{"id":10714,"date":"2020-05-20T07:20:17","date_gmt":"2020-05-20T07:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/?p=10714"},"modified":"2020-05-20T07:20:46","modified_gmt":"2020-05-20T07:20:46","slug":"florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Poker Rooms To Reopen Despite Covid-19 Threat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/seminole-hard-rock-tampa-and-bestbet-jacksonville.jpg\" alt=\"Seminole Hard Rock Hotel &amp; Casino Tampa and Bestbet Jacksonville\" title=\"Seminole Hard Rock Hotel &amp; Casino Tampa and Bestbet Jacksonville Poker Rooms To Reopen Despite Covid-19 Threat\" width=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-10715\" \/>Two poker rooms in Florida have been given the green light to resume operations this week. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Seminole Hard Rock Hotel &#038; Casino Tampa<\/strong> and <strong>Bestbet Jacksonville<\/strong> will reopen their doors to customers on May 21 and 22 respectively, but major changes will be implemented in accordance with strict restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. <\/p>\n<p>The two <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/us\/states\/florida\">poker rooms are among the biggest in the state<\/a>, with Bestbet housing 70 poker tables, and Seminole operating 46 card tables, but it&#8217;s understood they will operate at reduced capacity as part of measures to protect players and staff from contracting the deadly virus. <\/p>\n<p>Customers, casino employees and staff, and any other individual entering both establishments will be required to comply with temperature checks at entry points, and should wear a protective face mask. Additionally, the two casinos will also implement strict social distancing and will install accessible sanitation zones throughout their respective facilities. <\/p>\n<p>Announcing the news on Twitter, Bestbet informed patrons that the facility will enforce enhanced safety guidelines upon reopening, but the casino has yet to release specific guidelines with regards to table limits in poker games. <\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We are excited to re-open on Friday, May 22nd at 10 a.m. Anyone who enters our facilities will need to wear a protective face mask. All poker games will be played six-handed and all Florida Games will be played five-handed including the designated player. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/znZGZAyEJj\">https:\/\/t.co\/znZGZAyEJj<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7XjDqwzqm4\">pic.twitter.com\/7XjDqwzqm4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; bestbet Jacksonville (@bestbet_jax) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bestbet_jax\/status\/1262775395453145088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 19, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Over at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seminolehardrocktampa.com\">Seminole Hard Rock Tampa<\/a>, players will need to get used to playing with plexiglass dividers at the tables to make sure proper social distancing is observed.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FOX 13 News &#8211; Tampa Bay<\/strong><\/p>\n<div style=\"position:relative;height:0;padding-bottom:56.25%\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5ovA3fOrsog?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0?ecver=2\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;left:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Coronavirus Threat Remains<\/h2>\n<p>Florida is among the first states to give approval for the reopening of local casinos. While the state is keen on reviving its economy the soonest time possible, threat still lingers, especially as it has one of the highest number of <a href=\"https:\/\/floridahealthcovid19.gov\">COVID-19 cases<\/a> in the country, with <strong>nearly 47,000 confirmed cases recorded<\/strong> as of this writing, including more than 2,000 deaths.<\/p>\n<p>Casinos in other states are also slowly reopening. <strong>Jamul Casino<\/strong>, located in San Diego, California, will fully reopen on Thursday, May 21, though it already accepted select customers on Monday. The casino operates 10 poker tables. In Nevada, home of some of the biggest and most iconic casinos, there are speculations that some gambling establishments may reopen as early as next week.<\/p>\n<p>While it is positive on one side to see so many poker rooms in the country willing to push forward and reopen for business, there is also concern that they might be jumping the gun. It is hard to tell how things are going to turn out but we will not have to wait long to find out!<\/p>\n<p>Why not stay at home instead and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/us\/states\/florida\">play online poker especially for Florida residents<\/a>..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two poker rooms in Florida have been given the green light to resume operations this week. Seminole Hard Rock Hotel &#038; Casino Tampa and Bestbet Jacksonville will reopen their doors to customers on May 21 and 22 respectively, but major changes will be implemented in accordance with strict restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poker","category-usa"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Florida Poker Rooms To Reopen Despite Covid-19 Threat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two poker rooms in Florida have been given the green light to resume operations this week.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Florida Poker Rooms To Reopen Despite Covid-19 Threat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two poker rooms in Florida have been given the green light to resume operations this week.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-20T07:20:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-20T07:20:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/seminole-hard-rock-tampa-and-bestbet-jacksonville.