Editor’s Note: The Borgata poker room reopened on Wed., Oct. 21. The 30 tables are limited to a maximum of seven players each. For more information, click here.
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Live poker rooms at Atlantic City casinos are still closed. And nearly three months have passed since land-based properties reopened.
At this point, there is no timeline for when Atlantic City’s five poker rooms will reopen. Basically, the COVID-19 closure announcements made back in March still apply to poker rooms.
This makes it 159 days and counting since poker rooms in Atlantic City were open to the public.
With 77 tables, the poker room at the Borgata is the largest in the city and one of the largest in the United States. It was reopened in October with just 30 spaced-out tables. The city has five poker rooms, the ones at Harrah’s and the Borgata as well as at Bally’s Atlantic City, Golden Nugget Atlantic City, and Tropicana. World Series of Poker will run the 2020 WSOP Circuit Poker Tournament at the Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City from 5 th till 16 th of March. This tournament features over 15 events including events such as the NLH MonsterStack, No Limit Hold’em and the Main Event. Ante up for round-the-clock hot Atlantic City poker action at Harrah’s Resort We feature 40 tables with Total Bad Beat Jackpot on all no-limit and limit poker games. Games we spread vary based on guest demand, with no-limit and limit games in various dollar amounts starting at $1-$2 no-limit and $2-$4 limit Texas Hold’em.
When the Borgatareopened to the public on July 26, ropes were set up to prevent players from entering the 85-table poker room.
And when customers try to call Harrah’s Resort, they get a recording dating back to March 16. This would be the date the poker room with 40 tables closed at 6 p.m.
Golden Nugget AC’swebsite continues to use this message: “Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Poker Room is closed until further notice.”
For now, no AC casino has any update on a timeline for restarting poker play.
Are poker games available in Atlantic City?
Different variations of poker are still being offered at Atlantic City casinos, even if the poker rooms themselves are closed. The games include:
- Pai Gow Poker
- Let It Ride
- Three Card Poker
Of course, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) has safety protocols in place. It prevents the possibility of all the seats being filled.
Besides the 25% capacity limit on the gaming floors, Pai Gow tables are limited to three players at a time. The same rule applies to blackjack.
Other poker games can have up to four players. And plexiglass partitions must be set up at all table games, including poker.
The poker situation is similar in other jurisdictions. Pennsylvania’s poker rooms remain closed even as casinos reopen. In August, Play Pennsylvania learned that the World Series of Poker Room at Harrah’s Philadelphia is permanently closed.
In Las Vegas, some poker rooms are open but must follow Nevada’s COVID-19 protocols.
Besides impacting the players, the scenario in AC is eliminating jobs, even if it’s only temporary.
But these coronavirus restrictions regarding gameplay and number of players are likely the underlying reason Atlantic City poker rooms remain shut.
Atlantic City poker rooms closed, but online poker is always open
New Jersey poker players do have another option, and this one doesn’t have COVID-19 restrictions.
There are seven legal NJ poker apps. They are:
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- Pala Poker
And since Atlantic City casinos closed in March, the NJ online poker industry has recorded some pretty impressive numbers.
August NJ poker revenue came in at $3,035,033, which is down nearly 63% from July’s $4,818,561. Still, both numbers are a significant increase from February’s $1.8 million when land-based casinos (and live poker rooms) were fully operational.
These days, those popular WSOP tournaments are an online thing.
It doesn’t match the excitement of playing in a live poker room, but the alternative — no poker at all — would be far worse.
And with the word “temporary” being used when referencing closed AC poker rooms, there is still hope that operating hours will change.
One of the largest poker rooms in the United States is set to reopen this Wednesday after being closed since mid-March due to the pandemic. Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey will open its doors at 10 a.m. local time, albeit with some changes.
The room, which previously housed 77 tables, will open with just 30 spaced-out tables, each with polycarbonate divides between each seat. Only seven-handed cash games will be offered as there are no plans for tournaments right now. However, players can expect some lucrative promotions including a Bad Beat Jackpot starting at $100,000.
Here are some other changes and procedures:
- Masks are required in the poker room (and other public areas in the casino)
- Beverage service is available
- Food will not be permitted in the poker room
- Hand sanitizing stations will be available throughout the room
- Spectators will not be allowed in the poker room
“We are happy to welcome back our loyal players as we reopen Atlantic City’s market-leading East Coast poker destination,” said Melonie Johnson, president and chief operating officer of Borgata.
She continued: “We have made some changes to enhance our guests’ experience and are excited to reintroduce live poker and the Borgata Poker brand more safely.”
While Borgata was the last casino to reopen in Atlantic City, it will be the first of the city’s poker rooms to welcome back players. It’s by far the busiest against the competition, which includes Harrah’s Atlantic City, Bally’s, Golden Nugget, and Tropicana. Over the past two years, the combined revenue from all five rooms has totaled approximately $28.5 million each year. In 2019, just shy of $18 million of that came from Borgata.
#BorgataAC's Poker Room REOPENS October 21 at 10AM. Poker play will be live cash games on seven-handed tables with… https://t.co/qZqvkiy8oW
— BorgataPoker (@BorgataPoker)Looking to Continue Strong Legacy
Borgata has a long history in the poker world. Not only do they host popular in-house tournament series like the Borgata Spring/Summer/Fall Poker Open (all of which were canceled this year), but they also enjoy a longstanding relationship with the World Poker Tour.
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In fact, prior to the pandemic, the 2020 World Poker Tour Borgata Winter Poker Open $3,500 Main Event took place, which saw a 1,290-entry field whittled down to the final six players. The final table was slated to play out at the HyperX Esports Arena at the Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on April 1, but the pandemic interrupted those plans.
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Even now, that final table – as well as those for the 2020 WPT Gardens Poker Championship and WPT L.A. Poker Classic – are still on hiatus with an unknown return date. As such, players like Veerab Zakarian, James Anderson, Brian Altman, Bin Weng, Andrew Hanna, and Nathan Russler will need to wait to see who walks away with the title and $674,840 first-place prize.
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Despite the pandemic, the WPT and Borgata continued their relationship last month by hosting the WPT Online Borgata Series powered by partypoker US Network. The 10-event series saw Tony “ToNiSiNzz” Sinishtaj top a 440-entry field to win the $1,060 Main Event for $77,349.
Sinishtaj, who was recently a guest on the PokerNews Podcast, previously won the WPT Seminole Rock Poker Showdown in Season XVI for $661,283.
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