A new cross-branded poker room and dedicated 18-table tournament space at Borgata, Atlantic City is set to be unveiled this weekend as part of a partnership between BetMGM and MGM Resorts International.
Opening of the new room follows the successful Borgata Summer Poker Open powered by BetMGM, a series which drew close to 10,000 entries and paid out over $5 million in prizes. The series included a Main Event which far outstripped its $1M guarantee, won by Olivier Busquet for $255K after a heads-up deal.
Ahead of the new room opening for business, BetMGM’s Senior Manager of Poker Operations David Mileaf promises “Bigger buy-ins, larger prize pools and a diverse tournament structure” at the Atlantic City casino, and those plans will be in evidence sooner rather than later with three major poker series to take place this fall.
The new poker room opens this weekend.The Borgata Big, Big Buy Series (September 8-17), the Lions of the Atlantic (October 8-19) and the Borgata Fall Poker Open (November 3-17) are all billed as ‘powered by BetMGM’, giving players on the platform the opportunity to qualify online, as well as same-day registration for live events via the BetMGM Poker app.
Players can also earn reward points through playing on the app which can be redeemed for Marriott Bonvoy Points, MGM Rewards Points and digital bonuses.
Big, Big Buy Series features $3M GTD event
The first series to take place in the new room is the Borgata Big, Big Buy Series powered by BetMGM, which starts this coming Monday with the Big, Big Kick Off, a $2,200 event with two starting flights and a $1M guarantee.
Other highlights of the series include a tournament featuring Esther ‘ETay’ Taylor, fresh from her achievements at the 2025 World Series of Poker where she became only the second woman to reach the final table of the Poker Players Championship.
Esther Taylor won $535K for her 3rd place finish in the prestigious PPC.The mixed game nature of that tournament carries over into her signature event at the series, ETay’s Big, Big 9 Game Mix (September 9-10), which will have a buy-in of $2,500 and a guaranteed prize pool of $250K.
With the largest guarantee of the series, the BetMGM Poker Millionaire Championship (September 13-17) is likely to draw big numbers with its prizepool of at least $3M, including a minimum of $1M set aside for the winner. Online satellites for this will run on BetMGM Poker from $10 in New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Online players can also grab an extra benefit in the $10K BetMGM Big, Big Baller (September 11-12), with entry fees for the tournament credited to players’ online accounts.
First cross-property event for MGM National Harbor and Borgata
October’s big series is the Lions of the Atlantic powered by BetMGM, which marks the first cross-property event combining players from MGM National Harbor and the Borgata.
Each property will host five starting flights in this $600 buy-in event with a $2M guarantee, with Day 1s at National Harbor running October 8-12 and those at Borgata from October 14-17.
Players who make Day 2 will not only already be in the money, but will receive a two-night stay at Borgata, October 17-18, where the event will play out to a conclusion.
Online satellites for Day 1s are running now at BetMGM Poker from $5.
The final series announced, for November, sees Borgata add the last remaining seasonal open to its schedule, as the Borgata Fall Poker Open powered by BetMGM joins the spring, summer and winter editions on Borgata’s annual calendar.
A full Fall Open tournament schedule is promised soon, with a $2 million guarantee across the series.
