Release: First day of Harrahs's WSOP Circuit a success

The first day of the World Series of Poker circuit event in Atlantic City was a success, according to a release from Harrah's Resort.

Over 1,000 players came in for the $300 $40 NL event. Dante Magtoto won the event and $61,459.

Here's some play-by-play of the final table:

The final three players were seasoned poker veteran Massoud Nikjouian, 2009 Rincon Circuit Champion Dwyte Pilgrim and Dante Magtoto, a 28-year-old IT consultant who has been moonlighting on the felt for the past few years.

Pilgrim, the short-stack of the three, fell short of earning his third WSOP Circuit ring after his Ac-5c did not improve against the pocket queens of Magtoto.

Heads-up was between Magtoto and Nikjouian. Magtoto, with about a million chip lead, proposed a deal with his opponent to split the remaining $90,000 of the prize pool 50/40 with the ring going to Magtoto. Nikjouian suggested the two step outside of the ballroom to further discuss the deal. A few minutes later, both players to the table visibly upset.

Apparently, negotiations had fallen through and the two decided to play it out. The final hand of the night saw both players all-in pre-flop; Nikjouian's A-6 off vs. the Qh-9h of Magtoto. The flop came 2s-7h-ks. A queen on the turn gave Magtoto the lead, which held after a seven hit the river, earning him $61,459 for first place and a WSOP Circuit Event ring.

There was a little more than just the Circuit events going on. Harrah's took advantage of the rivalry between New York and Philadelphia to pit poker players from those cities against each other.

Alongside event #1, a battle for east coast supremacy brewed at the feature
table where the annual Philly vs. New York World Series of Poker Showdown was
being held. The event, sponsored by ESPN Radio 950 Philadelphia and ESPN Radio
1050 New York pits poker players from the two cities against one another, adding
to a long list of cross-town rivalries. Philadelphia, whose Phillies lost the
MLB Championship to the New York Yankees in 6 games of the World Series, saw
their hopes for redemption shattered when Robert Ricci, a divorce lawyer
representing New York took down the event.

The WSOP Circuit event runs through Dec. 20.

The worst dealers in Atlantic City

It's difficult to condemn an entire group for the actions of one person. However, when it comes to the poker dealers at Caesars, it's more than that. As a whole, they are some of the most unprofessional, sloppy dealers I have ever witnessed.

And, this was two years ago when I stopped playing there because of that reason.

Recently, a close friend of mine, MT, has started playing there. He went twice last week and each time was worse than the last. If it wasn't MT telling me the story, I would have had a difficult time of believing it happened.

MT sat on a $1-$2 NL game at Caesars where the bad beat was around $270K. He's playing, wins a pot and when he was about to throw Barbara (that's her real name) a tip, she says to him "nice hand."

There are massive pet peeves I have and when it comes to poker, a dealer saying 'nice hand' is one of mine. The dealer is supposed to remain neutral. This isn't blackjack where you are playing against the house. Big pet peeve of MT's too.

Instead of throwing her the chip, he just stacks it on top of his pile and says, 'What about that was nice for him?" referring to the man who lost the hand. She looks at him with a blank stare and according to MT, started to look visibly flustered.

About three hands later, Barbara decides the game is over even though a new player is being brought to the table. She tells a floor person and says, the game is over and that they should find six seats around the room. MT says, how is the game breaking? We didn't ask for it. She said, this game is over.

Barbara splits the deck and then starts suiting while the players are left to find six seats around the room.

So MT ends up on another game. About an hour later Barbara is now the dealer on this eight-handed game. She's using her usual tactics of 'nice hand' and 'nice call' to pump players for tips and subsequently is getting stiffed, especially by MT who has won three pots with her.

Remember, this is an eight-handed game. Because MT stiffs her, she starts short-pitching the cards to him as he is sitting on the end.

MT wins another pot and now plays the game back. Rather than throw his cards toward the much, he just slides them over to seat 4, so she has to come and reach for them.

MT says: "I knew you could do it."
Barbara" I have no idea what you're talking about.
MT: Sure, you don't.

