Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa (Atlantic City, NJ) -- FAQ in OP, updated 2021.08.16

FAQ updated August 2023 by sirpupnyc. Thanks!

Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa
1 Borgata Way, Atlantic City, NJ

borgata.mgmresorts.com/en.html

Property map: http://

Live game and waiting list data is available on the Bravo Poker Live app and website

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GETTING THERE
For the nearest parking, use Surface Parking: keep right as you come off the highway. The Poker Room is inside to the left.

There's no direct bus service.

The Jitney drops off near the Surface Parking entrance. Jitney fare is $2.25; exact change appreciated but not required.

Cab fare within AC is $13 max.
All Atlantic City casinos are 21+. State regulations require all employees to check ID whenever they're in doubt. The Security desk can provide a wristband or hand stamp to cut down on carding.

COMPS
As of June 7, 2017, MGM M life is the rewards program at Borgata. My Borgata Rewards cards are no longer valid; existing accounts should have been transferred. (MGM bought out Boyd Gaming and took full ownership of Borgata in August 2016.) Get an M life card at the front desk just inside the poker room. Give the dealer your card when you sit down to clock in. You're clocked out automatically when you give up the seat.

** To be used, comps must be transferred to your card at the back podium. **

• 2/4/6LHE earns $1/hour
• 3/6 and 4/8LHE and 1/3NL earn $1.50/hour
• 10/20LHE, 10/20O8 and 2/5 and 5/10NL earn $2/hour
• 20/40LHE and up and 10/25NL and up earn $3/hour

Tier Credits (75 per dollar of comps) now determine card levels. M life has five card tiers (MBR had three). M life Gold is the equivalent of MBR Black. The M life year is now the calendar year. Tiers acheived in one year are good until the end of the next.

The Bravo Lobby function is used as of 1/1/2016:
• on raked games when you get a missed blind button [this is either no longer policy or rarely done]
• on Stud games as soon as you get up
• on 10/20LHE and 20/40LHE when you become Third Man Walking
You're returned from the lobby when you return to your seat.

[April 2021, Borgata’s Mlife system merged with the rest of MGM’s system; previous information on comp rooms no longer applies.]

Express Comps (formerly Comp Dollars) can be used throughout the property. Restaurants on the main floor take comps 1:1. Shops (and shoppes) and the Cafeteria are 2:1, 2 comp dollars for each actual dollar spent.

ABOUT THE ROOM
Borgata's Poker Room has 77 tables. For special tournaments and tournament series, additional temporary tables in the Signature Room (opposite the Racebook next to the Surface Parking entrance) or Event Center (up the escalators at the other end of the casino, by Metropolitan) are used. The permanent tables in the room have auto-shufflers; the temporary tables don't.

The front desk will put your name on the waiting lists for games, or send you on to the appropriate area if there's no list.

The poker room is non-smoking (including electronic cigarettes). The nearest smoking areas are the racebook (out of the poker room and to the right), the corner of the pit in front of Wolfgang Puck (out of the poker room and to the left), and the slot areas between Wolfgang Puck and the Water Club.

1/3NL starts in the front of the room (tables 1–6 on the left and 8–13 on the right). 2/4/6LHE is usually in the first section beyond the cross-aisle (those are tables 15–19). 2/5NL starts on 20–25 to the left just beyond the cross-aisle. All three games spread through the rear section of the room as needed. Tables 26–38 are the section in front of the bathrooms, 39–58 are across the back. The daily tournament tables are usually in the area between the bathrooms and the aisle to the high-limit room. Tables 66 & 67 are in the ultra-high-limit room in the back right corner; 68–85 are in the high-limit room all the way across the back. 10/20LHE and up and 5/10NL and up are generally located in the high-limit room. [Post-Covid, this is all less consistent.]

Initial buy-ins should be made at the cashier if available (the poker room cage is no longer open all times, so you can buy in at the tables more often); subsequent top-ups/rebuys may be made at the table. The cashier will sell only full (20-chip) stacks of sub-black ($100) chips. The high-limit room has a chip cart, only for cash, no color-ups or cashouts.

• There's free wi-fi in the poker room.
• Drinks are free in the casino; tipping the waitress is customary.
• There's no eating in the poker room, except in the high-limit room.
• Phones/music players/tablets are OK at cash tables as long as you're not in a hand (and can still hear and pay attention to the game). They're not OK at tournament tables at all.
• Poker dealers keep their own tips.
• The room uses KEM cards.
• You can leave the table for a bit over an hour: each incoming dealer should put an ABSENT button at each vacant stack, and you can be picked up after you have two (raked games) or three (time games). After you return, each new dealer will take back one ABSENT button (as of 1/1/16; previously you gave all buttons back upon returning). Time is still taken in time games. You can also pick up and go on the dinner list: you can be gone for 90 minutes (two hours weekends) and get the first available seat when you come back.

