MGM Grand Is Giving Away Jackpot Money Via Freerolls

MGM Grand is hosting a trio of special freerolls in the coming weeks to distribute leftover jackpot money. The company permanently closed three of its poker rooms and all three had jackpot funds in the pot.

Las Vegas had 31 poker rooms open for business before the March lockdown. Only 19 are open for business currently. That figure was much lower when Sin City first reopened, but an increasing number have invited the public back in.

Live poker looks very different in Las Vegas right now. Cash games are short-handed and multi-table tournaments are a shadow of their former selves. MGM Resorts-owned properties have always been popular with poker players, but three of its venues’ poker rooms remain for the foreseeable future.

Excalibur, Mirage, and Mandalay Bay no longer offer any form of live poker. The once busy rooms are sat gathering dust. All three poker rooms were part of a bad beat jackpot. Those jackpot funds have significant funds in them that are player contributed and not the casino’s money. MGM Resorts is distributing the leftover funds via freerolls.

MGM Grand’s $121,663 Worth of Freerolls

The MGM Grand’s poker room reopened in July with only eight tables. Only cash games run right now with no return date for scheduled tournament poker. All cash games are played six-handed with plexiglass screen separating players and the dealer.

It isn’t known if MGM will run cash games on the same day as the jackpot freerolls. Each freeroll is, as the name suggests, free to enter but space is extremely limited. Entry is on a first come, first served basis.

There is no available space in the Mandalay Bay freeroll. Poker players snapped up all available seats in record time. Registration opened on October 28 with the freeroll running at 17:00 on November 3. Those lucky enough to register will play for a share of $24,022.

November 17 is the date of the Mirage’s freeroll. Get ready to register from 17:00 on November 11. You don’t want to miss this one as the prize pool weighs in at $69,804.

The third and final jackpot freerolls takes place on December 1, the Excalibur’s tournament. Registration opens at 17:00 on November 25 and it has $27,837 up for grabs.

No End To The Company’s Difficulties

Business hasn’t been good for MGM Resorts recently, even without the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic causing havoc. A court ordered MGM Resorts to pay $800 million in compensation to the Mandalay Bay shooting victims. Its insurance covers most of the bill, but not the damage to the company’s reputation.

October 1, 2017 is when the horrific attack took place. Stephen Paddock, for reasons unknown, decided to embark on a massacre of innocent people. Paddock checked into a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel. He took 22 suitcases to his room over the course of a week. Staff were unaware an arsenal of weapons were in those suitcases.

Paddock began firing automatic rifles at Route 91 Harvest music festival revellers. He took his first shot at 22:05 and fired more than 1,000 rounds in 10-minutes. Fifty-eight people died and 868 suffered injuries, some life-changing. The cowardly killer took his own life before police officers could bring him to justice.

MGM Resorts made no objections or appeals about the $800 million fine imposed on them. Some 4,400 claimants will share the massive payout, although the amount they each receive varies.

Whole of Las Vegas is Struggling

Las Vegas is severely struggling with a lack of gamblers visiting “Sin City”. The American Gaming Association pleaded for financial help from the federal government. Casinos around the U.S. lost vast sums of money during the lockdown. MGM Resorts runs 13 luxury casinos. The enforced lockdown resulted in losses of $14.4 million each and every day.

The AMA wants tax relief for Vegas casinos while they adapt to ever-changing trading conditions. U.S. casinos generated $43.6 billion in revenue during 2019 and paid hundreds of millions in tax. Tax relief would help keep some of the 1.8 million casino employees in work.

Matthew Pitt

If it’s something you can play online for real money, chances are Matthew knows a bit about it. He’s been writing about slots, craps and poker for the better part of the last decade. He’s written for PokerNews, PartyPoker and many other respected online gambling websites during the last nine years.

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