Gotta make that $$

You think the CDC knows anything about how gross poker chips/cards/felt are? If you brought a few samples to them to examine they would probably shut down every casino in the US!

If WSOP does not take public health into consideration and is not forced to cancel by some Govt agency, I'm not sure of any economic reason they would cancel.

Their OPEX scales easily.

For example, they could assume entries will be down 50% and simply scale their contracted dealers, floor , and service staff down to that level.

I don't know what contract looks like for dealers and rest of staff, but I'd assume WSOP can cancel anytime they want, before or during the event (could any WSOP 1099 dealers chime in ?)

Yes, they will make 50% less profit, but margins will be pretty much the same on the reduced revenue.

Other than convention space (easily renegotiated), I cant come up with any material fixed costs.

that link blows my mind. So much what I have seen in media is focused on washing hands, not shaking hands. Videos of public areas being disinfected to clean surfaces.

Yet CDC website doesnt even mention. Given that link, I guess washing hands doesnt matter.

LVCVA expects to up its advertising game to counter coronavirus

"It won’t be long before Las Vegas begins advertising to bring visitors back once the coronavirus has taken its bite out of Southern Nevada’s economy.

Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President and CEO Steve Hill told board members Tuesday that agency leaders are expecting the financial fallout to last two to three months and when research shows the time is right to advertise, it will do so aggressively."

"In the next three months, Las Vegas is set to host the National Football League’s 2020 draft on April 23-25, the Electric Daisy Carnival May 15-17, and one of the top five conventions for the market, the National Association of Broadcasters, April 18-22.

Hill indicated that with temperatures rising in Southern Nevada, COVID-19 could very easily “burn itself out.”

Having seen downturns and rebounds during previous calamities, Hill said he is confident in the LVCVA’s ability to know when and how to promote the city to drive-in markets of people most likely to visit."

“The media is absolutely destroying us,” she said. “In 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, ‘There is nothing to fear but fear itself.’ This fear has taken over the world and if you look and talk to doctors, I have yet to see a doctor who espouses the voice of social media and what the media is doing here.”


https://www.reviewjournal.com/busine...virus-1976657/

LOL. Def a Fox News viewer.

Here in the UK, our own Health Minister has been diagnosed with the virus.

I wonder what the odds would be on Trump surviving if he caught it.

Mgm shut down buffets
https://www.latimes.com/travel/story...onavirus-fears

I would think they're speaking in general terms - I doubt people normally pick up the virus off surfaces very often. But people also don't normally exchange objects on a continual basis for hours on end. They rightly want people to focus on what's most important 99% of the time - airborne spreading, direct contact with people, etc. I don't know which is the bigger factor at WSOP, but it makes sense to me that the amount that "surfaces" (cards, chips, etc.) matter is greatly increased over other events.

That said, perhaps they can find ways to mitigate it, although nothing comes to mind other than basic stuff - encouraging minimum handling of chips & cards, lots of hand sanitizer available everywhere (multiple bottles at each table?), don't serve food at the tables (not sure if they usually do at WSOP), etc.

Hard to rate how overblown it might be, but I think WSOP has to at least be considered higher risk in comparison to a lot of other gatherings. Probably substantially higher.

One meassure that could be helpful is that no one allowed in the casino unless they are wearing a mask, provided free by the casino of course.

Can only remove the mask to take a drink away in a designated area from the tables.

This is what WSOP could be looking at in one way or another:


Couple on Grand Princess cruise ship carrying coronavirus patients sues for $1 million

"The Weissbergers filed their lawsuit that same day in the Central District of California in Los Angeles against Princess Cruise Lines, saying that the company's negligence exposed them to COVID-19, the disease associated with coronavirus, and it should have done more to keep travelers safe.

"Defendant Princess chose to place profits over the safety of its passengers, crew and the general public," the lawsuit states.

According to the suit, several passengers on the Grand Princess had traveled on its previous voyage to Mexico and had been exposed to the coronavirus after people on the first trip fell ill and later tested positive for the disease.

Princess Cruise Lines did not alert the Weissbergers or other passengers prior to them boarding, the lawsuit alleges.

"Knowing that some of those passengers and crew had already been exposed to COVID-19, the Defendant has exposed Plaintiff's to actual risk of immediate physical injury," it states, adding that it was the ship's duty to "ensure that they would not be exposed to unreasonable risk of harm."

The lawsuit also accused the ship of failing to properly screen passengers prior to them boarding. According to the suit, passengers were asked to fill out a form saying they were not sick.

"Not one passenger was questioned, let alone examined in any capacity," the lawsuit claims."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...m_npd_nn_tw_ma

Not really necessary to debate if its overblown or not. Just my opinion. There is nothing wrong with the opposite opinion.

