PartyPoker unveil plans to host the inaugural New Jersey Championship of Online Poker to coincide with the World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championships at the Borgata Hotel & Casino in April.
The Q4 Bwin.Party numbers might not have made for impressive bedtime reading but one gets the impression that the American online gaming market holds the key to their future success.
One area of the business that has proven it has what it takes to dominate the U.S market is PartyPoker and let’s hope that when it had to jump ship in the UIGEA era that it remembered to hide the map in a well-remembered place.
The early prognosis is good, and the news that PartyPoker intend to host New Jersey’s first major online poker champions April 19-27 is yet more proof that the map has been found, dust blown away and the readings have begun.
The New Jersey Championship of Online Poker (NJCOP) will be hosted during the aforementioned dates and players will be able to log on at either NJ.partypoker.com or BorgataPoker.com to take part in the action.
The planning of the event wisely coincides with the World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championships that will be held at the Borgata Hotel & Casino for the first time in WPT history. The Main Event carries a $5m guarantee, with a minimum of $1.35m reserved for the winner. When you consider the reduced buy-in of $15,400 now allows the hosts to offer more satellite routes, NJCOP could become a great success.
The series will feature 15 tournaments with $600,000 in guaranteed prize pools. The NJCOP Main Event is a $200,000 guaranteed $200 buy-in Deepstack Freezeout with $50,000 guaranteed to the winner.
The series will begin with a $50,000 Freeroll on Sat April 19, followed by a $200 buy-in $100,000 Guaranteed event the following day.
“If you love poker, then you need to be in New Jersey come April 19,” said Team PartyPoker captain Mike Sexton in a statement. “The online poker action in New Jersey has been red hot since day one, and the New Jersey Championship of Online Poker will be the ultimate test for pros and amateurs alike.”