As a floor person is walking by, Barbara says to the floor, "Hey, do you have seats around the room, this game is breaking."

MT wasn't going to allow this to happen again. 1. it's an eight-handed game and 2. it's 6 a.m. and no one wants to move.

So, MT pipes up, "We're good right here. No one wants to move. Don't worry about the game breaking."

After she gets off the game, a few players voice their displeasure about her. One woman said, she was surprised the dealer tried to break up the game. Another asked about the little games going on between Barbara and MT.

Long story short: Nothing has changed at Caesars and I won't go there any time soon.

Nice call by me.

Lots of Atlantic City casino news

Over the past week, plenty of news has been dribbling in about some of the Atlantic City casinos and ventures that affect them.

- Latest update on high stakes poker player Andy Beal's attempts to gain control of the three Trump casinos (link).

- ACES, the direct train from New York City to Atlantic City will have less trains during the winter season because of low ridership (link).

- Atlantic City makes plans for Revel's tax payments (link).

Article from The Press of Atlantic City on the U.S. Poker Championships

ATLANTIC CITY - A Rumson man won the United States Poker Championship at
the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, besting 153 other contestants in the four-day
tournament to be televised on the Spike Network, a casino official said
Wednesday.

William Brindise took home $261,800 for his efforts, after beating Men
"The Master" van Nyungen in head-to-head play at the final table, poker director
Tom Gitto said. Nyungen won $138,600, and third-place finisher Eric Ladny, of
Mercerville, pocketed $77,000.

The final table of the event will air on the Spike network in January,
Gitto said. The Taj Mahal has a five-year contract with Compass Entertainment of
Las Vegas to produce and air the broadcast of the U.S. Poker Championship.

Looking for a little help

I'm working on an article for a newspaper about poker players. I am looking for someone who made the attempt to be a professional poker player for some reason or another, it didn't work out.

This isn't me trying to point and laugh. I'm working on a story on how difficult it is to become a poker player and dealing with hardships that you didn't think about before.

If you get a chance, email me at pokerinac at gmail (dot) com

Thanks.

U.S. Poker Championship main event tomorrow

There's still time to make it down to Atlantic City to the 5K main event at the U.S. Poker Championships at the Taj Mahal.

It's a great structure. Start with 30K in chips and many, many levels.

The TV final table will be on Tuesday, which will eventually air on Spike TV.

So, whose going down?

U.S. Poker Championships back on T.V.

After a one-year absence, the United States Poker Championship at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort is returning to national television.

The Taj Mahal signed a five-year deal with Las Vegas-based Compass Entertainment LLC to produce and broadcast the poker tournament on the Spike Network, the casino announced.

The tournament began Monday and runs through Nov. 24. The event culminates with a $5,000 buy-in No Limit Hold'em Championship starting Nov. 20.

What a bad night at the Trop

It's been months since I sat down at a poker table in Atlantic City. Not like one or two months, probably something in the six to nine months range.

I've been waiting for a few things to come together, namely paying off my credit card bill. Well, I'm officially out of debt and I didn't waste of second to get back to playing poker.

I probably should have waited.

I'm not one to bore people with hand-by-hand analysis. I don't normally read other posts about the same sort of thing, but I lost $400 last night at the Tropicana.

Ouch is right. That was how I felt driving back home after that bath.

First hand I went broke with, I raised black Kings to $15 under the gun in a $1/$2 no limit game. The guy to my immediate left calls and so do three other behind him. The flop comes down queen high, all clubs.

I can't remember the exact breakdown of the flop bet, but my chips went all-in on the turn when a red card peeled off. I was the aggressor the whole way. One guy was all-in for $47 on the flop.

When I moved all-in on the turn against the guy to my left, I knew he didn't have the flush or the ace-high draw. He took too long to call me, which he did. He turned over red aces.

The river didn't help and I lost my first buy-in.

The second hand I chose to go broke with was with another draw. I played it wrong two ways. The first mistake was not raising the initial bettor pre-flop. From under the gun, he made it $7. I looked down to AQ clubs and just call. It was a terrible call, but it happened because I hate AQ. It's my least favorite hand to play and I let that get the better of me.

