It’s another normal weekend in Atlantic City for tournament action, which is probably just fine with the folks at The Tropicana, who are seeing their bad beat jackpot head into uncharted waters.

Well, for them anyway.

Michelle Orpe

The Trop bad beat is at $399,000, just about ready to break the $400K mark. We don’t know officially, but that seems to be a new record for the casino.

The jackpot picked up about $20,000 since last Friday. Remember, the Trop’s 40-table room also holds tournaments, so that’s not bad for the action they usually see.

Still, it may not quite be bad beat mania yet, but it’s getting there.

The Harrah’s combined bad beat jackpot is next in the city at $341,475, followed by the Borgata, which saw a small bad beat hit early in the week leaving the total bad beat jackpot is at $281,429.

And the Taj Mahal seems to have had another hit this week, probably for about $140K,  and is down to $28,183.

They’re predicting another hot weekend on the beaches grinders. It’s a good time to hit the sand and the tables.

It’s getting to be a weekly occurrence, but the Boragata’s small bad beat jackpot hit again this week, spreading $50,000 out among 10 players.

Nothing wrong with that. Even nicer, a couple of local guys were in on the hand.

Player Long Pham of Egg Harbor Township saw quad threes fall to a straight flush held by Andrew Benvenuto of Mays Landing.

For our massive international audience (or as we like to call it, that guy from Canada) both those towns are in Atlantic County NJ. Atlantic City is in Atlantic County, hence locals.

Anyway ..,

The Borgata gave this rundown of the hand:

The board showed 3D – 5C – AD – 3C – 2C.  Pham’s pocket 3’s lost out, but he did take home $20,000 of the Bad Beat Jackpot. Benvenuto’s 4C – 6C completed the straight flush, taking home the pot and an additional $10,000.

Eight other players won $2,500. The hit came late Monday night.

The Borgata’s full bad beat jackpot is now at $274,000.

The casino pays two bad beat jackpots, the full bad beat for a minimum of quad 10s and a small bad beat with a minimum of quad deuces to nines. The small bad beat is 25 percent of the total jackpot, but tops out at $50K.

Some readers of this blog have probably asked, “does this guy even play poker?” more than a few times. OK, probably all of the readers have asked it at some point.

Well, yes, thank you every much, I do play. Not well, but I play.

This week I checked out the action at the Borgata’s new bounty tournaments, which have put an interesting twist on tournament play at the casino. You can read the recap here.

The ultimate lesson. Watch out for guys  who wear hoodies in July.

Sorry for the lack of posts to the blog this week, but that’s mostly because we run kind of a dual shop here at Atlantic City Weekly.

And this week, most of the poker coverage is actually going in the paper.

First up check out our weekly poker column Poker Lowdown, for a rundown on The Borgata’s move to introduce Raz to Atlantic City.

The casino is officially testing the game this summer in the hopes it will be approved in time fo the Borgata Open in September. Though it’s a pretty basic lowball game, Raz has never been approved for A.C.

And also look for a report on the Borgata’s new bounty tournaments in this week’s issue.

I went and played (badly) Monday in the casino’s $100 + $20 + $20 (the bounty) tournament. The bounties add an interesting twist and more than 180 entries were made (counting re-buys) at a Monday morning tournament. Clearly, the idea is catching on.

There’s basic tournament action this weekend in a sweltering Atlantic City, which is probably just as well since all anyone really cares about at the moment is whether the casino’s air conditioners will hold up.

Still, the Tropicana may start to see a bit of a rush as it remains the highest bad beat jackpot in the city at $379,000. We don’t have an official record for the Trop’s bad beat, but that seem to be pretty close to a new high.

The Trop bad beat sets quad eights as the minimum.

The Harrah’s combined bad beat jackpot has just cracked $300,000 going into Friday’s play and The Borgata’s full bad beat is at $276,246.

The Taj Mahal, which had a big bad beat jackpot hit last week, is at $135,000.

And in honor of this 100-degree day, here’s a shot of Tiffany Michelle looking cool.

Stay hydrated grinders.

The frequency with which the Borgata’s small bad beat jackpot hits is getting borderline spooky. It hit Saturday and then hit again yesterday (Wednesday, July 20), shaving $100K off the total bad beat jackpot.

