Borgata Finds "Significant Number of Counterfeit Chips," Cancels Event 1

[garrett]

Just wanted to see what was up today, and the pokernews livefeed had an interesting message.

Event 1: Play Suspended for 24 Hours

Tournament officials have suspended play in the $2 Million Guaranteed Big Stack No-Limit Hold'em event here at the Borgata Winter Poker Open.

A resolution should be reached by tomorrow, after the conclusion of a 24-hour joint investigation by Borgata officials and the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE), said Joe Lupo, Senior Vice President of Operations for Borgata.

"We have reason to believe the tournament was compromised," Lupo said. "There's nothing more important than ensuring the integrity of the tournament. All other tournaments are moving forward with full confidence."


I have a good friend there I am waiting to hear back from, but he wrote one thing, "Borgata Winter Circus"

Sounds like some crazy chip dumping, something scammy went down. All spec obv, but stay tuned, something interesting in the poker world developing it seems.

http://www.pokernews.com/live-report...prelim-events/

[badguy23]

Yeb and I are in Atlantic City this week. Just saying!!

[Hockey Guy]

Men the master must be at this event.

[garrett]

Men the master must be at this event.

No joke my friend just tweeted me back, honestly not ever sure if he is joking but he said

"Yes sir. Fake or stolen chips
Put in to event 1. They paused day 3 for 24 hours to investigate and identify culprit. Men the master"

"Men the master busted last night in 28th place right before they bagged for the nihht"

he said Men the master too, or is this just the joke? Stillwaiting for reply to that question. Like too hof if true.

[Hockey Guy]

Men the master must be at this event.

No joke my friend just tweeted me back, honestly not ever sure if he is joking but he said

"Yes sir. Fake or stolen chips
Put in to event 1. They paused day 3 for 24 hours to investigate and identify culprit. Men the master"

"Men the master busted last night in 28th place right before they bagged for the nihht"

he said Men the master too, or is this just the joke? Stillwaiting for reply to that question. Like too hof if true.

I was joking but it wouldn't surprise me.

[garrett]

ups double post

[SrslySirius]

Here's one of the fake chips. TWO RACKS of these were smuggled in. It boggles the mind that this wasn't caught sooner.

[WillieMcFML]

lol eagle eye award goes to garrett

thanks for pointing that out

[BCR]

Here's one of the fake chips. TWO RACKS of these were smuggled in. It boggles the mind that this wasn't caught sooner.

I find it rather scandalous that you're now referring to yourself as a pearl-clutcher on 2+2 without a proper nod to Sonatine for introducing you to that rather obscure expression. I think dropping his name in your next video would be nice.

[Omaharyan]

Here's one of the fake chips. TWO RACKS of these were smuggled in. It boggles the mind that this wasn't caught sooner.

maybe this is more sinister than it sounds.. 2 racks of chips being snuck in sounds a little far fetched because it is. I have a different theory. I fired two bullets in this tournament. On my first buyin my stack was waiting for me at the table. The chip stack was dirty dull worn down and dark. It's probobly been used for years and never washed. My 2nd bullet my stack was given to me and the desk in the event center. It was obvious they were brand new and never used. The were slicker, clean, the grays were noticeably lighter colored and the chips still were sparkly that rubbed off on my fingers a little. I don't believe 200 chips were snuck into tournament unnoticed. There were no counterfeits, simple a later run of chips when the casino ordered more from than manufacture came out lighter than the original production run. The casino or someone managing the tournament was stealing buyins. An extra million in chips is $28000 missing from the pot. Wait and see what happens here.. It's a big deal.

[son of lockman]

Men the master must be at this event.

Exactly and well said.

[BUBBLES]

http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news...nterfeit-chips
Borgata Cancels $2M Poker Tournament With 27 Left Amid State Investigation Into Counterfeit Chips
State Currently Trying To Sort Through Scandal Being Called 'Chip Gate'
by Brian Pempus | Published: Jan 18, 2014 | E-mail Author

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Photo via Twitter of entrant Luke Edwards

The Associated Press reported early Saturday that the state of New Jersey has decided to cancel the first event of the Borgata Winter Poker Open with 27 people remaining due to an investigation into the counterfeit chips being used.

The state has said that at least one person used a “substantial amount” of phony tournament chips at some point in the event. The prize money was frozen pending the investigation.

According to reports, an extra one million in tournament chips could have been in the event.

A total of 4,814 players put up the $560 to enter. It’s unclear if any will receive refunds.

The tournament was suspended on Friday when suspicion of fake chips first arose.

“Thus far, investigators have found that one or more tournament entrants improperly introduced a significant number of counterfeit chips into the tournament, gaining an unfair advantage and compromising the integrity of play for the event,” Tom Ballance, the Borgata’s president and chief operating officer reportedly said Saturday morning.

