ShareBorgata hosted a massive poker event on President's Day eve on February 20. The tournament included a $400 entrance fee and $200,000 in guaranteed prize money, making it the first six-figure prize purse event organized by the Atlantic City casino since the coronavirus outbreak. People flocked to the event in large numbers. However, Borgata could not accommodate everybody, which left many participants disappointed.
The poker room slated the multi-flight, $400 buy-in event to begin at 10 a.m. Sunday morning, but hundreds had already started to line up for one of the two opening flights as early as 7:00 a.m. The surge of players resulted in a long line that stretched to the Old Homestead steak house, roughly a quarter-mile away from the poker room.
I don’t know if you can imagine this, but the line to register for this borgata bird is from the poker room to OLD HOMESTEAD.
— Jamie Giunta (@JamieVGiunta) February 20, 2022
The 10 a.m. flight immediately sold out, and by 11 a.m., it was unclear if players waiting for the 7 p.m. flight would even be able to acquire a seat. Those caught in the lengthy wait were left in the dark until approximately 3:50 p.m., when Borgata's Poker Room reported that players had taken all the seats.
Registration's mishap elicited a furious outpouring on social media, with players expressing their dissatisfaction with the situation. Many people who were unable to get a seat came from far-away locations and had traveled significant distances to reach the casino. The event, according to some participants, was poorly organized and marketed.
@BorgataPoker Presidents Day 200k GTD was the worst I have ever seen a casino run a tournament. They didn’t have enough staff. The line wrapped around the casino and I waited hours just to be told that the tournament is full, then to find out they let people in later.
— Red🦁 (@RedHotNBA) February 21, 2022
POKER TOURNAMENT UPDATE: All flights for today’s Poker Tournament are full committed. There are no available spots at this time.
— BorgataPoker (@BorgataPoker) February 20, 2022
I am sad and disappointed in how poorly @BorgataPoker was planned for this weekend in all aspects
— Antonio (@PokerTone) February 20, 2022
@BorgataPoker disgrace how unprepared you were for the tournament this weekend. The amount of people that came for it and won’t be able to play is ridiculous. @BorgataAC
— Mike Maglietta (@mikemagss11) February 20, 2022
Lack of Personnel
Borgata, like all other businesses in the United States, needs workers. The Borgata has been searching for competent dealers, cage employees, cashiers, and essentially everything else for almost a year.
To make matters worse, the Borgata laid off almost 2,300 employees in September 2020, decimating its highly skilled poker crew. Since the casino launched in 2003, just as tournament poker took off, its staff has easily managed several huge poker tournaments.
The tournaments have just started again in the room. It was the first big event at the Borgata since it reopened in October 2020.
Having just two starting flights and scheduling them on the same day didn't help either. The last time the Borgata had a $400 buy-in tournament with a massive guarantee, this mistake didn't happen.
The $400 buy-in, $250K guaranteed Almighty Stack event drew 800 players in February 2020. That event included four inaugural flights spanning three days and went ahead without a hitch.
When Borgata tried to fit two opening flights into one day, the first two flights in that event took place on separate days.
There have been no significant poker tournaments in the region for a long time, so it is not a coincidence that a large number of players turned up at the casino in the hopes of gaining a slot in the $200K GTD tournament.
Borgata could have avoided the long lines by enabling players to pre-register online, but the casino underestimated the large turnout. Borgata has already made a mistake, and they must focus on re-engaging those players who aren't happy.
