Cancelled Borgata Winter Poker Open Tournament Resolution Announced

The Borgata announced Monday the resolution to the counterfeit chip scandal that plagued the first event of the Borgata Winter Poker Open in January. The resolution was initially ordered by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) and will be enacted by the casino.

To review, Event #1 of the Borgata Winter Poker Open was a $500 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry Event with a $2 million guaranteed prize pool which kicked off on January 14th, 2014. The combination of timing (it was the opener of the first big east coast poker festival of the year), location, low buy-in, and huge guarantee all contributed to a gigantic 4,811 player field. On January 16th, it was discovered that counterfeit chips had been introduced into the tournament and the following day, the DGE ordered that the tournament be suspended. On January 18th, following an investigation, the DGE ordered that the Borgata cancel the event.

At the time the tournament was cancelled, there were 27 players still alive, battling for the $1,433,145 remaining in the prize pool. 423 players had already been eliminated in the money, winning a total of $892,690 ($50,893 of that has still not been paid out, presumably because those who earned it simply have not claimed it).

About a week after the tournament’s cancellation, the chip leader from Day 1B, Christian Lusardi, was arrested for introducing the chips and compromising the tournament. Of all the odd ways to be caught, his was one of the oddest: clogged pipes. Apparently, Lusardi had tried to flush 2.7 million in fake chips down the toilet of a hotel room at Harrah’s Resort, causing problems with other guests’ plumbing. The issues were quickly traced back to Lusardi’s room. Harrah’s called the Borgata, whose officials then found 800,000 in chips in play in the tournament.

Now to the resolution. The DGE has ordered the Borgata to disperse $1,721,805 (the $1,433,145 remaining in the prize pool plus the $288,720 in revenue collected by the Borgata in the form of $60 per entry) to eligible players. The 2,143 entrants who “may have been impacted” by the fake chips and were eliminated without cashing are to be paid $560 – the buy-in plus entry fee. The 27 players who were still alive in the tourney are to be paid $19,323 each. Everyone who was already knocked out in the money get nothing on top of what they already won.

That leaves 2,218 entrants who missed the money and were determined to have not been impacted by the counterfeit chips. “To make this determination, among other things,” the Borgata said, “we examined whether players had played in the same room and during the same sessions as Lusardi.”

Here is the breakdown of which players were determined to be eligible for a refund:

•    Entrants who played on Day 1A beginning at 10:00am, except the people who played in the Event Center and busted out before 4:30pm. The latter group could not have played with Lusardi or come in contact with any of the counterfeit chips.
•    Entrants who played on Day 1B beginning at 10:00am and played in the Event Center. Those who played in the Signature Room and Poker Room will not receive a refund.
•    Everyone who played on Day 2 will receive a $560 refund.

Those who played on Day 1C beginning at 7:00pm in the Event Center will not receive a refund. Anyone who busted out and re-entered on any of the days may be eligible for a refund, based on the above criteria and those that paid multiple entry fees may get all or some refunded.