Press of AC: Borgata cashes in on lower buy-in poker tournaments

It's good to see The Press of Atlantic City with some poker articles.

Borgata cashes in with lower buy-ins at poker tournament

By SUSAN LULGJURAJ, Staff Writer

The grim economy would seem to make the timing bad for a major poker tournament in this struggling casino market.

However, the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship has been a success since it started on Sept. 8 with an estimated 15,000 entrants.

The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa's signature poker tournament concludes with a televised final table of the main event Thursday.

The Borgata Poker Tour is a stop on the World Poker Tour and the final table eventually will be seen on Fox Sports Net.

A key to the event's success has been the lower buy-in for the no-limit Texas Hold 'em main event, which started Saturday.

The Open drew 1,018 players for the $3,500 event ($3,300 goes into the prize pool and $200 to the casino).

The buy-in is significantly lower than it is for most major tournaments around the country.

"I think it's very smart for today's economy," said Brigantine resident Joe Simmons, a regular at the Borgata. "It gives everyone a chance to play. The $10,000 buy-in at this point is cool for the World Series (of Poker), but just imagine how small this field would be otherwise."

The prize pool is smaller than at some tournaments but not by much. The large turnout generated a prize pool of $3.4 million with the winner getting $925,514. The top seven will finishers take home six-figure amounts.

"We've built the event for the players," Borgata poker marketing director Ray Stefanelli said. "Rather than spend $25K on an event, they can come here and get the same exact prize pool with a better value."

If you compare the WPT event at the Borgata to a recent WPT event in California, you see how successful Borgata is with its structure.

The winner of the Legends of Poker, which was held at The Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, Calif., received $1.03 million, but there were only 279 entrants and a $2.65 million prize pool.

Poker players enjoy the Borgata's tournament so much they have came from across the country. Some well-known poker players attended the event such as Gavin Smith, Lacey Jones and Kathy Liebert.

However, many of the popular poker players are currently competing in the 2009 European Championships in London.

"Nobody does it better than the Borgata," said poker player Will Failla, of Smithtown, N.Y. "They just make it right. It's really been a great place to play."

The tournaments are filled with many East Coast players, but the Las Vegas players come to the Borgata as well. Some just enjoy the casino so much, they always make sure it's a stop on their schedule during the year.

"They always have a pretty good field," said Smith, 41, who lives in Las Vegas. "The biggest difference is that the field is quite a bit weaker. You get a lot more amateur players willing to pay $3,500."

Borgata's buy-in for the main event has been around $3,000 for the last three big events. The casino holds three major tournaments throughout the year: Borgata Poker Open, Winter Open and Summer Open.

The American stops on the World Poker Tour had buy-ins of at least $10,000 for the main events. Some went as high as $15,000.

The World Series of Poker Circuit events, tournaments at Harrah's properties around the country, have buy-ins around $5,200. The World Series of Poker main event, the one that grabs headlines and is seen on ESPN, has a $10,000 buy-in.
The Borgata's is one of the least expensive tournaments and most popular.

"I think the Borgata is ahead of the curve. I think this is the future of the big events," Failla said. "With the way the economy is, the Borgata is doing the right thing."

E-mail Susan Lulgjuraj:
slulgjuraj@pressofac.com

Come on in, the water is just right

Poker isn't on the rise, but it's hardly dead, even though tournaments have seen player entries level off. During the huge poker storm, many people got swept up and now find themselves full-fledge card carrying members of the Texas Hold ‘Em Fan Club.

In the first tournament of the Borgata Poker Open ($300 buy-in) there were close to 1,200 eager students of the game hoping to get the top prize of $77,170. But the game of poker doesn’t just lure college kids who would rather bet at 20 simultaneous games than finish their midterm project or the retirees, who don’t want to sit in their house all day.

Celebrities joined the club a long time ago with notables such as Ben Affleck and Shannon Elizabeth popping up in various tournaments. The latest celeb with the poker bug is Michael Phelps, who needs no introduction.

According to AintLuck.com, Phelps’ agent has recent been contacted by the World Series of Poker Europe for a sponsorship deal. The famed Olympian has been spotted playing Texas Hold ‘Em in various casinos, including Caesars Windsor in Ontario, which is close to where he trained at the University of Michigan.

Phelps is home in Baltimore now and doesn’t plan any intense training until next year. Does this mean a three-hour trip to Atlantic City in his future? With eight poker rooms in The Resort, Phelps has plenty of options from the Borgata, where the cool people go, to the Hilton, where the people wouldn’t know who he was if he had a sign around his neck.

If Phelps does become a sponsor for the WSOPE, it could have a negative impact on his other sponsors. While poker has taken off and is seen as part of the mainstream culture, there is still that sense that it’s a backroom game. There is still the gambling aspect involved.

What would the conservative public think of Phelps, the guy who wanted Frosted Flakes instead of Wheaties, if he promoted a gambling tournament?

By taking on this sponsorship, he could lose fans and hurt his bottom line as conservative sponsors would back away. He wouldn’t gain anything out of it (except the money) because poker players are cheap, just ask the waitresses who bring them drinks every night. Showing his face on WSOPE billboards isn’t going to draw more people to the tables. Especially not those who would continue to come back.

It's not poker that people want to beat him in, but as Phelps has shown nothing could crack his aces.