There were a few other callers. The flop with A-4-7 with two diamonds and one club. It gets checked to me and I bet, two people call, including the initial bettor.

Turn: 2 clubs

Now, I have top pair with the nut flush draw. It's checked to me, I bet $35. Folds to the initial raiser and he min-raise me to $70.

I have $110 in front of me. The right play (now that I think about it) should have calling the $35 and getting a peek at the river for cheap. Instead, I push all-in for my last bit of money.

He calls the $110 because he has a monster stack behind him.

He turns over 3-5 of diamonds. He turned a straight.

He raised 3-5 of diamonds from under the gun to start the hand. I never put him on that.

River didn't help and there went the rest of my money.

I was too aggressive. My play seemed more suited for tournament poker than a cash game. But as I get to play more, I will remember some of these lessons.

By the way, the bad beat was up to 101K at the Tropicana.

Lessons of the night:
1. Play your hand and don't be scared of AQ.
2. Dont' go broke on a draw
3. There is no folding equity in $1-$2 NL
4. Tropicana ain't what it used to be.

Borgata announces another tournament

Fresh off its record setting Borgata Poker Open, featuring 1,018 participants, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa introduces the $250,000 Guaranteed Double Play Poker Tournament, Sunday, October 18 -21 in the Borgata Poker Room.

For the first time in Borgata's history, players who participate in day 1A of the Double Play Tournament and bust out will have a second chance at the guaranteed $250,000 prize pool by having the opportunity to register and play in day 1B. Entry into the tournament is $500 + $60.

Qualifiers are Saturday, October 17 at 11 AM and Sunday, October 18 at 4 PM.
--------------------------------
Borgata is doing it again. People don't like busting out of tournaments, so they are letting players back in - for a free, of course.

However, with the way Borgata runs the room, I am sure there are plenty of players who will dig into their wallets a second time for a chance at the prize pool.

Also, with the way the economy is, players are getting more value on their money by entering tournaments.

Showboat to Snowbirds

During the winter, Atlantic City is a tough place to play poker. There's always a game, but in the smaller poker rooms, it can be difficult to find good action.

For poker dealers, it's even tougher to earn tips. Rooms such as the Showboat and Harrah's get much smaller and could have two to five total games running on any given night.

A few Showboat dealers and floor people have decided to not wait out the slow time in Atlantic City and head to a warmer climate. About five employees jumped down to Florida to open a new poker room.

According to a post over on the TwoPlusTwo forum, Rod, Jackie (a floor person), Favio, Don and Sylvia have left the room.

Jackie was a great floor person and didn't take any crap from anyone. I enjoyed having her in the poker room while she was there and I am definitely going to miss her. She was also a good tournament player. Some of those losses will hurt the room.

Good luck to them in Florida. Now, if only we can get some of the Harrah's dealer out of there, we would have something going.

Twittering while I work

I'm a big fan of Twitter and just wanted to let you guys know that you can now catch me on there putting up all the news Atlantic City poker news I could find.

Follow me at @PokerInAC

Did this really happen?

At Harrah's last weekend, there was a game where a woman was trying to play with her husband's chips. The dealer told the player, he wasn't allowed to take his money off the game (the man was first just trying to give her some chips to go play slots).

Then, when she offered to play in the game, the dealers said he couldn't give his chips to another player. TRUE!

So when the dealer was getting off the game, the husband thought he was sly and 'hugged' his wife and slipped chips in her hand, which the dealer saw and pointed out.

Finally, the dealer went up to a floor person (I think, Bruce) and told the floor guy the story. 'Bruce' goes up to the game and asks the table to take a vote as to what should be allowed to happen.

If no one has a problem with her sitting on the game with her husband's chips, then it's ok.

C'mon! What the heck is that?

'Bruce' is apparently from Caesars, which obviously makes sense because the rules for poker don't apply there. Harrah's is getting nearly as bad as Caesar's in this respect.