“It is extremely unfortunate that the criminal actions of these individuals can have a detrimental impact on more than 4,000 other entrants,” he added. “We fully understand and regret the disappointment this cancellation causes our valued customers, and we will work diligently with DGE investigators to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. The integrity of our games and the confidence of our players is of the utmost importance to us.”

Other events in the series are moving along as scheduled.

Read more from the Associated Press right here.

[BeerAndPoker]

The one day delay was just the casino buying time and reviewing security footage to see if an immediate resolution could be made. It is extremely difficult to find anything unless you actually see the culprit(s) put the fake chips on the table considering how many times a chip moves from one stack to another throughout a tournament. Who knows how far into the tournament the fake chips were put into play?

As for what to do at this point they will probably look at the 27 players left in depth running them through casino databases doing their due diligence before disbursing the remaining funds accordingly.

Since they can't continue the tournament or pause it forever as people travel from here to there the the casino really don't have any other option but to run an investigation and for everyone left whose cleared of wrong doing they should probably get the chip chop refund. It's sad for those who entered that will have money tied up for a while and clearly if some guy had a mega stack that he earned fairly aka wasn't the cheat then he's probably pissed as well but what can you do? The whole situation sucks for the casino and the players but hopefully won't take forever to get resolved.

If someone was eliminated by the cheat and they can prove it then figuring these situations out in regards to giving them some sort of refund is a massive challenge so good luck with that one.

[Daly]

Just wanted to see what was up today, and the pokernews livefeed had an interesting message.

Event 1: Play Suspended for 24 Hours

Tournament officials have suspended play in the $2 Million Guaranteed Big Stack No-Limit Hold'em event here at the Borgata Winter Poker Open.

A resolution should be reached by tomorrow, after the conclusion of a 24-hour joint investigation by Borgata officials and the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE), said Joe Lupo, Senior Vice President of Operations for Borgata.

"We have reason to believe the tournament was compromised," Lupo said. "There's nothing more important than ensuring the integrity of the tournament. All other tournaments are moving forward with full confidence."


I have a good friend there I am waiting to hear back from, but he wrote one thing, "Borgata Winter Circus"

Sounds like some crazy chip dumping, something scammy went down. All spec obv, but stay tuned, something interesting in the poker world developing it seems.

http://www.pokernews.com/live-report...prelim-events/

Hey China - what do you think about this director?

[Belly Buster]

In related news, more racks have been identified with definite peanut smuggling involved

[shortbuspoker]

Just in: tourney is cancelled and prize fund has been frozen by gaming commission pending investigation.

[Erin Micunt]

The people remaining only get their buyin back or what?

[garrett]

The people remaining only get their buyin back or what?

Associated Press story
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireSto...probe-21582637


"It was not immediately clear what would happen with the entrance fees paid by people who participated in the tainted match. The Borgata said the state ordered "that all unpaid prize money be held in trust until more details and resolution can be determined."

[4Dragons]

The people remaining only get their buyin back or what?

$50 Back?

[potatosalad]

from PocketFives Dan Cypra

Friday was a rather eventful day in the Borgata Winter Poker Open. The opening event was suspended at the start of Day 3 when 27 players remained after it was speculated that counterfeit chips with a value of 5,000 were found in play. Read more about the drama. Twenty-four hours later, Borgata officials announced the event had been canceled. As for the future of the prize pool, PokerNews relayed, "All unpaid prize money will be frozen until the investigation is complete."

First place was scheduled to make $372,000 and the top four finishers were scheduled to make six-figures.

Borgata President and COO Tom Ballance told PokerNews, "Thus far, investigators have found that one or more tournament entrants improperly introduced a significant number of counterfeit chips into the tournament, gaining an unfair advantage and compromising the integrity of play for the event."

He added, "It is extremely unfortunate that the criminal actions of these individuals can have a detrimental impact on more than 4,000 other entrants. We fully understand and regret the disappointment this cancellation causes our valued customers and we will work diligently with DGE investigators to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. The integrity of our games and the confidence of our players is of the utmost importance to us."

Other Winter Poker Open events, including the WPT Main Event, will be held as planned.

Cries of #chipgate rang out on Twitter throughout the day on Saturday, with poker player Ben Mintz chirping, "If I was one of the last 27 players in the Borgata 2 mil poker tourney, I would not be very happy right now!" A parody of #chipgate was posted on Twitter (pictured).

Speaking of the final 27, one of the members of the group posted on Two Plus Two on Saturday night, "I think we are getting paid. Conjecture of course. Right now, all we know is that the prize pool is being held while the investigation is going on. As you can imagine, it was a wild and emotional scene when [Borgata Senior Vice President of Operations] Joe Lupo took the 27 of us behind locked doors and told us the tourney was cancelled and that no prizes would be immediately forthcoming."

According to the Associated Press, no charges have been filed. The AP story was featured on the home page of Yahoo. We'll keep you posted on the latest.