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Such a deal: Maverick Gaming, Bally’s partner on Tropicana poker room

Updated May 30, 2023 - 4:48 pm

The Tropicana has been all over the news as a possible site for a baseball stadium.

Now, it’s turning the tables to host a poker room.

Privately held Maverick Gaming LLC, based in Kirkland, Washington, has signed a deal with Bally’s Corp., operators of the Tropicana, to open the Maverick Gaming Poker Room at the 66-year-old Strip resort.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Maverick currently owns four commercial casinos in Nevada, three in Colorado and 23 card rooms in Washington.

Jeremy Weinstein, chief marketing officer for Maverick, said the company intends to capture players with twice-daily tournaments and the lowest rake — the commission paid to the casino on games — on the Strip.

The new room is expected to open in June with details of the opening date and times expected to be announced soon.

The room will be near the Bally’s Big Bet Poker livestream broadcast studio at the Tropicana.

The deal was engineered by network showrunners and executive producers of Bally’s Big Bet Poker livestream and television series, Houston Curtis and Rick Mahr of Outlaw Media Group and backed by Maverick CEO Eric Persson, a poker player.

“We are very excited to be working with Mr. Persson and Maverick Gaming in an effort to also raise the stakes on inclusivity and affordability, treating players of all levels like VIPs at our tables,” Arik Knowles, vice president and general manager for Tropicana Las Vegas, said in a release.

“When Bally’s gave us the opportunity to expand the Bally’s Big Bet Poker brand to the Tropicana Las Vegas, we immediately thought of Eric as a tremendous asset, both on and off the felt,” Curtis said.

“Persson’s industry expertise and proven ability to build successful poker rooms superbly aligns with Bally’s omni-channel network,” he said. “Then, of course, there is Eric’s massive influence and appeal as a super high-stakes pro player.”

The poker room is expected to offer No Limit Hold ’Em games with $1 small blinds and $3 big blinds in one game and $2 small blinds with $5 big blinds in another.

The Tropicana land is owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust, with the casino operated by Providence, Rhode Island-based Bally’s. The companies recently confirmed that they have signed a binding agreement with the Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball team, which hopes to build a $1.5 billion, 30,000-seat baseball stadium with a retractable roof in a bid to relocate to Las Vegas.

If that happens, Bally’s has indicated it would develop a new resort and likely open it with the Bally’s brand name as it has done with other properties across the country.

Its biggest current undertaking is construction of a new casino in Chicago.

NOTE: A previous version of this story misstated the operational affiliations of Maverick Gaming LLC’s card rooms in Washington state.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.

Story updated to clarify status of Maverick’s card rooms in Washington.

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