Bobby Dunning left his birth place of Newark, New Jersey in 1964 to attend Gordon Military Academy in Barneville, Georgia. After graduation he entered Gordon's Junior College to prepare for the University of Georgia. In 1971 Bobby graduated with a BA in Business.
During Bobby's college days he worked as a bartender to help finance his education. Within a year of graduation Bobby built a bar in a hotel in Athens, Georgia. In 1974 the hotel went out of business and Bobby was looking for a new location.
He moved to Atlanta and bought an existing bar that was doing very well until "Hotlana" opened next door and forced him out of business in 1976.
That same year, New Jersey passed a law allowing gaming in Atlantic City and Mark Kinder, a friend of Bobby's from New Jersey called and said, "Let's get into the gaming business; let's go to Las Vegas and learn everything we can about gaming and come back to New Jersey." Bobby and Mark got into the same car and headed for Vegas but Bobby got there six months before Mark. As the story goes, they stopped in Atlanta to play a bridge tournament and won. After the event was over, one of the female players asked if either of them would give her lessons, Bobby declined but Mark agreed and Bobby didn't see him again until six months later when he showed up in Vegas.
In January of 1977 Bobby took a shill dealers job at the Four Queens at $18.50 a day. While at the Queens he learned to deal blackjack then went across the street to the Fremont to learn to deal craps, then to the Horseshoe to deal roulette.
In 1979 he had a job lined up at the Tropicana in Atlantic City as a floor supervisor but changed his mind at the last minute and decided to stay in Vegas. He went to work at Union Plaza as a box man and within a short time was promoted to floorman and back-up pit boss.
In 1982, Rod Morris, Casino Manager of the Union Plaza asked if he knew anything about poker, Bobby's answer was yes. The next day Bobby was appointed cardroom manager of the second highest revenue producing cardroom in Nevada. Five years later Bobby was promoted to Director of Special Events but two years later Jackie Gaughn purchased controlling interest and eliminated Bobby's position.
Bobby went to Ceasar's Palace to deal poker and within a year he was transferred to the pit as a floor person. Later that year he went to work as a casino dealer on Ceasar's cruise ship, the "Crystal Harmony." Eleven times through the Panama Canal was enough for Bobby.
In 1991 he assisted in the opening of WinnaVegas in Sloan, Iowa and again in 1992 for the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe when they opened the Golden Buffalo Casino in Chamberlin, South Dakota.
Six months later he went to work for Coastal Gaming. He was instrumental in training and setting up the first legal poker room in Florida at the Seminole Indian Gaming Palace in Tampa. In 1994, Coastal Gaming bought the El Condado Hotel Casino in Lima, Peru and transferred Bobby as the Casino Manager. In 1996 Coastal Gaming bought a casino in San Jose, Costa Rica, the San Jose Palacio and sent Bobby as the VP of Casino Operations. Four years later Coastal Gaming closed their operations in Costa Rica.
Bobby returned to the States in 2000 and decided to work the tournament circuit. Bobby worked as a dealer, floor supervisor and shift manager with several of the major tournaments including the World Series of Poker Circuit Tour.
At present Bobby is the Manager of Poker Operations for the Stratosphere. Bobby is also the father of two and grandfather of three. His 34 year old son, Shane, has two children, a six year old son, Bobby and an eight year old daughter, Jessie. His 23 year old daughter has a one year old daughter, Alania Marie. DB: When will the poker room open and with how many tables? BD: We will officially open on June 6, but we are shooting for a soft opening on June 1. We will open with eight tables with room to expand in the near future.
DB: What brought on the decision to bring back a poker room?
BD: Because of the popularity of poker today and the amount of guest requests for a poker room.
DB: What one thing convinced you to give up your position at the WSOP Circuit Tour to run a poker room?
BD: When I started talking to the Stratosphere about opening the poker room it was clear from the start that they wanted to do things right and they seemed very committed to the project...that impressed me.
DB: Have they performed up to your expectations?
BD: Above and beyond.
DB: Who in particular has been the most supportive of the new poker room and your ideas?
BD: Without exception, everyone here and in particular, Keith Williams, VP in charge of Casino
DB: What are you most committed to as a Cardroom Manager?
BD: I believe all poker room employees should be on the same page. I'm going to make a conscientious effort to ensure all of my employees follow the same rules and maintain a pleasant demeanor or they won't work for me. On the other hand I will not tolerate abuse from players toward my dealers or other players. Playing poker is supposed to be fun and we will have a friendly atmosphere with a no abuse policy. I am also a hands-on kind of guy so I'll be spending a lot of time in the poker room either playing or meeting people. I won't be hard to find.
DB: Will the room be located in a convenient location for locals?
BD: The location is great, we are just a few steps inside valet and self parking. Right outside the room is a deli, the Sportsbook and Starbucks.
DB: What games are you planning to spread?
BD: We will spread $2-$4 and $3- $6 limit hold'em; $3-$6 Omaha high-low with a half kill; no-limit hold'em with $1 & $2 blinds, with a minimum $40 and a maximum $100 buy-in; no-limit with $2 & $5 blinds, with a minimum $100 and a maximum $300 buy-in; and $1-$5 seven-card stud. We are not limiting ourselves to those games and we will accommodate our players by spreading whatever the players request.
DB: Will you be offering daily tournaments?
BD: Yes, we will hold no-limit hold'em tournaments twice a day, Monday through Friday. The morning tournaments will begin at 9 a.m. with a $22 buy-in and one $20 rebuy, and the evening events will start at 8 p.m. with a $44 buy-in, one $40 rebuy and one $40 add on.
DB: What will you offer your players in the way of incentives to play at the Stratosphere?
BD: To start with, players will earn comp dollars for hours played that can be used in any one of our restaurants, including the deli right outside the poker room and they can bring it back to eat right at the poker table. We will also offer high hands instead of jackpots. With high hand bonuses we can give more players money more often, rather than having money growing in some bank account and out of action. That just doesn't make sense to me.
DB: What's your most embarrassing moment in poker?
BD: I was working as a shift boss during the World Poker Tour at the Horseshoe in Tunica when Bobby Baldwin, Gus Hansen, Lyle Berman and some other high stakes players, asked for a new set up. I handed a new set-up to the dealer and came to find out the deck was missing the jack of diamonds. Needless to say Bobby Baldwin was the person who noticed the jack was missing. That was embarrassing, since I normally check a deck before ever giving it to a dealer. Trust me, that has never happened again.
