How much can be done in a minute?

You’d be surprised.

One minute, one spin, and a penny slot machine — that’s all it took for a lucky man from Connecticut to become a millionaire.

The Borgata recently announced that on May 30 one of their penny “Wizard of Oz Emerald City” progressive slot machines turned a $4 bet into a whopping $2.6 million in just one spin.

After busting out of a poker tournament, the Connecticut man was walking passed the progressive slot machine and gave it a spin.

At exactly 5:01pm he hit the jackpot.

“It’s always a thrill to see one of our loyal Borgata customers win a life changing jackpot,” said Tim Burke, Vice President of Slot Operations.

The lucky winner is a frequent guest at the resort. For the past two years he has been traveling to Atlantic City every month and stays at the Borgata, according to the resort.

“I can’t think of a more lucrative 60-second investment!”

— Nadya Rivera

On Monday, Feb. 4, Michael Frawley, president of the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel, urged New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to sign a bill allowing for legalized online gaming.

Frawley, whose one-year old Atlantic Club (formerly the A.C. Hilton) reportedly may be sold to online poker giant Rational Group (PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker), says legalizing online gambling is a special opportunity for the resort to jump-start its struggling gaming economy and at the same time save thousands of jobs.

About 100 management jobs would also be added to Atlantic City if the deal goes through, Frawley said.

Frawley told the Associated Press on Monday that online wagering could create “a wave of new investment in Atlantic City.”

“I see this as an amazing opportunity for New Jersey, a defining moment for The Atlantic Club, for the city and for New Jersey,” Frawley said. “We have a potential purchaser willing to build its U.S. corporate headquarters in the city, and willing to build a call center elsewhere in New Jersey. This is much more than just someone sitting in their living room with a computer.”

Frawley said Rational, based in Isle of Man, wants to invest $80 million in the casino hotel over the next five years, including $30 million of that amount in 2013.

Christie

One major question remains: If Gov. Christie does not sign the Internet gambling bill into law, will Rational still be interested in buying the Atlantic Club?

The Casino Association of New Jersey; Atlantic City’s largest casino workers’ union; an online gambling trade association; and several state lawmakers are in favor of legalizing Internet gambling in New Jersey.

Already, it has been noted, the state of Nevada “is licensing companies to conduct online gambling, and it and at least three other states are considering approving interstate gambling pacts in which groups of states can jointly offer online gambling,” according to the AP.

“We are a gaming state; not to be actively involved in this would be a missed opportunity,” Frawley said.

Thousands of jobs have been lost over the past seven years or so due to consistent drops in quarterly revenue for the city’s 12 casinos. The loss of revenue for the casinos runs parallel to the emergence of casinos and legalized gambling in neighboring states such as Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware.

“People here are scared,” Frawley said. “We have a chance we absolutely have to take advantage of. Frankly, I don’t know how many more chances we’re going to get.”

As we reported in this space last week, Caesars Entertainment’s combined total Bad-Beat Jackpot of $787,320 became the biggest of its kind in Atlantic City history.

We use the past tense became, because Caesars Entertainment Atlantic City announced that on Monday, Aug. 13, its Total Bad Beat Jackpot of $787,320 hit in the Caesars poker room.

Narong Sae Whited of Shelton, Washington, cashed-in on $237,154 for his losing hand, while the winner of the hand and Atlantic City resident  Nick Angelakopoulos came away with $158,422.

Additionally, 409 other poker players received a payout of $958, simply for being at a Caesars Entertainment Atlantic City poker room during the time of the Total Bad Beat.

According to Caesars, payouts of the progressive Total Bad Beat Jackpot are as follows:
·         30% of the jackpot will be awarded to the Bad Beat hand (losing player);
·         20% of the jackpot will be awarded to the winner of the hand;
·         The remainder of the jackpot will be awarded equally divided as shares among all of the seated players on any Bad Beat jackpot eligible game at all four (4) linked properties. The players mentioned above will also get a share in addition to the prize listed. All winners will receive a minimum of $100.00.
The minimum losing Bad Beat Hand will start at four (4) kings and every other week, on Wednesday, the required hand will be lowered by one (1) four of a kind ranking hand until the required hand is four (4) deuces. When the jackpot is hit the required hand will revert back to four (4) kings and reset the next Wednesday. Example: if the jackpot is hit on a Monday the 4 kings would only be in effect for 2 days.

