With every public holiday is a call by most gambling operators to players to take part in games for monetary gain. These promotions are often lucrative and offer better returns than regular casino activities. A few days ago, casino players got a major shock when they were forced to queue so that they could sign up for the $200K tournament. Popularly hosted under the name of Borgata Sunday, the event often takes place over the weekend. For hundreds of players who wished to take part in this tournament, they were to make a choice between participating in either of the two fights.
The two events were scheduled to take place over the President’s Day Weekend. With a buy-in of $400 for an event that was to begin at 7:30 a.m. this was the perfect way to spend this holiday. The turn up to the event was spectacular with hundreds of players lining up to get entry to the game. By 10 p.m. the line of interested players ran all the way to the Old Homestead Steak House from the Borgata poker room.
For those who have never been to the casino’s physical premises, the line stretched for about a quarter of a mile. Each of those players on the line must have been eager to get their tickets to participate. For many of them, Sundays are probably spent on the Borgata gaming platform and especially after Covid-19. This time around, a six-figured prize pool was up for grabs and few bettors would let this one go without a try.
More than 800 players were registered for the 10 a.m. flight ready for take-off. Those that remained on the line after this were still quite a number and it was not certain that they would find a spot on the 7 p.m. flight. At 3:50 p.m., long after the two events had been filled beyond capacity, there was still a huge crowd left standing in the dark.
Many of them were frustrated for missing out and their medium of choice in airing their anger was social media. A lot of pictures were shared on Twitter illustrating the despair that filled the air – the felt that Borgata Casino had wasted their time.
What we cover
The Nature of Sentiments Shared
It is normal for people to feel disappointed when things do not go as planned. While some people will walk away without as much as a word, most will look for avenues to rank out. What issues came up due to the missed tournaments by hundreds who had lined up to participate in the BorgataPoker Presidents Day 200k GTD?
Some bettors complained that Borgata was low on staff – the line would have moved faster if there were enough people attending to the register.
Bettors cited unfair admission – some people claim to have witness people getting in long after the tournament had been declared full.
Then there are those who felt that the betting operator could have done better if only they adopted technology. There is currently an application for doing most of the repetitive tasks such as payments and queue management. For players that had waited in line for hours then bought buy-ins worth 25bb, the wait was just not worth it.
With proper planning, a game of poker in NJ is supposed to run smoothly from the registration stage to crowning the winner. Most people take offense at having their time wasted in circumstances that can be avoided. The level of dissatisfaction at missing out on the action after weeks of anticipation is just too discouraging.
What Exactly Happened?
While there has not been an official statement from Borgata in response to the CardsChat concerns, several theories have been flying around. Borgata is a profitable venture like the many casinos gracing the New Jersey landscape. To be able to sustain its operations, the operator needs employees but not too many as to inflate the wage bill. On the material day, the staffing was just enough for the company to make profit from the event.
Another theory is that there is a shortage of qualified casino staff in the region and Borgata is one of the operators that have been affected. Insider information reveals that Borgata has been scouting for qualified cashiers, cage workers and dealers since 2020. The recent event is just a demonstration of how much casino service will improve at Borgata if the right staff is working there.
Before Borgata started looking for qualified staff to hire, they had laid off close to 2,300 employees at the end of the second quarter of 2020. The management argued that they would replace the laid off workers with fewer but competent replacements. To think that some of the employees that had been terminated had worked for the casino for more than 15 years is quite depressing. This is the team that helped the casino to shape up its poker tournament tradition.
There must have been some level of inadequate planning because the room only begun planning for daily tournaments last fall. This is after the casino had resumed operations after reopening for business in October 2020. The other miscalculation that might have happened is scheduling the only two flights available to start on the same day. It is quite unfortunate that this oversight happened considering that it was not the first time that Borgata was hosting an event of this caliber.
In February 2020, more than 800 players showed up to pay $400 as buy-in for the Almighty Stack tournament which had a guaranteed prize of $250K. There were four starting flights for this event which lasted three days and no complaint was launched on any of its aspects. Unlike the latest Borgata event where two flights were scheduled for the same day, the previous event had flights taking place on its own day.
Conclusion
Casino players often have a buildup of anticipation when they show up for a tournament. This is the main reason for the frustration that hit those who were turned away from registration. The organizers have definitely learnt a lesson or two from the events of that day and will hopefully do better the next time.
