Bobby’s Room - home of the biggest poker games

• Author: Andrew
• Filed under: Bobby's Room, High Stakes News, Poker
• Date: Jan 1,2008

So what is this place called Bobby’s Room?

Whilst most poker rooms have a high limit section, the one at the Bellagio is the pinnacle of High Limit poker where the world’s best play in a special section called Bobby’s room (named after Bobby Baldwin, CEO of Mirage Resorts and also a world champion poker player himself). Every cash game player wishes to play here, some even dream to win here… welcome the toughest poker game on the planet, welcome to Bobby’s room.

Bobby’s room hosts the highest limit cash game in the world and consists of 2 of the finest poker tables in the world. A state of the art Leroy Niemen painting which includes some of the highest limit poker players in the world also decorates the interior.

The room is filled with the who’s who of the poker world. You don’t see a lot of turnover in the big game; it’s generally the same group of players: Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen, Doyle Brunson, David Benyamine, Sam Farha, Ted Forrest, Lyle Berman, Chip Reese, Chau Giang, Eli Elezra, Allen Cunningham, Todd Brunson, Patrik Antonius and Barry Greenstein. Many tournament pros and rich businessmen have tried their luck in this company - with no success.

The game isn’t No limit Hold’em as you see on TV; it’s a mix of different variants of poker that change every 8 or 10 hands depending on what the players agree on, including

* Texas Hold’em (Limit and No Limit)
* Omaha (Limit and Pot Limit)
* Seven Card Stud (straight 8, Hi/lo eight or better and Hi/lo regular, which does not have an 8 high requirement for a low hand)
* Deuce-to-seven-triple-draw (Limit)
* Deuce-to-seven-single-draw (No Limit)
* Ace-to-five triple draw (Limit)
* Ace-to-five-single-draw (No Limit)
* Razz

Most games are played in Limit format with the occasion capped Pot Limit Omaha and No limit Hold’em. Depending on who’s in town the limits vary from $2,000/4,000 to $4,000/8,000 when the likes of Sam Farha and Lyle Berman are in town. Most of the games tend to have a cap on the betting of $100k which means that any player can only lose the maximum of $100k in one given hand.

Usually players buy in for $200k-300k but anyone with the minimum buy in of $80k is welcome to play.

The best all round player the poker world has ever seen, Chip Reese, was ‘born’ in this very room. Getting his bankroll up to just over a hundred thousand he risked more than half his bankroll confident he could beat his opponents. On his first day of playing ‘The Big Game’ Chip recalls a hand that ‘changed his life’. In a stud 8 or better Hi/Lo hand he recalls having a nut flush draw and low draw with one card to come, face down. There was a lot of action with the pot already standing at a very healthy sum. As the final cards were dealt, he peered down to see the 2 of hearts, completing his nut low: A2345 and a straight flush A-5 for high. He scooped a massive pot and a new ambassador to poker was born.

For all of us that dream about playing there can only be a small consolation… watching from the beautiful windows…