After a huge event following their “restart” after the World Series of Poker – the massive Legends of Poker tournament in California earlier this month – the World Poker Tour kicks back into action this afternoon with the Borgata Poker Open in New Jersey.
Usually one of the bigger events on the WPT circuit, the Borgata Poker Open is expected to once again challenge for a spot on the record books. Last year, the two events at the namesake casino in Atlantic City drew in 2215 entries for its two tournaments (1226 for the fall event, 989 for the Borgata Winter Poker Open). The numbers were even better in 2013, when those tournaments each were over the 1100 entry mark (1189 for the fall, 1229 for the winter).
The Borgata continues to be a favorite location for the WPT to set down at and the hotel returns the favor. For this tournament they have put a $3.5 million guarantee on the Main Event, which would require roughly 1000 entries to meet. “The Borgata is thrilled to welcome back the World Poker Tour,” Borgata Senior Vice President of Operations Joe Lupo said to All-In’s Sean Chaffin. “The long-standing marriage between the East Coast’s preeminent poker destination and the premier name in televised gaming has been exceedingly beneficial and we are looking forward to another fantastic Main Event.”
A part of the WPT schedule since its Season II schedule, the list of champions of this tournament is an equal mix of “unknowns” who have gone on to greater things and professional players making their mark. Noli Francisco defeated Charlie Shoten in the first ever Borgata Poker Open in 2003 (at a final table that also featured David Oppenheim and Carlos Mortensen), while Daniel Negreanu etched his name on the annals of WPT history by defeating David Williams, Josh Arieh and Phil Ivey the next year. For every Al Ardebili (2005) or Ben Hamnett (2012), there has been players such as Olivier Busquet (2009), Vivek Rajkumar (2008) or two-time WSOP “November Niner” Mark Newhouse who have claimed the Borgata Poker Open championship.
Today’s action will be the first of two Day Ones for the players in the $3500 buy in tournament and it seems that Sunday’s action will be plentiful. Former World Champion Jonathan Duhamel has won a preliminary event on the Borgata grounds and is primed for a second title. “Whee! Just won my first ever tournament at Borgata!” Duhamel tweeted to his followers. “$1000 Six Max with 287 players…now let’s go two for two!” Joe Kuether also had a deep run in a preliminary event and has a busy schedule for today. “Time to make DFS lineups all night and then WPT Main and Packer game tomorrow,” Kuether said. Other players such as Marvin Rettenmaier, Jonathan Little, defending champion Darren Elias, John Hennigan and WPT World Champion Asher Conniff and defending WPT Player of the Year Anthony Zinno are also expected to be in attendance.
Another area that will be busy is the online rooms in New Jersey. The Borgata’s online poker room, BorgataParty.com, is providing final chances for players through Sunday to get into the WPT Main Event on the cheap. At 5:45PM (Eastern Time) and 7:30PM, BorgataParty.com will be running two super satellite tournaments, with one in ten (1 in 10) players earning a seat for Monday’s action live at the Borgata. Demonstrating the ability of the satellite to fulfill dreams, BorgataParty.com is promoting heavily that Conniff was able to win his way into the Borgata Spring Poker Open, where he won $203K and parlayed that into a seat at the WPT World Championship, which he took down for over $973K. (Unfortunately, you must be a resident of New Jersey to participate in these satellites.)
The latest event on Season XIV schedule promises to be a busy one as players – both amateur and professional – flock to the Jersey Shore for the action. Will another 1000-entry field crash the Borgata and meet the $3.5 million guarantee for the WPT Main Event? We’ll learn all about this after the two Day Ones are in the books from today and Monday.
