Alex Foxen Ask Players To Speak Out Against WSOP Mandatory Vaccine Policy
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) has gone back and forth with the regulations that will govern its 2021 WSOP live poker tournament. The popular WSOP live tournament is set to take place from Sept to Nov 2021 at the Rio in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The WSOP announced last week that it had decided to make it mandatory for anyone attending the WSOP to be fully vaccinated. The COVID-19 vaccination policy is not option as all players, media and staff must comply. Everyone would have to submit proof of full vaccination once to be able to participate in the WSOP.
Those who were not vaccinated or could not provide proof of full vaccination would not be allowed to take part in the WSOP. Ty Stewart, WSOP Executive director said that the management team held in-depth discussions on the matter and concluded that it was in the best interests of the players, WSOP and everyone involved to impose the mandatory vaccination requirement.
A lot of poker players were happy with the WSOP’s decision as they were pro-vaccine and believed that it would make things safer for everyone involved. However there were a number of players who did not agree with the WSOP’s decision.
Alex Foxen Asks Players To Protest
Alex Foxen has won two consecutive GPI Player of the Year awards and is one of the most respected poker players in the world. Foxen has over $18.4 million in career prize money and is engaged to Kristen Bicknell who is one of the best female poker players in the world.
Foxen took to social media to slam the WSOP for making the decision to enforce mandatory full vaccinations. He accused the WSOP of bending to Big Pharma and putting pressure on the poker community to vaccinate. He retweeted a screenshot which questioned the logic of getting a vaccine that does not prevent you from getting COVID.
Foxen posted a number of tweets and said when there was so much division in the world, it was important for poker to be inclusive of all and not impose religious, political or medical beliefs on the poker community.
He received support from his fiancé who said she was proud to see Foxen standing up for what he believed in. They asked poker players who did not believe in the COVID-19 vaccine to speak out against the WSOP’s decision for mandatory vaccinations.
Hope to see other people who feel this way speak out! It's not easy, but it's important and I'm proud of @WAFoxen who has all the courage to fight for what's right ❤. Thank you to those who are doing the same https://t.co/NcH4mWKKBM
— Kristen Bicknell (@krissyb24poker) August 27, 2021