The poker pro speaks up about the possibility of COVID-19 making a return as casinos reopen
Poker pro player Andy Bloch, also known for being a former MIT blackjack card counter, wrote a Facebook post about how he sees the future of Las Vegas casinos amid the coronavirus pandemic. The 2012 WSOP bracelet winner anticipates a spike of coronavirus cases now that casinos in the Silver State have reopened for business. Bloch, who recently put his $8 million Las Vegas home for sale, shared troubling graphs and supporting data for his prediction about the progression of the pandemic in Nevada.
This graph shows, consistently, how during the last seven days the number of coronavirus cases has been increasing. This new increase started a few weeks ago when other types of businesses like restaurants were allowed to open, which was only expected, as social distancing rules are more relaxed. But now, with the reopening of gambling venues, Bloch, who has over $5 million in poker tournament cashes in his career, thinks that the numbers of cases will continue to rise.
Despite his Facebook post painting quite a dark picture of what Las Vegas might be facing, Bloch supported his statements with data. "Get ready for another COVID-19 wave in Nevada," he wrote. "The weekly average number of new cases per day has been rising since June 1, erasing the downswing from the prior week." Nevada's cases are not as bad as, for instance, Iowa, which has the same number or residents. "A few days ago I was hoping that the rise in cases was due to increased testing, but the daily percentage of positive tests has also been increasing on average the last couple of days, and the last few days the number of hospitalizations and deaths have also been rising," Bloch wrote.
