Poker News

Although still in their infancy, the return of partypoker to the U. S. has been a successful one. Coming over the next fortnight, partypoker and the partner, the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, will be taking it to another level as they hold their first ever online tournament poker series.

Beginning on Saturday, the New Jersey Championships of Online Poker (NJCOP) will be open for business for those fortunate enough to be on Garden State soil. From Saturday to April 27, 15 tournaments make up the schedule of events that will have $600,000 of guaranteed prize pools amongst them. The finale of the NJCOP will be its $200 Main Event, featuring a $200,000 guaranteed prize pool and a guarantee of a minimum of $50,000 for the eventual champion.

“It’s going to be an absolutely historic week for poker in New Jersey,” said Team partypoker captain Mike Sexton during the announcement of the tournament schedule. “Never before has there been so much money on the line, so many tournaments to play and so many ways to win online and off (the NJCOP is being held in conjunction with the World Poker Tour’s World Championship, which begins on Monday). If you love poker and aren’t in New Jersey April 19-27, you need to get on your horse and get to the Garden State.”

The first event of the NJCOP should be one that will be heavily contested. Saturday will feature a $50,000 freeroll that begins at 4PM (Eastern Time). Besides the guaranteed money on the event, the players who make the final table will be gifted with an additional treat. The nine fortunate individuals who will battle it out for the first championship of the NJCOP will also automatically garner entries for the remainder of the tournament schedule. Saturday will also feature a $20,000 guaranteed tournament with a $100 buy in.

The true action kicks off on Sunday with a $100,000 guaranteed event that will pay the eventual champion a minimum of $25,000. Along with this tournament will be the first “specialty” event, Pot Limit Omaha. That tournament is a $50 buy in with a rebuy option that is guaranteeing a $10,000 prize pool. Sundays play will conclude with a $20,000 guaranteed Bounty tournament, featuring a $100 buy in.

While the format for the schedule is heavily No Limit Texas Hold’em dominated, there are a few tournaments that might be worth a look. There are two Six Max NLHE tournaments on the schedule (Monday and next Friday) which feature a $20,000 guarantee and, in a unique twist, a $20,000 guaranteed “Player’s Choice” event, which runs on Thursday with a $100 buy in. Finally, for those that have the bankroll and have been unable to make a run at the Main Event title, a $500 “High Roller” event will be held that features a $30,000 guaranteed prize pool.

The partypoker/Borgata combination has been at the forefront of the New Jersey online poker scene since its inception last November. Party Borgata is currently ranked as the 36th overall poker site in the industry, according to PokerScout, and player numbers have been consistent over the past couple of weeks. Their cash game players (the metric that PokerScout uses to judge room activity) have been peaking in the late afternoon/early evening hours with anywhere from 400-600 players in the game. Their recent seven-day average for players is running at 170 players to lead the New Jersey online poker scene.

For a full rundown of the schedule for the NJCOP, partypoker has created a special website that keeps you up to date on all of the tournament happenings. It should be an interesting tournament event and, on a side note, a test to see just how popular online poker is to the New Jerseyites it wants to serve.

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