Poker News

Ari Mizrachi, Las Vegas Hilton Poker Room Manager

Ari Mizrachi was born in 1979 in Brooklyn, NY. At the age of 13 his family relocated to North Miami, Florida. Ari left high school in the 11th grade to play professional Jai-Alai. That was 1996, his Jai-Alai career continued until 2004. During that time he also received an AA degree in Business Administration and is presently pursuing a degree in finance.

Eight months out of the year he played Jai-Alai and in 2001 during the four months of off time he took a trip to Rhode Island to visit a friend. Ari claims to have been playing poker since the age of 13 and enjoyed playing at Foxwoods whenever he had the opportunity. He needed to find a career to pursue after Jai-Alai so on that trip he decided to attend Foxwood’s poker school to learn to deal poker. After three months of dealer school he returned home to play one more season of Jai-Alai.

In 2002 Ari moved to Foxwoods and was hired on as a poker dealer. In 2003 he moved back to Florida to assist in the opening of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and took the position of floor supervisor in the poker room.

In February of 2005 Ari decided to move to Las Vegas to continue his career in gaming. He took a floor position and helped with the opening of the MGM’s poker room. In May of 2005 he assisted in opening the new poker room at the Silverton and accepted a position of Shift Manager. On June 20, Ari was hired as the Poker Room Manager for the new poker room at the Hilton in Las Vegas.

DB: When will the Hilton’s poker room open and with how many tables?

AM: We plan to open on September 2 with 11 tables.

DB: Where will the poker room be located?

AM: Actually, it will be located in the exact location as the old room back in the 80’s, inside the Race and Sportbook, which happens to be the largest in Las Vegas. It will also be set up the same as back then but with less tables. It’s located within steps of self parking, the buffet and Vegas Subs.

DB: What live games will the Hilton offer its players?

AM: We will spread $3- $6 limit hold’em, $4-$8 and $10-$20 limit hold’em with a half kill. We will also spread no-limit with $1-$2 and $1-$5 blinds and $10-$20 Omaha eight or better with a half kill.

DB: Are you planning to run daily tournaments?

AM: Yes, we will be running a morning no-limit tournament, Monday through Thursday at 10:30 a.m. with a $65 buy-in.

DB: What incentives will the Hilton be offering their poker players?

AM: We will be offering $1.00 per hour comps, and players that accumulate 80 hours in one month also receive a jacket. We offer daily free poker lessons at 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Our Texas hold’em Royal Heart Flush Jackpot starts at $2500 and all other suits pay $500.

DB: Will the poker room be equipped with all the newest technology?

AM: Yes, we will have a state-of-the-art signup computer system. The room will have four plasma TV screens for sports viewing and all of the poker tables will be equipped with Shuffle Masters.

DB: Who is responsible making you position a pleasant one?

AM: Scott Hager, Vice President of Table Games is very supportive of the reopening of the Las Vegas Hilton poker room.

DB: How experienced is your staff?

AM: Robert Rihel, formerly the Cardroom Manager of the Stardust, is the Day Shift Manager, Wayne Morris, came from our East Chicago property, he will run the graveyard shift and Linda Wan was an Assistant Shift Supervisor at Wynn, she will be the Swing Shift Manager. All the dealers have prior experience but will receive two weeks of in-house training, starting on August 22.

DB: Why did theHilton decide to reopen the poker room?

AM: The main reason was due to all the in-house requests from guests. The guests have been asking about a poker room and they decided poker needed to come back to the Hilton.

Filed under: Poker News