I took a spin by The Borgata Thursday to get a feel for the summer open and I have to report, things are looking pretty good.

The room was packed, the casino’s first experiment with a bounty tournament seemed to be a big hit with players and there was just a lot of excitement in the room. All on a sweltering early June day that made the Borgata’s air conditioning system the most popular factor in the tournament

Again, the summer open isn’t one of the casino’s really big events as the World Series of Poker is underway in Vegas, but it’s astonishing how consistent the player’s name are in the results boards for the Borgata’s seasonal opens.

The casino really has the knack of breeding player loyalty and the summer open seems to be specifically aimed at the casino’s regulars.

Anyway, the first event of the open is in the books.

The winner is Austen Johnson of Woodsboro MD, who takes home $64,374. This appears to be his first big tournament win as we can’t find a record on him.

The event drew 829 entries for the $350 buy-in, which is pretty respectable.

Event 2 unveiled the casino’s new bounty system. In the $200 + $30 No Limit tournament, players bought in for an extra $25, represented by a green casino chip. You know a live chip, not a tournament chip.

Every time a player knocked out another player, they win the $25.

It’s a nice touch, especially since you win a chip instead of some kind of complicated voucher reimbursement.

Players liked the idea as the tournament drew 432 players.

One note, despite repeated attempts by the Borgata staff to get players to put the green chip in front of their stacks, players were using them as card holders and any other way they saw fit.

The winner was Mike Stein of Valley Stream N.Y. who wins $21,412, and who outlasted a field that played until 4:30am.  He also picked up $450 in green chips, meaning he knocked out 18 guys.

Not bad.

The next bounty tournament is Tuesday, June 14, a $200 + $30 + $20 (yellow chip) no limit event.

You can get the main event schedule for the tournament here and the satellite schedule here.

Tags: Atlantic City Poker results, Atlantic City Poker Tournaments, The Borgata poker, The Borgata Summer Poker Open

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