I recently had the opportunity to put a few questions to Mohegan Sun’s Director of Poker, Bruce Dixon, and get his thoughts on the World Series of Poker, The PokerStars.net North American Poker Tour, and Mohegan Sun’s upcoming tournament series the 2nd annual Mohegan Sun Fall Poker Showdown.
Poker Examiner: Hi Bruce, thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions for me. Before I get into any questions I just want to give you a huge pat on the back for the way your poker room operates: I found your floor-people and dealers both helpful and friendly, and this attitude seemed to permeate right down to the players, since virtually the whole room was in good spirits –a rarity when over half the people are losing money!. Also, clean, well lit, high-ceiling, I’m a huge fan of the sign-up desk at the entrance, and nicely decorated –love the red and tan color scheme!
Bruce Dixon: Thanks Steve, we do our best to keep the room looking fresh and to ensure that our staff continually places customer service first.
PE: Ok, hopefully you’re all buttered up now! I had the chance to attend the PokerStars.net NAPT tournament at Mohegan Sun in April, and was amazed at how well you and your staff handled your first major tournament --Having to add extra tables for the Main Event, and having to change the structure of the High-Roller tournament to a 6-Max event on the fly. Could you give me a little insight into the difficulties of running a major poker tournament, and how you handle the inevitable issues that occur?
BD: I think that most of our difficulties in running this event stemmed from having such a short lead time to prepare. We didn't sign contracts with NAPT until January and our event was scheduled for April. Anytime you have two major operations partner to establish a common goal there will be some differences of opinion, but our relationship with NAPT is such a good one that we merged on this project almost seamlessly. They are truly a pleasure to work with.
PE: The WSOP Main Event final table is right around the corner, and there is always a lot of controversy –and Monday-Morning-Quarterbacking-- surrounding poker rulings, structures, and what-not. I’d love to get your perspective on the most controversial ruling this year: The Prahlad Friedman countdown that ended at 1: What did you think of the ruling and the explanation that followed, and how would you have handled the situation?
BD: I believe the floor person did their job correctly. I think the only thing that could have made the issue go away was adding zero and pausing for the same amount of time between each number before declaring the hand dead.
PE: If you had the opportunity, what changes would you make to the WSOP?
BD: I think the WSOP does a great job handling the volumes they do for all of their events. I don't know what you could really change when handling such large capacities.
PE: You’ll be hosting your own tournament around the same time as the WSOP final table, the second annual Mohegan Sun Fall Poker Showdown, beginning November 14th, what can poker players expect at this 8-Day tournament series?
BD: They can expect one of the best tournaments on the east coast. Twenty events over eight days kicking off with a Multi-day/multi-play tournament which will allow players multiple opportunities to re-enter this event giving them a shot at $100,000 guaranteed prize pool.
The Fall Showdown will host Bounty, Re-Load, Turbo and Turbo Survivor events.
Event #17 $1650.00 Main Event takes place on Saturday, November 20th with a $150,000 guarantee.
PE: The Mohegan Sun poker room also seems to be on the cutting edge of promotions, almost taking an online poker approach to player incentives with your hourly ‘Best-Hand Jackpot’, ‘Players Club’ incentives, and ‘Reduced Rake’ games; do you have any other innovations in the pipeline?
BD: Yes, there are actually two other promotions that I have in the pipe line which are very close to finish. I anticipate sending out advertising for these promotions in the next week or so.
PE: When I began playing poker in the early 2000’s Mohegan Sun’s Poker Room was, even then, second fiddle in the area to Foxwoods. After Mohegan Sun closed their poker room –I won’t get into the reasons or gossip that surrounded the closure at the time-- Foxwoods was able to gain an outright monopoly on poker in the North East. Now that poker is back at Mohegan Sun, give me a few reasons why poker players should frequent Mohegan Sun over the more established Foxwoods Poker Room?
BD: Our staff is exceptional with customer service, in room dining on our upper section and dealers that can run the games well without losing the customer service touch.
About Bruce Dixon
In July 2008, Bruce Dixon was named Director of Poker at Mohegan Sun. Dixon brought over a decade of experience in the Atlantic City gaming industry to his current position. As the Director of Poker, Dixon is responsible for training and evaluating all poker personnel, ensuring proper table security, strategic planning and budget analysis and implementing Mohegan Sun poker policies and procedures. Prior to joining Mohegan Sun, Dixon served as Poker Room Shift Manager of the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City. There, he assisted in the grand opening and expansion of the Borgata’s 85-table poker room. Additionally, Dixon has held the position of Shift Manager at the Tropicana Resort and Casino in Atlantic City as well as Floor Supervisor at the Trump Taj Mahal, in Atlantic City. Dixon holds an Associates Degree in Computer Information Systems from Atlantic Cape Community College of New Jersey. Dixon’s experience and enthusiasm oversees Mohegan Sun’s 42-table poker room which is located in Casino of the Wind.
Mohegan Sun, owned by the Mohegan Tribe, is one of the largest, most distinctive and spectacular entertainment, gaming, shopping and meeting destinations in the United States. Situated on 240 acres along the Thames River in scenic southeastern Connecticut, Mohegan Sun is within easy access of New York, Boston, Hartford and Providence and located 15 minutes from the museums, antique shops and waterfront of Mystic Country. More information is available by calling 1.888.226.7711 or visiting mohegansun.com.
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