2008 Borgata Poker Open Championship $5 Million Guaranteed Begins

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2008 Borgata Poker Open Championship
Event Kicks Off with $5 Million Guarantee

2008 Borgata Poker Open
World Poker Tour Season 7
$5 Million Guaranteed Prize
Pool at the 2008 Borgata
Poker Open
Championship Event

Record breaking tournament begins events to crown a WPT Poker Open
champion

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (September 15, 2008) – The 2008 Borgata Poker Open -
World Poker Tour Championship event began on Sunday, drawing a field of
516 players with the guarantee of a $5 million prize pool, the largest
guarantee by a casino in poker history.

A number of poker’s elite players came out to try and become the 2008
champion, including Player-of-the-Year candidates John Phan and Eric Seidel.
Big name poker pros such as David “The Dragon” Pham, Jamie Gold, Gavin
Smith, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, Roy Winston, Chad Brown, Kathy
Liebert, Jon Juanda, Carlos Mortenson and Nam Le all showed up to play in
the Borgata Poker Open Main Event on Sunday. Also participating were
Dennis Phillips, Ylon Schwartz, and Chino Rheem, all three “final nine”
participants for this year’s WSOP event in November.

Professional live players were not the only group represented, as top online
pros including Jarde “The WacoKidd” Hamby, Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy, Eric
“E-Fro” Froelich, Robert “Action Bob” Hwang, Jimmy “Gobboboy” Fricke and
Joey “JoeytheB” Brooks took time away from their computers to shoot for the
grand prize.

According to Brooks, he has been waiting for this tournament all year. “You
always want to do well in the preliminary tournaments, but this is the one
that really counts. This kind of first-place money can really help change your
life.”

According to WPT lead reporter BJ Nemeth, Borgata’s guarantee once again
sets Borgata apart from other stops on the tour. “Despite competing against
major tournaments both online and in Europe, Borgata guaranteed a full $5
million prize pool with the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship Event.
That’s the largest guarantee in history, and a lot of critics didn’t think they
would get nearly enough players to reach it. When registration closed for the
event, the field was only five short of reaching the guarantee. In the end,
Borgata added $46,400 to the prize pool and this gives players the
advantage of extra equity in the tournament. It’s a win-win situation,”
Nemeth said.

Although only one player can take home the title, 54 spots will make the
money. Make sure to go to www.theborgata.com to keep up with all of the
action on the Poker Blog as Borgata’s team of reporters bring you the action
from the Event Center floor. Check out videos of all the poker action at www.
borgatatv.com.

About Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa

Borgata is a joint venture of Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE: BYD) and MGM
MIRAGE (NYSE: MGM). Located at Renaissance Pointe in Atlantic City, it
features 2,000 guest rooms and suites, 161,000 square feet of gaming, 200
gaming tables, 4,100 slot machines, 12 destination restaurants, 12 retail
boutiques, a 54,000 square foot spa, 70,000 square feet of event space, and
parking for 7,100 cars. For more information on Borgata Hotel Casino and
Spa, visit www.theborgata.com.

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