How to reopen live poker?

They are talking about reopening live poker with only 4 to a table. WRONG won't work. How about this. Increase the table size to accommodate 8-9 players. Replace chips with individual electronic counters with displays. Personal protection should include masks (maybe see through) and surgical gloves redistributed each time a player leaves the table. Maybe overkill but we need to get playing live.

Yes! I am really wanting live play back!
I was wondering if anyone has played in Deadwood, SD. They were the first city in the US to reopen live poker. But. .they are only allowing 4 players per table.
I am tempted to just go ahead and play at the 4 per table games for now! I dont reside near any open poker rooms though, but seriously am thinking about a road trip to SD.
Anyway....we do need to look for creative solutions, as you were mentioning to get things up and running again soon!

Electronic tables are possible but I think it takes a bit of fun out of the game... But I'd be fine with it for now, and wider adoption will allow for smaller casinos to offer poker in the future, which I'd say is a plus

shorthanded play is not everyones cup of tea
fewer people will go to these poker tables
and electronic stuff etc. increases the costs
it looks not good for live poker in my opinion
the same for any other competition like chess open tournaments etc.

Hey!
There is some good news! A fee casinos/poker rooms, are doing 6 handed games, which is at least a normal variation.
Masks are required, etc, and there will be plexiglass in between players, but still...it is getting better!
I think it will make a comeback with improvisstions!

I do think playing shorthanded is not a bad idea since it helps to prevent players a little bit and makes games looser, so it sounds like a decent idea.

I would much rather play 4 handed with one recreational player than 9 handed.

However, I am not sure how many players will go to casinos in the first place and if they introduce electronic tables, I would rather stay and play online so not sure how effective it can be. On top of that, as previously mentioned, it does increase the costs so not even very likely to happen.

I can't see it. Maybe I'm missing something. How do you check your cards without touching them? Four player tables? If we were trying to get a game together and only had four players, we would still need two more players at the very least and preferably four more. I can't see putting the effort into making drive to play the game, if you can't even play the game right. And I can't see any way to play the game right and maintain social distancing.

Hurry up with that vaccine, yo!