COVID-19 (Corona virous) and your home game? (3 Viewers)

I've been listening to more podcasts lately, and one thing which has been mentioned is that historically, areas that deal with the pandemic directly recover economically better than ones that attempt a "half-baked" or "stay-opened" approach. We should use this history to help inform decisions made today. I don't have specific examples, but remember, this is not the first pandemic to afflict humans.

The economy will recover better when we are past this virus. So the focus should be on handling the public health threat as quickly and fully as possible.
 
N & S Dakota are, by far, the deadliest places on earth with Covid deaths per capita on earth (given known data).

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I am the OP of this thread. Here I am almost a year later, having to figure out what to do with my March Madness game. Almost a year later, and the pandemic is now worse than ever. And here I am a month after I myself contracted Covid-19. I seem to be fine. My second week with it was really rough, very bad flu symptoms. I am still experiencing a cough and fatigue. I don’t know if there will be any long term affects. It’s not just about death rates.

I was someone who tried to be very careful to not catch it. I failed there. To me, it was not about myself, it was simply about stopping the spread, and not infecting others.

I haven’t played poker live since February. I really miss it. This event that I put on every March is important to me. But… I will not do anything that I think puts one more person at risk to catch this aweful virus. So, I will have the game, but the only people that will be allowed to attend are people who have either already had the virus or those that have received the vaccine. I only know of one person that might play that has had the virus. The vaccine is not supposed to be available to the general public until after March. So, what it probably means is that I won’t be able to have the game again this year. Maybe we will be able to get a small game. We’ll see.

I know people are tired of the pandemic. I can tell that more and more people here are resuming their games. I have no intention of getting preachy. I just ask that you maybe reconsider. Thanks.
 
I am the OP of this thread. Here I am almost a year later, having to figure out what to do with my March Madness game. Almost a year later, and the pandemic is now worse than ever. And here I am a month after I myself contracted Covid-19. I seem to be fine. My second week with it was really rough, very bad flu symptoms. I am still experiencing a cough and fatigue. I don’t know if there will be any long term affects. It’s not just about death rates.

I was someone who tried to be very careful to not catch it. I failed there. To me, it was not about myself, it was simply about stopping the spread, and not infecting others.

I haven’t played poker live since February. I really miss it. This event that I put on every March is important to me. But… I will not do anything that I think puts one more person at risk to catch this aweful virus. So, I will have the game, but the only people that will be allowed to attend are people who have either already had the virus or those that have received the vaccine. I only know of one person that might play that has had the virus. The vaccine is not supposed to be available to the general public until after March. So, what it probably means is that I won’t be able to have the game again this year. Maybe we will be able to get a small game. We’ll see.

I know people are tired of the pandemic. I can tell that more and more people here are resuming their games. I have no intention of getting preachy. I just ask that you maybe reconsider. Thanks.

Our crew’s last live game was also last February. I cancelled our March 2020 game the week it was scheduled. We have yet to have a live game since. We did move to online games, and guys have been appreciative of that - even adding a few players to the player pool. But, everyone is ready for this to be done, and everyone can’t wait for that first live game back. However, I don’t think we’ll see that first live game in 2021 until the summer...if the vaccine rollouts go fairly well.

Poker will still be around when all this is over. Traditions will return, big game nights will return, friendships will strengthen. Stay diligent and stay healthy.
 
I am the OP of this thread. Here I am almost a year later, having to figure out what to do with my March Madness game. Almost a year later, and the pandemic is now worse than ever. And here I am a month after I myself contracted Covid-19. I seem to be fine. My second week with it was really rough, very bad flu symptoms. I am still experiencing a cough and fatigue. I don’t know if there will be any long term affects. It’s not just about death rates.

I was someone who tried to be very careful to not catch it. I failed there. To me, it was not about myself, it was simply about stopping the spread, and not infecting others.

I haven’t played poker live since February. I really miss it. This event that I put on every March is important to me. But… I will not do anything that I think puts one more person at risk to catch this aweful virus. So, I will have the game, but the only people that will be allowed to attend are people who have either already had the virus or those that have received the vaccine. I only know of one person that might play that has had the virus. The vaccine is not supposed to be available to the general public until after March. So, what it probably means is that I won’t be able to have the game again this year. Maybe we will be able to get a small game. We’ll see.

I know people are tired of the pandemic. I can tell that more and more people here are resuming their games. I have no intention of getting preachy. I just ask that you maybe reconsider. Thanks.

