Mirage/Hard Rock poker?

Anyone heard anything about Hard Rock takeover of Mirage possibly bringing a card room back? I've played at their Florida room and enjoyed how it was ran and I miss he Mirage room. Don't know if poker is a thing they absolutely do everywhere or not though. Probably early to ask but was thinking about it today and figured I'd post the question.

 

Way too early for anyone to answer that. All I can do is speculate.

Do keep in mind that Hard Rock did NOT reopen a poker room at the old Taj in AC. It's not that they had one and it closed due to COVID; they never bothered to open one when the resort was refreshed. The Taj had a giant poker room and is what I would call the Mirage equivalent of the East Coast (it was the place to play in the 1990s).

If I were betting, based on their decision in AC and the value of Vegas Strip casino floor space, I'd probably put my money on no. Still, we do finally have a new room in Vegas (Resorts World) and I suppose that if RW could get something decent going, they might be intrigued by that. But I doubt it. I suspect they go the Park MGM/Circa route and don't have one.

 

There's also the competition factor. I was never that big on the AC poker scene, but my recollection is that Taj was the place to play until Borgata opened up, which basically eclipsed the Taj. Similarly with Mirage, where it was the giant on the scene (both for actual casino play, and in popular culture) but now the significant games are more at Bellagio and Aria. Also, when Hard Rock reopened the Taj, at that point online poker was legal in New Jersey, and in Vegas the Mirage space is relatively small in comparison to the big guys. So overall, I agree 100% with @The Rumor that it's too early to tell, but if I had to guess, they wouldn't go with it.

 

Aren't Hard Rocks independently owned and operated? I believe people are just paying for licensing rights.

If so, I think this speculation is kinda idle unless we know new ownership group and their past precedent(s).

 

The new ownership is the Seminole Indian tribe based out of South FL. All of their largest casinos in FL have a poker room and the Hollywood flagship location (guitar hotel locale) is considered to be among the most well-run rooms in the nation.

With all that said, I’d lean towards a no on a room in Vegas due to the heavy competition but we’ll see I guess. Haven’t heard anything one way or the other.

 

I note that they didn't put a room in at the AC (former Taj) location that formerly had a massive poker operation

 

Yeah I think the room down here in Hollywood works as well as it does because the Hard Rock/Guitar are one of the top 5 hotel destinations in the South FL area, which says a lot considering this is a big tourist area. Being a destination makes it easier to make it a huge draw for out-of-towners for large tournament events. Even though you could argue that cash and tournaments are practically two different games and often have completely different player pools, the cash and tourney reputations feed each other and just make it one of the better rooms around. They’re definitely number one in South FL by a wide margin as the best room by far for both game types.

I don’t think the Mirage location can realistically be elite as a cash OR tournament location and I think that makes it a lot more likely they won’t try to go after it since they can’t really compete on either front.

I think that’s the same thing with AC. They weren’t going to be better than the Borgata in either regard so just make the best business decision instead.

 

First, no, they do not franchise in the United States for the most part. Second, even if they did, it's very, very different in the casino space, where the brand can have a massive impact on regulatory approval even if it's just a licensing deal (see, e.g., what happened with Gansevoort). Third, and most importantly, this Hard Rock is certainly going to be corporate-operated by HRI/Seminoles, which is what was in all the press releases, with the physical property staying with VICI.

 

I believe this is/was just for the Hard Rock restaurants, not the resorts.

 

At least according to Wikipedia, "Hard Rock Cafe typically does not franchise cafe locations in the United States. All US cafes are corporate owned and operated, except for cafes in Tampa and the Four Winds New Buffalo casino." There may be some other exceptions due to the convoluted nature of their corporate history, but much as with Panda Express, they're not really a franchise operation domestically.

 

Some are licensed.

Hard Rock Biloxi is owned by Bally's (formerly known as Twin River)
Not sure on the details/arrangement.

 

I would expect the new Hard Rock Vegas to have a poker room. If the seminoles own it, it will have poker.

I'm also dumbfounded that HR AC has never opened a poker room. Especially since Covid as the only poker room on the boardwalk is the Trop and that’s a terrible room.