Bellagio's High-Stakes Poker Area Renamed From 'Bobby's Room' To 'Legends Room'The Famous Card Room Was Renamed Less Than A Year After Bobby Baldwin Took A Position At A Competing Casino |
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One of the most famous high-stakes poker rooms in the world recently underwent a name change.
The high-stakes area of the Bellagio poker room on the Las Vegas Strip, known to poker fans as “Bobby’s Room,” has been renamed “Legends Room.”
Since its inception, Bobby’s Room has been home to some of the biggest poker games on the planet. The game usually featured a mix with limits of at least $400-$800, but during the World Series of Poker, games are generally much larger, with limits of $1,000-$2,000 and up. At the time of this article’s publishing, there was a $2,500-$5,000 big bet mix game running in the room.
The room was named after 1978 WSOP main event champion Bobby Baldwin. The Oklahoma-native and four-time WSOP bracelet winner stayed in Las Vegas after winning the main event at 28 years old and forged a successful career in the casino industry.
In 1982, Baldwin was hired as a consultant for the Golden Nugget and became president of the property just two years later. Steve Wynn hired him to be the president of The Mirage in 1987 and he was also the Chief Financial Officer of Mirage Resorts, which eventually became MGM Resorts following a merger. He became president of the Bellagio in the late 1990s.
Towards the end of 2018, Baldwin announced he was leaving his position with MGM Resorts as Chief Customer Development Officer of MGM and CEO and President of CityCenter.
About a year ago, it was announced that Baldwin will be the CEO of the Drew Las Vegas, which is scheduled to open in 2022.
As successful as he was in the boardroom, Baldwin was just as successful on the felt. He won two WSOP bracelets in no-limit 2-7 single draw and a seven-card stud title, along with his main event bracelet. His last cash came in 2012 with a seventh-place finish in the $1 million buy-in Big One For One Drop. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2003.
Bellagio originally said that the room would remain in his name, despite his departure from MGM, but that changed last month with the renaming. The move went under the radar as the COVID-19 pandemic, the passing of Mike Sexton, the Doug Polk-Daniel Negreanu heads-up match, and the announcement of a hybrid WSOP in December took most of the poker community’s focus.
Pour one out for Bobby's room which is now called, "Legend's room" lol. Is nothing sacred anymore pic.twitter.com/wMDW1IL37c
— Nick Schulman (@NickSchulman) November 25, 2020
The fuck it has. I’m absolutely not gonna start calling it the legends room.
— Isaac Haxton (@ikepoker) November 25, 2020
Shoulda named it Doyle's Vault.
— Salty (@msalsberg) November 25, 2020
In 2010, as Aria’s poker room gained popularity among the high-stakes community, the fellow MGM-owned property debuted its high-stakes area, which was named after poker legend Phil Ivey. “Ivey’s Room” tended to attract the highest-stakes no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha games, while limit mixed games stayed at Bellagio.
Ivey’s Room was later changed to “Table 1” in February 2019. Aria’s decision came shortly after a federal judge gave Borgata Hotel and Casino approval to go after Ivey’s assets in Nevada to collect the $10.16 million he owed the casino from a lawsuit of his infamous baccarat session.
Ivey eventually settled with the MGM-owned Atlantic City casino last July.
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