The second annual Borgata Spring Poker Open is just a few days away. The series kicks off from the Atlantic City casino on Wednesday, April 13th and runs until Friday, April 29th.
The second cycle of the tournament series is anything but a small affair, as 53 events will pan out including the first ever $2,700 Double Play Spring Poker Open Championship.
Text found in a press release distributed by Borgata officials on Thursday explained the ins and outs of the unique finale: “For the first time in Borgata history, the Championship is a Double Play, giving players the opportunity to play on Day 1A (Sunday, April 24th) and if they bust or forfeit their chips, they will have the ability to re-enter and play on Day 1B. The $2,700 event features 30,000 in tournament chips and offers a guaranteed $500,000 prize pool.”
The Borgata Spring Poker Open Championship Event crowns a winner on Wednesday, April 29th. Last year, the event carried a $3,500 buy-in and saw Alexander Queen outlast the 383-player field en route to a $355,000 payday. Poker pros Matt Waxman and Adam Junglen were among those who reached the final table and the top 36 runners were rolling in dough.
Stan Strickland, Director of Poker Operations at the Borgata, was looking forward to the Spring Poker Open commencing in a few days. Strickland commented in the same press release, “We are pleased to be ushering in our second annual Borgata Spring Poker Open on April 13th. As one of Borgata’s four major annual tournaments (Winter Poker Open, Summer Poker Open, Borgata Poker Open), the Spring Open offers our players a structure, experience, and level of service unrivaled anywhere on the East Coast.”
The Borgata poker room features 110 tables to house both Spring Poker Open tournaments and juicy cash games. The very first event is a $400 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em contest that allows two re-entries. The event guarantees $100,000 and all players will start with 25,000 in chips. The blind levels will stretch for a half-hour during the first 10 levels and 40 minutes thereafter.
Any players eliminated from the opening event during the first six levels can re-enter twice. The price of poker begins at 25-50 and antes kick in at Level 5, when the blinds will stand at 150-300.
In addition to No Limit Hold’em, the 2011 Borgata Spring Poker Open schedule features Seven Card Stud, Pot Limit Omaha, Omaha High-Low Eight or Better, and HOSE.
As if you need even more incentive to head to the Borgata for the second running of the Spring Poker Open, Soundgarden lead singer Chris Cornell, Latin sensation Ricky Martin, comedian Jay Mohr, and “My Life on the D List” star Kathy Griffin will all be performing in the Borgata’s Event Center during the course of the two-week festival. So, if you bust out of an event, you can be “Livin la Vida Loca” down the hall.
Last year’s $3,500 buy-in Borgata Poker Open Main Event, a stop on the World Poker Tour (WPT), saw World Series of Poker Circuit mainstay Dwyte Pilgrim score his first major title. Pilgrim bested a field of over 1,000 and picked up $733,000.
Other former Borgata Poker Open champs include Olivier Busquet, Full Tilt Poker Red Pro Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar, Mark Newhouse, and PokerStars front man Daniel Negreanu.