Sorry to hear you contracted the virus. Glad to hear you are nearly better.

At the risk of asking too personal a question, any idea how you contracted it?

I had a close call. It was right after Thanksgiving. I work out with a buddy who WFHs due to the virus. His network is very limited. But he attended a larger family gathering for Thanksgiving, and sure enough, one of his in-laws who works at a grocery store came down with COVID-19 right after Thanksgiving, potentially putting everyone at the Thanksgiving gathering at risk. When my buddy found out, he immediately let me know and went about getting himself and his wife tested. We all lucked out - no one came down with it and his in-law is recovering. But it was certainly a "shot across the bow".

Yeah I'm super-bummed out about poker nights, or lack there-of. When this all first hit, my state went into lockdown. The governor said "no gatherings of 10+ people". Looking at the numbers from back then, it would have been the right time to have a poker night! LOL. Now everything is much worse and I can't in good conscious try to pull a game together.

I have a number in mind, and when the 7-day moving average goes below that number, I'm going to schedule a game. We'll see when that is....
 
New vaccine guidelines are going to have lots of people eligible to get a vaccine as soon as tomorrow. Supply has not been and never will be an issue. It's going to be the logistics of getting everybody to get a shot in a timely manner. It takes a lot of man power working together efficiently to do something on this scale quickly.

Good news is (or bad, depending on how you look at it) that most per federal guidelines are eligible to receive a COVID vaccine in New Jersey. Anyone over 65, and anyone between 16-64 with a comorbid health condition that may leave someone more susceptible to a severe COVID infection are now eligible. Hypertension, COPD, asthma and other lung issues, diabetes, obesity (yes, just being fat makes you eligible), and other immunocompromising conditions now allow one to be eligible. I read that today, chuckled, and thought to myself "....so basically just about everyone then".

I promptly texted my players to wink, wink, nudge, nudge, get signed up so we can get back to playing again.
 
I am the OP of this thread. Here I am almost a year later, having to figure out what to do with my March Madness game. Almost a year later, and the pandemic is now worse than ever. And here I am a month after I myself contracted Covid-19. I seem to be fine. My second week with it was really rough, very bad flu symptoms. I am still experiencing a cough and fatigue. I don’t know if there will be any long term affects. It’s not just about death rates.

I was someone who tried to be very careful to not catch it. I failed there. To me, it was not about myself, it was simply about stopping the spread, and not infecting others.

I haven’t played poker live since February. I really miss it. This event that I put on every March is important to me. But… I will not do anything that I think puts one more person at risk to catch this aweful virus. So, I will have the game, but the only people that will be allowed to attend are people who have either already had the virus or those that have received the vaccine. I only know of one person that might play that has had the virus. The vaccine is not supposed to be available to the general public until after March. So, what it probably means is that I won’t be able to have the game again this year. Maybe we will be able to get a small game. We’ll see.

I know people are tired of the pandemic. I can tell that more and more people here are resuming their games. I have no intention of getting preachy. I just ask that you maybe reconsider. Thanks.

I hope your cough and fatigue go away soon. The last home game I played in was back in January of 2020. I have not hosted a game in a year and I don't plan to any time soon because of the current surge in cases. So far 3 of my players have been infected with COVID-19.

I don't know when I will start hosting games again, but with the vaccines now being administered I am hoping it would be at the beginning of summer. Once I do start hosting again I plan on putting in play some mint sets.
 
From what I see, vaccine rollout in Canada has been a shitshow. I'm frontline healthcare and I have no idea when there will be supply for me.
I have a non PCF friend in Canada as well, he is an older veteran with health implications and has asked his doctor (sees him weekly) several times about the vaccine with no updates other than "they will be available in the near future"
 
I have a non PCF friend in Canada as well, he is an older veteran with health implications and has asked his doctor (sees him weekly) several times about the vaccine with no updates other than "they will be available in the near future"

Care home patients and staff get first go, along with First Nations living on reserve land.
 
From what I see, vaccine rollout in Canada has been a shitshow. I'm frontline healthcare and I have no idea when there will be supply for me.
I just got my first dose today and I'm taking care of and exposed to COVID patients on a daily basis. My old hospital employee colleagues lapped me and got both doses before I got my first. Not smooth at all down here either.
 
I provide the chips (DDM's) and cards to our home game. We have 70+ active Covid cases out of a population numbering less than 3,000. No poker for me and my chips.

