The Mayors’ Poker Event Is Part of the WSOP National Championship at Bally’s Atlantic City
Mayors from New Jersey’s most populous cities will gather in Atlantic City for a poker tournament this week. The city leaders are expected to compete in an online poker tournament for charity. The event has the dual purpose of promoting the newfound Internet gambling industry of New Jersey.
WSOP National Championship
The New Jersey Mayor’s Poker Tournament on May 22 is part of a week-long poker tournament, the World Series of Poker National Championship. The World Series of Poker National Championship is set to attract the best professional poker players. The WSOP National Championship is organized by the same people who produce the annual World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, which runs from early June to mid-July each year.
New Jersey Mayors in Attendance
The list of mayoral gamblers includes a who’s who of New Jersey’s upcoming political talent. Jersey City mayor Steve Fulop is a confirmed participant. John Ducey of Brick, David Salkin of Freehold, and Don Purdy of Galloway also will participate in the online poker tournament.
Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian is expected to attend the event. No other city in New Jersey is more affected by the inception of legalized online gambling than Mayor Guardian.
Bally’s Poker Room Hosts the Event
Bally’s poker room in Atlantic City will be the host of the tournament, while Caesars Interactive will be the official sponsor. Caesars Entertainment, the parent company of Caesars Interactive, owns Bally’s Casino. Back in February 2014, Bally’s unveiled $1 million in improvements to the poker room, which has a Wild Wild West theme.
How the Tournament Works
Each contestant will be give a chip stack of $1,000. Freezeout tournament rules will be in effect, meaning a player has one chip stack with no re-buys. No limit Texas hold’em is the game of choice. The tournament should take about 45 minutes, which is a turbo event in the online card room industry.
The holdem tournament is expected to be a winner-take-all event. The champion will receive $10,000 to donate to their favorite charity. Charities of choice include the Jersey City Youth Foundation, Marine Corps League Detachment 203, and Visitation Relief Center (for Superstorm Sandy).
Chance to Learn the WSOP Software
The software for the event will be the World Series of Poker platform, which is used at Caesars Interactive’s WSOP site, one of the new licensed online gambling websites in New Jersey. The mayors will play online at computers provides by Bally’s Atlantic City. A live audience is expected to be present.
Before the event begins, the mayors will be given a tutorial on how to use the software and a guide on how to play poker. Several experts are expected to be on hand to provide those lessons. Each mayor can request and receive an hour-long poker lesson before the tournament starts.
Ty Stewart, executive director of the World Series of Poker website, told the Westport News, “We look forward to seeing which mayor presents the best poker face and wins the grand prize.”
Showing Appreciation to NJ’s Politicians
Michael Staskin, VP of Marketing for Caesars Interactive, said the online gaming operation wanted to show appreciation to the politicians who had supported their gaming initiative. Staskin told the Associated Press, “We’ve been in New Jersey for six months now and we wanted to do something to kick off summer at the shore. We appreciate the support from politicians in the state, who have been very progressive about Internet gaming. So we invited them to Atlantic City to experience it firsthand.”
Having an annual mayor’s tournament is a good way for gaming executives to meet the future state lawmakers. The path to the state legislature is often through key mayoral positions. Thus, Caesars Interactive, WSOP Online, and Bally’s are entertaining several future members and leaders of the New Jersey State Senate and General Assembly.
Not all the mayors of New Jersey’s biggest cities have confirmed. Acting Mayor Luis Quintana of Newark and Mayor Dana Redd of Camden have yet to state whether they’ll be playing in the event. Interim Mayor George Muschal of Trenton may be too busy settling into the position to take part in the event. Muschal replaced Tony F. Mack after Mack’s conviction on bribery, fraud, extortion, and money laundering charges back in February 2014.
Certain mayors might prefer to avoid such an event, because they have a moral objection to gambling or they previously have run on an anti-gambling platform.
