Get to Know Golden Nugget Shift Manager Mike Godfrey
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As part of PokerNews’ continuing Industry Insiders series, we caught up with Golden Nugget’s poker shift manager Mike Godfrey, who this summer is serving as Tournament Manager and Administrator for Grand Poker Series under Andy Rich, who we previously featured in his own Industry Insiders profile here.
Godfrey, 38, graduated from UNLV with a degree in American History and is a proud husband as well as a father of two children.
“I have worked in the poker industry for 13+ years and have been playing since I moved into town when I was 21,” Godfrey told PokerNews. “I was hired as a dealer for my first job at the Joker’s Wild Casino. I quickly moved on to the Mirage where I learned that I would work more hours if I learned to be a supervisor and in return was mentored by one of the all-time greatest in Mark Gershof.”
From there he was hired as a tournament manager at the Golden Nugget in November 2014.
“I was lucky to be hired by the Golden Nugget as a tournament manager and from there I took over the graveyard shift and am lucky enough to still be manning that post for seven years. My mentor, Mark Getshof, knew the acting manager at the time and put in a good word for me. It must have been an incredible one because I was hired on the spot and have pushed myself every day to be worthy of that recommendation still.”
When he started, Godfrey oversaw little nightly tournament 5-6 days a week. The priority was simple – turn a two-table tournament into a six-table tournament. Within three months, he did exactly that and their daily events soon became a popular attraction.
“After working my first Grand Poker Series with Andy Rich at the helm of operations we learned that the mission became even larger — turn GPS into a tournament destination for pokers players of all buy in ranges and demographics,” Godfrey shared. “I was turned into a shift manager on graveyard where we were struggling, and the goal became to change the direction of how late night poker was handled at the Golden Nugget. With the help of my team of dealers we have made that shift into a thriving place for poker."
He added: “The theme for the goals across the goal was simple – build. Make things better, keep things fun, and make the world of poker great for everybody involved.”