Bellagio’s popular high stakes poker room has now been renamed as “Legends Room“. The room, which is well-known for hosting some of the world’s biggest poker games, was originally named after Bobby Baldwin, winner of the 1978 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. “Bobby’s Room” has been a top destination among high-stakes players since it was opened decades ago.
The name change took place last month but had gone unnoticed, with Mike Sexton’s passing, the Doug Polk-Daniel Negreanu heads-up grudge match, the upcoming hybrid WSOP Main Event, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic mostly occupying the poker headlines.
The move is believed to be influenced by Baldwin’s recent departure from MGM Resorts, Bellagio’s parent company. The four-time WSOP bracelet winner served as president of the Bellagio in the late 1990s and eventually became the CEO of CityCenter and Chief Customer Development Officer of MGM.
Baldwin started his career in the casino industry following his 1978 WSOP victory. He first worked as a consultant for the Golden Nugget in 1982 and became the property’s president in just two years. In 1987, he became the Chief Financial Officer and President of The Mirage (owned by former casino magnate Steve Wynn). The casino later entered into a merger and became MGM Resorts.
After Baldwin parted ways with MGM in late 2018, it was then announced that he would serve as CEO of the Drew Las Vegas, the newest casino on the Strip which will open in 2022. He will also become the Vice Chairman of Witkoff, a real estate investment firm and the developer of Drew.
Poker Community Reacts
The room has been renamed despite Bellagio’s previous statement that it would not change the room’s name even after Baldwin’s departure. The renaming did not sit well with some members of the poker community though, with top pros saying they’d still prefer the old name. Nick Schulman said the new name does not carry the same prestige that it did when it was still called “Bobby’s Room“.
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
Isaac Haxton also said he would still refer to the room using its original name.
There is literally already a strip club in Vegas called the legends room. It’s the weird Bitcoin themed one.
— Isaac Haxton (@ikepoker) November 25, 2020
A similar move was made by Aria when it renamed its high-stakes area from “Ivey’s Room” to “Table 1“. The room was originally named after poker legend Phil Ivey and remained that way for about a decade. In 2019, after the Borgata Hotel & Casino received the green light to chase Ivey’s assets in Nevada arising from his edge-sorting case, Aria then discarded Ivey’s name from its high-stakes room.
