Bobby Baldwin

Bobby Baldwin was born around 1950 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He attended Oklahoma State University in 1970 before embarking on a poker career. His early success came at the 1977 World Series of Poker, where he won his first two bracelets: the $10,000 Deuce to Seven Draw event and the $5,000 Seven-Card Stud event.

In 1978, Baldwin won the WSOP Main Event, defeating a final table that included Ken Smith, Jesse Alto, Buck Buchanan, Louis Sager Hunsucker Jr., and Crandell Addington (whom he beat heads-up). The first prize was $210,000, and at age 28, he became the youngest Main Event champion in history—a record later broken by Stu Ungar in 1980. Baldwin won his fourth and final WSOP bracelet in 1979, again taking the $10,000 Deuce to Seven Draw event. This gave him bracelets in three consecutive years (1977–1979), a feat accomplished by only a few players. He also competed in the Super Bowl of Poker, winning the $5,000 Seven Card Stud event in 1979.

Baldwin continued to cash in WSOP Main Events through the years, with finishes including 7th in 1981, 16th in 1986, 21st in 1987, 29th in 1991, 15th in 1992, 24th in 1994, and 352nd in 2009. His last major cash came in 2012 at the $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop, where he finished 7th for $1,408,000—his largest live tournament prize. his total live earnings exceed $2.3 million.

In 1982, Baldwin became a consultant for the Golden Nugget casino, and by 1984 he was named its president. He was selected to head The Mirage in 1987 and became president of the Bellagio hotel and casino in 1998. In 1999–2000, he served as CFO of Mirage Resorts under Steve Wynn, and after the merger with MGM Grand, he became CEO of the Mirage Resorts subsidiary. Following MGM’s acquisition of Mandalay Resort Group in 2005, Baldwin was named CEO and President of Project City Center. He later served as Chief Customer Development Officer of MGM Resorts until leaving both roles at the end of 2018.

Nicknamed “The Owl” for his calm and observant demeanor, Baldwin was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2003. The high-stakes poker room at the Bellagio is named “Bobby’s Room” in his honor. Beyond poker, he is a world-class billiards player. He authored a section in Doyle Brunson’s Super/System, wrote columns, and published his own book Tales Out of Tulsa (1985). His playing style and career are also chronicled in Mike Caro’s Bobby Baldwin's Winning Poker Secrets.