Poker room supervisor Bruce Meierkord dies

Saturday, Nov. 5, 2005 | 7:23 a.m.

Just about everyone who played poker to any serious degree in Las Vegas during the last 15 years knew Bruce Meierkord.

As a poker room supervisor at the Mirage, Bellagio, Horseshoe and other major resorts for 30 years, Meierkord won the respect of players and dealers. On Internet poker chat rooms, news groups and poker blogs, when someone had a difficult question about the rules or etiquette of poker, Meierkord often would pop in with a concise and accurate interpretation of regulations and customs.

His loyalty to the players and the game went so far it resulted in him being convicted of a felony. He tipped off a Bellagio card room regular that the FBI was going to raid that gambler's poker room safe deposit box in 2003.

Local gamblers say that while that misplaced loyalty may have cost him his career, it also ensured Meierkord a place in Las Vegas poker folklore.

Meierkord died on Oct. 27 at age 54.

Although the Clark County coroner has not yet determined the cause of death pending further investigation and medical test results, Meierkord's family said he had surgery in early October to repair his aorta, and they suspect that his death was related to that.

As for his life, it was all about poker, said his brother, Brian Meierkord of Lacon, Ill., where Bruce was buried Monday.

"He lived, ate and slept poker. On his last visit home he was teaching my 22-year-old son how to play poker. He always sought to advance the game."

Bruce Meierkord left Illinois 30 years ago and began his gaming career in 1975 as a dealer at the Friendly Club in downtown Las Vegas. He rose through the ranks to middle management. Meierkord was an assistant poker room supervisor at the Mirage when it opened in 1989. He eventually became night shift supervisor at the Bellagio and was being groomed to become a major poker room manager.

Meierkord's career, however, came crashing down two years ago.

"The indictment and conviction were devastating to my brother," said Brian Meierkord.

In July 2004 Bruce Meierkord pleaded guilty in federal court to one of three counts listed in a May 2003 grand jury indictment. He was charged with removal of property to avoid government seizure from a safety deposit box. Additional counts of warning a subject of a search to avoid seizure and making false statements to FBI agents were dropped, according to court records.

The indictment also named gambler Arnold Schwartzberg and assistant Bellagio poker shift boss Habib "Paul" Akylan as defendants. The indictment accused the three of removing currency and gaming chips from a safety deposit box issued to Schwartzberg.

Friends disagree on whether Meierkord was fired, resigned or was allowed to resign. Nevertheless, soon after leaving the Strip resort, and months before he was sentenced, he went to work for the Horseshoe's poker room as a supervisor.

Meierkord was sentenced to 24 months of unsupervised probation. Under federal sentencing guidelines, he could have received up to five years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine for his actions.

Meierkord remained in Las Vegas to try to rebuild his life, though he lost his sheriff's card and could no longer work in the local gaming industry. However, he was licensable in the Caribbean, and that's where he went in late September.

Poker player Dave Maddux spent 10 days rooming with Meierkord in Aruba. Maddux played in the World Poker Tour's UltimateBet.com Classic there while Meierkord was a dealer.

"Everybody respected Bruce," said Maddux, father of Chicago Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux. "Bruce taught many people who are in the profession today the ropes."

"He was an intelligent guy, so he knew he was doing something he shouldn't have, but I don't think he was fully aware of all of the consequences," Maddux said. "I mean, a felony? Come on."

According to court records, on the night of the safety deposit box incident, Akylan got a call from a Bellagio security officer telling him of a pending FBI raid of safety deposit boxes in the poker room -- information Akylan relayed to Meierkord, setting off the chain of events.

"Security had no business telling them that," Maddux said. "What was Bruce to do with that information? They wind up warning the very gambler the FBI was after, who just happened to be playing in the room at the time."

Former Bellagio poker shift manager Suzie Lederer, wife of professional poker champion Howard Lederer and a longtime friend of Meierkord, said, "In the old days, we (gaming executives) would have been expected (by casino management) to do what Bruce did, but not in today's corporate Las Vegas."

Bruce's father, Emil Meierkord, said corporate Las Vegas didn't forget about him though.

"The Bellagio sent a huge wreath to his funeral."

Ed Koch can be reached at 259-4090 or at koch@lasvegassun.com.