Borgata poker tourney suspended on suspicion of counterfeit chips

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.

Read the full story from the Associated Press.

Caesars AC may not host WSOPC National championship: Ante Up

Ante Up is reporting that Caesars in Atlantic City may not host the WSOP Circuit National Championship that was scheduled in May.

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.

Golden Nugget poker rake-free in January

The Golden Nugget will be going rake-free in its poker room through the end of January, according to NorthJersey.com.

“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.”

Borgata COO says Internet gaming not a threat to casinos

Borgata COO Tom Ballance appeared on CNBC's Squawk Box to discuss online gaming in New Jersey.

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.

76ers, Devils sign online gaming deal

From the Associated Press:

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.

Read the rest of the article on ESPN here.

PokerStars: Atlantic Club Casino closing could have been avoidable

The sale and shutdown of The Atlantic Club Casino was announced last week. The casino opened in 1980, but it’s going to shutter its doors on Jan. 13.

PokerStars worked last year to buy the casino for $15 million, but the casino owners canceled it in April when it did not get approval quickly enough.

Eric Hollreiser, Head of Corporate Communications for PokerStars, comments on the situation on the company's blog on Tuesday.

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.

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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.

You can read the rest of the post here.