ATLANTIC CITY — A poker tournament at Atlantic City’s Borgata casino has been suspended while state casino regulators investigate whether someone used counterfeit chips.
Joe Lupo, the casino’s senior vice president, says its first tournament has been suspended for 24 hours as the state Division of Gaming Enforcement investigates.
Caesars Atlantic City, which closed its poker room just before the start of 2014, will not host its usual World Series of Poker Circuit stop in the spring. But this also means the location of the WSOPC National Championship, which was scheduled to be at Caesars AC in May, is in doubt.Read the full story from Ante Up here.
“This isn’t a gimmick,” om Pohlman, executive vice president and general manager of Golden Nugget Atlantic City, told NorthJersey.com. “We want to give everyone a chance to come down and see the new room, and discover why they should be playing poker here.”
Internet betting is not a threat to brick-and-mortar casinos, Ballance argued. "When we match up databases, the great majority of players who were playing online have not been to Borgata in well over a year. And the vast majority have made fewer than two trips in the past year. So it's a different customer."
There's also a different demographic for the online gambler, he contended. "It skews more male than the conventional brick-and-mortar customer."
Answering critics who say Internet gaming makes it too easy to bet since gamblers don't have to leave their homes, Ballance said: "Online we actually have more controls. ... You don't extend credit online. You've got to fund your account somehow ... through your checking account or through a credit card."Read the rest of the story and watch the video here.
NEWARK, N.J. -- The Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA and the New Jersey Devils of the NHL have become the first major U.S.-based professional teams to sign a sponsorship deal with an online gambling company.
Scott O'Neil, the chief executive of the Josh Harris-owned teams, and Norbert Teufelberger, the chief executive of bwin.party digital entertainment that operates PartyPoker, confirmed the multi-year agreement in a statement Wednesday night.
It's always sad when hard-working people lose their jobs, especially during the holiday season. This is particularly sad, though, because it simply didn't have to happen.
At this time last year, PokerStars reached an agreement that would secure a new future for the casino, save the jobs of 1,800 employees and inject new blood, new technology and new finances into the Atlantic City casino economy.
It was a leap of faith and commitment of significant investment for PokerStars to do this considering there was not yet an online bill in New Jersey and we faced a challenging regulatory approval process. Nevertheless, in good faith we immediately began funding the Atlantic Club operations, which provided the current owners with a lifeline and secured jobs in the dark days following Hurricane Sandy and the seasonally slow winter months.
As spring approached, the economic prospects for the Atlantic Club appeared to brighten even more with the newly-enacted iGaming legislation and the promise of summer tourism business on the horizon. That's when the casino's then-owners gambled with their employees' future. In hopes that the improved economic picture could lead to more rewards for them they walked away from our contract rather than wait another few months for the regulatory approval process to be completed.
Now, the Atlantic Club will be stripped for parts and its employees will be put out onto the boardwalk in search of new jobs in 2014.***
PokerStars does not share the vulture-like management practices that led to the coming job losses and disappointment of thousands of people in New Jersey with the closure of the Atlantic Club. Instead, PokerStars will continue to pursue our goals and remain confident that we will have a strong presence and positive economic impact in the American market in 2014, whether that is in New Jersey or another state seeking the benefits of being home to a world-class online gaming company.
The number of online gambling accounts in New Jersey has surpassed 125,000 according to data released by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) on Sunday. The official number of accounts reported by the DGE was 126,231, an increase of 16,285 over the previous week.
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"We have seen a steady and continual increase in site traffic since November 21 due to the outreach of the casino operators,” said DGE Director David Rebuck. “We are encouraged by their marketing efforts and are optimistic for the future of New Jersey’s Internet gaming industry.”
While seven of the 12 licensed casinos in Atlantic City are offering online poker, two have been dominating the market in the first full month of business. According to PokerScout.com, partypoker owns more than 50% of the market share, averaging 240 real-money cash game players over the past seven days. Caesars Interactive Entertainment's World Series of Poker-branded site, powered by 888 Holdings, had a seven-day average of 150 players, while the All American Poker Network (80 players) and Ultimate Poker (18 players) make up the rest of the market.
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (December 19, 2013) – Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa announced today details of its ninth annual Borgata Winter Poker Open tournament series, beginning on January 14 and concluding with the televised WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship event, January 26-31. This year’s Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (re-entry) Championship is a $3,500 buy-in with 30,000 in starting chips and a guaranteed $3 million prize pool.
“Borgata is delighted to continue its relationship with World Poker Tour (WPT) as we host the second of three televised tournaments throughout Season XII,” said Borgata Senior Vice President of Operations Joe Lupo. “Our strong partnership with WPT coupled with the onset of online gaming including the launch of borgatapoker.com make for an extremely exciting 2014.”
Borgata’s new online poker site Borgatapoker.com will compliment the upcoming tournament series by offering players the chance to compete for qualifiers into next month’s Borgata Winter Poker Open. On January 12 at 4 p.m., borgatapoker.com will host a 50-seat guarantee with the winner awarded entry into the $560 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em opening event on January 14, which boasts a $2 million guaranteed prize pool. Online players will also have the opportunity for just $1 to qualify for the WPT $3 Million Guaranteed event on January 26, a package worth $5,000!
Last year saw 27-year-old poker pro Andy Hwang outlast an immense field of 1,042 participants to take home over $730,000 and add his name to the distinguished list of Borgata Winter Poker Open Champions including Joshua Mancuso (2012), Vadim Shlez (2011), Jeffrey Madsen (2010), Steven Weinstein (2009), Gavin Griffin (2008), John Hennigan (2007) and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi (2006).
