Brad Owen may be one of the poker industry's most popular vloggers, but according to Owen, he might not be able to use the Bellagio as a base of operations for his vlog in the future.
Late afternoon Friday, Owen broke the news that the Bellagio and all MGM properties have banned players from recording their efforts.
Owen entered the Bellagio poker room on the Las Vegas strip to play a cash session this afternoon. He wasn't planning on recording today, but the floor supervisor pulled him aside to speak with him anyway.
"Did you hear the bad news yet?" asked the floorman, according to Owen.
Owen said the floor went on to tell him that MGM is no longer allowing filming for poker vlogs across all properties. That's when Owen shared the news on Twitter.
Poker vlogs are more popular than ever. They've done much to grow the game and shine a light on some great poker personalities who share their content with the world. In this still-growing market, some properties have been more welcoming to vloggers than others.
Poker vlogs have always existed in a space of uncertainty. In the world of casinos where filming is often frowned upon, the fight to create content in a live poker room hasn't always been an easy one. Some casinos have taken a firm stance against it, though that position has become more rare as vloggers' fans have flocked to rooms where the big names play.
In recent years, poker rooms have embraced vloggers and taken advantage of the free marketing and publicity for poker rooms that come with online videos.
Owen said, however, the reported vlogging ban didn't seem to come from anyone inside a poker room.
Owen told PokerOrg that the reported ban originally stemmed from controversy surrounding live-streaming slot player, but the blanket policy extends to the poker room for now.
"I was surprised because we just went to Beau Rivage in Mississippi [an MGM property] and went through the whole process of getting approved," said Owen.
PokerOrg has reached out to the Bellagio poker room manager as well as the MGM compliance office for comment. In addition, we've reached out to the Nevada Gaming Commission to determine whether the Commission issued any mandate, ruling, or advice to operators surrounding the issue. At the time of publication, we have received no comment from the Bellagio, MGM, or the NGC.
While we wait for clarification on this reported vlogging ban, here's Owen's latest vlog from the Wynn.