 
Covid numbers continue to climb.

Weekly games are still being held in town, usually no more than five players. No game last week. I have turned down the invites for the last month, choosing to stay secluded except when necessary, such as grocery runs and work appointments.

Caved in last night. Played five handed for two to three hours, then four handed for the last hour and a half, double masked.

I believe the number of Covid cases and the restrictions imposed by businesses/government out of concern for public safety is starting to wear on some in our group. Not everyone is coping well.
 
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I'm targeting a 7-day average of 200 cases or less in my state. Why? Because I said so! LOL. No good reason, except we were wigging our pretty hard when the cases were a little under 200, then we had the summer "gap", then the big wave up. It feels like you could call the surge over once the 7-day average drops back to that 200 number. It was about 4x too high recently, but it's now getting close to 400. Almost there?
 
No tournament poker for four months. Two small cash games in the last two months.

Covid numbers have peaked. 96 active cases out of a population of 3000 as of Feb. 10.

Percentage of infections is roughly the same when you include the surrounding communities. 200+ cases out of a population of 6500.

A female UPS driver (smoker) has been hospitalized with Covid. Everyone in our group can now attach a face to Covid.

To cap it off, two players in our group are in financial straits. No game scheduled for this week, nor is anyone talking of a game.
 
I haven't played live in over four months.

Suddenly, daily cases in New Jersey went from 3400 to less than half that in the course of a week. Rate of transmission and test positivity rate is also at the level it was when we were still playing back in October.

I sent an email to my players last night about possibly resuming again in three weeks with the same rules as last summer and early fall. Brand new card set ups for each game, chips not being touched until I need to the day of the game to cut starting stacks. Masks at all times, hand washing before sitting down at the table, no food at the table, and other common sense stuff like staying home if not feeling well or if there is a possible exposure. Keeping it to a limit of 6 players.

We'll see what happens.
 
Hosting on Friday night for the first time since October, which was the first time since February. Should be back to our regular monthly game going forward.
 
No tournament poker for four months. Two small cash games in the last two months.

Covid numbers have peaked. 96 active cases out of a population of 3000 as of Feb. 10.

Percentage of infections is roughly the same when you include the surrounding communities. 200+ cases out of a population of 6500.

A female UPS driver (smoker) has been hospitalized with Covid. Everyone in our group can now attach a face to Covid.

To cap it off, two players in our group are in financial straits. No game scheduled for this week, nor is anyone talking of a game.
Is there a reason you all aren't attempting to move online for the time being? My group's poker night was practically weekly holiday for years before COVID. Come March of 2020 we all switched to online with video conferencing on the side and haven't missed a beat. If anything it has allowed us to do more split pot games and MTTs. Doesn't have to be an either "get COVID" or "play poker/have fun" all or nothing choice.

When its all over we will definitely be going back to live, but I wouldn't be surprised if we still spice it up with an occasional online night once a month. Saves some folks who've moved out of the neighborhood from making the long drive to hang out with us.
 
Is there a reason you all aren't attempting to move online for the time being? My group's poker night was practically weekly holiday for years before COVID. Come March of 2020 we all switched to online with video conferencing on the side and haven't missed a beat. If anything it has allowed us to do more split pot games and MTTs. Doesn't have to be an either "get COVID" or "play poker/have fun" all or nothing choice.

When its all over we will definitely be going back to live, but I wouldn't be surprised if we still spice it up with an occasional online night once a month. Saves some folks who've moved out of the neighborhood from making the long drive to hang out with us.

For me, mainly, I didn't have a strong game going when COVID-19 hit. A lot of my players aren't "good enough" to enjoy playing online - at least I suspect so. There was a strong social aspect to the game when held in person, and although it's better than nothing, a lot of that is lost when going online.
 
For me, mainly, I didn't have a strong game going when COVID-19 hit. A lot of my players aren't "good enough" to enjoy playing online - at least I suspect so. There was a strong social aspect to the game when held in person, and although it's better than nothing, a lot of that is lost when going online.
I hear you @legonick the social aspect is/was huge for us too. The zoom room that we run concurrently is what makes it doable for us. If you haven't tried it, I recommend doing it with zoom or google hangouts. For me, I wouldn't have even attempted to keep it going if we didn't have the social aspect of it. For me its been a lifeline since its a way to stay connected with friends and neighbors.
 

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