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ANTE-UP
Poker Lowdown
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News on tournaments and other action in area casino poker rooms by Mike Pritchard
Andrew Badecker
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SLOT DOLLARS THURSDAYS IN DECEMBER E X C L U S I V E LY A T
Seven Stars & Diamond Members only. Maximum $5,000 Slot Dollars may be earned in day of promotion. Earning period: 6am – 5:59am. Offer valid at Caesars Entertainment Atlantic City Properties only on date(s) specified. Must present a valid ID and Total Rewards® card. Void if copied or altered. Complete details available at the Total Rewards® Center. Management reserves the right to change or cancel this promotion at any time without notice. Must be 21 or older to gamble, enter and remain in a New Jersey casino or participate in any Caesars Entertainment promotion. Know When To Stop Before You Start.® Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. ©2011, Caesars License Company, LLC.
he winner of the Borgata fall open championship was 24-yearold andrew Badecker, of Vernon, Conn., who sees his career earnings come close to $1 million with the $388,657 win. Badecker has had two previous cashes at the Borgata at last year’s (2010) Borgata open, including a first in a no Limit event, good for about $28K. But this year is shaping up to be his best ever and includes a first at the world Series of Poker Shootout no Limit event in Las Vegas, where he took home $369,371. So barring any unreported pot splits, the Borgata win is his best payday to date by $19K. “Borgata is hands down my most run good casino,” Badecker told the casino’s blog. “i’ve never had a losing trip here.” Don’t we all wish we had a “run good” casino? Badecker outlasted a field of 670 and a final table that included wSoP bracelet winners freddy rouhani and Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy. heads up, he was against newcomer tony nguyen (McLean, Va.) with a two-to-one chip lead and got him with a simple king high against nguyen’s suited eight, nine on the final hand. Still, for nguyen, who wins $218,531, this is the kind of finish amateurs dream of. “this is my first year playing,” said nguyen. “i’m really happy coming in second considering i was short-stacked all the way to the final table.” the final day of play started wednesday (nov. 23) with 63 players and lasted into early thursday (thanksgiving) morning. So the Borgata’s november experiment has to be deemed a huge success and now means the casino will offer its trademark opens five times a year. and combined with Caesars wSoP circuit events, ensures that the city will see major tournament action from november to March with only one month off in february. Like us:
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next up is the wSoP circuit event at harrah’s resort, which starts thursday, Dec. 1, with a $300 + $45, two-day, no Limit hold’em event. Last year’s opening event drew a harrah’s resort record 1,250 entries. the circuit event runs through Dec. 12 with a daily “main” event, where the winner is awarded a wSoP ring, each day. But the schedule also includes secondary tournaments and satellites. in fact the first satellite for the $1,500 + $100 championship event (Dec. 10, three-day event) is also Dec. 1 with a $165 + $25 tournament at 5pm. there are also a couple of wSoP 2012 main event satellites on Dec. 11 ($520 + $30) and Dec. 12 ($1035 + $65). Missing from the schedule is the high stakes, $9,700 buy-in regional championship held at last year’s event (won by Chris Bell). that high buy-in led to low turnouts at the four regionals held last year (only 136 at the harrah’s event), so the wSoP discontinued them. But there’s still plenty of action through the first half of December. the circuit events will return to Caesars atlantic City, with a similar schedule, March 1-12. in January, you can expect the Borgata’s winter open from Jan. 18 to feb. 3 (oK, there’s a little spillover into february). no schedule has been released, but the $2 million guaranteed prize pool championship event starts Jan. 29. So that should satisfy tournament grinders through the winter months. in some other news, the Caesars entertainment three Card Poker 6 Bonus promotion hit again, though not for the $1 million grand prize that hit last month. this time the hit was good for $100,000. the game is played at Caesars properties’ three-card poker tables on the casino floors. if a player makes the six-card bonus bet, they get a shot at bonuses counting their three cards and the dealer’s three cards together. Yeah, it’s a little confusing, but if you hit a six-card super diamond flush (to the nine) you get $1 million. on friday, nov. 25, richard n. wood, of newport news, Va., hit a super royal flush in hearts at harrah’s resort, which is good for $100,000. “i didn’t actually realize what i had won till after a few minutes,” wood, 72, told the casino. “when they told me i almost had a heart attack. it’s a day i’ll never forget.” wood’s total bet was $20. n To keep up to date on Atlantic City poker news and bad-beat totals visit Atlantic City Weekly’s poker blog, “The Real Deal” at acweekly.com/poker.
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