• No flop, no drop.
• Last aggressive actor shows first, even if the river is checked down
• Worst position gets the extra chip in uneven chop
• Cash doesn't play in NL. Racked chips don't play in NL. Racked chips in play in limit games must be on the felt and a working stack must be out of the rack.
• Betting line: slide chips across it on the felt, they're in the pot; chips in hand = betting, but the amount is what's released/cut onto the felt
• Straddle: UTG only, 2BB only. It's live.
• Run it twice (turn & river only, all-in on single flop): 2/5NL+ (up to 4x) and PLO (2x 9-handed, 3x 8-handed, 4x 7-handed)

Borgata's chips are Bud Jones V7s. No, they're not magnetic. There is a brass slug in them, but they're not magnetic. The smooth, flat surfaces and recessed centers produce a suction-like effect. Really, they're not magnetic.

GAMES
No-Limit Hold'em
1/3, 2/5 & 5/10 are consistent. 10/25 frequent, 25/50 weekends. (1/2NL became 1/3NL post-Covid)
Pot-Limit Omaha
1/2 & 2/5 run often; best chance weekends or during tournament series. 5/10 mostly during series.
Limit Hold'em
2/4/6, 10/20, 20/40 run consistently
40/80 runs often; higher on weekends and during tournament series.
The gap between 2/4/6 and 10/20 is stubborn.
Summer 2017, 2/4/6 (2/4 with $6 river bets) replaced 2/4 and 3/6.
Limit Omaha Hi/Lo
10/20 is consistent, other limits rare
7-Card Stud
20/40 is consistent. 75/150 weekends. Lower rare but welcome.
Mixed Games
40/80 is consistent, higher games run often. Lower rare but welcome.
mixes can include (H) Limit Hold'em • (O) Omaha Hi/Low • (R) RAZZ • (S) Stud high • (E) Stud Hi/Low 8 or Better • (Q) Stud Hi/low No Qualifier • (P) PLO • (N) No Limit • (T) Triple Draw • (T2) 2-7 Triple Draw • (B) Badugi • Pineapple • Crazy Pineapple • (BD2) Badeucy • (BDA) Badacey • (R2) 2-7 Razz • (RD2) Razzdeucey • (RDA) Razzdacey

BUY-INS (changed September 2017)
No-Limit Hold'em
1/3 100min, 400max
2/5 200min, 1000max
5/10 500min, 2500max
10/20 1000min, 5000max
10/25 2500min, no max
25/50 5000min, no max
Pot-Limit Omaha
1/2 100min, 500max
2/5 300min, 1500max
5/10 800min, 4000max
Limit games are 5BBmin, no max

RAKE/TIME
1/3NL, 2/5NL, 2/4/6 to 5/10LHE are raked 10% up to $5 (increased from $4 post-Covid)

10/20O8 5% to $4

Other games are time per half-hour:
10/20LHE $6
5/10NL $7
20/40LHE $7
40/80LHE $8
80/160LHE $10

BAD BEAT JACKPOT

• $1 from qualifying pots: minimum 4 players dealt in, $20 in pot at 1/2, $50 in pot at 2/5 NL, 10/20LHE; minimum 7 players dealt in, $100 in pot at 5/10NL and 10/20LHE
• ** Beginning July 2023, 10/20LHE is the only eligible limit game
• With four 10s or better beaten: 40% to the losing hand, 20% to the winning hand, 40% to remainder of table
• Capped at $50k
• Both hole cards must play, quads need a pocket pair.
• Bad Beat funds are used for High Hand and other promotions.
• Other promotions vary by month: [url]https://borgata.mgmresorts.com/en/casino/poker.html[/url[

TOURNAMENTS
The previous tournament schedule has not fully returned post-Covid. Major series info below is past practice.
January: Winter Poker Open
April: Spring Poker Open
June: Summer Poker Open
September: Borgata Poker Open
November: Fall Poker Open

Non-Open months feature special tournament events ($100k guaranteed Saturday, two-day deep-stack, PLO weekend, etc.)

Regular daily schedule:
https://borgata.mgmresorts.com/en/ca...l#/Tournaments
Tournament registration is at the Poker Room Cashier, left-hand window, lining up toward the elevator. You'll need an M life card to enter.

Tournament play doesn't earn comps, and tournaments aren't BBJ eligible.