The Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa is located in Atlantic City, New Jersey and is owned by MGM Resorts and Boyd Gaming. The land-based resort houses the largest poker room in the district and has staged numerous major live events since it opened on 2nd July 2003.
Initial plans to build The Borgata were announced in 1999 before finally coming to fruition several years later at a cost of $1.1 billion. The hotel is currently the largest in Atlantic City with over 2,800 rooms, while the venue boasts 161,000sq ft of gaming space featuring 200 table games and 4,000 slot machines. The Borgata has a daily poker programme with various cash games and tournaments on offer, with buy-ins starting from as little as $80. A $15,000 guaranteed event headlines ‘Poker Wednesdays’ while a $30,000 event takes place every Friday.
The Borgata has hosted World Poker Tour events since 2003. Noli Francisco won that year after overcoming a 235 strong field to claim the $470,000 jackpot. Daniel Negreanu was crowned champion twelve months later, after defeating a final table featuring the likes of Phil Ivey, Josh Arieh and David Williams to lock up a staggering $1.1 million first prize. Al Ardebili, Mark Newhouse, Roy Winston, Olivier Busquet, Vivek Rajkumar and Dwyte Pilgrim are among the other players who have triumphed at the Borgata during the last eight years. Bahbak Oboodi won the most recent WPT event held at the Borgata in September 2011.