MGM Resorts Rolls Out Poker Vlogging Policy for Las Vegas Properties
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Poker vloggers looking to film a cash game session or a tournament run at ARIA Resort and Casino, Bellagio and other MGM Resorts International properties in Las Vegas will now be able to do so thanks to a new policy that came just in time for all of the summer's poker action, including the currently underway BetMGM Poker Championship taking place as part of the 2023 ARIA Poker Classic.
The policy allows content creators to film poker, table games and slots provided they go through an approval process and follow certain guidelines (including not filming to faces of dealers and other players and never live-streaming poker). Those interested in being approved can simply fill out a streaming request form and await approval.
MGM Resorts Director of Poker Strategy Sean McCormack announced the policy on Twitter last month and noted that it was part of MGM's broader guest technology use policy.
# ATTN POKER VLOGGERS # MGMRI has rolled out its guest technology use policy which covers vlogging at poker tables… https://t.co/HaQ7UK6XMo
— Sean McCormack ♠️ (@ThePokerBoss)
PokerNews spoke with McCormack about the new vlogging policy and what he sees as an opportunity for further collaboration between casinos and content creators.
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Two Years in the Making
McCormack, formerly director of Poker Operations at ARIA, said the vlogging policy had been in the works for nearly two years.
"We're forward-thinking with a lot of things, and when we see people get a lot interest in something like vlogging ... and stuff like that, we want to get behind it," McCormack said in an interview on June 7. "But also, working for a big corporation, these things take time, of course."
Casinos and card rooms have had a difficult time adapting to the ubiquity of cell phones rise of poker vloggers who rely on poker rooms to get content. Without clear-cut guidelines in place, vlogging approval has typically been left up to the discretion of individual poker rooms and managers.
"There's never been real rules behind what you can and can't do, except that it went from this age of 'Oh my god, you can never pull out your camera in a casino' to 'Oh my god, you can totally pull out your camera,'" said McCormack.
Those rules are now in place at MGM Properties after several months of drafting and having conversations with relevant gaming control boards and legal compliance teams.
"It was a lot of moving parts, but we're super happy to have it now," McCormack said.
The Future of Poker Vlogging
As a "huge content nerd" when it comes to gambling, McCormack emphasized that the vlogging policy applies not only to poker vloggers but also slot and table game content creators.
"That's kind of a guilty pleasure of mine is watching these huge slots streamers, table games streamers, stuff like that," he said.
That said, McCormack noted that "90% of the requests have been poker" since MGM Resorts rolled out the policy earlier this summer.
For now, the vlogging policy is only for MGM Resorts properties in Las Vegas and not other properties in places like Atlantic City. But McCormack hopes the policy will expand and said it may even lead to partnerships between casinos and content creators.
"It can grow into something even bigger ... There's a road to where we monetize this for the content creators," McCormack said. "We can partner to showcase our amenities while you also create the content and monetize it on your side. So it's double win-win for the content creators and then a win for the casino."
McCormack also noted that other casino operators are starting to starting to put out their own vlogging policies, "which is telling us that the casinos, one, know that this is an important bridge we need to gap for the future, but two, that we need to have a standardized way of how we do this and make sure that we're keeping the guests safe at all times and keeping the casino and operators safe at all times."
