We may not have made it to 2023 yet, but the poker tournament calendar is already gearing up for 2024. The Borgata in Atlantic City is the first tournament of the new year, announcing the resumption of the popular Borgata Winter Poker Open this weekend. The calendar of events offers something for every player and every budget, including a big money final.
20 tournaments – $10 million in guarantees
The Borgata Winter Poker Open begins while they’re still sweeping up the confetti from the night before. January 1st marks the start of the 20-tournament schedule, which ends on January 26th. There will be $10 million in guaranteed prize pools up for grabs along the way, and given the popularity of the tournament, many of these prize pools should also exceed their guarantees.
The schedule doesn’t shy away from bringing the major tournaments into play early. Event #1 is a $2,000,000 guaranteed prize pool tournament that includes five different Day Ones and begins on January 1st. For a buy-in of $800 ($730 + $70), players have the opportunity to go to the final table, which will take place on January 6th and will be broadcast via livestream.
The next tournament on the schedule that should prove popular is event number 5, the Almighty Million event. This tournament has a minimum of $1 million to be won and five different Day One flights with a buy-in of $500. The final table for this tournament will take place on January 11th and will also be broadcast live.
The Main Event of course rounds off the schedule and begins on January 21st. This tournament will feature a guaranteed prize pool of $3 million and a buy-in of $5,000 (plus $300 juice). Only two-day tournaments are available for this tournament, but with 600 entries required to pass the guarantee, you can be sure the event will be very popular.
Add in a Women’s Championship ($25,000 guaranteed prize pool, $240 + $60) and a Senior Championship ($50,000 guaranteed prize pool, $300 + $50 buy-in), and there will be plenty of action on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City Start of the year.
The 2022 tournament is off to a strong start for several players
In January 2022, several players took advantage of a shortened Borgata return to the tournament poker arena. That start allowed them to start the year on the right foot and, in one case, potentially catapulted them to Player of the Year honors.
Last year, this tournament was dubbed “The Return” as it was The Borgata’s first foray back into the tournament poker arena post-COVID. An event with a guaranteed prize of $3 million was held, but this was wiped out by the number of 1142 entries for the tournament. This field was able to create a prize pool that almost doubled the guaranteed prize, over $5.5 million, and several popular professionals took part in the tournament.
Mukul Pahuja, Grant Lang and Justin Saliba were all players who cashed in the tournament, but the Final Four was setting up for an excellent run in 2023. Jonathan Borenstein, who recently finished second on the PokerStars North American Poker Tour, stopped in Las Vegas for fourth place, while former world champion Joseph McKeehen finished third.
Since the tournament was limited to Sundiata Devore and Bin Weng, a deal was negotiated that gave Weng $1 million (Devore wasn’t too bad off with his $926,128). In the end, it was Weng who secured the title of “The Return,” which brought him a World Poker Tour title, another WPT final table, and the EveryOne for OneDrop Championship later that year. Because of these events, Weng is the favorite to win both Player of the Year titles.
Further information about the Borgata Winter Poker Open 2024 can be found here the poker room website. Satellite events are also available, including online satellites at BetMGM Poker starting December 3rd.
