Will casinos put poker players in plexiglass bubbles?

Michael
Posted on: April 27, 2020 12:43 PDT

Could plexiglass dividers become the norm separating players at the poker tables when casinos reopen in a post-pandemic world? That’s the question poker players on the Las Vegas strip and around the world are wondering after a video surfaced demonstrating a plexiglass partition system prototype at the Blackjack tables.

A tweet by @JoeTall showed a plexiglass divider protype inside a casino. While the divider won’t necessarily protect people from an airborne disease that’s capable of traveling over dividers, it could provide some sense of comfort to dealers and gamblers.

Plexiglass dividers could become the standard in the new post-pandemic casino environment as business of all stripes come to terms with how to operate while keeping customers and employees somewhat safe.

It’s not uncommon to see essential services like grocery stores and banks outfitted with plexiglass dividers at the points of interaction between customer and employee (at the checkout or teller desk, specifically).

Airlines, too, are grappling with how to social distance passengers in the air, with a number of new concepts in development recently previewed to the public.

The plexiglass system might work at the Blackjack tables where players are playing strictly against the dealer. It might prove to be slightly more problematic at the poker tables where players need to interact with one another, see chip stacks, and get a clear view of community cards. But with casinos keen to reopen and generate revenue, a solution is inevitable.