Poker News

Mike Green, MGM Director of Poker Operations

Mike Green was born in Duluth, Minnesota in 1950 and graduated high school in 1968 from Duluth Cathedral. After graduation Mike joined the Coast Guard Reserves and spent six years in the reserve program.

In 1969 Mike took a position with the local auto parts warehouse as a truck driver. In 1971 he left his truck driving position for an inside sales job in one of their auto parts stores. In 1974 he left the auto parts business to work for the railroad as an oiler.

In 1976 he left Duluth and moved to Springfield, Missouri to sell insurance. Mike returned to Duluth a year later and took a job in the construction field working in everything from roofing to sheet metal.

In 1982 Mike decided to leave the construction business to work for a jeweler as a salesman. While still working as a jewelry salesman he was taking frequent trips to Las Vegas to play poker. After spending five months in Vegas in 1985 and seven months in 1986 his aspiration to become a poker player became a reality in late 1986 when he officially moved to Las Vegas.

In 1987 Jan Bowman offered him a prop player position at the Stardust and Mike accepted.

Mike left the Stardust in 1988 to concentrate on playing poker and did so until 1993 when he took the position of Poker Room Supervisor at the Sands.

He leftthe Sands in 1995 and took a Shift Supervisor position at Palace Station. Mike was promoted to Assistant Manager and eventually to Poker Room Manager. He left Palace Station in 1999 to travel and play poker but due to his wife’s illness he was forced to return to full time employment. In 2003 Mike hired on as a dealer at the Stardust.

In 2004 Mike left the Stardust to assist in the opening of the new poker room at the MGM Grand. In July 2005 Mike was promoted to Director of Poker Operations for the MGM poker room. He now oversees a 23 table cardroom.

DB: Since the room opened, has it been successful?

MG: Yes, although I believe you can always have more business but the response and the comebacks are increasing on a daily basis?

DB: What live games does the MGM offer it’s players?

MG: On a daily basis we spread $2-$4, $3-$6, $4-$8 and toward the end of the week $6-$12 limit hold’em. We also spread regular games of no-limit with $1-$2 and $2-$5 blinds. On weekends we spread $20-$40 limit and no-limit with $5-$10 and $10-$20 blinds. Half of our business is attributed to the no-limit games and are generally made up of tourists.

DB: Is the MGM poker room running daily tournaments?

MG: Yes, Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. we have a $65 buy-in no-limit tournament and Sunday through Thursday at 6:30 p.m. we have a $125 buyin no-limit tournament. Our daytime tournaments are limited to six tables and we except alternates. We average around 93 players for the day events. We are looking into expanding the number of tournament tables soon. Our evening tournaments average around 40 players per event and are getting better every day.

DB: Where is the MGM poker room located?

MG: We are located between the Sportsbook and the Centrifuge bar. DB: Is there anything unique about the MGM poker room?

MG: Outside of being the most spacious and comfortable room in town, we have technology next to none. We have 23 tables and 22 have shuffle masters and we have a state-of-the-art list management system. Players always know where they stand on the wait list. We have a push button system on our tables that notify the podium when a seat becomes available. We offer table side dining that comes from our snack bar. We also have a pager system that notifies players by beeping them on a beeper we provide them anywhere in the casino when their seat opens.

DB: What incentives does the MGM offer their players?

MG: We have a comp policy that the players earn $1.00 per hour of live play up to a daily maximum of $10.00.

DB: Does the MGM offer special room rates for poker players?

MG: Yes, We offer discounts of up to $40.00 off our daily room rate.

DB: Is there anyone that makes your job a little easier?

MG: The entire staff. I’m real proud of the staff we assembled on such short notice. We did our own individual training and I believe that has helped our staff bond together and work as a team. The cooperation from upper management has also been fantastic. They’re policy is, “if something has to be done stick with it until it’s done.”

Filed under: Poker News