Summer is cooking and so is the poker action in Pennsylvania. In July, players will be thrilled to find out that a major series is finally making a comeback. Also, a new poker room is opening for players in the heart of the state.
PlayPennsylvania presents the latest tournament highlights and cash game promotions.
New poker room launches at Hollywood Casino at Penn National
Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course in Grantville is opening up a new poker room this month. Tony Frabbiele, general manager of operations said a soft opening is set for July 12, with a grand opening on Aug. 1.
The casino was previously home to a poker room that did not reopen after the COVID-19 pandemic.
What to expect from the new poker room:
- Eleven tables
- Located between racetrack entrance and the food court
- Will have an adjacent bar
- Offering NLH and Limit games
- Tournaments to be added later
- A Major Poker Series could be in the works
The poker room is currently hiring, as well.
Philadelphia Live! Casino: The Road to Riches
The popular Road to Riches series is back at Live! Philadelphia poker room in July.
The tournament series runs from July 3-7. The $250 buy multi flight allows for players to play in their choice of seven flights and has a guaranteed prize pool of $150,000. Players who outlast their first flight day will combine to play on July 6. Two weeks later, a similar tournament series with a $500 buy in will take off. The Megastack multi flight series has a $200,000 guarantee and happens July 17-21.
The poker room will play host to daily events for players as well:
- Mondays: $140 NLH Bounty Quad Stacks 6:15 PM – $4,000 guaranteed
- Tuesday: $160 NLH Bounty- 6:15 PM – $6,000 guaranteed
- Wednesdays: $140 NLH Quadstacks Bounty – 6:15 PM – $6,000 guaranteed
- Thursdays: Vary weekly
- Fridays and Saturdays: Varying tournaments each week
- Sundays: $200 NLH Bounty – 3:15 PM – $8,000 guaranteed
Here is the full schedule.
*Daily Tournaments may vary with upcoming special events, check with the poker room before entering.
In June, a seven way chop took place in the NLH Blitz. The first place finisher was Richard Milo of NY. He along with the choppers won over $9,000 each.
Rivers Philadelphia poker offers daily action
The Rivers Philadelphia poker room will have small buy in daily action almost every day in the month of Juy.
Daily tournaments as follows:
- Mondays: $80 Turbo Deepstack NLH 6:15 PM
- Tuesdays: $125 NLH – 11:15 AM
- Wednesdays: $70 NLH – Beginners tournament- 6:15 PM
- Thursdays: $55 NLH Seniors 50+ – 10:15 AM –
- Fridays: $80 NLH Midnight Madness – 11:59 PM – $4,000 guarantee
- Saturdays and Sundays: $70 NLH – 10:15 AM – Beginners tournament
Parx Big Stax is back
One of the most popular tournament series on the East Coast has finally been revived. The Parx Big Stax series grew to fame after being one of deepest stack tournaments in a pre-COVID world. Co-creator and professional poker player Matt Glantz originally designed this series with the player in mind.
Parx Big Stax series will take place July 26-Aug. 15. Even though this series doesn’t come with guaranteed prize pools, players can expect some solid cash prizes up top.
Some highlights include:
- BigStax 750: July 3 – Aug. 2 – multi flight- $750- 11 AM (Day 2 Aug. 4)
- BigStax 1500: Aug. 8-11 – multi flight- $1,500- 11 AM (Day 2 Aug. 12 )
- BigStax PLO: Aug. 14- $340- 6 p.m.
- BigStax Seniors: Aug. 15- $340 (50+) 11 a.m.
Here is the complete lineup.
Live! Casino Pittsburgh (Westmoreland) bounty multi flight
Live! Casino Pittsburgh Poker Room is running a multi flight bounty NLH event July 11-14. Players will have 4 flights to pick from and the buy-in is $160. Day 2 will finish on July 14.
Here is the structure sheet.
On days that there isn’t a multi day flight happening, the following daily events will be in play.