As CNN’s Web traffic skyrockets with the death of Osama bin Laden and the many questions surrounding the news on everybody’s minds — same goes for other news sites no doubt — there is one conspiracy theory that Atlantic City Weekly poker writer Mike Pritchard (follow his blog “The Real Deal” here) discusses in this week’s column, which will be published Thursday.

Here is a preview… (more…)

Even though our resident poker expert and blogger Mike Pritchard is off this week, it doesn’t mean that poker action in Atlantic City has come to a halt, awaiting his return.

For instance, this just in from the Borgata:

Borgata’s Bad Beat Jackpot hit this morning for $190,290.

Since its inception, Borgata’s Bad Beat Jackpot has hit 71 times, paying a total of $9,036,551 in Bad Beat winnings. Borgata’s Bad Beat Jackpot hits on average every 11 days, for an average amount of $127,275.

You can see additional details here.

This weekend’s lousy weather may have stunted the prize pool at Caesar’s World Series of Poker circuit event’s main event, keeping it below $1 million (the city really can’t catch a break on the weather these days). But poker pro Roland Isra, 52, of New York, probably can live with the $264,715 top prize. The event, a $4,900 + $250 No Limit Hold’em tournament, still managed 174 entrants, from 20 states and seven different nations for a total prize pool of $817,015.

Roland Isra

The tournament was played over three days beginning Friday and finishing up late Sunday and attracted several notable pros. Among those who cashed was Paul Wasicka, perhaps best known as the runner-up finisher to Jamie Gold in the 2006 WSOP Main Event. Wasicka finished 12th. Another top pro who cashed was Jacobo Fernandez (14th), who enjoyed a huge year at the 2008 WSOP when he cashed seven times and made three final tables. Las Vegas pro Nick Binger also made the money, finishing in 17th place, according to the WSOP blog.

Isra won the top spot after facing down second place finisher Christopher Mitchell of Sumter S.C. heads-up for about three hours. Mitchell, who suffered several bad beats at the final table, eventually lost to Isra’s two pair after missing an inside straight draw. He took home $138,894.

The meet lasted 12 events with most topping $50,000 in winning payouts. The entire event also had a strong showing for amateurs, despite the presence of several pros, and drew players from throughout the country — even after the rains came.

For more info on the tournament and the later events go here.

College students have made quite a mark on the poker scene the last few years and the Caesar’s World Series of Poker circuit event is no different. Event 5 of the 12-event circuit meet has gone to emerging poker star Alexandru Masek of San Diego, who won $39,372 in the $300 + $40 No Limit Hold’em event.

The 25 year old is attending law school at the University of San Diego (so technically he’s graduated college, but he’s been playing since his undergraduate days in Florida) and has already won a WSOP circuit event, which means he now has two WSOP rings. He won his first at Harrah’s Rincon in California less than a year ago. Masek had a fairly easy final table as he had the chip lead going in and outlasted the rest of the field.

Alexandru Masek

The Caesars event has shown a strong drawing power and has been bringing in players from around the country. Still, it’s nice to see a local player make good and in Event 5, Kerry Small, a real estate appraiser from Ventnor came in third collecting just over $10,000.

Today’s Circuit event (March 9) is a large one with a $1,000 + 80 buy-in, No Limit Hold’em tourney beginning at noon. Tomorrow features a $1,500 + $100 deep stack tournament ($20,000 in chips) and, of course, Friday starts the circuit meet’s Main Event, a $4,900 + 250 No Limit Hold’em tournament. The winner, along with cash winnings, gets a $10,000 seat at the WSOP Main Event in July at The Rio in Las Vegas. You can follow the Caesars action here and get a tournament schedule here.

It’s been a great showing for amateurs as things kept rolling through the weekend at Caesars World Series of Poker circuit event, with more winners being announced.

