The international sports scene has been flipped upside down because of the coronavirus, leaving a lot of doubt and unanswered questions regarding what’s to come – will the NBA finish its season, will the NFL be able to start on time; the list goes on. While sports fans wait to learn the answers to these difficult questions, at least one already has a response. The upcoming Triple Crown races are going to be scheduled completely differently from previous years. The good news, though, is that the popular horse races won’t have to be canceled, and fans can now start making plans to see the Belmont Stakes race in June. Typically the last of the three legs of the competition, it will now be the first.

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) announced the change yesterday, stating that the “152nd renewal of the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes, to be contested at nine furlongs, will take place on Saturday, June 20 at Belmont Park as the opening leg of the Triple Crown for the first time in history.” As everyone should expect by now, the race won’t run in front of a live crowd – only jockeys, horses, trainers and a limited number of Belmont Park employees will be allowed to attend.

Belmont Stakes has historically been a mile-and-a-half run since 1926, although it started as a 1 and 5/8-mile contest when the first race was held in 1867. However, COVID-19 is forcing changes to the entire Triple Crown schedule and, in an effort to not cause too much alteration to the itinerary, the NYRA explains that the race will have a distance of just a 1 1/8 miles. This, couple with the rescheduling of the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, which moved from May to September, and the Preakness Stakes, swapped to October from May, will help put the entire season back on track.

Dave O’Rourke, the president and CEO of the NYRA, adds, “The Belmont Stakes is a New York institution that will provide world-class entertainment for sports fans during these challenging times. While this will certainly be a unique running of this historic race, we are grateful to be able to hold the Belmont Stakes in 2020. Thanks to our partners at NBC Sports, fans across the country can look forward to a day of exceptional thoroughbred racing at a time when entertainment and sports are so important to providing a sense of normalcy.”

Macau has, hopefully, completely eradicated the coronavirus within its borders. The Macau Health Bureau (MHB) provided an update yesterday, explaining that the last patient identified as being infected with the virus had been discharged from the hospital after making a full recovery. As a result, it’s time for the gambling city to dig in and get the house in order; however, no one should expect to return to the Macau they knew before the global pandemic. A lot of changes are coming down the pipe. 

In this latest installment of the coronavirus, 45 cases had been reported, but there are now “zero deaths and zero infections in hospital,” according to Lei Chin Ion, the director of the MHB. He added that the risk of new cases is “very low.” Still, it’s better to be cautiously optimistic, given that Macau has been down this road before. It reported in March that it had cleared COVID-19, but then saw a second wave hit just a couple of weeks later – a theme common in many countries and regions around the world. 

Still, a lot has been learned since then, and the MHB, as well as many health organizations, are in a better position to understand how to combat and eliminate the coronavirus threat. Macau has expanded its daily testing capabilities from 6,000 to 10,000, and safety and health protocols that were implemented in response to the outbreak are going to become semi-permanent fixtures. All in an effort to ensure there’s no third wave that could bring the city to its knees once again.

With the MHB giving the city a (relatively) clean bill of health, it’s time to start working on the removal of border restrictions, as well as increased security and safety. There’s a chance that border restrictions currently in place will start to be eased or removed completely in the next couple of days, and obligatory medical quarantines may become a thing of the past. There are rumors that all border controls implemented for Macau, Hong Kong and Guangdong Province could be lifted and a Hong Kong-based newspaper, Sing Tao Daily, expects an announcement within the next week.

Brazil is suffering because of the coronavirus pandemic just like everyone else.  This has led to increased efforts to legalize casinos in the country as a means to recover much-needed revenue, although gambling proponents find obstacles at every turn.  A recent move by the country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, to make lotteries an “essential business” during the COVID-19 lockdown was battled in court, with a federal judge ultimately cutting down the initiative at its roots.  This is just one of the many examples of the challenges facing gambling legislation.  However, a new effort has now sprung up that might help ease the pressure and clear out a path toward eventual legal casino operations in the country, even if it means having to take the long road. 

Bolsonaro, along with Economy Minister Paulo Guedes, approved a measure last week that sees the establishment of a nationwide Investment Partnerships Program (PPI, for its Portuguese acronym).  The program is designed to boost the tourism sector through private investments, but could conceivably work to see casinos make their way toward government approval.  For that to happen, though, some fancy footwork will be needed. 

The PPI is going to be managed by a government committee that is comprised of a number of tourism officials.  These same individuals are reportedly very supportive of legalized gaming in the country, and will use their influence to try to shape policy.  Games Magazine Brazil adds that these individuals will “strongly propose” legalizing casinos as a way to “attract multimillion-dollar investments and generate thousands of jobs” in the country.

