The Legacy of the Most Famous Room in Poker – Bobby’s Room at Bellagio Las Vegas 

Since 1998, the high-stakes poker room at the Bellagio Resort & Casino has been one of the most prestigious destinations in the poker world. For two decades known as Bobby’s Room—after 1978 World Series of Poker champ Bobby Baldwin—the tucked-away high-limit room has long been an exclusive arena for poker’s best, where millions could change hands overnight. But what’s it like today, and what is its future? 

From its beginnings as a Steve Wynn-owned property to its purchase by MGM Resorts, its transformation into legendary status during the poker boom—and even a world record—to its recent renaming to the Legends’ Room, this is the story of the most famous poker room in the world. 

Bellagio and Bobby’s Room Opens to a Mixed Start 

The Bellagio was the brainchild of The Mirage owner Steve Wynn during a period of transition in Las Vegas. One of the most expensive buildings in the world when it opened in 1998, the Bellagio was part of the Wynn-driven transformation of the Las Vegas Strip. This transformation shifted the Strip from an old-school gambler’s destination to a luxury tourist resort corridor, with gambling as just one of its selling points. 

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Casino executive and long-time poker player Bobby Baldwin was general manager of the project, working closely alongside Wynn. He was insistent that the venue had a high-limit poker room, and he soon invited all of his WSOP friends to play there. 

The Italian-inspired Bellagio didn’t have the most superb start in Las Vegas and took a while to attract customers in numbers. Within two years of opening, Wynn sold the casino to MGM Resorts International. 

MGM Buys the Bellagio and Bobby’s Room Becomes Poker’s Office 

Once MGM took over, the Bellagio’s fortunes turned around. The new owners kept Baldwin as manager, though, and his popular high-limit poker room became a staple of the resort. Alongside Brunson, these are just some of the famous poker faces who regularly played at Bobby’s Room during this time: 

• Chip Reese
• Phil Ivey
• Daniel Negreanu
• Patrik Antonius
• Gus Hansen
• Jennifer Harman

Bobby’s Room oversaw somewhat of a changing of the guard in poker, where the 1970s legends of Baldwin, Reese and Brunson handed the chips over to a new generation of eventual titans of the game in Ivey, Negreanu, Antonius and others. 

Brunson reportedly often called Bobby’s Room “The Office” as he and other top figures at the WSOP spent so much time there. 

The Poker Boom and MGM’s Growth 

This was the scene in 2003 when amateur Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas—and $2.5 million to boot. However, Moneymaker’s win came after entering an online satellite tournament for just $40. The highly publicized event saw a poker boom across the world for the next five years. 

Bobby’s Room capitalized on that interest and continued to be the spot in Vegas for many professionals and high-stakes recs. Just some of the events held or happened there included:

• Televised sessions of High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark
• Several televised million-dollar games
• Phil Laak’s Guinness World Record-setting poker marathon of 117 hours at the table

During this time, the Bellagio became one of MGM’s most profitable Las Vegas casinos, even as the company expanded and built or bought several more Las Vegas Strip casinos. 

Bobby’s Room to Legends Room – What’s Next for Poker in Las Vegas?

In 2020, Baldwin left MGM, briefly became CEO of a company involved in Fontainebleau Las Vegas, and then retired from gambling to move to New York. 

MGM, seeking to transition Las Vegas further away from its old school gambling image and into the modern era, renamed Bobby’s Room to Legend’s Room. Of course, to many fans, it is still known as the former iconic name.

Although the Legend’s Room is still doing brisk business, many poker rooms in Vegas have closed in recent years – despite increased interest in the game. This is indicative of the trend in Sin City towards attracting more high-limit players, keeping famous, nosebleed stakes poker rooms packed. In contrast, smaller, independent card rooms at lower stakes are less profitable. 

Despite all the headlines about falling visitation to Las Vegas in 2025, places like the Legend’s Room ensure it remains a global destination for poker fans and will likely continue to be so for a long time to come.