The Venetian Brings Live Poker Tournaments Back Despite Pandemic

Earlier this week, the Venetian Poker Room announced the launch of the first live poker tournament DeepStack Showdown Series. The tournament will run through September 27 and features more than $400,000 in guaranteed prize money.

The First Live Poker Tournament in Las Vegas during the Pandemic

The Venetian Poker Room in Las Vegas hosts the first live poker tournament during the COVID-19 pandemic. The DeepStack Showdown Series launched this week Monday and will run through September 27. The tournament features more than $400,000 in guaranteed prize money as well as 32 events. Here, we cannot miss saying that the event with the largest guaranteed win of $100,000 will be the $400 buy-in MonsterStack no-limit hold’em event. This event will be running from September 23 through September 27.

Poker rooms along with casinos in Las Vegas were ordered to shut down back in March. This was an effort of the state officials to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the state. After a few months of closed doors, casinos were allowed to reopen on June 4. The Venetian in Las Vegas did not wait and reopened its doors on June 5. In the beginning, the poker room was only offering cash game action and no tournaments were held. This makes the DeepStack Showdown Poker Series the first live poker tournament series in Las Vegas since the shutdown introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But to operate in the COVID-19 environment, the Venetian and other casino operators had to implement strict health and safety protocols. Visitors had to mandatory wear masks, social distancing was introduced. Strict cleaning and disinfection protocols were implemented as well. In addition, each venue also had to operate under a reduced capacity.

Strict Health and Safety Protocols Introduced by the Venetian

“Since we resumed hosting OneDay poker tournaments, we have seen tremendous support from the poker tournament community; therefore, we wanted to work toward putting together one of our most popular series, the DeepStack Showdown Poker Series,” said Tommy LaRosa, poker tournament director at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas in an interview for CardPlayer. He shared his excitement that so many players managed to adjust to the health and safety measures and participate in the tournament.

LaRosa did not miss to say that it’s the Venetian’s priority to ensure the safety of both players and employees. He outlined that with the increased interest in poker tournaments, the venue was able to improve its protocols. LaRosa added that plexiglass dividers were installed at each table which enabled eight-player games.

Similar to all venues operating in the COVID-19 environment, strict sanitation protocols were implemented by the Venetian as well. Although there are plexiglass spacers installed by the operator, masks remain mandatory for all guests of the venue. Furthermore, all poker players are asked to sanitize their hands before sitting at a table. Chips, chairs, plexiglass spacers, as well as other hard surfaces, are also frequently sanitized. In that line of thought, LaRosa assured that the Venetian will continue to improve its protocols, ensuring the health and safety of all visitors and employees.