Poker News

Allen Karol

Allen Karol was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and grew up in New Jersey. He attended Montclair State College in Upper Montclair, New Jersey.

At the age of 20 Allen went into finance with AVCO Financial Services and within a year became one of the youngest branch managers in the history of AVCO.

Four years later Allen moved to Spring Hill, Florida and took a position with a local bank as head of their installment and commercial loan department.

In 1977, Allen’s uncle, Mel Reiter, a poker dealer at Circus Circus convinced Allen to come to Las Vegas and pursue a career in poker. Allen’s only experience in poker was as a player, he started playing at the age of 11 in home games with older teenagers. Allen took his uncle’s advice and headed for Las Vegas. Circus Circus hired Allen as a break-in dealer and within a short time he became a full time dealer. Three months later he became a part-time floor supervisor and dealer and later that same year he was promoted to full-time shift manager.

Seventeen years later, in 1994, Allen was offered the Cardroom Manager’s position at Palace Station and within the first year they had record numbers in poker. Somewhere between 1996 and 1997 the old MGM Grand poker room manager ’s position became available and he was asked to take the position. Apparently he was witnessed at the MGM Grand when he went for his interview, because his General Manager was receiving phone calls about the position of cardroommanager at Palace Station. This triggered Palace to offer Allen added responsibilities to stay. He was asked to take on another department so he took on the bingo department. In less than two years Allen turned the bingo department from a losing proposition to a department that made money. At that time Allen was promoted to Executive Director and made a member of the Palace Station Leadership Committee. They asked him to take on another department, this time he took on the keno department, and now he was head of poker, bingo and keno. He was also promoted to Director of Associated Gaming.

Allen left Station Casinos in November of 2000 and took a couple months off to relax then he started his own gaming consulting company.

In October of 2004 Allen was appointed Director of Poker Operations for the future poker room at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

DB: When is the MGM Grand scheduled to open the new poker room?

AK: We are scheduled to open on Monday, March 28, barring any delays, with 23 tables.

DB: Rumor had you opening with 25 tables, why the change?

AK: For player comfort. I want the players to be comfortable when they play. We want the players to be in a relaxed atmosphere where they have room and not feel like sardines in a tin can . This room is very unique, it’s shaped like an hour glass, and it almost has the feel of two rooms in one.

DB: Are you excited about opening a new room?

AK: Yes, so much so, there are no words to describe it.. My goal has always been to take an operation from ground zero and build it to one of the premier poker rooms known throughout the world.

DB: Is MGM very supportive in this endeavor?

AK: The people here at MGM Grand are extremely supportive because they want to ensure the job gets done properly. Everyone here works together as a team. We all do whatever it takes to get the job done.

DB: How experienced is your staff?

AK: I’ll give you the names of some of my staff and let you be the judge of how experienced they are. Mike Green will be my Day Shift Manager, Mike Vento will run the graveyard shift, Gary Boyd will be a Swing Shift Manager, Bobby Rihel will be a floor supervisor and Mary Fico will double as floor supervisor and relief shift manager. I do believe that anyone who has been around poker for any length of time will recognize some if not all of those names. Three of them are former card room managers.

DB: What are your expectations in filling a 23 table cardroom?

AK: I have great expectations. In my estimation, with poker being what it is today, and with the MGM Grand having 5,000 rooms, combined with our experienced staff, my expectations are high, almost immediate.

DB: Even with the existing poker rooms and more big rooms opening in Vegas?

AK: It’s my belief, with the popularity of poker today, that there will be plenty of players to go around and we will all do well. With the advent of all the televised poker events, and the online poker sites, we have an entire new generation of poker players.

DB: How long do you believe this poker phenomenon will last?

AK: Long after we’re gone. You can play poker up until you die. I’ve had players play poker on a daily basis up in their 90’s against players in their 20’s.

DB: What live games will you spread at the MGM Grand?

AK: We will let the water seek its own level. We are prepared to spread whatever the players choose to play. We will spread hold’em games starting at $2-$4 up to as high as they’d like to

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