The global health pandemic has caused some damage to poker in Las Vegas. As a result, three MGM Resorts poker rooms are closing permanently. But the good news for poker players is they all have leftover jackpot pool money and you can get your hands on some of that cash.
Mandalay Bay, Excalibur, and Mirage have now officially closed their poker rooms. The casinos haven't announced if that's permanent or not, but we do know at the very least it will be a long time before any of those card rooms reopen, if they ever do.
So, to honor their memories, the MGM Grand on the Las Vegas Strip is hosting three promotional freerolls starting November 3. The first one, on Election Day, is to pay out the money leftover from the Mandalay Bay's jackpot pool, which totals $24,022. Unfortunately, if you haven't already registered, you probably won't get a seat as it has sold out. However, if you show up before the 5 pm start time in the MGM Grand poker room, there's a chance you could still get in on the action if some players who registered don't show up.
If not, you will still have an opportunity to get your hands on free money as there are two more freerolls upcoming. The second tournament, honoring Mirage, takes place on November 17 at 5 pm. This one has a prize pool of $69,804, and numerous players will get apiece of it. And the third and final promotional freeroll tournament, for Excalibur, will be hosted December 1 at 5 pm with a $27,837 guaranteed to be awarded. These tournaments will also take place at MGM Grand.
Registration for the Mirage event opens at 5 pm on November 11 and at the same time on November 25 for Excalibur. You can go to the following website to sign-up for those events on either day: MGM Resorts poker freeroll registration.
It would be wise to attempt to sign-up immediately at 5 pm on those days or you'll likely be left out in the cold. Space is limited and the first freeroll sold out quickly.
Freeroll tournament structure
These tournaments are open to the general public. So, even if you've never played at these card rooms, you can still get in on the action as long as you register before the events are sold out.
Players will begin with 5,000 chips and there are no re-buys, add-ons or re-entries available. Once you bust, you're gone for good. The tournaments will play down to 12 players. At that point, each player will receive 1/12 the prize pool and the tournament is done. It doesn't matter how many chips a player has. Even if you're sitting at one big blind, you'll receive the same payout as the chip leader, so long as you finish in the top 12.
Featured image source: Flickr
