The situation in the tournament poker world is one that is currently in a great deal of flux. After postponing their stop at bestbet Jacksonville in August, the World Poker Tour will move one of their flagship stops, the Borgata Poker Open in Atlantic City, to a fully online affair. As a part of the September partypoker U. S. Network Online Series, the WPT and the Borgata will hold the WPT Online Borgata Poker Open on the Borgata’s online poker operation at partypoker US.
WPT Online Borgata Poker Open Main Event Runs September 19-21
The partypoker U. S. Online Series is set to run from September 12 through September 21, with a slate of preliminary events that lead up to the WPT Main Event. That tournament will feature the usual WPT Main Event action – a $3500 buy in (reentries available) with a $1 million guarantee. That tournament will start on September 19 and conclude with a live streamed online final table on September 21, with the eventual champion earning all the accoutrements that would go to a live WPT Main Event winner. This includes an entry into the 2022 WPT Tournament of Champions (if it is held) and earning their plaque on the Mike Sexton WPT Champions’ Cup.
“The WPT Online Borgata Poker Open, powered by partypoker US Network, marks the return of the Sexton Cup to New Jersey,” said Adam Pliska, the Chief Executive Officer of the WPT. “We are very happy that WPT’s strategic move in online tournaments has been bolstered by one of the longest and most prestigious casinos on the tour.”
“New Jersey continues to be a leader in regulated online poker and the WPT is thrilled to partner with BetMGM,” said Angelica Hael, the Vice President of Global Tour Management for the World Poker Tour. “This event follows-up on the three incredible series held in 2020 and we are confident this series will continue pushing our partnership to new heights.”
Trying to Continue the Long History of Success with the BPO
The WPT Borgata Poker Open has long been one of the best stops on the WPT circuit. Because of the lower buy-in and multiple Day Ones (along with massive guarantees) in the past, previous WPT Borgata Poker Open Main Events have seen massive fields come to the tables. Whether this will translate to the online arena is a good question, however.
To be able to participate in the WPT Online Borgata Poker Open Main Event, players will have to be physically located in New Jersey to play. That is not a strange thing in poker, but the tournament will be conducted on the partypoker software that is run by partypoker NJ, Borgata Poker or BetMGM Poker instead of the live felt. There have been plenty of players who have been qualifying for the Main Event through a variety of satellites on the sites, but whether they will meet the figures that the live BPO has drawn – 1313 entries were received in 2011 – remains to be seen, especially since the BPO is coming right before the 2021 World Series of Poker.
“BetMGM has found a great partner in WPT and are excited to work together again to bring another online Main Tour event to New Jersey,” said Matthew Sunderland, Vice President of Gaming, BetMGM. “Our last Main Tour event together was a huge success, and we look forward to offering players in New Jersey a piece of the $1 million prize pool.”
This is going to be a train wreck. Not sure how many players LIVE in NJ. But I’m not driving from the mid atlantic, to sit in a fuqqing hotel room and play online. This is a horrible decision. I guess this will let them know how many of the better players live in that weird little state.