Q+A: Bobby Baldwin

By Liz Benston

Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007 | 7:05 a.m.

Bobby Baldwin was one of the youngest men to ever win the World Series of Poker when he was plucked from green felt fame to be a casino consultant for Steve Wynn in 1982. He would spend 18 years as Wynn's protege at Mirage Resorts, opening the Mirage, Treasure Island and Bellagio.

When Wynn set out to build his signature resort, Baldwin stayed behind at MGM Mirage, running the resorts bought from Wynn. He was later put in charge of CityCenter - a $7.4 billion mid-Strip collection of hotels, condominiums, gaming and entertainment and the most expensive private construction project in the country.

His management approach is quiet and gracious yet aggressive - a reflection of Baldwin's poker-playing style. He's an insatiable information-gatherer, yet also reflective. (He's reading "Half Time," a book that is part midlife-career counselor and partly a discussion of Christian values.)

Baldwin was recently named MGM Mirage's chief of design and construction, a job that carries newer and broader responsibilities.

He typically shuns publicity but was keen to address rumors that he might be leaving MGM Mirage - perhaps to join his old boss - after a management reshuffle. Baldwin would have been a natural choice for operations chief at MGM Mirage, a job that went to finance chief and CityCenter's chief idea man Jim Murren. Baldwin says he is impressed by Wynn's growth in Las Vegas and Macau but he's satisfied and challenged at MGM Mirage, at least for now.

The poker whiz from Oklahoma will retain control of CityCenter and the two adjacent resorts, Bellagio and Monte Carlo, while becoming chief visionary in planning projects along the Strip and beyond.

Q: How would you explain your rapid and impressive career path?

When I accepted employment with Steve it was always my intention to run a casino as quickly as I could. I think I got a head start being a professional card player. I started at age 13, playing cards with anyone who would sit down with me. Steve, who I met through a poker game, said I should apply the my skills to casino management, and I dismissed what he said for a while. Then I took his advice. I look at CityCenter as a midpoint in my career. Work is what gives you balance in your life, between your career and your personal life. My father never retired, and I don't intend to either, whether it's working for this company or for someone else.

What did you learn from poker that you've applied to management?

If you're in a high-stakes game and everyone's betting and raising , you're going to be very nervous because you lack information. In business it's not that different. People don't always say what they mean and it's not necessarily deception. It's just that language is not perfect, and we say things that are misconstrued. You have to read people entirely, just like in a card game. It's not always what they're doing but what they're not doing that's significant. In business it's about getting to the finish line, and it's not all verbal, it's not necessarily in an e-mail. I'm always mining for information. When your mouth is running you're not learning much. Observing and listening carefully is important. You don't have to be the smartest guy in the world to make a decision if you have information in front of you.

How would you describe the learning curve for CityCenter? What have been the biggest surprises so far?

They are yet to come. In the beginning people thought it was too big of a project and the outcome was uncertain. Now that we're 27 months from opening and the buildings are all out of the ground, there's a lot more excitement from everybody. It's a completely different proposition , and you can't really explain that to anyone until they see it. I was in construction before I was playing poker and my parents were in residential real estate. There was a lot to learn at the Golden Nugget , but it was a small operation. I learned how to open large resort hotels at Mirage Resorts. CityCenter is distinct , but all those things had been done before, separately, by others. Putting them together was unique. But I don't ever go into something underpowered. I go out and find the best talent to help me.

What should we make of your new title, chief design and construction officer? Is this a promotion or more of a lateral move?

John Redmond, Jim Murren, Terry Lanni and I were really four corners of a stool supporting all of the operations at MGM Mirage. John Redmond was retiring as CEO of MGM Grand Resorts, which is roughly one - half of the company. We decided to split responsibilities, more or less equally, among the remaining top executives rather than simply replace Redmond. I had been CEO of Mirage Resorts, the other half of the company, while handling CityCenter. It made sense to streamline the company by organizing all operations under one person. I was probably considered for the operations job but would have no way of doing that and overseeing CityCenter at the same time. If you want to keep people like Jim Murren and me and others interested in the business you have to make it exciting for them. Doing the same thing for 26 years isn't how you do that.

As an experienced casino operator who learned under Steve Wynn, how do you fit in at a company that's evolving beyond gaming?

I'm one of the radicals around here, always looking to do something new and different. That's really my job. The foundation of operating any business is its customers , and you can't bore them. You have to have new products and new ideas. One thing Las Vegas didn't need was another casino. With change comes opportunity. From a competitive standpoint, those who are most effective in business are most adaptable to change. I don't play cards the same way I did 25 years ago. Those techniques no longer work. People have different tactics and the game has evolved. MGM Mirage is pretty good at adapting to change , and that's a good thing because it allows us to distinguish ourselves. Kirk Kerkorian (MGM Mirage's majority shareholder) keeps us challenged. He's not old school, either. He's ahead of all of us in his thinking. He's 90 years young and getting younger every day.