Yet the casino’s total jackpot still comes in at just over $268,000, so obviously, The Borgata’s action is pretty high this month.

The full jackpot is won when a minimum of quad 10s is beaten. The small bad beat is about 25 percent of the total jackpot, but tops out at $50K. In both of the latest hits, the small jackpot was at $50K.

Anyway, this time the jackpot went to Robert Lavizzo-Mourey of Princeton, who lost with quad sixes to Kelly McCarthy of Brigantine, who had quad sevens.

Thus it was a classic bad beat with two pair on the board and small pocket pairs among the players.

Lavisso-Mourey takes home $20,000 while McCarthy wins $10,000. Five other players at the table took home $4,000.

This is the 83^rd time the Borgata’s bad beat jackpot, in its various incarnations, has hit in the about three years since the casino introduced the promotion.

Meanwhile, The Borgata has also announced the results of its $250K Double Play tournament, which began Sunday.

(more…)

Well, the November nine is set and they’re largely very young and newcomers to the whole poker fame scene.

And each one of them has already won at least $782,000.

Ben Lamb, 26, of Tulsa is the most well known and really the only well-known player. He’s got $2.5 million in earnings and scored a 14^th place in the 2009 WSOP main event. He’s on a good run to make player of the year as well.

The oldest is Badih Bou-Nahra of Belize at 49. And he’s like way older. With the exception of one 35-year-old, every one else in the final nine is 26 or younger.

The last Jersey player standing at the event, Gionni Demers, a 23-year-old from Jackson Township, N.J. (Ocean County), made it to 20^th place, good for a $302,000 payoff.

Go here for the WSOP’s rundown on the nine.

Atlantic City-based pros have not managed to make a very impressive run at the final table of the WSOP Main Event this year.

There is one exception, however. Well sort of.

Gionni Demers, a 23-year-old from Jackson Township, N.J. (Ocean County), was still in the field of 22 players going into today’s play and has made it to at least 21 according to the latest updates.

The online pro doesn’t have much of a live record and no recorded wins in Atlantic City. But he told ESPN that he’s planning to commute to Atlantic City to play while helping to run his family’s business.

So maybe he’s a future A.C. regular. He’s already assured of an at-least $300K payoff, so that should cover a couple months of gas money.

Here’s some details on the latest bad beat jackpot hit at the Taj Mahal, which hit for $414,989 at 9:40am Wednesday (July 13) morning.

That’s a nice size jackpot and paid the winner, who apparently is refusing to go public, $207,494.

The winner, which the casino is calling Mr. X ended up with quad 10s, but lost when a river 10 also gave Robert Jackson of Galloway a Royal Flush. Jackson wins $103,747 and eight remaining players won $12,968 each.

The game was a $1-$2 No Limit.

The quad 10 loss would have made any minimum for a bad beat jackpot in the city, but at the Taj, you only need quad deuces.

Here’s an early rundown on the city’s upcoming weekend action as we’re hitting the beach Friday.

Liv Boeree

There was a major hit at The Taj Mahal’s bad beat jackpot Wednesday for about $411,000. Details haven’t been released (and lately, there’s a chance they’ll never be released), but it has knocked the Taj bad beat back to $102,577.

That leaves the Tropicana with the city’s highest bad beat jackpot at $357,815 with a quad eights minimum. That’s not a record for the casino, which has seen its bad beat jackpot hit $380,000, but it’s getting close.

The Harrah’s Combined Bad Beat Jackpot is at $256,122 and the Borgata’s full bad beat is at $317,590 (minimum quad 10s) and the small bad beat (quad deuces to nines) is at $50,000.

The Borgata is also the scene of two major tournaments this weekend.

First up is a $100,000 guaranteed Saturday Series tournament on July 16. The $350 + $50 tournament starts players with 15K in chips. The one-day tournament starts at 11am.

Sunday July 17, continuing to July 20, The Borgata offers a Deepstack, Double Play, Bounty tournament. The buy-in is $1,000 + $90 + $100 (the bounty). The prize pool is guaranteed at $250,000.

As always, the Double Play is  re-buy where players busting out on Sunday, Day 1A, can re-buy on Monday, Day 1B. Play starts at 11am both days.

Kowabunga grinders.