Lyle Berman

Lyle Arnold Berman (born August 6, 1941, in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American professional poker player and business executive.

A member of the Gaming Hall of Fame, the Poker Hall of Fame, and the Mississippi Gaming Hall of Fame, From 1994 to 1998, Grand Casinos owned the Stratosphere, before it lost control to Carl Icahn. Additionally, Berman has been the chairman of the board of the World Poker Tour and Pokertek.

Lakes Entertainment When Grand Casinos Inc., Berman's casino-management firm, spun off its Native American casino holdings into the new company Lakes Entertainment, Berman was named CEO. as well as chairman and CEO. In January 2015, Lakes Entertainment merged with Golden Gaming, creating a publicly traded casino company called Golden Entertainment. Berman remained a board member of the new company, and signed a three year consulting deal. Blake Sartini succeeded Berman as chairman and CEO of the combined company, which moved from Plymouth to Las Vegas. In August 2021, he retired from the board of Golden Entertainment.

Black Ridge and Allied Esports Berman formed Black Ridge Acquisition in 2017 to pursue energy deals, with its primary holding Black Ridge Oil & Gas.

In November 2021, Allied Esports Entertainment owned the HyperX Esports Arena on the Las Vegas Strip. That month, Berman, as co-chairman of the Allied Esports Entertainment board, told investors that the company intended to sell its esports business. Berman stated "it wasn’t an easy decision for us. While we have made great strides in the esports business, it’s still definitely cash burning." In February 2022, Claire Wu resigned as CEO of Allied Esports Entertainment, and Lyle Berman, then co-chairman, was named interim CEO, relinquishing his position as president. He was replaced as CEO in September 2022 by Yinghua Chen, remaining co-chairman and taking on the role of VP of mergers & acquisitions. In December 2022, the company was renamed Allied Gaming & Entertainment, with Yinghua Chen as CEO. Allied Esports International remained a fully owned subsidiary.

Berman is a member of the Gaming Hall of Fame of the American Gaming Association.

Poker Berman has won three World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and has been a member of the Poker Hall of Fame since 2002.

In 2005, Berman competed in the National Heads Up Championship. He finished in fifth place losing to eventual champion Phil Hellmuth Jr. in the quarterfinals. Although he prefers high-stakes cash games, he had as of 2009 won over $2,500,000 in live poker tournaments. His 16 cashes at the WSOP accounted for $1,446,317 of those winnings.

According to the James McManus book Positively Fifth Street, Berman has bankrolled T. J. Cloutier in numerous poker tournaments, including the 2000 WSOP main event, where he finished 2nd.

World Series of Poker bracelets

Year Tournament Prize 1989 $1,500 Limit Omaha $108,600 1992 $2,500 No Limit Hold'em $192,000 1994 $5,000 No Limit Deuce to Seven Draw $128,250

Publications

Berman co-authored I'm All In : Lyle Berman and the Birth of the World Poker Tour with Marvin Karlins. With a foreword by Donald Trump, the 2005 autobiography details Berman's life from his childhood to his life as an adult, covering his business ventures, his opinions on poker and Las Vegas, and his experiences with the development of the World Poker Tour.

Personal life As of 2019, Berman lived in Las Vegas.