- Sunday: $80 NLH Bankroll Builder – 2:15 PM
- Monday: No tournament
- Tuesday: $120 NLH Bounty Fat Stacks – 12:15 PM
- Wednesdays: $80 NLH Bankroll Builder – 6:15 PM
- Fridays: $130 NLH Triple Stacks Turbo – 6:15 PM
- Saturdays: $120 NLH Green Chip Bounty – 11:15 AM
Here is the full monthly schedule.
Rivers Pittsburgh poker Bad Beat Jackpot comes to an end
At Rivers Casino Pittsburgh, small tournaments will be held weekly. Unfortunately, the Bad Beat Jackpot will be coming to an end.
As of June, the casino has stopped contributing towards a bad beat jackpot and once the current jackpot is hit it will then make way for High Hand Promotions. As of July 3, the hand eligibility to hit the BBJ is Aces full of Sixes or better.
Weekly events:
- $125 NLH Tournament – 12 PM – Every Friday
- $160 NLH 2x Green Chip Bounty – 4 PM – Every Wednesday
PA online grind update
For players that can’t make it to Las Vegas this year for the World Series of Poker, Pennsylvania is running an exclusive online bracelet series.
Every week, players have a chance to compete for a covenant gold bracelet from the Keystone State, while playing on WSOP.com.
Recently, Boalsburg resident Zach Gruneburg won an online bracelet and online circuit ring in June. He cashed in for over $15,000 and has a combined total of two bracelets and nine circuit rings lifetime. In a recent interview with PlayPennsylvania he discussed his thoughts after winning the bracelet:
“(I was that) much more hyped to go out to Vegas where I currently still am and hoping to lock down Bracelet #3 and a deep run in the Main!”
Pennsylvania players have two more chances to win bracelets in Pennsylvania this summer:
- $333 NLH WSOP PA Online Bracelet – 630 p.m. – July 7
- $500 NLH Summer Saver – WSOP PA Online Bracelet – 630 p.m. July 14
As explained in the video below, players don’t have to live in Pennsylvania but have to be physically present in Pennsylvania. Also when choosing a place to stay, realize that some casino hotels’ wifi blocks other online gambling software.
Hoagie Bubbles WSOP PA Online Bracelet Final Table | World Series of Poker Vlog
Bad Beat round up
In poker, a Bad Beat Jackpot is a unique feature that adds an extra layer of excitement to the game. It occurs when a particularly strong hand, typically Quads or better, loses to an even stronger hand. The defeated player, often referred to as the victim of the “bad beat,” is then rewarded with a portion of the jackpot, while the winner receives a share, and the rest of the players at the table also get a slice.
In the Keystone State, the following casinos have active bad beat jackpots as of July 3:
- Parx Casino – current bad beat jackpot $270,445
- Mohegan Sun Pocono – current bad beat jackpot $50,000
- Mount Airy Casino Resort – current bad beat jackpot $32,861
- Rivers Casino Philadelphia – $50,000 set Bad Beat
- Rivers Casino Pittsburgh – current bad beat at $247,447
- Hollywood Meadows Racetrack and Casino – current bad beat $30,657
- Wind Creek Bethlehem – current bad beat jackpot $211,121
New Jersey poker: Borgata major announcement
Borgata has just announced the return of the Borgata Fall Open. This is one of the biggest tournament series this September. The event runs in Atlantic City Sept. 3-17.
The series includes 30 trophy main events and 33 secondary tournaments for a total of 63 games.
The Director of Poker Operations, Kellie DeCelis, gave PlayPennslyvania some inclusive insight.
“We can not wait to welcome players back to the Event Center for Borgata’s signature event, the Borgata Poker Open,” DeCelis said. “It will be 15 days of non-stop East Coast Poker Action.”
With more details to come, highlights currently include:
- Mixed Game Events with a leaderboard
- Two Heads Up Events
- Online Satte Series, including a 10k High Roller Package
- Live Stream Games
- Special Hotel Tournament Rates
- Online Registration