Bobby Baldwin (born c. 1950)MGM Mirage's 2006 proxy statement, filed on April 30, 2006, recorded Baldwin's age as 55 is a professional

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

player and

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

executive. As a poker player, Baldwin is best known as the winner of the 1978 World Series of Poker Main Event, becoming the youngest Main Event champion at that time. Baldwin was born in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

,Where Are They Now - Bobby Baldwin
, March 24, 2008, Contributed by: Billy Monroe, pokerworks.com and attended

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

in 1970. He currently resides in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Poker career

Baldwin won his first two bracelets at the 1977 World Series of Poker, first winning the $10,000 Deuce to Seven Draw event, then winning the $5,000 Seven Card Stud event. Baldwin won his largest tournament prize in 1978 when he won the WSOP Main Event, earning the title and the $210,000 first prize. He defeated a final table that included professional poker players Ken Smith,

Jesse Alto Jesse Michael Alto (January 1, 1927 – May 3, 1998), was an American poker player, best known for his numerous main event final table appearances at the World Series of Poker. Alto was a fixture at the World Series of Poker in the 1970s and 19 ...

, Buck Buchanan, WSOP bracelet winner Louis Hunsucker, and businessman

Crandell Addington Crandell Addington (born June 2, 1938, in Graham, Texas) is an entrepreneur and poker player who is best known as one of the founders of the World Series of Poker, and is a member of the Poker Hall of Fame. Poker Known as "Dandy" because he w ...

, whom Baldwin defeated in heads-up play. When Baldwin won the

1978 World Series of Poker The 1978 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was a series of poker tournaments held in May 1978 at Binion's Horseshoe, and was the first WSOP that was not a winner-take-all prize. Instead the tournament had a progressive prize structure, as follows 50 p ...

Main Event at age 28, he became the youngest winner in its history. His title of youngest winner was later superseded by

Stu Ungar Stuart Errol Ungar (September 8, 1953 – November 22, 1998) was an American professional poker, blackjack, and gin rummy player, widely regarded to have been the greatest gin player of all time and one of the best Texas hold 'em players. He ...

in 1980. In 1979, he won the $10,000 Deuce to Seven Draw event again, earning his fourth and most recent bracelet at the WSOP. Baldwin also competed in the

Super Bowl of Poker The Super Bowl of Poker (also known as Amarillo Slim's Super Bowl of Poker or SBOP) was the second most prestigious poker tournament in the world during the 1980s. While the World Series of Poker (WSOP) was already drawing larger crowds as many amat ...

tournaments, organized by 1972 world champion

Amarillo Slim Thomas Austin Preston Jr. (December 31, 1928 – April 29, 2012), known as Amarillo Slim, was an American professional gambler known for his poker skills and proposition bets. Preston won the 1972 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event and was ...

. Baldwin cashed in several SBOP events and won the $5,000 Seven Card Stud event in 1979. His major wins include four WSOP bracelets, all won from 1977 to 1979. He won WSOP bracelets in three consecutive years (1977, 1978, and 1979) which only a small number of players have done in the history of the WSOP. In addition to his 1978 victory, Baldwin's other WSOP Main Event cashes are: 1981 (7th), 1986 (16th), 1987 (21st), 1991 (29th), 1992 (15th), 1994 (24th), and 2009 (352nd). In 2003, Baldwin was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. His last live cash came in the

2012 World Series of Poker The 2012 World Series of Poker was the 43rd annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). It was held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Paradise, Nevada between May 27 – July 16, 2012, with the final table of the Main Event delayed until late Oct ...

in the

Big One for One Drop The Big One for One Drop is a $1,000,000 buy-in No Limit Texas hold 'em tournament hosted at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Added in 2012, it became the highest buy-in poker tournament in history as well as the largest single payout offered. T ...

Career as casino executive

In 1982, he became a consultant for the Golden Nugget casino, and in 1984 was named the president. He was selected to head The Mirage in 1987, and was named as the president of the

Bellagio Bellagio may refer to: * Bellagio, Lombardy, an Italian town * Bellagio (resort), a luxury resort and casino in Las Vegas * Bellagio (Hong Kong), a private housing building * Bellagio declaration, an intellectual copyright resolution * 79271 Bellag ...

hotel and casino in 1998. In 1999–2000, he was the

chief financial officer The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...

of Mirage Resorts under Steve Wynn; in 2000, upon the merger of Mirage Resorts and MGM Grand, he became the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the Mirage Resorts subsidiary of MGM Mirage. In 2005, after the acquisition of

Mandalay Resort Group Mandalay Resort Group (formerly Circus Circus Enterprises) was an American hotel and casino operator based in Paradise, Nevada. Its major properties included Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur and Circus Circus, as well as half of the Monte Carlo. In ...

by MGM Mirage, Baldwin became CEO and President of the announced Project City Center, while continuing his responsibilities as CEO of the Mirage Resorts subsidiary. Baldwin now oversees additional resorts added through the Mandalay Resort Group buyout as well as the previous Wynn properties. In 2018, following a lengthy tenure as Chief Customer Development Officer of MGM Resorts and CEO and President of CityCenter, MGM announced that Baldwin would leave both positions by the end of 2018.

Other interests

In addition to poker, Baldwin is also known as a world class billiards player. Baldwin and his playing style are the subject of a book entitled ''Bobby Baldwin's Winning Poker Secrets'', which was written by

Mike Caro Mike A. Caro (born May 16, 1944) is an American professional poker player, pioneer poker theorist, author of poker books, and casino executive. Author In 1978 Caro contributed 50 statistical tables to Doyle Brunson's ''Super/System'' and wrote ...

. Baldwin has written many columns on poker and he authored a section for

Doyle Brunson Doyle F. Brunson (born August 10, 1933) is a retired American poker player who played professionally for over 50 years. He is a two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several ...

Super/System ''Super/System'', one of the first books about poker strategy, was written and published in 1979 by Doyle Brunson, a professional poker player and multiple winner at the World Series of Poker. History and title ''How I Made Over $1,000,000 Playing ...

. His own book ''Tales Out of Tulsa'', a poker guide for novices, was published in 1985. The high-stakes signature poker room in the

is named "Bobby's Room" after Baldwin. As of 2012, his total live tournament winnings exceed $2,300,000. His 20 cashes at the WSOP account for $2,100,311 of those winnings.World Series of Poker Earnings
, worldseriesofpoker.com

World Series of Poker bracelets

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baldwin, Bobby 1950s births American poker players American casino industry businesspeople Living people People from the Las Vegas Valley Businesspeople from Tulsa, Oklahoma Super Bowl of Poker event winners World Series of Poker bracelet winners World Series of Poker Main Event winners Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Poker Hall of Fame inductees