Doug Polk laying odds that the 2020 WSOP will be cancelled due to Coronavirus
Doug Polk is taking bets on the WSOP being cancelled this summer due to the Covid-19 coronavirus – and Mike Timex McDonald has already offered the retired pro 16-1 odds on that happening…
Fears of the Coronavirus spread around the globe and many believe that it will especially affect big live poker events such as the WSOP.
Doug Polk is now even laying odds and taking bets that the 2020 WSOP will be canceled due to Coronavirus!
Doug and Timex are both taking bets that the WSOP will get cancelled lol fuck
I really might need to find that cure myself because the WSOP can’t be cancelled. It’s the greatest event in the world. Give me 4 bottles of adderall and lock me in a room w/ the leading scientists.
— Joey Ingram #passion (@Joeingram1) February 27, 2020
I'll take 16:1 (2.5k vs 40k min)https://t.co/8DGWp7UnkJ
— Mike McDonald (@MikeMcDonald89) February 27, 2020
Timex wasn’t the only highstakes pro willing to test Polk’s numbers, Dan ‘Holla’ Smith happy to put $20k on the line…
I’ll lay my $20,000 to your $1,000
— Dan Smith (@DanSmithHolla) February 27, 2020
Many pros believe that the Corovavirus will affect the WSOP and live poker events in general
The deadly flu strain has become the centre of many poker discussions since it started to spread worldwide.
With the WSOP regularly attracting players from more than 100 countries, thousands sharing tables in the Rio, it’s an environment that would likely see Covid-19 flourish and spread.
Legendary sportsbetter and highstakes poker player Haralabob Voulgaris thinks the WSOP is ripe for a Covid-19 disaster…
https://twitter.com/haralabob/status/1232878958892347392?s=20
To prevent this, travel bans that have already been brought in to many countries may well scupper the summer biggie in Vegas too.
That’s Polk’s thinking at least as he took to Twitter with his predictions…
I think there is a real chance of WSOP being cancelled. There are just so many countries that fly in and with severe travel restrictions it might not be realistic. https://t.co/IkgVNFNrdI
— Doug Polk (@DougPolkVids) February 27, 2020
Mike the Mouth Matusow even claims that he has a friend, who is so sure that the WSOP will be canceled due to Coronavirus that he is willing to bet any amount!
You’re betting 12 to 1 on no wsop? I have friend that will bet any any amount! https://t.co/TYzE1cO78n
— Mike Matusow (@themouthmatusow) February 27, 2020
Triton Poker Super High Roller Series was already canceled…
The coronavirus strain that started in China’s Wuhan province has rapidly spread to 46 other countries, and has already seriously disrupted poker events.
The Triton Poker Super High Roller Jeju series in South Korea was cancelled as we reported here.
The economic impact has also been noticeable with Macau and Australian operators hit hard as the Asian players faced travel restrictions, reported here.
Some of poker’s finest weighed in on Polk’s estimate of how likely it is to affect the WSOP, starting with English poker queen and astrophysicist Liv Boeree…
Curious to hear your % confidence on that. Super top-of-head I give it 10-30% to be cancelled. I expect the pandemic will near its peak in June
— Liv Boeree (@Liv_Boeree) February 27, 2020
Polk’s old buddy Joey Ingram has also been taking an interest in the epidemic sweeping the globe…
I’ve spent the past 6 hours working on this Coronavirus video and I’ve started to get a sore throat as the night has went on and now have a slight bit of anxiety because that’s one of the main symptoms. I’ve been playing live poker a bunch lately here in Vegas 😨😱
— Joey Ingram 🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽 (@Joeingram1) February 27, 2020
Meanwhile the WSOP, who claimed last month to be ‘monitoring the situation’, appeared to be continuing their business as usual approach, tweeting this yesterday…
The 2020 WSOP starts 3 months from today!
We have finalized the gold bracelet schedule and ALL events can be seen here: https://t.co/glD5nqgeHE
Improvements to registration and payouts as well. Details here: https://t.co/ZUkb1C6JvX pic.twitter.com/m4Qg0gAiNo
— WSOP (@WSOP) February 27, 2020
As Voulgaris mentioned in his tweet, the WSOP faced a Legionnaires Disease problem back in 2017 when two guests at the Rio contracted the rare illness.
Health officials were brought in to test the Caesars’ property, but the Series went ahead as scheduled despite contamination being found in a water heater.
The US Government response to Covid-19
The US government response to the Covid-19 virus may yet affect the WSOP 2020 plans.
President Trump has put VP Mike Pence in charge of the issue, but his claims that ‘the risk to the American people remains very low’ is at odds with leading scientists.
“We expect we will see community spread in this country, It’s not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness”, said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
Of course, VIP-Grinders.com will keep you updated with WSOP news over the coming days and weeks.
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