I'm playing live and wearing a mask. A guy very respectfully asks if I'm vaccinated. I tell him "Yes. I believe all the science. I know my chances of getting sick are very very slim, but I could become a carrier and get someone else sick and wearing the mask doesn't bother me so I wear it." He asks a few more questions, like if I wear it when I'm running into a convenience store for 2 minutes and I tell him no, it's just because I could be sitting next to someone for 10 hours at a table. Everybody was cool nobody got political or insulting.

Fast forward an hour.

I raise with A-10. Guy who asked about the mask is the only caller.

Flop 9-10-J with 2 spades. I bet. He calls.

Turn 10. I bet, he calls.

River Ace of spades giving me the boat, and making the flush possible (along with a possible flopped straight.)

I make a pot sized bet and he goes into the tank.

Finally he gives me a speech "You're vaccinated and wear a mask even though you know the chances of you being sick are incredibly low. That means you're a cautious person. A cautious person doesn't bet that much on that board without a boat. I fold."

FREAKING FACE MASK!!!!

Lol sick tell bruh

They were both poisoned. I spent the last few years building up an immunity to iocane powder.

He was folding either way.

Next time just tell him the mask is to hide your smirks when you're bluffing. GL

I no longer wear a mask when playing poker, but my first few sessions back, despite being fully vaccinated, I was still wearing one. I wasn't quite yet comfortable being in such close quarters without a mask, and more importantly, my wife wasn't quite comfortable with me going to the cardroom unmasked yet either.

I was asked the same thing several times. I'm sure some people are just genuinely curious why you would voluntarily wear a mask if vaccinated, but at least to me, it almost always comes off as passive aggressive and judgmental.

Just say that it’s just they’re terribly comfortable. You think everyone will be wearing them in the future.

Like checking back the 2nd nuts… or wearing a condom after a vasectomy.. you can never really be too safe

Lol.

What I love about players who tell me that they have a read on me is that its a gateway to future winning plays.

At least one of my current false tells is a direct result of a similar experience. The other players at the table were livid that he had told me my tell (and yes on that hand it cost me some money - but it was LHE so not tragic).

Also FTR the players in Las Vegas mid to late June this year, who were wearing masks, all said they were vaccinated when I asked. And a lot of them were doctors who didn't want to take whatever small chance it was that could result in children or older loved ones getting Covid from them.

He shouldn't have explained his reasoning to you, but I think he did it to "sabotage" you (in his mind) by announcing your image to the table. Hopefully you didn't show or confirm his read.

Then there's the chance he was just looking for a K and was trying to discombobulate you.

The amount of people who don't understand vaccination is truly appalling.

The amount of low IQ's spouting slogans and straw men is amazing.

Tell them you're dying of cancer and want to be careful, follow up with thanks for asking

What is the current situation in most Vegas poker rooms with regard to wearing masks? is wearing a mask optional or is it required? Does the mask policy vary from room to room or is it uniform throughout Vegas?

At first, masks were required. Then they weren't. Now they are again.

Thanks for the update, hard to keep up with the most recent and current masking policy. I have plans to be in Vegas for a couple weeks beginning in mid-October. I hope there is a decent chance the mask requirement policy will be relaxed by that time, especially for those who are vaccinated.

Nevada is following CDC guidelines. Given that Delta is more serious than the original variants, and that the CDC was accused of prematurely revoking masking reccomendations last summer, and that the fall\winter is expected to bring an increase in cases, it is a fairly safe bet that mask mandates will still be in place in October.

I am more curious to see if rooms start shutting again, but someone else pointed out, probably correctly, that if a room shuts down now, they probably won't reopen.

wp sir.

I wear a mask and will likely to continue to do so in the future for health reasons. The few times iv been asked my response was to piss people off. I would love it if the brain dead idiots who get angry at someone wearing a mask wants to target me and throw chips my way by playing poorly.

Iv had a few people whine and ***** about the mask and I love it. Let them get angry and call/raise/bluff me because they hate that I am wearing it.

It has worked well a few times. I had one guy raise every time I got in a hand. He was pretty nitty normally but as soon as I got in he would raise and look at me confrontational. Some very nice pots were won off him until he angrily left all the while bitching about sheeple. I loved it. lol.

Im not the type who would nettle someone by slow playing or talk smack but if wearing a mask can tilt someone than I see no downsides. I can not imagine what a Biden or BLM hate would do to some of them. I play in the midwest at a very red casino (Fox news on tv in the poker room red).

You sound rather tribalistic, though I do wear sunglasses at the table for many of the reasons you cited.

Masked now. But for what it's worth when it was optional (for the vaccinated) a lot of the unmasked were actually unvaccinated (they openly admit to it). Casinos don't ask don't tell.

Judg(e)mental

I live in Florida where about half the population is vaccinated and I rarely see a mask on a player in the room. It’s extremely common for unvaccinated to simply not wear a mask. But we are also the COVID epicenter of the world right now.

Chief says we gotta wear masks, so we do.
Funny though when I look at KK sometimes my breathing quickens and my glasses fog up. If the old guys glasses fog up, you better fold