Aria's 'The Ivey Room' Officially Renamed 'Table 1'

Nearly nine years after its inception, ‘The Ivey Room’ at the Aria Resort and Casino is no more.

On Wednesday morning, the staff at Aria took down the sign for the room named after Phil Ivey and replaced it with a sign that read ‘Table 1.’ According to Aria Director of Poker Operations Sean McCormack, it was just time for a change.

“We thought it was time to rename the room,” said McCormack. “The idea to call it ‘Table 1’ actually came from Elayne [Teitelbaum], our host. It’s so fitting because a lot of players have been calling it ‘Table 1’ for a while now anyway. [They were] coming in and asking if table 1 had a game going or was available.”

The room was launched just before the 2010 World Series of Poker, about five months after Aria opened. It was supposed to be Aria’s version of ‘Bobby’s Room,’ which is the high-stakes area of the Bellagio poker room named after MGM Resorts casino executive and four-time WSOP bracelet winner Bobby Baldwin.

The switch comes in the aftermath of Ivey’s most recent legal problems. At the start of February, a federal judge gave the Borgata Hotel and Casino approval to go after Ivey’s assets in Nevada to collect the $10.16 million he owes Borgata from a lawsuit he lost over his infamous baccarat session.

McCormack, however, did not link Ivey’s baccarat troubles with the decision to make a change.

“Nothing lasts forever,” said McCormack. “Obviously Phil is still an incredible player and still very much relevant in the poker world, but we thought it was time for a rebrand.”

McCormack confirmed that Ivey did not have a contract with the property.

Before Aria opened, ‘Bobby’s Room’ was home to the biggest games in Las Vegas. It still is the place to go for the biggest limit mixed games in town, but the high-stakes section formerly known ‘The Ivey Room’ did steal away some of the traffic when it came to largest big-bet games.

Related Articles

Fuller Returns To Poker, Wins BetMGM Poker Open

WATCH: 10 Biggest Pots From High Stakes Poker

PGT Last Chance Series Schedule Revealed

Most Viewed Articles