Aria Daily Poker Results
The Bellagio has Bobby’s Room, the nosebleed-stakes poker room at the Bellagio named after Bobby Baldwin, the 1978 World Series of Poker Main Event champion. It is the place where most poker players dream of playing, though only an elite few (or rich businesspeople) will. In May 2010, just before the start of the WSOP, ARIA Resort & Casino opened its answer to Bobby’s Room: The Ivey Room, named after Phil Ivey. As of Wednesday, the single-table poker room no longer bears Ivey’s name, as it is now called “Table 1.”
Superchat Alternatives: Venmo: @Timothy-Watts-1 Cash App:$TheTrooper97 Lady Trooper's Jewelry Shop: Things w. Official website of the World Series of Poker Tournament. Featuring poker tournament coverage of events, schedules and news. Play online poker games like the WSOP pros.
Aria Director of Poker Operations Sean McCormack told CardPlayer that people should not read anything into the name change, that it was just time for it to happen.
“We thought it was time to rename the room,” McCormack informed CardPlayer. “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.”
Most in the poker world are skeptical of this reasoning, believing that Phil Ivey’s name was removed from the high stakes poker room because of his legal battle with the Borgata in Atlantic City. As has been covered extensively, Ivey and a cohort figured out that the cards used at the Borgata’s high stakes baccarat tables were cut at the factory unevenly, resulting in the patterns on the backs of the cards being ever-so-slightly asymmetrical. Among other requests, Ivey and his friend asked the dealer to turn certain cards 180-degrees before putting them back in the deck, which meant that they could secretly tell which card was to come based on the pattern on the back.
Ivey and his partner won nearly $10 million from the Borgata. The casino later sued, claiming that Ivey cheated and after years of court battles, a judge ruled that Ivey and his partner did use an unfair advantage and ordered the winnings be repaid.
Most recently, a judge permitted the Borgata to go after Ivey’s assets in Nevada to recoup the money.
The Borgata is owned by MGM Resorts International, the same company that owns ARIA. This is why most think The Ivey room is now Table 1: ARIA doesn’t want to continue to honor a man who is in a legal tussle with its company. It’s a reasonable decision, I suppose, though I will be interested to see if it affects the poker room’s traffic at all. “Table 1,” while actually kind of a cool name, doesn’t really have the gravitas of “The Ivey Room.”
McCormack told CardPlayer that the name change has nothing to do with Ivey’s “edge sorting” saga or legal issues with the Borgata.
“Nothing lasts forever,” he said. “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.”
On May 21st and 22nd, the Aria Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas will debut The Ivey Room, a private high-stakes poker room bearing the name of all-around poker stud Phil Ivey. As part of the festivities, a $1 million invitational freeroll will play out.
An invitation to the event posted on TwoPlusTwo and confirmed by poker room officials read in part, “Aria Resort and Casino, the heart of CityCenter, is revealing our exclusive new high-limit poker room, The Ivey Room. To commemorate this special occasion, you are on the Dean’s List to compete in this prestigious event.” Ivey is a seven-time bracelet winner and made the final table of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. His proficiency in tournaments, cash games, and nearly all poker genres has made him one of the most feared players in the game.
On Friday, May 21st, a cocktail reception and tournament registration will take place in the Deuce Lounge at Aria. The next day, the $1 million invitational will be held and culminate with the winner playing Ivey heads-up for $250,000. Second place takes home a $70,000 cash prize, third place pockets $40,000, fourth place banks $35,000, fifth place will earn $25,000, sixth place will make $15,000, seventh place will boost their bankroll by $10,000, and the eighth place finisher will cash for $5,000.
The showdown between Ivey and the tournament’s winner for $250,000 will take place in The Ivey Room immediately following play. As added bonuses during the freeroll, Ivey will have a $100,000 bounty and another $200,000 will be placed on other players’ heads.
Knocking out Ivey requires busting the person who many consider to be poker’s top all-around player. Ivey owns seven WSOP bracelets, tied for the sixth most overall, and is poker’s all-time money leader. His seventh place finish in the 2009 WSOP Main Event was worth $1.4 million, although he used part of his winnings to buy out of a $1 million vegetarian prop bet with Tom “durrrr” Dwan forged on the felts of “High Stakes Poker.”
MGM Mirage owns Aria and the Bellagio, among other casinos in Las Vegas and around the world. The latter features the high-limit area known as Bobby’s Room, which sits in the rear of the main Bellagio poker room. Bobby’s Room boasts a $20,000 minimum buy-in and features two tables. A bevy of well-known pros can be found battling it out at the Bellagio around-the-clock, including Doyle Brunson, Eli Elezra, Chau Giang, Jennifer Harman, and Daniel Negreanu.
Aria boasts a 24-table poker room and spreads games including Limit Hold’em, No Limit Hold’em, Seven Card Stud, Pot Limit Omaha, 2-7 Triple Draw, Badugi, Omaha Eight or Better, and Chinese Poker. Text found on Aria’s website elaborates, “The setting is perfect for enjoying great poker action that is safe, friendly, and smoke-free. The dealers are trained to run the games professionally, while the management team and poker rules are your assurance that our games uphold the highest standards of integrity and fair play.”
Aria Daily Poker Results 2020
The makeup of the invitational tournament’s field is unclear. Aria officials told Poker News Daily that The Ivey Room is currently open to the general public, but is simply dubbed the “high-limit room” for the time being. The Aria Casino poker room opened last December amid much fanfare, with patrons including Guy Laliberte, David Benyamine, Dwan, and Patrik Antonius. A press release about the $1 Million Invitational was due out this week pending approval by MGM Mirage officials.