Mike Doe was born in Holdridge, Nebraska and shortly after that his family moved to Englewood, Colorado. In 1961, at the age of 17, he enlisted in the Navy and after an honorable discharge in 1969 Mike moved back to Colorado and married his high school sweetheart, Glenna.
Just out of the Navy he served an apprenticeship at Gates Rubber Company as an Industrial Maintenance Mechanic.
In 1977 he left Gates to drive dump trucks and eventually bought three of his own.
Mike's interest in poker began in 1983 when he thought he could make a living without getting his hands dirty playing in home games and charity events. In 1988 he opened a social club in Westminster, Colorado which lasted until 1991 at which time he went to work as a prop player in Central City and Black Hawk.
In 1994 Mike left Colorado for Las Vegas to pursue a career in poker. His first job was at the Aladdin as a graveyard poker dealer while simultaneously dealing at Lagordies to make ends meet.
In February of 1995 Mike took a brush position at Boulder Station and in 1997 he stepped up to relief supervisor.
In 2001 Mike transferred from Boulder Station Texas Station to take the position of Poker Room Manager.
In January, of 2006 Mike was appointed Poker Room Manager of the newly opened Red Rock Casino. Mike oversees a 20 table cardroom and a staff of 90 team members.
DB: Is the Red Rock poker room equipped with all the modern technology?
MD: Absolutely, we have shuffle masters on all our tables and the room is equipped with the Bravo Tracking System.
DB: Would you tell the readers about the Bravo System?
MD: When a player sits down at the table, the dealer swipes his/her Boarding Pass, and touches the seat on the screen that the player is sitting in and a digital readout tells the dealer the name of the player so he can address him by name.
It logs in the players play time while at the table and converts his comp to Boarding Pass points which can be used anywhere in the casino that Boarding Pass points are accepted, such as the gift shop, rooms, restaurants, movies and Kids Quest. The system also allows players to join the wait list by swiping their own Boarding Pass at a Kiosk right outside the poker room. Once they swipe their pass their name immediately appears on two screens in the poker room.
DB: Are you the only Station's Poker Room with the Bravo System?
MD: No, Texas Station had it first and all of the Station's poker rooms will have it in the very near future.
DB: Where is the poker room located?
MD: We are located at the west end of the building next to the race and sportsbook and west valet. We are within steps of the northwest entrance next to the Salt Lick BBQ Restaurant. The room is next to the Turf Grill and a short distance to Bingo and the Keno Lounge. The room also has its own restrooms, tableside dining and is nonsmoking.
DB: Does the Red Rock poker room offer daily tournaments?
MD: None at the moment, but once the business levels out we'll take a look soon into possible daily events.
DB: What live games does the Red Rock poker room offer it's players?
MD: We are spreading $2- $4 and a $4-$8 with a half kill limit hold'em and we offer $6-$12 and $8-$16. We have been spreading $10-$20 and $15-$30 since we opened. We spread two Omaha games, a $4-$8 high-low with a half kill and a $4-$8 high only. Our no-limit games consist of $1-$2 and $2-$5 blinds with the first having a $100 minimum and a $200 maximum and the latter having a $500 minimum and no maximum. All of our games have full blinds.
DB: What promos does Red Rock offer its poker players?
MD: Station Casino's is known for having the largest Jumbo Poker Jackpot in Las Vegas and we are in the qualifying stages for our Poker Plus Tournament, scheduled for June 10-11 at Texas Station. Qualifying ends on May 31 and we anticipate 2500 participants. DB: Would you tell us more about the Jumbo Poker Jackpot?
MD: All active hold'em players are guaranteed $200 when the Jackpot hits at any Station's property. The Jackpot is reset at $150,000 until hit.
DB: What does it take to win the Jackpot? MD: It starts at four tens or better beaten and every Tuesday it goes down one hand, we have gotten down as far as aces full.
DB: How often does it hit?
MD: About every three weeks, it has hit twice since we opened on April 18 and one of those hits was here at Red Rock. Shortly after we opened a player had four jacks beaten by a straight flush in a $2-$5 no-limit game. The winner of the hand received $30,226 and the loser pocketed $45,226. The share for the other active Station's hold'em players was $226.
DB: The room appears to be very successful in a very short time, do you believe it will continue.
MD: Definitely, we have taken the time to select the correct best staff team members from within the company and outside. We transferred close to 30 team members from other Station Casino properties and the other were hired from elsewhere throughout the industry. We ran a dealers school for six weeks prior to opening which allowed us to get the cream of the crop. I had Mike Kassinger, Day Shift Supervisor and Art Loera, Swing Shift Supervisor instructing classes to ensure our standards would be upheld.