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Natalie Whitehead\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Natalie Whitehead\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Natalie Whitehead\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6bbc00139fa88f661e2048d7592dae73\"},\"headline\":\"Florida Poker Rooms To Reopen Despite Covid-19 Threat\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-20T07:20:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-20T07:20:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":476,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/seminole-hard-rock-tampa-and-bestbet-jacksonville.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Poker\",\"USA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\\\/\",\"name\":\"Florida Poker Rooms To Reopen Despite Covid-19 Threat\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/seminole-hard-rock-tampa-and-bestbet-jacksonville.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-20T07:20:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-20T07:20:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6bbc00139fa88f661e2048d7592dae73\"},\"description\":\"Two poker rooms in Florida have been given the green light to resume operations this week.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/seminole-hard-rock-tampa-and-bestbet-jacksonville.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/seminole-hard-rock-tampa-and-bestbet-jacksonville.jpg\",\"width\":380,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa and Bestbet Jacksonville\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6bbc00139fa88f661e2048d7592dae73\",\"name\":\"Natalie Whitehead\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9acc940eeb177f49d16ae0c1c96fef7c5e224d0e4a496413c368c84a41f412c5?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9acc940eeb177f49d16ae0c1c96fef7c5e224d0e4a496413c368c84a41f412c5?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9acc940eeb177f49d16ae0c1c96fef7c5e224d0e4a496413c368c84a41f412c5?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Natalie Whitehead\"},\"description\":\"If there is one topic that really gets Natalie excited it has to be the mathematics of gambling, having worked for a major gaming company in the audit department she loves nothing more than revealing all manner of facts and figures. Many of her news stories relate to both online and bricks and mortar gaming and are always worth checking out.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legitgambling.com\\\/news\\\/author\\\/natalie-whitehead\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Florida Poker Rooms To Reopen Despite Covid-19 Threat","description":"Two poker rooms in Florida have been given the green light to resume operations this week.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Florida Poker Rooms To Reopen Despite Covid-19 Threat","og_description":"Two poker rooms in Florida have been given the green light to resume operations this week.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\/","article_published_time":"2020-05-20T07:20:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-05-20T07:20:46+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/seminole-hard-rock-tampa-and-bestbet-jacksonville.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Natalie Whitehead","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Natalie Whitehead","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\/"},"author":{"name":"Natalie Whitehead","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6bbc00139fa88f661e2048d7592dae73"},"headline":"Florida Poker Rooms To Reopen Despite Covid-19 Threat","datePublished":"2020-05-20T07:20:17+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-20T07:20:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\/"},"wordCount":476,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/seminole-hard-rock-tampa-and-bestbet-jacksonville.jpg","articleSection":["Poker","USA"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\/","url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\/","name":"Florida Poker Rooms To Reopen Despite Covid-19 Threat","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/seminole-hard-rock-tampa-and-bestbet-jacksonville.jpg","datePublished":"2020-05-20T07:20:17+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-20T07:20:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6bbc00139fa88f661e2048d7592dae73"},"description":"Two poker rooms in Florida have been given the green light to resume operations this week.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/florida-poker-rooms-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-threat\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/seminole-hard-rock-tampa-and-bestbet-jacksonville.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/seminole-hard-rock-tampa-and-bestbet-jacksonville.jpg","width":380,"height":250,"caption":"Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa and Bestbet Jacksonville"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/","name":"","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6bbc00139fa88f661e2048d7592dae73","name":"Natalie Whitehead","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9acc940eeb177f49d16ae0c1c96fef7c5e224d0e4a496413c368c84a41f412c5?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9acc940eeb177f49d16ae0c1c96fef7c5e224d0e4a496413c368c84a41f412c5?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9acc940eeb177f49d16ae0c1c96fef7c5e224d0e4a496413c368c84a41f412c5?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","caption":"Natalie Whitehead"},"description":"If there is one topic that really gets Natalie excited it has to be the mathematics of gambling, having worked for a major gaming company in the audit department she loves nothing more than revealing all manner of facts and figures. Many of her news stories relate to both online and bricks and mortar gaming and are always worth checking out.","url":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/author\/natalie-whitehead\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10714\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legitgambling.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}