The poker world is squarely focused on the World Series of Poker Main Event these days, but there are a lot of exciting events coming up. Even after the WSOP comes to a conclusion, the return of the Borgata Poker Open and the PokerNews Cup will present some spirited competitions in the coming months.
Borgata Poker Open Returns
There has been lots of talk about Atlantic City when it comes to the world of poker and casinos, and most of it has been negative. Unions are on strike because of benefits being taken away, there is far less foot traffic on the boardwalk and casinos are losing a lot of money. However, the return of the Borgata Poker Open could be a small spark to help Atlantic City get back on its feet.
The 2016 Borgata Poker Open will be held from September 6th to the 23rd, and there is a whole slew of tournaments for players to get in on the action. The main event of the Open will be the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship, which starts on September 18th and goes until the end of the event on the 23rd. This is an official stop on the World Poker Tour and players can buy in for $3,500. There is also a guaranteed prize purse of $3 million, which could be more by the time of the tournaments.
Last year’s winner was David Paredes, who beat out a field of 1,027 players to win the grand prize, which came out to be $723,227. The overall prize pool turned out to be $3,287,427. This year, there will be a number of qualifiers run by BorgataPoker.com, which is based in New Jersey.
There is more going on as the 2016 Borgata Summer Poker Open began on July 12th, and there are 20 tournaments for players to enter, featuring $3 million in guaranteed money. The highlight of the event, which goes until July 29th, is the Borgata Championship No Limit Hold ‘Em, which has a buy-in of $2,700 with a guaranteed pool of at least $1 million.
PokerNews Cup Coming Up
Speaking of other events on the horizon, in September the PokerNews Cup returns. It will be the first time it’s held in the United States. The event will take place over two days – September 20th and 21st – and it will be hosted at Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa. Hosting another big poker event should provide an additional jolt for the Atlantic City scene.
This event won’t just be for the high-rollers as BorgataPoker.com will have a number of satellite tournaments as well. The tournament will be on the heels of another PokerNews Cup event that will be held in Rozvadov, Czech Republic, which is a six-day event starting on August 10th.
The PokerNews Cup has already been to Rozvadov and the event was a big success. Now PokerNews is hoping to transfer that buzz over to Borgata, which is doing its part to try and bring some of the gambling excitement back to Atlantic City. It has been rough for this old staple, and hopefully these events will make it a hot summer in 2016.