The home of Poker, a thriving city that is home to million, Sin City, otherwise known as Las Vegas, lies deserted in the desert.

The 28th-most populated city in the United States is also the hub of Nevada, magnet to millions of tourists per year and home to millions more, from poker players to thrillseekers. Las Vegas is the epitome of the bustling Americana dream of getting rich quick while cast in neon light.

Today, however, due to the COVID-19 crisis gripping the United States of America and the world in general, Vegas sits almost empty. Capturing this look would be quite an effort for most, but for the award-winning cinematographer Michael Tushaus it was all in a day’s work as he announced this week to his many followers.

#GhostTown #EmptyStreets Imagine #LasVegas without all the people. Now see it for real. This is the unfortunate reality on the Strip, Fremont Street & more. This is our story. Full Video Link in Bio @LasVegasLocally @VitalVegas @NBCNews @maddow @CNN @CBSNews @ABC @KTNV @8NewsNow pic.twitter.com/tgmebXzLMz

Online poker players are a unique breed. Ask them to make dinner and it might- quite rationally – be toast served in a bowl. Ask them what day it is and they might struggle unless it’s a Sunday. Ask them to go to the toilet every 60 minutes at 55 minutes past the hour and they’ll happily comply.

During this enforced lockdown due to the Coronavirus lockdown, however, we honour the poker widows and widowers who are abiding their poker partner at this difficult time. Here are seven ways that you, the poker player, can make their lives easier. Much easier.

1. Resist Telling Bad Beat Stories

This is easily the most important tip we can provide. No matter how much you’re tempted to do so, do NOT tell your poker spouse a bad beat story. Yes, even if it was a one-outer and cost you the 14th Anniversary Sunday Million.

Another major casino operator has announced details about how many staff will be furloughed during the COVID-19 crisis. Caesars Entertainment issued an April 2 press release, announcing roughly 90 percent of its domestic U.S. employees will receive a temporary leave.

While exact figures weren’t given, spokesman Richard Broome noted “tens of thousands” of employees will be furloughed. “Given the uncertain duration of the property closures throughout the network, Caesars is temporarily moving to the minimum workforce needed to maintain basic operations,” the statement said.

Based on the latest employee numbers released by Caesars, the company employs 64,000 employees domestically, suggesting over 50,000 might have to face tough times.

The furloughed employees will remain employees, of course, and Caesars will pay for their salaries for the first two weeks of the closure. They can then use their paid time off to receive additional pay. In the case of Nevada employees, pay will run through April 3.

The U.K’s gambling industry has promised to not take advantage of the current COVID-19 pandemic, but lawmakers are saying their 10-point pledge doesn’t go far enough. More than 22 MPs have called for stricter measures to reduce problem gambling, calling the industry’s proposals “very weak.”

The 22 MPs, as well as two Lords and Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones, director of the National Problem Gambling Clinic, published a letter demanding more of the industry during this time of crisis. “People are at home and are severely restricted, with access to mini-casinos on their laptops or mobile phones,” they wrote in a letter to Nigel Huddleston, the minister responsible for gambling. “We therefore have deep concerns about the ‘pledges’ which have been proposed this week by the BGC.”

The Betting & Gaming Council (BGC) offered a 10-point pledge recently, specifically promising to not take advantage of problem gambling, as the U.K. largely sits at home with nothing to do. In the letter from the MPs, they suggested these 10 points were weak, and already expected of them by current regulations.

Instead, they suggested five measures, including an end to VIP schemes, a suspension of advertising and bonus offers. They also want a limit to stakes on slot games, with a maximum of £2, and want mandatory limits on total deposits.

It was just a couple of months ago that the gambling hub of Macau completely shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. Things started to return to normal recently and life was being breathed back into the city, but it didn’t take long for COVID-19 to once again start to appear. Despite the presence of the virus, with only a very small handful of cases seen in this second round, casinos are going to need to continue their operations. This isn’t because gamblers need to gamble, though. It’s because workers need to work.

Macau’s new Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lei Wai Nong, who just took his position at the end of last year, was asked by a reporter during a public appearance yesterday if there was the possibility that the city’s gambling venues would be allowed to close their doors, even if they agreed to support their employees. Lei pointed out that the casinos are required to “operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” adding, “The decision [to suspend operations] is up to the government. As of now, we don’t have any plan to change the existing regulations… [Keeping casinos operational] is because the gaming industry is not only providing (gambling) services, but also guarantees the employment of over 58,000 employees.”

Gross gaming revenue in Macau (GGR) plummeted in February and March, and April is expected to be even worse. Some analysts predict that growth this month will be nil compared to last April. However, Lei believes that the city is fine. He asserted that the GGR reduction in March was within parameters established by city officials, and added that casinos are not eligible to receive a piece of the MOP10 billion ($1.25 billion) that the government has earmarked to help local businesses with their economic recoveries.

