Bobby Baldwin Poker
At a time when Las Vegas is all abuzz about the implications of Steve Wynn’s fall from grace, I am reminded both of his rise as a visionary who brought a glitzy casino into the Wild West downtown section of Las Vegas and his homerun in recruiting World Series of Poker Champion, Bobby Baldwin, as an executive. Wynn took Baldwin up the corporate ladder to the positi9n of president of the Golden Nugget.
Well schooled in accounting matters and people reading skills, Baldwin went on to become president of Mirage Resorts, Wynn’s first property on the famous Las Vegas Strip. He then moved onward and upward to Wynn’s next crown jewel, Bellagio, before joining the C-Suite of the behemoth MGM Company, where Wynn’s arch rival, Terry Lani, was the CEO.
When MGM, took aim at the Wynn properties and acquired them– lock, stock, and barrel, Baldwin remained a winner, convincing Lanni to send him up a higher corporate ladder in the MGM infrastructure.
Poker legend Bobby Baldwin has been named CEO of Drew Las Vegas, which is the newest casino to be built on the famous Las Vegas Strip. As well as being named CEO of the new casino, Baldwin has also been announced as the vice chairman of Witkoff, the real estate company in charge of developing Drew Las Vegas. Bobby Baldwin (born c. 1950) is a professional poker player and casino executive. When Baldwin won the 1978 World Series of Poker main event he became the youngest winner in its history, to be superseded by Stu Ungar in 1980 and then Phil Hellmuth in 1989 and Peter Eastgate in 2008. Longtime MGM Resorts International executive Bobby Baldwin, the namesake of the high-stakes poker room at Bellagio, will leave the company later this year, the company announced Thursday. Baldwin also continues his work at The Mirage. In 2003, the Poker Hall of Fame inducted Bobby “The Owl” Baldwin. He can still be found playing live cash games and is known for his super-aggressive poker style. To date, Bobby “The Owl” Baldwin has won more than $400,000 in World Series of Poker events.
Wynn was forced into a sale, taking a pretty penny and a non-compete agreement that put him off the casino- building grid for years. But once freed from his non compete shackles, Wynn was back in the saddle. he built a new spectacular resort and recognized, once again as an incredibly effective casino visionary–with plenty of political clout.
And then came an all too familiar jolt of late– a powerful man in the crosshairs of allegations of sexual misconduct in the workplace. Last week, Steve Wynn resigned his position of Chair of the National Republican Committee and then as Chairman of the Wynn Hotel and Casino. acknowledging, only, that the accusations lodged against him, had caused a public relations disaster for himself and the properties that bear his name.
For Baldwin — a storied history continues. The late Terri Lanni called Baldwin’s decision strategies “artfully refined over the years,” undoubtedly perfected by paying careful attention at poker tables–where he is still a threat to younger poker wizards.
As a woman who has worked and played in male dominated worlds, including casinos from Las Vegas to Macau, I have learned that even in the last bastions of rugged male chauvinism there are good role models as well as bad ones to be found.
I have known Steve Wynn casually for more than 30 years-well enough to share a few group meals and work together on a couple of charity dinners in Las Vegas; not well enough to have any personal clue about his alleged sexual improprieties with the Company’s massage therapists–some of whom worked on my ever -aching feet. I have had a bit more personal experience with Bobby Baldwin–enough to know that I was very fortunate to make his acquaintance.
By the looks of the first poker table I visited (in downtown Las Vegas), I suspected that it would be “slim pickins'” to find a few good men! Baldwin turned out to be one of many poker pros who has taught me crucial negotiating skills through the power of keen observation.
My early on poker friend, “Suds,” a successful businessman and an elite poker player, introduced me to Bobby Baldwin. I instantly took the measure of the man as smart, well-mannered, focused, skeptical, determined, and– a skilled “people reader. He exuded inner confidence.
I don’t know Bobby Baldwin well, but I certainly have experienced his winning ways. At the Grand Prix of Poker–way back in 1985, we were both invited to play in the “Super Bowl of Poker Charity Invitational. Bobby crippled me –early in the proceedings. He played a pair of sevens as if they were Aces–because he knew I would fold to his big raise! And then he toughened me up by warning me to hunker down and study how best to play each hand. Bobby Baldwin’s sage words have proven applicable, everywhere!
Bobby Baldwin Poker Cheat
Baldwin has the world on a string!
