Vegas we know & love is still fun, extremely reasonably priced, and the service still beats NYC level by an order of magnitude.

Because of a lot of the concerns around COVID, service issues etc I didnt book my long awaited return until Mid September. I really hope things are much better by that time. Unemployment running out right around that time so I am hoping people will be back on the job hunt and joining up at some of the many open vacancies on the strip

CERTAINLY, the town is pumping on the weekends right now, it's been nice.

Exactly, which is why I wrote in an earlier post that my biggest risk of going to Vegas would actually be the taxi on the way to the airport.

Don't get me wrong, I'd rather not get the virus. But at what cost? Has people's ability to consider their own risk flown out of the window for good post-March 2020? We took risks every single day before the pandemic, many with much higher risk without even batting an eyelid.

OP didn't say whether they were fully vaccinated or not, but I will assume that for the premise of this argument. Yes, I know that being vaccinated doesn't stop you from getting Covid - just look at Mike Matusow's twitter today. But still, the chances of this sequence happening:

1) Being vaccinated.
2) Catching Covid in Vegas.
3) Getting so sick that you need hospital treatment.
4) Dying.

Must be so absurdly miniscule that chances are bigger you will actually lose Quads over Quads in a poker game during your visit. If that miniscule risk is not worth taking, when will it ever be worth taking it again?

Sure, I get the other arguments, why not wait it out for a few more months etc. But how many times haven't we heard that the last 1.5 years? At least here in Europe it's been an endless cycle of 'just a few more weeks', 'we are almost there' etc.

At the end of the day life is short, and has been way too restricted for 1.5 year and counting now (1.87% of your life if you live to be 80 years old). So if I were OP and actually had the chance to go to Vegas I would ****ing go when I still can.

Anyway, that's the last post from me in this thread.

These absurd statements such as "any risk is far higher than zero" (WTF????) underscore the fact that many, many people are so jonesing for Vegas that they're willing to try to convince themselves that reality is an illusion.

The ludicrous argument that traffic fatalities kill more people than Covid is not a reason to ignore the dangers of the latter. It also ignores the fact that in actuality, roughly fifteen times as many people died of Covid in 2020 as died in traffic accidents. With a 95% vaccine effectiveness rate against serious illness leading to hospitalization, you now, if you're vaccinated, are at about the same risk of dying from Covid as you are from a traffic accident. But obviously, those numbers go up as you increase your exposure, from driving more to gathering in crowds more.

This isn't exactly the first time this has happened. Last year, spring break in Florida. We're teenagers, and therefore immortal. People died. Church gatherings--we're not worried, God will protect us. People died. We're having our big biker rally goddammit. People died. We must gather in support of our orange leader. People died.

There is still significant risk, even to the vaccinated. It is of course up to you. But I wouldn't be surprised if there's another local outbreak, and the governor has no choice but to reimpose restrictions, and people will be calling for him to be hanged.

The above consideration combines with the sad fact that Vegas isn't what it should be right now (certainly, it's not a bargain by any stretch of the imagination) to stop me from going there until October or so.

Anecdotal obviously but two fully vaxed poker players that I know of have got covid in the past week or 2. Matusow and Dan Shak

are you fully vaccinated, though?

So can't hope for the BBJ to help with hospital bills then?

Vegas is nowhere near “extremely reasonably priced” in fact it is extremely overpriced and has been since way before Covid

Around 56 million people die in the world every year; in one and half years of covid around 4 million people died with covid, most of them old and/or with co-morbidities.

In a few years time we'll get some figures on the real damaged caused by lockdown policies. Many people continue to put their lives on hold for the sake of fear of covid. Makes zero sense

If you're below 50 and healthy and you're worried about covid, you must be illiterate.

Needless to say 'you are entitled to your opinion'.

But so am I.

In NYC restaurants we usually pay $80 - $100 for two entrees of no exceptional quality, with two drinks.

In LV, the same setup run between $35 and $65, and the quality is more often than not outstanding.

There is not really any comparison.

I think you're comparing non-strip prices to NYC prices, which is probably not correct (but I am guessing).

That's one of the silliest and most irresponsible things I've read in a couple of years.

Even if you're immune to the virus, you can still transmit it. And there's actually no such thing as complete immunity. So taking reasonable precautions--what you would call "being worried"---is still a very good idea. And guess what---many young people have contracted Covid, and it was fatal in thousands of instances.

To use an analogy you might be able to understand, I obey traffic laws not because I'm "worried" about being in an accident; rather, I simply don't want to be involved in one. Just like I don't want to contract or die of Covid.

It's arrogant to think anything you can do will stop an endemic virus from being transmitted.