ARIA Resort & Casino in the Las Vegas City Center will open their high limit poker room with a bang today. The Ivey Room, as it's named, is seriously and openly going to challenge Bellagio's Bobby's Room as the home of the Big Game in Las Vegas.


The Ivey Room in ARIA will open with a million dollar VIP freeroll where the winner takes home $250,000. There is a $100,000 bounty on Ivey and the winner will also get a chance to play a $250,000 heads up with the man himself.

Among other things, the one-table Ivey Room provides high stakes players with their own cashier, safe-deposit boxes and 24h dining. A 42-inch flat screen tv is handy for checking the results of sports bets.

Phil Ivey says he is honored that the ARIA president Bill McBeath wanted to name the high stakes room after him. It's not the first time when a Las Vegas poker room signs an endorsement deal with a big name player. In 2005 Wynn hosted a series of $500,000 heads up matches where anyone could challenge Daniel Negreanu at any game. In 2007 Planet Hollywood signed Michael Mizrachi as their "in-house player".

The biggest cash game in Las Vegas, the Big Game has also moved from venue to venue over the years. Previous places include Sam's Town, Horseshoe, Four Queens and the Mirage before Bellagio opened in 1998. Bobby's Room (named after Bobby Baldwin) has hosted the Big Game in Bellagio since 2004.

Source: Pokernews.