The idea is, through the PPI, to create new alliances that will lead to the development of investment companies in Brazil with a focus on expanding cultural and civic assets tied to tourism.  Those on the committee are expected to meet every other week in order to proactively develop the plan and help it achieve widespread success, and one of the primary initiatives on the PPI’s agenda is the legalization and regulation of casinos on a national level. 

Legendary tournament director Christian Scalzi has seen virtually everything in poker. No-one, however, saw the Coronavirus coming, and the popular Italian personality went from running the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Main Event in Punta Dele Este in Uruguay to suddenly being in lockdown during one of the most tragic episodes in Italian and world history.

We spoke to Scalzi to understand his personal experiences on living through a defining period of human history whilst maintaining his position in the poker industry to help others.

“Today is the first day in Italy that we can go to a bar or restaurant as normal,” says Scalzi. “We could go a week ago, but only for takeaway. We will try now – if the numbers are OK – to have a normal life, hopefully.”

“Now the problem is the economy because everything was shut down.”

Legendary tournament director Christian Scalzi has seen virtually everything in poker. No-one, however, saw the Coronavirus coming, and the popular Italian personality went from running the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Main Event in Punta Dele Este in Uruguay to suddenly being in lockdown during one of the most tragic episodes in Italian and world history.

We spoke to Scalzi to understand his personal experiences on living through a defining period of human history whilst maintaining his position in the poker industry to help others.

“Today is the first day in Italy that we can go to a bar or restaurant as normal,” says Scalzi. “We could go a week ago, but only for takeaway. We will try now – if the numbers are OK – to have a normal life, hopefully.”

“Now the problem is the economy because everything was shut down.”

With 505 entries and a massive $12,372,500 in the prizepool, the action in the WSOP Super Circuit High Roller Championship was on fire on Sunday night as the event played down to a winner. In the end, ‘800-522-4700 ‘ took the title, winning a massive $2.1 million in the process.

By the time the final table was reached, the last nine players were convening at the virtual felt with the sun coming up in Europe. The amusingly-named ‘800-522-4700’ was chip leader with just over 5 million chips, but they didn’t do the first damage.

The player who left the final table first was the unfortunate ‘Sub_Zero’, who endured the misery of a cold deck when all-in and at risk when Patrick Leonard a.k.a ‘Babu$hka’ moved all-in from the big blind and Sub_Zero called. The latter had the goods, with pocket nines ahead of Patrick Leonard’s ace-trey, but an ace on the flop, another on the turn and no nines or running cards across the board reduced the field to just eight hopefuls.

Busting in 8th place for $249,920 was ‘gaufreancienne’, who moved all-in pre-flop with pocket queens only to have run into a brick wall with ‘HotPot44’ calling it off with pocket aces. There was no drama over the nine-high board but shortly afterwards, HopPot44 lost a big hand with the better hand, ace-trey going down as ‘M0therLover’ holding king-ten. An ace and king on the flop saw HotPot44 remain in the lead, but another king on the river sent HotPot44 sliding down the counts.

With 505 entries and a massive $12,372,500 in the prizepool, the action in the WSOP Super Circuit High Roller Championship was on fire on Sunday night as the event played down to a winner. In the end, ‘800-522-4700 ‘ took the title, winning a massive $2.1 million in the process.

By the time the final table was reached, the last nine players were convening at the virtual felt with the sun coming up in Europe. The amusingly-named ‘800-522-4700’ was chip leader with just over 5 million chips, but they didn’t do the first damage.

The player who left the final table first was the unfortunate ‘Sub_Zero’, who endured the misery of a cold deck when all-in and at risk when Patrick Leonard a.k.a ‘Babu$hka’ moved all-in from the big blind and Sub_Zero called. The latter had the goods, with pocket nines ahead of Patrick Leonard’s ace-trey, but an ace on the flop, another on the turn and no nines or running cards across the board reduced the field to just eight hopefuls.

Busting in 8th place for $249,920 was ‘gaufreancienne’, who moved all-in pre-flop with pocket queens only to have run into a brick wall with ‘HotPot44’ calling it off with pocket aces. There was no drama over the nine-high board but shortly afterwards, HopPot44 lost a big hand with the better hand, ace-trey going down as ‘M0therLover’ holding king-ten. An ace and king on the flop saw HotPot44 remain in the lead, but another king on the river sent HotPot44 sliding down the counts.