Cardrooms in Las Vegas saw a good turn up over the weekend with The Venetian hosting a tournament and properties such as Caesars Palace, South Point, and Bellagio seeing a good number of players coming to play.
Poker Rooms in Las Vegas Register Good Player Turn Up During Weekend
Poker rooms in Las Vegas have restarted operation with the Bellagio opening doors for players on Thursday. Nevada has been one of the keenest states to see businesses return back to some semblance of normality in a bid to offset the huge economic impact the lockdown measures have had on the Silver State since March.
More good news has come over the weekend, with card room managers confirming that returning poker players have exceeded casinos’ expectations. To allow for the return of poker on the Las Vegas Strip and elsewhere, card rooms have had to install plexiglass dividers and introduce limits as to how many players may participate at a single table.
The Bellagio has restarted with six-seat poker tables while Las Vegas venues usually host up to ten players. Bellagio’s Mike Williams, Head of Poker Operations, has confirmed that there has been interest from the poker community.
On Saturday, Bellagio ran around 20 poker games, the Las Vegas Review-Journal has reported, with the poker room staying open 24 hours a day for now. However, the Bellagio didn’t see the turn up in the high roller segment it had hoped for with Bobby’s Room remaining shut on Saturday.
Mr. Williams assured that the property had both the capacity and the necessary safety measures to guarantee the well-being of everyone involved.
Caesars Palace Joins the Poker Bandwagon in Las Vegas
Caesars Palace also saw a good demand for poker games. The poker room reopened on Thursday, welcoming parched card players and marking a steady stream of players over the weekend as well. Commenting on the turn up, Caesars’ poker room director, Ryan Bishop argued that Caesars hasn’t had to install any dividers as players were happy to play without them.
On Saturday, the cardroom reported some 15 poker games with the card room open between 10 AM and 2 AM local time. Other properties have also been keen to make a quick return with The Orleans card room restarting operations very early this month on June 4.
The Orleans saw 20 games hosted on its premises over the weekend and is now looking to install dividers and host six-handed games. Garrett Okahara, responsible for the poker room at The Orleans, has spoken to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, confirming that the room was ordering plexiglass separators as well.
South Point is another card room that has reopened recently and Jason Sanborn, the poker room manager, has argued that the property will just ask players to wear masks, as per the latest Nevada health safety protocols, rendering plexiglass protectors obsolete. Once again, South Point was on par with other venues in Las Vegas in terms of how busy the card room was, with some 15 games registered again on Saturday. In the meantime, The Venetian restarted tournaments, expecting 80 players who turned up and paid the $250 buy-in for the shootout tournament. The property hosted 20 poker games on Saturday