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Three more Las Vegas poker rooms are no more.
According to a report from CardsChat, MGM properties Excalibur, Mandalay Bay and The Mirage have shuttered their poker rooms for good. They'd all been shut down since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic but company officials had called them 'temporary' and said they'd be 'continually re-evaluated.'
Evidently, the evaluations have determined that the properties would be better off moving forward without spreading poker. While that will be sad news for many, there's some silver lining in that six figures worth of bad beat jackpot must still be distributed back to the players, and it'll happen in a series of freerolls.
Continuing Trend of Nevada Consolidation
None were particularly robust rooms, each having between seven and 12 tables, and their closures continue an industry-wide trend of shrinkage in the Las Vegas market and Nevada in general.
In February, the last full month of pre-pandemic operations, there were 34 rooms in Clark County with 430 poker tables running, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Today, those numbers are 21 and 285.
Statewide, it's much the same. Where today one can find poker at 29 locations with the possibility of being seated at 338 tables, there were 57 venues hosting poker at 540 tables in February.
Even that number of 57 was lowest the industry has seen in Nevada since 2002, according to the UNLV Center for Gaming Research.
Good News for Freeroll Hunters
The good news to come out of the closures is that the bad beat jackpot money must be distributed back to the players, per gaming regulations, as it's money that belongs to them and not the venues. That means more than $100,000 will be given away in a series of three upcoming freerolls, CardsChat reported.
The poker room at MGM Grand, which opened back in July, will host the freerolls. The first is tomorrow but has already 'sold out,' while the others will take place Nov. 17 and Dec. 1.
| Date | Venue | Registration Date | Bad Beat Jackpot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 3 | MGM Grand | Sold out | $24,022 (Mandalay Bay) |
| Nov. 17 | MGM Grand | Nov. 11 | $69,804 (Mirage) |
| Dec. 1 | MGM Grand | Nov. 25 | $27,837 (Excalibur) |
| $121,663 (Total) |
Players who want to get their hands on some of the free dough can head to the official MGM website on the appointed sign-up day at 5 p.m. local time to try to secure a seat. Alternately, the official ticketing page states that, 'If spots are available on the day of the tournament in person registration will be accept on a first come, first serve basis.'
According to PokerAtlas, MGM Grand has 13 tables, which represents the likely full capacity for the tournaments.
Sad News for Many in Industry
For many in the industry, though, the closures of these three rooms will be seen as sad news, especially for the employees who will now have to find new work if they hadn't already.
Particularly given its storied history, the Mirage will be missed. The room was remodeled and downsized in 2015 to its smaller size of 12 tables. However, it was formerly one of the top poker destinations in the city.
Many players who came up in the late 1990s and early 2000s cut their teeth in the limit games there, something they discussed fondly a few months back on Twitter. There, Daniel Negreanu took part in a trend by posting a photo of a chip stack from the Mirage:
I grew up here https://t.co/UPpFSAxxP1
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker)Mgm Grand Poker
Eli Elezra, David 'ODB' Baker, Layne Flack, Bruno Fitoussi and Gavin Griffin were among those who recalled building their bankrolls at the property's $20/$40 limit.
Of course, it also played a small but memorable role in the film 'Rounders', representing the ultimate destination for an aspiring poker pro who wished to find fortune in Las Vegas.
Mgm Poker Tournaments Dc
'I want him to think I'm pondering a call,' Mike McDermott says. 'But all I'm really thinkin' about is Vegas and the f*****' Mirage.'
Aspiring poker players can no longer identify with that particular dream, and the live poker capital of the world is down three more rooms in this time of industry upheaval.
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Changing landscape
Three poker rooms in Las Vegas are reportedly closing permanently. A CardsChat report states that the poker rooms at The Mirage, Mandalay Bay, and Excalibur will not be reopening following their pandemic-forced closures in March.
Now it appears that the poker rooms will never reopen.
These MGM Resorts International-owned properties have been back operating with reduced capacities, but the poker rooms were still “temporarily closed.” Now it appears that the poker rooms will never reopen. According to Nevada Gaming Control Board figures, there were 34 card rooms operating in Clark County pre-pandemic; this number is now down to 21.
The three poker rooms were not especially large in terms of volume, but there is a lot of history attached to them, particularly at the Mirage, where many notable poker professionals developed their games early in their careers. A number of poker pros reacted to the news on Twitter, including Daniel Negreanu:
MGM Resorts has given no official information regarding these closures. Currently, poker rooms in the region are not operating at full capacity and require extensive safety protocols because of close player interaction.
Three freeroll tournaments
There is still outstanding bad beat jackpot money at each of the three poker rooms. Because the funds were contributed by players, they still must be paid out. MGM has decided to distribute the funds through three separate freeroll poker tournaments that will take place in the coming weeks at the MGM Grand. Registration for each event is free, but there is a limit on the total number of players.
The first of these freeroll events will be held on November 3 and is already sold out. Mandalay Bay’s $24,022 jackpot money will serve as the prize pool.
The second tournament, scheduled for November 17, will use the $69,804 in jackpot cash from the Mirage. Registration begins on November 11. The third and final freeroll will be on December 1, featuring the $27,837 prize pool from the Excalibur, with registration opening on November 25.
A struggling city
Las Vegas, the gambling capital of the United States, is struggling because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Casinos and poker rooms had to close from March 17 until June 4 as a result of Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak’s shutdown order. Since then, they have been operating at reduced capacities.
As there is still a reluctance among people to travel, visitor numbers to Las Vegas have dropped sharply. In September, there was a 61% year-on-year decline in air travel to the city’s McCarran International Airport. With a lack of conventions, midweek business travel has dried up. This has led to numerous properties cutting their opening hours, such as the Wynn Resorts-owned Encore, which is now only opening from Thursdays until noon on Mondays.
unemployment rate in Nevada was 12.6% in September
Due to the drop in visitors, some casino operators have been laying off workers. Last week, another 1,172 lay-offs were announced at the Tropicana, Park MGM, and MGM Grand. The total unemployment rate in Nevada was 12.6% in September, a rise of 8.9% from 2019 figures.