ARIA Rebrands Ivey Room as Table 1

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In yet another sign of Phil Ivey’s decreasing relevance in the poker community, the ARIA Resort & Casino have officially rebranded their High Stakes Poker Room. The room will now be referred to as “Table 1.”

While ARIA officials claim that the move has nothing to do with ongoing legal issues being faced by the 10-time WSOP bracelet holder, one has to wonder if this was just a move to distance itself from the man once considered to be the best poker player in history.

Ivey Room Now Table 1

Back in 2010, the ARIA announced that their high stakes room would be named “The Ivey Room” after poker legend and Hall of Famer Phil Ivey. ARIA had hoped that their new room would become the new destination for high stakes action in Las Vegas, potentially usurping Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio.

Nine years later, the casino decided that it was time for a change and on Wednesday morning the Ivey Room plaque was taken down and Table 1 put up in its place.

According to ARIA Director of Poker Operations Sean McCormack, “We thought it was time to rename the room. The idea to call it ‘Table 1’ actually came from Elayne [Teitelbaum], our host. It’s so fitting because a lot of players have been calling it ‘Table 1’ for a while now anyway. [They were] coming in and asking if table 1 had a game going or was available.”

Despite being named after Ivey, he was seldom a guest there and for a while, the room heavily featured pro Jean Robert Bellande as the main player. The room has been able to take some traffic away from Bobby’s Room, but the Bellagio is still the main place for many of the game’s top players. However, the PokerGO Studios at the ARIA also regularly host high stakes games, including Dolly’s Game that’s featured on PokerGO.

One thing that was interesting about the room’s original branding is that it was not done as part of a promotional agreement with Ivey. Apparently, Ivey did not have a contract with the casino yet allowed them to use his name. This is a bit odd, but would also explain why a room featuring Ivey’s name rarely saw his prescience there.

Not Surprising Considering Ivey’s Legal Issues

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Phil Ivey has been largely uninvolved in the poker community in the United States for a while. His legal issues surrounding multiple edge sorting scandals has taken up a lot of his time and he was largely absent from live tournaments until last year. However, after the 2018 World Series of Poker, Ivey again has largely disappeared from the poker limelight.

Ivey is still in the middle of a legal battle with the Borgata in Atlantic City over a $10 million judgment that he owes as a result of his edge sorting activities. Recently, the Borgata received permission to go after Ivey’s Nevada assets, making it even less likely that we will be hearing from him anytime soon.

Ivey is supposedly worth $150 million, so it seems odd that he is fighting the $10 million judgment so fiercely unless he truly thinks an appeal can win. At this point, it seems like the best course would be to come to terms on paying the judgment and moving on with his life and poker career should he choose to do so. Until this matter is resolved, the poker community will miss out on seeing the Ivey stare of death at the poker tables and it’s likely that his legacy will continue to diminish.