While I held on long enough to reach the final table, my hours there were short and less than sweet. Bobby eventually knocked me out in fifth place, taking advantage of another moment of inexcusable distraction on my part. I tracked Bobby down to thank him for the thrashing and promised to take his words to heart.
The high profile C-Suite executive of MGM and former winner of the World Series of Poker Championship had already begun his rapid trajectory to the top of the corporate ladder, before I met him, noting, “The only difference between the poker room and the boardroom is the shape of the table.”
Weeks after our Grand Prix encounters, we met up at a formal charity event in Las Vegas. He complimented my gown and then kidded me, about being distracted at the final table of the Grand Prix, whispering, “It pays to watch hands when you are not in them.”
Following Bobby’s suggestion, I began to approach card tables and conference tables with more focus, determined to prove I was not one of those people with the attention span of a gnat!
I created exercises to improve overall sensory perception, and learned the high value of awareness of people’s speech and silence–both at the poker table and in business meetings. As I developed these skills, I made more confident analyses of risk -reward ratios, and I found myself in fewer jams–everywhere.
Master dealmakers are distinguishable t by their people-reading expertise and negotiating savvy. Bobby’s advice resonated deeply with me. I learned, slowly and methodically how to improve my attentiveness. If I had to guess how Bobby Baldwin came to hold the world on a string, I would make a ladylike wager that his secret “sauce” is his power of concentration and attention to facts and behavior that others miss regularly. He also holds his cards very close to the vest.
Decades after Steve Wynn’s Grand Prix Poker Charity Tournament, I was visiting the late Terri Lanni, former Chairman of MGM. By this time, Bobby Baldwin had become president of MGM. He popped into Terri’s office and joined us for a casual chat. I reminded him of the long ago poker confrontations, while attempting to convince him I was no easy target anymore. He smiled agreeably, but gave no hint as to his own conclusion.
It’s missing something
For decades, the very best high rollers in the world of live poker have played in the famed “Bobby’s Room” at the Bellagio. It’s the type of place where a single big blind would destroy me, where the gravity of the star power is enough to pull moons into its orbit. But don’t call it Bobby’s Room anymore. Recently, the Bellagio changed the name of the high stakes poker area, now calling it the Legends Room.
I know, I know. It’s no good. Most poker players who have made their feelings known don’t like it. But then again, it’s just the name of a poker room. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter. Some continuity, some history, though, is nice, and the only reason the name changed is because Bobby Baldwin, the Poker Hall of Famer for whom the room was named, doesn’t work for MGM anymore. A little petty? Perhaps.
Vegas mainstay for four decades
Bobby Baldwin won the 1978 World Series of Poker Main Event at the age of 28. At the time, he was the youngest Main Event champ ever, though 28 seems ancient now compared to some of the young men who have won the tournament in the post-poker boom era. Baldwin has four WSOP bracelets in all, though mainly just plays cash games now, rather than tournaments.
Bobby Baldwin Poker
An Oklahoma native, Baldwin stuck around Las Vegas after his win and became one of the most important people in the poker world. He started as a consultant to the Golden Nugget in 1982 and then became the casino’s president a short two years later. Baldwin moved to the Mirage in 1987 and became president of the Bellagio in 1998, the year it opened. He continued to move up the corporate ladder, becoming CFO of Mirage Resorts in 1999 and CEO in 2000.
In October 2018, Bobby Baldwin left MGM Resorts International and his position as Chief Customer Development Officer of MGM Resorts and CEO and President of CityCenter to little fanfare. The company barely said anything in a statement; rumor was that he was forced out, that he did not leave on his own accord.
Then, about a year ago, Baldwin was named the CEO of Drew Las Vegas, a casino still under construction. Witkoff and New Valley teamed up to buy the abandoned Fontainebleu Las Vegas project for a whopping $600 million in 2017.
Name change remains a mystery
At the time Baldwin left (or was let go from) MGM, there were rumors that the Bellagio would change the name of Bobby’s Room. That didn’t happen and as is the case with most non-events, people forgot about it, especially now that we have been dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic most of the year. There are just more important things to consider.
Bobby Baldwin Poker. Age
But now there is a new plaque by the door, reading “Legends Room.” So obviously someone thought that since Baldwin no longer worked at the company, his name shouldn’t adorn the most famous poker room in the country.