Will He, Or Won't He?

Esteemed governor of Nevada Sisolak will hold a press conference at 4:30 to announce new restrictions based on COVID data from his state. The fate of my Turkey, and possibly Xmas trips hang in the balance. Initial indicators are no casino or bar shutdowns, but it's all speculation until 4:30.

Stay tuned!

UPDATE: Press conference now!

Highlights: 100% masks everywhere except when actively eating/drinking. Going from 50% capacity for venues (bars, restaurants) to 25% capacity. No gatherings over 50 people (events, shows etc). Reservations required for food, unclear if that will be enforced or not in casino venues. 3 weeks of these restrictions, minimum, go into effect Tuesday at 12:01a. He's calling it a "pause".

So, I'm going (whew), but it'll be another strange and possibly challenging trip. 25% capacity could be a challenge in some bars, but thinking during the week (Tues-Thurs) it might not be too limiting since you would think it wouldn't be crazy busy, and there are so many venues available on strip that if one is over limit, another one is right around the corner. I have a feeling the 25% limit will be strictly adhered to in resorts under gaming regulations, stand alone bars (like Fuel for example), probably not so much.

Friday could be a thing, hard to say if there will be a big influx this year for the Thanksgiving weekend, but that has been the trend in past years. I think it may end up being a really good thing that I'm coing in on the Tuesday and leaving on the Saturday, so only one w/e day to have to fight the possible crowds.

Have to wonder too if some venues might just close if limited to 25% as they may not be able to cover costs. Guess we'll see. Being that I'm a bar guy and don't require a table, I probably will be able to skirt around the reservation requirement by heading straight to the bar, hopefully. If not there may be some furtive "can I make a reservation for an hour from now" kind of stuff. I may add a dinner rez or two for the evenings just to ease the trouble and be assured of getting at least one proper meal a day. Take out is unrestricted though so it's not like I'm going to starve.

Don't want to wish further pain on bars/restos in Vegas than they have already had to endure, but selfishly I'm hoping these restrictions scare off some of the crowd that would normally come to Vegas, and REALLY hoping it doesn't have the opposite effect and bring more in from states that are even more restricted. I'd love to be able to have something like a what my normal Xmas trips are like, a month early, where the crowds are way lower than normal but most venues are open and getting a spot at the bars is a breeze.

So we're on, but far from a normal trip, yet again, coming up in 2020. Again, even bizzaro Vegas is preferable to scratching my balls at home for 5 days. Two days til...we shall see.