by Mario Alfonsi | Published on Jun 25, 2020 | Updated on Jun 25, 2020
The three month lockdown that most countries have suffered has not gone down well with a lot of people, especially those who are used to traveling, interacting and rubbing shoulders on a daily basis.
A lot of live poker pros have missed out not only on playing poker for a living but enjoying the entire live felt experience.
It looks like poker content creator Joey Ingram probably felt this way during the entire lockdown because as soon as restrictions were finally eased, he jumped at the opportunity to play some live poker and also vlog about his experience.
The Global Poker Index awardee is back on his YouTube channel again, vlogging and creating poker content. He marked his return by playing live poker in a cardroom in Vegas. Ingram shared how he “risked” his life for the sake of “YouTube content and experience“, despite COVID-19 cases still increasing on a global scale.
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Disregarding The Pandemic
In preparation for the “new normal” some poker rooms are implementing enhanced safety measures to protect players, such as putting in place plexiglass dividers at the tables. However, the idea does not sit well with Ingram, likening the new set-up to being in “prison“.
Four poker rooms in Las Vegas have reopened over the past few weeks, namely, the Venetian on the Strip, Southpoint, Orleans and Golden Nugget located downtown.
Ingram went down to the Venetian and took some footage of how the venue looks post-lockdown. Interestingly, there isn’t any major difference from the normal days – people were conveniently walking around, some of whom not wearing any protective face masks.
The establishment does not have any plexiglass barriers or some sort of cubicle bubbles to ensure strict social distancing, and people were just doing their thing as if COVID-19 never happened. While the footage offers some flicker of hope that live poker is slowly going back to life, it’s terrifying to see that players seemed to be unthreatened by the possibility of contracting the virus. Ingram himself didn’t appear concerned at all that his acts could potentially allow the deadly virus into his system.
While everyone is excited to return to the live felts, one must remember that COVID-19 is yet to go away. For this reason, players must stay vigilant and must protect themselves especially in live poker settings when everyone breathes the same shared air and constantly passes chips and cards between each other.
Poker players are advised to take precautions even though the restrictions have been lifted.
