Bobby Baldwin, born in 1950, is a world class professional poker player, who is popularly known as “The Owl” in the poker circuit. He was born into an upper middle class family in Tulsa, Oklahoma but is currently living in Las Vegas with his wife Donna McNeil and son BJ. He was the youngest player in the history of poker to win the World Series of Poker bracelet (WSOP) in 1978, a record which was subsequently broken. This brilliant champion has won four bracelets from 1977 to 1999, and he also entered the Poker Hall of Fame in 2003.
Bobby Baldwin started playing poker with his friends at the age of 12 but he got interested in pool game, when he was in high school. Later, he joined the Oklahoma State University and played both pool and poker. In the second year of his college, his friends took him to Las Vegas, and soon he decided to take up poker as a profession.
Bobby Baldwin had his first remarkable victory in the year 1977, when he won a gold bracelet and $44,000 in the $5,000 Seven Card Stud event at the World Series of Poker Tournament (WSOP). He also struck gold in the same tournament by finishing first at the $10,000 Deuce to Seven Draw event, and earned $80,000. In 1978, he made history by winning the main event of the WSOP. He outlasted all other participants and finished first to win the No-Limit Hold'em World Championship. He walked away with a gold bracelet and $210,000 prize money. His excellent poker skills earned Bobby Baldwin his third bracelet, when he won the $10,000 Deuce to Seven Draw event of the WSOP tournament in 1979. Prize money of $90,000 was added to his bankroll and his reputation as a poker champion reached its peak.
Instead of turning pro, he showed an inclination towards the management side of gambling. In 1982, he went to work with Steve Wynn, an American casino resort developer, as a consultant at the Golden Nugget and in 1984 he took over as the President of the casino. Later, he also headed popular casinos like the Mirage and the Bellagio. In 2000, when the MGM Grand and Mirage Resorts entered a merger, Bobby Baldwin was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Mirage Resorts subsidiary of MGM Mirage. Later in 2005, when MGM Mirage acquired Mandalay Resort Group, Bobby Baldwin became the President and CEO of Project City Center, though he continued as the CEO of the Mirage Resorts subsidiary.
Doyle Brunson, an American poker champion, invited Bobby Baldwin to write a section on Limit Hold’em for his book Super/ System and Omaha Hi-Low Poker (8 or Better). Mike Caro, a poker player and author of several poker books, has written Bobby Baldwin’s Winning Poker Secrets based on the life of this great poker legend. Bobby Baldwin has himself published a book titled Tales Out of Tulsa, which is a manual for upcoming poker players.
Bobby Baldwin can still be seen playing live cash games in Bellagio with old friends like Doyle Brunson and Lyle Berman, who are both professional poker players.