Event 2, a $500 + 60 No Limit Hold’em tournament saw Ithaca N.Y. plumber Michael J. Morusty face down pro Luis Nargento, (Queens N.Y.) for the tournament win.  The two players dominated the tournament from start to finish and appropriately found themselves in a final showdown. Morusty, 54, won $39,731 and added to an already impressive amateur record which includes a 4^th place finish in the 2009 Seniors World Championship at last year’s WSOP.

Earnest Whistler

Event 3 was a $300 + $40 tournament which attracted a big field of 662 and posted a $53,940 top prize. Virginian Earnest Whistler, 41, survived an about four-hour final showdown between himself and pros Adam “Lippy” Lippert and Vinny Pahuja, who have more than $1.6 million in tournament wins between them. According to the WSOP blog, the brash amateur challenging two pros heightened tension at the final table, but eventually Whistler outlasted both of them and is credited with getting more than a few improbable suck outs.

Event 4, a $500 + $60 No Limit tournament saw another amateur, John Hubiak, 29, of Taylor Pa. pick up a $58,937 top prize after agreeing to a final two-player deal with semi-pro William Daloisi, who pocketed $30,419. Hubiak won the WSOP ring which all winners of the events major tournaments receive.

Today’s event is another $500 + $60 No Limit Hold’em tournament beginning at noon. The circuit event also includes daily satellites for the event’s main tournament, a $4,900 + $250 No Limit Hold’em tournament beginning March 12 where the winner gets a $10,000 seat at the WSOP Main Event this July at The Rio in Las Vegas. To follow the action, check out The WSOP blog here. For a tournament schedule go here.

Tony Cheng

We have a winner in the first event of the WSOP circuit tournament now underway at Caesars (running to March 14). According to the WSOP blog, the first champion of the Caesars series is Yat “Tony” Cheng, from Atlanta, GA. The 32-year-old, Chinese born poker pro usually plays cash games and often plays in A.C. Cheng was short stacked for a time at the final table, but eventually coasted to his first major tournament victory, collecting $55,569 in the $300 + $40 tournament. That won Cheng a WSOP Circuit gold ring.

The 12 daily major events scheduled for the tournament are set for two days, but event one (which began Wednesday) went into a third day even though 90 percent of players went down in day one. The $198,462 prize pool paid the top 63 players. The final table started Thursday evening and didn’t wrap up until 7am today (March 5). Cheng wasn’t the only short-stacked player to persevere as chip leaders fell pretty consistently, including pro Chris Manouge of Philly who had the early chip lead.

Along with the daily events with WSOP rings at stake, the tournament includes daily satellites for the tournaments main event, a $4,900 + $250 tournament to begin March 12.  The winner of that tournament gets a $10,000 seat at the WSOP Main Event in July at The Rio in Las Vegas (as well as top prize from an expected $1 million plus prize pool).

Today’s major event, event three on the schedule, is another $300 + $40 tournament beginning at noon. Go here for a schedule of tournaments and here to follow the WSOP blog.

The Tropicana is worried about your poker game and wants you to get better. They figure all it will take is a little poker boot camp. So to help, the casino will hold a World Poker Tour Boot Camp April 9-10 taught by poker pros Kathy Liebert, Nick Brancato, Rick Fuller and Nick Binger.

In a press release, the Tropicana says the about $1,895 camp “will teach players of all skill ranges how to become a consistently winning player. The pros will share their secrets of tournament play and help players learn to build a big stack, adjust play based on the rounds, learn to play based on their and their opponents stack size, use your table image to your advantage and not be fooled by your opponent and know how to get correct pot odds and keep your opponents from getting them.”

Kathy Liebert

The camp includes breakfast and lunch each day, an eight-and-a-half-hour lecture with the four tour professionals, two and a half hours of lab instructions, a private tournament on Friday night where the winner will receive entrance into the Alumni World Poker Tour Boot Camp, and two hours of sit-n-go tournaments on Saturday.

To register for the World Poker Tour Boot Camp at the Tropicana Casino & Resort go here or call 1-866-WPT-BOOT.

Tropicana Turf Club members can also win a spot in the boot camp by playing in the Poker Room. For info visit www.tropicana.net