You don't have to be a poker or casino fan to be familiar with the iconic Mirage Resort on the Strip in Las Vegas. But you certainly don't know the history of this resort with its iconic erupting volcano, so before we tell you about the fresh news, let's give you a little insight into its past.

The history of the Mirage Resort

Golden Nugget, led by developer Steve Wynn, bought the land for the Mirage back in 1986. Part of the land was then occupied by Castaways, which was a hotel and casino. It was demolished and the Mirage resort opened on November 22, 1989 after two years of construction. At the time, it was the most expensive resort in the world, costing $630 million to build, and was one of the largest hotels in the world. The Mirage was the first mega-resort to open on the Las Vegas Strip, and its success sparked a building boom for other large resorts in the 1990s.

The Mirage brought several unconventional attractions to Las Vegas, such as an indoor tropical rainforest exhibit or the main attraction, an artificial volcano that erupted each night, spewing flames and lava. In the late 1990s, a $14 million dolphin habitat opened to serve as an education and research center. Visitors could interact with the dolphins and become trainers for a day, which was a popular educational attraction, especially among school children.

In 1996, a secret garden was opened, housing Bengal tigers, white tigers, white lions, snow leopard, panther and Asian elephant. The $15 million, one-hectare attraction was built next to a dolphin habitat.

MGM took over the resort in 2000 and in December 2022, Mirage was sold to Hard Rock International for $1.08 billion. The hotel currently has 3,044 rooms and an 8,412-square-foot casino.

Famed poker room closed for a few years

The legendary poker room at the Mirage was frequented by legends like Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu and Mori Eskandani in the 1990s. However, the poker room was closed in 2020 during the pandemic, like many poker rooms in Vegas, and never reopened. It once offered 19 tables, but was later reduced to 12.

I'm sure you're all familiar with the legendary movie Rounders, where at the beginning, the character Mike McDermott, mentions the poker room at the Mirage. When Steve Wynn opened the Mirage, his poker room was where all the big poker action in Las Vegas took place.

Huge changes are coming this year

The world's media has been abuzz in recent days with the news that the Mirage will close on July 17 this year and will undergo a huge renovation that is expected to cost around one billion dollars. On the site of the iconic erupting volcano will be a brand new guitar-shaped Hard Rock Hotel, very similar to the one in Florida.

When will it reopen and what will it bring?

The tower of the new hotel will reach a height of approximately 200 metres. Originally, the tower was supposed to be over 300 metres, but this option was not allowed by the city. The new hotel will bring 596 rooms, bringing the total capacity of the resort to 3,640 rooms. The rooms at the original Mirage will be completely remodeled and the entire resort will carry the new name Hard Rock Las Vegas.

The resort is not scheduled to reopen until the spring of 2027 and will bring several significant changes. The casino area is to be expanded to 16,165 square meters and the number of table games is to be increased from the current 51 to 212. The convention halls will also be expanded, from the current 18,580 square meters to 26,300 square meters.

Hard Rock International has announced that more than 3,000 employees will be laid off and paid more than $80 million in severance. The workers will receive $2,000 for each year of employment with the option to return when the hotel reopens. At the same time, the company said it will also need to hire a number of new employees when the new resort opens and thus expands.

Can we expect a big poker franchise?

We don't currently know what to expect at the new poker room once it reopens. However, looking at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood in Florida, which opened in 2019 and regularly has large and enticing series, such as the WPT, we can expect new partnerships and maybe even the transfer of some of the big series from other resorts to the new Hard Rock Las Vegas.

Source - pokernews, wikipedia, gamingamerica, cnn, 8newsnow, lasvegasreviewjournal, apnews, poker.fandom.com