The long wait is finally over for poker players in London who are itching to return to the live felts. Some of the London’s live poker rooms have begun accepting customers after almost five months of being temporarily closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
UK casinos have been preparing to reopen since early July, but it had been delayed due to health restrictions.
The non-operation of the country’s casino industry had significantly impacted its economy, with massive losses in gambling revenue being reported.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson finally gave them the green light to resume operations, but poker appeared to be placed on the backburner. Discussions focused primarily on slots and table games, leaving everyone hanging as to when poker rooms could finally begin accepting customers.
Everything was made clear on August 18 when The Poker Room, formerly The Vic, made an announcement that it would reopen its doors and initially offer cash games. The venue added that the games would be played 7-handed.
Over at The Hippodrome Casino, cards have been shuffling since August 15. The room shared a photo of how the new set-up looked like via their Twitter account. The photo shows players being seated in a table with plastic dividers to ensure social distancing.
The venue quickly reached its maximum capacity with players coming in droves. The poker room initially operated a total of five cash game tables during their reopening day, with at least 20 players on the waiting list.
Two games open and seating third table now. Space available, come and see us. pic.twitter.com/0ltKcHzreB
— PSLive@TheHippodrome (@PSLive_Hippo) August 15, 2020
The Hippodrome poker room has made sure everyone entering their premises will observe required health standards, such as using sanitizers and putting in place a Track and Trace system to monitor who’s going in and out of the establishment. Cards are also being disinfected on a regular basis.
Two games open and seating third table now. Space available, come and see us. pic.twitter.com/0ltKcHzreB
— PSLive@TheHippodrome (@PSLive_Hippo) August 15, 2020
Returning To Normal
Another poker room in London, the Empire Poker Room, has also been running cash games. Players would definitely want more games to be offered, but allowing just cash games for the time being makes it quite easier to monitor the players, and make sure health guidelines are being adhered to. In cash games, players usually do not change seats regularly, unlike the tournament setting.
Many are now hoping for everything to return to normal at the live poker arena, but it might take quite longer for that to happen, with no sign of the pandemic going away soon.
