We may not have 2023 done yet, but the tournament poker calendar is shaping up for 2024 already. The Borgata in Atlantic City is the first one in for the New Year, announcing this weekend the resumption of their popular Borgata Winter Poker Open. The schedule of events will have something for every player of every bankroll, including a big money finale.
20 Tournaments – $10 Million in Guarantees
The Borgata Winter Poker Open will start while they are still sweeping up the confetti from the night before. January 1 will mark the start of the twenty-tournament schedule, which will conclude on January 26. Along the way, $10 million in guaranteed prize pools will be up for grabs and, with the popularity of the tournament, many of those prize pools should exceed their guarantees.
The schedule doesn’t hesitate to bring the big tournaments early in the action. Event #1 is a $2,000,000 guaranteed prize pool tournament that will feature five different Day Ones that will start on January 1. For an $800 buy-in ($730 + $70), players will have the opportunity to drive to the final table, which will be held on January 6 and will be live-streamed.
The next tournament on the schedule that should prove to be popular is Event #5, the Almighty Million Event. In this tournament, $1 million will be up for grabs, minimum, and it will also feature five different Day One flights at a $500 buy-in. The final table for this tournament will take place on January 11 and it will also be live streamed.
The Main Event will naturally finish off the schedule, beginning on January 21. This tournament will feature a $3 million guaranteed prize pool and a buy-in of $5000 (plus $300 juice). Only two-Day Ones will be available for this tournament, but with 600 entries needed to pass the guarantee, you can ensure that the event will be highly popular.
Add in a Ladies’ Championship ($25,000 guaranteed prize pool, $240 + $60) and a Seniors’ Championship ($50,000 guaranteed prize pool, $300 + $50 buy-in) and you can see that there will be plenty of action on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City to kick off the year.
2022 Tournament Kicked Off Strong Starts for Several Players
In January 2022, several players utilized an abbreviated return by the Borgata to the tournament poker arena. This start allowed them to start the year on the right foot and, in one case, may catapult them to a Player of the Year award.
Last year, this tournament was called “The Return” as it was the first foray of The Borgata back into the tournament poker arena after the COVID pandemic. A $3 million guaranteed event was held, and it was shattered by the 1142 entries that came out for the tournament. That field was able to create a prize pool that nearly doubled the guarantee, over $5.5 million, and several popular pros took their shot at the tournament.
Mukul Pahuja, Grant Lang, and Justin Saliba all were players who cashed in the tournament, but the Final Four set themselves up for an excellent run in 2023. Jonathan Borenstein, who recently was the runner-up at the PokerStars North American Poker Tour stop in Las Vegas, finished in fourth place, while former World Champion Joseph McKeehen took down third place honors.
With the tournament down to Sundiata Devore and Bin Weng, a deal was negotiated that gave Weng a million-dollar payday (Devore wasn’t too bad off with his $926,128). In the end, it was Weng who captured the title of “The Return,” which pushed him to a World Poker Tour title, another WPT final table, and the EveryOne for OneDrop championship later in the year. Weng, because of these events, is the favorite to win the dual Player of the Year titles.
For more information on the 2024 Borgata Winter Poker Open, be sure to visit the poker room’s website. There are also satellite events ready to go, including online satellites at BetMGM Poker beginning on December 3.