The reason for not offering the casinos a handout is simple. According to the Bernstein brokerage, they don’t need it. Company analysts Vitaly Umansky, Eunice Lee and Kelsey Zhu said in a memo yesterday on the financial state of Macau’s casinos, “While there are no medium-term (less than six months) concerns around liquidity, the longer the revenue drought continues, the spotlight will shine brighter on individual companies’ liquidity. All operators have at least six months or so of breathing room before needing to draw on any additional debt financing, which all operators will be able to do via their revolvers at a minimum (before needing to find other liquidity). If the no-revenue environment were to last longer, all operators have at least 15 months or so of breathing room (except for Studio City, which has only a year) before running out of existing liquidity.”

Michigan lawmakers signed off on sports gambling legislation last December, ready to embrace an industry that could potentially provide the state with millions of dollars in much-needed revenue. As the final preparations were being made on the framework, the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) was just getting ready to issue its first three licenses to commercial casinos – only days before the NCAA’s March Madness – when the sports world ran into a brick wall due to the coronavirus. When things get cranking again, those venues are going to have some additional competition, thanks to a new agreement between gaming software firm GAN and the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians, which operates five tribal casinos in the state under the Kewadin Casinos brand in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula region.

The partnership was consummated in the last week of March, and will see GAN offering its mobile gambling platform and operational services to the tribe’s facilities, as well as an additional, unidentified casino operator. The latter partnership is being kept under wraps until all regulatory hurdles have been jumped. The CEO of Kewadin Gaming Authority, Allen Kerridge, said in a statement, “The Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians is excited to take this important step with GAN and our mutual partner to bring both retail sports to our consumers at our five casino locations in short course, in addition to Internet gaming casino on day-one when first allowed by the State of Michigan. We chose GAN and our mutual partner based on their market-leading technology and combined substantial experience serving gaming clients both online and offline.”

Expectations are high for sports gambling action in Michigan. Before the legislation was approved, and not expecting a major global pandemic, the iGaming market in the state was forecast to take in around $377 million in gross proceeds in the first year of operations. Within four years, that figure was expected to increase to around $836 million, according to GAN and a study conducted by Regulus Partners.

GAN, which also operates in Indiana, New Jersey and more, is ready to take Michigan by storm, and its CEO, Jeff Berman, says about the new partnership, “Michigan has long represented an attractive market, with both internet sports and internet casino gaming now regulated… We are incredibly excited to bring real money internet gambling to Michigan, which remains at the core of our mission, strategy, and purpose in the United States.”

The global gambling industry has taken a major hit because of the coronavirus pandemic, and, in the U.S., all casinos are currently shut down. Hopes of being able to restore operations quickly have been thwarted by the continued presence of the virus, with new orders being implemented to extend the closures through the end of the month. Atlantic City, New Jersey’s gambling hub, was already in a bad way before COVID-19 came into town, and the virus has only made matters worse. As a result, with not enough money in the bank to weather the storm, 16,000 casino employees are now at home, hoping to be able to collect some type of unemployment compensation.

Some casino operators in the country, such as Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts, have enough cash to continue to pay furloughed employees. However, this isn’t the case with those in Atlantic City. The Press of Atlantic City reports that the workers were handed their pink slips so the casinos can save money and allow the employees to file for unemployment compensation. However, once health officials give the all-clear and officials lift the casino suspension, the companies have indicated that they will hire back the employees.

In New Jersey, since the state-wide shutdown began, unemployment claims have continued to rise. In a normal week, there may be around 6,800 applications. However, from March 22 to 28, there were 206,253, and the week prior saw 155,815. These figures make New Jersey one of the top-ranked states for unemployment claims in the U.S.

Initially, when New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy implemented the shutdown on March 16, casinos were prepared to offer compensation plans for their employees. However, in light of the continued suspension, the move to the fire/rehire scheme was chosen.

Even with no basketball, no baseball, no hockey, sports bettors will still find something interesting to get some action on. While we’ve seen clear signs of a few activities that have become sports betting favorites during the time of COVID-19, pure hard data is now giving us an indication of the unsung favorites of the betting public.

Bodog has been kind enough to give us a look at the top 10 leagues to receive sports betting volume since major sports leagues suspended their seasons. While there are some no brainers in the list, like MMA and esports, there are quite a few surprises in the list as well.

A traditional favorite tops the list. While the usual top leagues have put a pause to their seasons, the coronavirus still hasn’t stopped soccer everywhere, and club friendlies ranked number one for most sports wagers at Bodog. Also on the list was the Primera division and Belarussian Vysshaya Lida at the eighth and ninth spots.

And even though the NBA has suspended their season, basketball still goes on. The Russian MLBL league is now the fifth most popular betting league, and the Taiwan Champion followed in sixth.

Casino operator SkyCity Entertainment Group is laying off hundreds of staff in New Zealand after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of all five of the company’s gaming venues.

On Friday, SkyCity CEO Graeme Stephens issued a statement noting the “unprecedented impact” on the company now that its four properties in New Zealand and its venue in Adelaide, Australia were forced to close their doors to prevent further spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Stephens said the resulting monthly revenue loss will be around NZ$90m (US$53.2m), while the company is still incurring significant monthly costs, including around NZ$20m in labor costs alone.

SkyCity has already stood down “around 90%” of its Australian workforce, and will now make around 200 of its New Zealand salaried staff redundant “with immediate effect.” The company has also asked waged staff to “cut to 80% of normal wages,” a request that, if not agreed to, would force SkyCity to make around 700 more redundancies.