Too bad for the dealers that follow rules because they aren't popular to most players and are becoming extinct.

Anyone else have any bad stories about inept floor or dealers?

Nicky Hilton in AC?

Nicky Hilton, the least trashy of the hilton sisters, wrote on her Twitter account this weekend that she was headed to Atlantic City for birthday part at Dusk in Caesars.

Yeah, that has nothing to do with poker, but she also wrote that was headed for the poker room.

Anyone catch Ms. Hilton on the tables?

New York man wins Borgata Poker Open

This from the Borgata this afternoon:

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ - Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa set a record for the highest participation in a World Poker Tour® (WPT) event with 1,018 participants generating a $3,359,400 prize pool while crowning Olivier Busquet of New York, NY, with the 2009 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship and $925,514.

The New York native was short-stacked and at a marked disadvantage at the beginning of the exciting heads-up match with Jeremy Brown of Medford, NJ, however Busquet methodically battled back from an almost $16 million chip deficit and clinched the victory as his all-in with trip 4s bested Brown. Jeremy Brown took home $453,519 for second place.

An emotional Busquet commented, “Borgata offers the best structures which gives the most value. I mean, I just won $925,000 on a $3,500 investment.”

The rest of the final table placed as follows:

Kenny “SuperTuan1” Nguyen (Lynwood, IL) finished in 6th place, taking home $156,212.
Keith Crowder (Elkins Park, PA) finished in 5th place for $188,126
Yanick Brodeur (Fleurmont, Canada) finished in 4th place for $216,681
Ivan Mamuzic (Brampton, Ontario) finished in 3rd place for $251,955
This year’s Borgata Poker Open tournament series saw nearly 15,000 participants in the 50 events, and paid out over $8 million to winners. Many poker greats were in the field, such as Gavin Smith, Bernard Lee, Kathy Liebert, JC Tran, Bill Gazes, and David “Chino” Rheem.

“Borgata is always the best trip of the year; always the best tournaments, and the best turn out,” said Josh Brikis, currently 26th in Player of the Year points. “I honestly can’t wait until January (Borgata Winter Open).”

Borgata Poker Open down to three tables

The Borgata blog is the place to keep up-to-date with the latest info on the Borgata Poker Open.

The main event is down to the final three tables. Play will begin Wednesday at 11 a.m., and go down to the final six for the final televised table.

Those six will get their mugs on Fox Sports Net in the future.

Here are the chip counts heading into Day 3 from the WPT live updates.

Also, if you want to see more photos, check out this gallery from The Press of Atlantic City.

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

Harrah's announced WSOP event in Atlantic City

The World Series of Poker announced the events that will occur at Harrah's Resort in Atlantic City from Dec. 4-20.

This is always a nice-sized event at Harrahs with lucrative cash games.

There seem to be several changes for the Atlantic City event. The main event occurs in the middle of the schedule, which is unlike most other tournaments. Usually, the main event (and, you'll notice the lower buy-in) comes near the end of tournament week.

There are also two deep stack tournaments, which means if you get busted from the main event early, there are two enticing touranments left.

While I don't normally agree with Harrah's policies, I actually like this. Those who are buying right into the main event usually have a decent amount of money to spend. This other tournaments will keep the big fish sticking around the casino.

The only thing Harrah's needs to do is market this tournament well. That's something Harrah's officials haven't done well yet. The WSOPC returns to Atlantic City in March for an event at Caesars.

Here's the entire schedule for the WSOPC at Harrah's in Atlantic City.