The 18-day series, held in the Event Center, will feature 53 unique tournaments such as No Limit Hold’em, H.O.R.S.E, Six-Max, Deep Stack, Seniors and Ladies No Limit Hold’em, and Omaha events. The 2013 Borgata Winter Poker Open saw the largest opening-event turnout in the history of East Coast poker – a record-breaking 3,871 participants entered for the chance to win $1.9 million in prize money.
Online promotion to win a seat to the championship runs from December 23 – January 23 with the winner announced January 24. Online reservations for Borgata Winter Poker Open Main events are available 24 hours a day starting now through Friday, January 10 by visitingtheborgata.com.
To view the event schedule or for more information visit theborgata.com and follow all of the action on Twitter @BorgataPoker.
About Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa
Located at Renaissance Pointe in Atlantic City, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa features 2,000 guest rooms and suites; 161,000 square feet of gaming; 182 gaming tables; 3,475 slot machines; an 80+ table poker room; 11 retail boutiques; 6 acclaimed fine dining restaurants by renowned chefs; 6 casual dining options; a 54,000 square foot spa; 70,000 square feet of event space; 4 signature nightlife experiences; and parking for 7,100 cars. The resort also features Atlantic City’s first cosmopolitan hotel experience, The Water Club at Borgata, with 800 guest rooms and suites; a 36,000 square foot spa; 18,000 square feet of meeting space; 6 designer retail boutiques; and 5 heated indoor and outdoor pools.
For more information on Borgata or to obtain a copy of this press release, please visit theborgata.com or follow Borgata on twitter.com/BorgataAC
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Revel announced over the weekend that it will close its poker room by August 15, 2013. It may close earlier if all promotional money is paid out before that date. The struggling Atlantic City casino posted this announcement at the Two Plus Two forum over the weekend.Read the full story on US Poker here.
“After careful consideration and in an effort to further improve the overall operating performance of Revel Casino Hotel, management has made the decision to close our poker room operations effective August, 2013.”“Offering poker as an amenity on the property will be considered in the future as a component of an overall strategy related to our online opportunities. We have a very talented team of professionals who work in poker operations and we are actively working to place as many as we can in other areas.”
British-based 2UP Gaming has announced it has a letter of intent in hand from an Asian investment group for 215 million pounds (about $331 million US) that “will facilitate 2UP’s planned entry into the United States Internet Gaming market by providing it the means to build or acquire a hotel/casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.”
The company operates the online gaming website 2UP.com, so this effort obviously relates to the planned launch late this year of online gaming in New Jersey.
Only companies that operate Atlantic City casinos can offer the online gambling, so this cash infusion would allow for that hurdle to be cleared. Casinos in the city have gone for as little as $20 million to $50 million in completed and uncompleted deals in recent years, so this investment can reach far beyond a straight building purchase. Of course, they could think about trying to build a new one as well, as was hinted.
At the end of June, Revel unveiled a slots rebate program which is essentially exactly what it sounds like: Revel promised to refund players for any losses up to $100,000 beginning on the first of July.
This promotion apparently was of especial interest to players known as “advantage players” – that is to say players who are familiar with how to take advantage of particular machines, games, and offers to their best benefit. Rumors currently swirling on gambling forums allege that advantage players have been denied refunds by Revel despite the fact that some have racked up tens of thousands of dollars in losses on the machines.
Furthermore, some players are saying they were not denied refunds, but were outright banned from participating in the promotion from the start. While none of the allegations have been revealed in the mainstream media nor has Revel publicly commented about the accusations, there are some who say that the casino maintains a list of names of advantage players and has blocked them from benefitting from the slot rebate program.Link to the rest from Legal US Poker Sites
Before the second of four $10,000 Regional Championships on the 2010-2011 WSOPC season, Harrah's Atlantic City $1,650 buy-in main event attracted 352 players to become the second-largest WSOP Circuit main event this year. Sounds great, right? Well, maybe. The WSOPC Hammond main event recruited 872 players before the first Regional Championship and in turn, created a field of 226 for the $10,000 event.
Hopes were high after Hammond that we'd see a great turnout in Atlantic City and in attendance, yes, they've got it compared with 2009 for the "main event." When the highlighted tournament was a $5,150 event last year, 195 players bought in and created a prize pool of $926,835. We'll have to wait to see where the $10,000 event falls as the main event reached only $561,776. Numbers aside, I have one major issue with this stop of the WSOPC: The $10,000 event in Hammond began three days after the $1,600 event; in Atlantic City, the $10,000 event begins a week after the $1,650 event.
Talk about killing all momentum.
It's possible that the staff in Atlantic City wanted to allow players the chance to come back from APPT Sydney or EPT Prague, but let's be serious, that's only an excuse I'm going to throw in their direction. This is a big mistake on their part. Traveling to tournaments isn't cheap and if you can convince players to go for two tournaments instead of one, they'll be more likely to see that the trip is worthwhile. In this case, players either had to decide to fly out for the $1,650 and stay in A.C. for a week or fly in next weekend for the higher buy-in tournament. There are some who definitely stayed for both, but you'll see an influx of different players in town next weekend ready to play in a nationally televised event. There was the opportunity to capitalize on the added excitement a televised tournament brings and this schedule just didn't do the trick. Make the $1,650 a couple days before the $10,000 and see numbers rise in both tournaments. I don't doubt that we're going to see a bigger turnout in this $10,000 compared with the Hammond $10,000, but I think that the WSOPC could've made more out of one of the bigger poker locations in the world.
As for the tournament, just over three dozen remain looking for the $117,797 top prize and notables among them include Matt Glantz, Josh Brikis, Ari Engel, Mike Leah and Chris Tryba. Thirty-six players will make the money.