I do feel like the casinos and other corporate responses are more about calming people down and giving them something they can control (ie their cleanliness) than providing actual ways of preventing the spread of this virus. The only foolproof way of preventing it is isolation, which has severe negative effects economically and socially. The alternative is you make people feel like they have some control over things. That makes them feel better about the whole situation.

BTW.. I'm not speaking from any sort of scientific understanding, but someone suggested to me that many popular hand-sanitizers have high alcohol content, and tend to open up pores. And if this virus really is transmittable through the skin, then using these products may actually make you more susceptible to the virus after use. I have no idea if this is nonsense or not, but would it really shock anyone if somewhere down the line we find out that a government recommendation turned out to be the opposite of what one would want to do?

Yes but all of those are factors irrespective of COVID-19. Poker, or gambling with chips of any kind, really, is a pretty gross activity. It just goes to show how good the human immune system is that we can play poker as much as we do and usually don't die from the germs we absorb. I actually think poker players are better prepared against various infectious diseases than the general population.

Well, they mention it... its just a distant second to the airborne factors. I have no inside knowledge or anything but my own intuition and opinion to go on, but I really think the focus on general cleanliness and hygiene has more to do with the powers that be trying to offer "something" to the public in a situation where they either have little they can really do or just don't know enough. Again, there is a panic going on with its own set of really negative effects completely separate from those caused by the virus directly.

Of course, trying to prevent spread of germs is a decent idea irrespective of Covid-19, so I don't see any real downside. But I am convinced, in this case, its just more window dressing to try and calm down a frantic public. You can't really protect yourself very easily from the air you breath. But you can wash your hands. You can be more conscientious about your behavior when you're sick. Maybe a silver lining of this situation is that people will behave better going forward. Of course, it likely won't last forever, particularly when the media conjures up something new to disturb/entertain the public with and this whole outbreak will be nothing but a memory.

Not an expert at all (rather an idiot) but I've herad the masks don't work and there's a predictive shortage in masks/ie they should be reserved for hospitals. Maybe theres a conflict in those two things I dunno.

WSOP players are more important than Hospital/ER staff for sure.

Yeah the infectious disease doctor on the Joe Rogan podcast said they do work. So get those N95s while you can! Ooops, too late!

Thanks for the kind words!

I think people were confusing the fact that you can still get the virus if you wear a mask(through your eyes) with it not working at all.

Obviously if someone sneezes in your face and you just have the mask there's a good chance you could still get it.

Healthcare workers interact with mostly sick people. The general public does not. So, if there is a shortage of masks, the healthcare workers are at much greater risk. I do agree that in this particular case, the effectiveness of many types of masks (not all, of course) is probably suspect.

"Yeah the infectious disease doctor on the Joe Rogan podcast said they do work. So get those N95s while you can! Ooops, too late!"

Newsradio was pretty good though. Ensemble cast. I had a fondness for Maura Tierney back then.

I've seen several comments in this thread that contradict information coming out of press conferences (e.g. NY Gov. Cuomo).

COVID-19 is not spread through the air like measles. If a person is infected with measles and you enter the room an hour later (and you are non-vacinated) you can catch that virus by just breathing the air. This is not true for COVID-19.

COVID-19 requires direct contact. An infected person must cough or sneeze and: 1. the particles land on your mouth, nose, or eyes; 2. You touch a surface where they just coughed or sneezed AND then you touch your mouth, nose, or eyes.

In addition, Gov. Cuomo (and his health advisers) disagree strongly with the CDC and WHO regarding the length of time that the virus is viable on a surface. They claim it is only MINUTES and not hours. They agree that under perfect lab conditions it can last for hours, but that's not what they are seeing in NY.

All of this is wrong. It is spread through the air and it is viable on surfaces for days, not just hours.

I saw a few quotes from Casinos all saying that the new guidelines they are following are from:

Southern Nevada Health District - SNHD
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - CDC

if the WSOP is canceled and some of u think the dealers should be able to sue for lost income, or also sue if they get sick from a customer if its not canceled, i think the PLAyers who have poker as their only income should be able to sue too (or get a govt check) for the months they miss out on the $1000 a week they normally win playing $1-2 PLO or whatever

Afaik the masks won’t entirely stop the virus. Viruses are tiny and you’d need an incredibly tiny filter to prevent anything from coming through

However, masks do still help to prevent spreading. Mainly by preventing you from touching the vulnerable part of your own face

If you are sick, a mask will also be somewhat preventative in helping curb/contain the area that the virus is being spread

Lol not a lawyer but I’m sure no one has a lawsuit that will last 5 minutes in court