The Borgata has got it all right

During the first week of August, Mohegan Sun had held a mini Poker Summer event. It was a good event with several tournaments, but the main event was to be a $2k buy-in, $750k guarantee.

The Borgata also had their $1500 ($1650 with fee), $500k guarantee. Now, The Borgata has ran this going on 2 years now. It has always been successful. Very successful. But traveling in my group of players, they had all mentioned that Mohegan was going to get their shot. Meaning they had all decided to go give this place a try. These are the guys who play for a living I am talking about. The guys who play from the circuit.

But that didn't happen. Mohegan ended up short. I think 279 players entered the event producing an overlay of $250k. I'm not shitting on Mohegan here. I like the place. It's gourgeous. What I am pointing out is the fact that the Borgata, on he same weekend had 960 + players show up at their guarantee, and produced a much larger purse with less of a guarantee.

Now, Mohegan is fairly new, and maybe they haven't figured out their strategy just yet to market their tournaments effectively. The only way I knew about it was through some billboards I passed on the way down to AC and the players talking about it in the Borgata Poker room. But that's it.

In a month, the Borgata will be hosting another Borgata Poker Open. The WPT will be there again, and it is a 15 day event. The schedule starts September 9th and goes through the 23rd with a total of 21 events.

The main event is a $3300 + $200 entry NLHE event. The big thing about it... It's a $2 million guarantee. The other big thing about it? It's a WPT televised event. Now think about that. A WPT televised event, and the buy-in is only $3500.

It is a lower than expected buy-in for such a well televised event. But I would bet you that the total purse will crack the top 15 of largest purses in WPT history. Even when they has 2004 with every tournament being a 10k entry. Now, this will exclude the $25k championship event they hold at the Bellagio every year, but I don't count that because the field there is mostly the top names. But even so, it still may come close. Why? Because the Borgata gets it.

The WPT does NOT tell the hosting casino which tournament to hold, and which buy-ins to play for. That is entirely up to the Casino. Now, I will assume that the WPT might have some say in the matter, as far as them thinkning that they can exert some pressure. As in, "hey, do it this way or we aren't coming". The Borgata doesn't need the WPT. They operate based on their knowledge of the industry which would include analyzing past events, industry events, and keeping in touch with the players. This is what makes them the best.

They didn't pull this number out of the air. The number was chosen based off of the data they got from all points of view. We will be down there again bringing you the reporting on the Borgata blog. Al will be with me this time around, fresh off his WSOP stint. Lacey Jones will be hanging with us for a while and Gorilla will be bringing his insight again as well.

I'll have more info about this as the month gets longer. It will certainly be a very good event with some very cool tournaments to play in. I know there will also be some heavy hitters this time around. The $3500 price for the main event is stirring up a lot of talk within the ranks of the professionals. I spoke to some last night about it, and they are excited.

Atlantic city is not a favorite destination of the top players. But they come anyway. The funny thing about it is why it's not a favorite place. The biggest of which is the ease of getting there. Usually having to fly into Philly, get a car service (which is another hour ride to), and then getting back.

It doesn't seem that this will play a part this time around. Won't even be a thought really. They price point is hitting the sweet spot. It will certainly be exciting to be there.