ARIA Resort & Casino has rebranded its high stakes poker area, previously named after poker star Phil Ivey
February 20, 2019 marked the end of a poker era in Las Vegas. The Ivey Room, one of the premium poker hubs in Sin City, no longer exists, or at least not under that name.
ARIA Resort & Casino debuted The Ivey Room in May 2010, just a few months after the opening of the glitzy resort and days ahead of the 2010 edition of the World Series of Poker. The room was named after poker pro Phil Ivey to celebrate one of the greatest players of one of the greatest games.
For nearly nine years, The Ivey Room was among the most popular high stakes rooms in Las Vegas and drew some of the world’s most accomplished players. It was the biggest competitor of the legendary Bobby’s Room, known to be the high stakes area of the Bellagio.
On Wednesday morning, ARIA staff removed The Ivey Room plaque to replace it with one bearing the name Table 1.
ARIA Director of Poker Operations Sean McCormack said yesterday that it was time for a change and that the idea to name the high stakes space Table 1 came from Elayne Teitelbaum, the ARIA poker room host. McCormack went on to say that the new name seemed fitting as a lot of ARIA’s players have already been referring to the room as Table 1 for a while now.
Does the Name Change Have to Do with Ivey’s Legal Battle with Borgata?
Phil Ivey has been embroiled in a lengthy legal battle with Atlantic City’s Borgata. Both ARIA and the Borgata are owned by Las Vegas gaming and hospitality giant MGM Resorts International. Speculations quickly emerged that The Ivey Room’s new name had a lot to do with its namesake’s legal problems with ARIA’s sister property.
McCormack said yesterday that they thought it was time to rename the room as nothing lasts forever. He went on to say that Ivey “is still an incredible player and still very much relevant in the poker world.” He did not link the poker pro’s ongoing legal battle to their decision to rebrand the poker room.
The latest installment in the Ivey-Borgata saga involved a federal judge giving the green light to the Atlantic City property to go after the player’s assets in Nevada in a bid to reclaim more than $10 million from him. Back in 2012, Ivey and his companion player Cheung Yin “Kelly” Sun amassed $9.6 million in baccarat winnings by playing the game at the Boardwalk property.
The two player resorted to the controversial edge-sorting technique, which got them in the big legal trouble they are currently in. As Casino News Daily reported last week, the story of Kelly Sun will be told in a feature film by the producers of box office hit Crazy Rich Asians and her, and Ivey’s battle against the Borgata will probably be paid quite some attention to in the new movie.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on the day’s top casino news stories.