Fri 12/4 – Event #1: $300 + $40 No Limit Hold’em (2 day event)
Sat 12/5 – Event #2: $500 + $60 No Limit Hold’em (2 day event)
Sun 12/6 – Event #3: $300 + $40 No Limit Hold’em (2 day event)
Mon 12/7 – Event #4: $200 + $30 No Limit Hold’em (1 day event)
Tue 12/8 – Event #5: $500 + $60 No Limit Hold’em (2 day event)
Wed 12/9 - Event #6: $200 + $30 No Limit Hold’em (1 day event)
Thu 12/10 – Event #7: $300 + $40 No Limit Hold’em (2 day event)
Fri 12/11 – Event #8: $1,000 + $80 No Limit Hold’em (2 day event)
Sat 12/12 – Event #9: $300 + $40 Ladies No Limit Hold’em (1 day event)
Sun 12/13 – Event #10 Main Event: $4,900 + $250 No Limit Hold’em (3 day event)
Mon 12/14 – Event #11: $200 + $30 No Limit Hold’em (1 day event)
Tue 12/15 – Event #12: $1,500 + $100 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (3 day event)
Wed 12/16 – Event #13: $200 + $30 No Limit Hold’em (1 day event)
Thu 12/17 – Event #14: $300 + $40 No Limit Hold’em (2 day event)
Fri 12/18 – Event #15: $2,000 + $150 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (3 day event)
Sat 12/19 – Event #16: $300 + $40 No Limit Hold’em (2 day event)
Sun 12/20 – Event #17: $1035 + $65 2010 WSOP Satellite (1 day event)

Join Martin Truex Jr. on the felt

NASCAR racer Martin Truex Jr., is holding a charity poker tournament at the Tropicana on Sept. 23 to raise aid for children in need.

The Hook 'Em and Hold 'Em Foundation Poker Tournament has a $200 entry fee.

Other drivers joining Truex in the event will be Greg Biffle, and Ryan Newman.

Truex has made an appearance at the Tropicana before. In January of 2007, he held an event that coincided with the Motorsports convention at the Atlantic City Convention Center.

Truex is from the area. He grew up in Stafford Township and started racing cars as a kid. He currently races on the Sprint Cup.
First place for the event pays $5,000, second $2,500 and third $1,000.

The winner also receives the “Ultimate Fan Experience Grand Prize Package” for NASCAR race in Dover, Del., on Sept. 27:
*Private 15-minute meet-and-greet with driver Martin Truex Jr.
*Personal pit tour day of event
*2 NASCAR Sprint Cup Garage Passes
*2 NASCAR Sprint Cup Suite Passes
*VIP Race Experience Package

A look at the other side from Borgata ladies tournament

We know the story of a man winning the ladies No-Limit Hold 'Em event at the Borgata, but rather than focus on him, Nicole Rowe's local newspaper focused on her success at the table and battle with breast cancer.

I enjoyed this story just because it humanizes the woman.

However, the story here offers opinion rather than fact when it states that Rowe has no hard feelings to Abraham Kirotki. Apparently, this newspaper didn't read the article on Philly.com.

New in this article was The Borgata donated $5,000 to a cancer foundation. According to the story in Philly.com, Kirotki plans to donate his winnings to charities, including a breast cancer foundation.

Good came out of this story by highlighting the terrible disease.

I wish Rowe the best for her future and for the sake of family and women every where, I hope she beats this disease.

From the Atlantic City Poker Happenings blog, good luck Nicole and beat this damn thing.

Poker Pro Magazine hosts its first tournament

Poker Pro magazine is hosting its first poker event at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.

The Poker Pro Magazine 2009 Poker Classic will be held on Oct. 16 and 17, highlighted by a $30,000 guaranteed main event.

On Friday, the first event has a small buy-in of $200+$30 at 7:15 p.m. The rounds are 25 minutes long.

Saturday's main event begins at 1:15 p.m. with a $500+$60 buy-in and 40-minute rounds.

Both tournaments begin with a $20,000-chip stack.

Poker Pro also has a bounty on the magazine's editor-in-chief. Knock out John "Johnny Quads" Wenzel and get a free night in the Taj's Chairman Tower.

"This is our first event, so we are going to make it a good one," said the magazine's editor-in-chief, John Wenzel in a press release. "And this is the first of many. Watch for more events from us in coming months."

Too add more to the so-called pot. If you book your seat with PTseats.com, you will be entered in a random drawing and could win a gourmet dinner for two and a room in the Chairman Tower.

In addition, if you buy your seat at PTseats.com, you qualify for an $85 room rate, but you have to book by Oct. 10.