After months of waiting, like abandoned fun houses in fairs closed down for winter, casinos are to reopen in Las Vegas. What this means for the future of poker during the age of Coronavirus is, as yet, unclear, but one thing is for sure – the doors have been thrown open and one way or another, seats at poker tables will be filled.

The announcement that Las Vegas would be able to welcome players back to live poker is something that has been greeted with a mixture of feelings right across the poker industry. The reactions range from some recreational players being overjoyed that they can return to playing the game they love, through nervous anticipation of a changed game, up to plaintive misgivings on behalf of many of the top pros, who state simply that they won’t be returning no matter what until the threat of the virus is over.

Sorry dude, precisely zero chance that happens unfortunately! I don’t leave the house. At all.

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) June 18, 2020https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js