Ocean (no longer offering poker): $1.386 million; Golden Nugget: $1.037 million; Atlantic City poker will return eventually. Based on the lackluster figures for poker compared to other games, combined with the fact that the game is best suited for full tables, it is understandable why the Atlantic City casinos are in no hurry to reinstall it. Golden Nugget AC’s website continues to use this message: “Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Poker Room is closed until further notice.” For now, no AC casino has any update on a timeline for restarting poker play.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey appeals court has revived a lawsuit by a Vermont man who traveled to an Atlantic City casino for a poker tournament that wound up being canceled.
Michael Bandler said in the lawsuit that he traveled to the Golden Nugget in early 2015 after seeing advertisements that the tournament would offer $150,000 in prize money.
The tournament started, but was canceled by the casino due to a low number of registered players. Bandler was given a small amount of prize money for winning one of the events. His lawsuit claims the casino’s advertising was misleading and violated state consumer fraud laws.
The casino argued the state Division of Gaming Enforcement has jurisdiction over casino advertising, preempting consumer fraud laws. The casino also argued the ad’s fine print said the tournament could be canceled at any time, and didn’t say the money was guaranteed.
A lower court dismissed the lawsuit but the appeals court reversed on Wednesday, with the panel writing that consumer fraud laws apply and that “the casino omitted stating it intended to pay $150,000 only so long as enough people signed up, and the only indirect reference to that intent was the disputed disclaimer in small print about official rules and the right to change or cancel the event.”
A message seeking comment was left with the casino.
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This story has been corrected to show that the ruling was issued Wednesday, not Thursday.
The Tournament Leaderboard will keep track of points that players will earn for entering in any one of Golden Nugget's Poker Tournaments. Additional points will be awarded to those players who finish 'in the money'. Players will earn one (1) point for each tournament entry and re-entry fee purchased and will earn additional points if they finish 'in the money'. The calculation of points earned for 'finishing in the money' will be based on the number of winners paid.
Example: Paying 5 spots
- 1st Place will earn 1 point for entering the tournament, plus 5 points x 3 for a total of 16 points.
- 2nd Place will earn 1 point for entering the tournament plus 4 points x 3 for a total of 13 points.
- 3rd Place will earn 1 point for entering the tournament plus 3 points x 3 for a total of 10 points.
- 4th Place will earn 1 point for entering the tournament plus 2 points x 3 for a total of 7 points.
- 5th Place will earn 1 point for entering the tournament plus 1 point x 3 for a total of 4 points.
Golden Nugget will utilize the Bravo Tournament Watch rating system to record and track all tournament entrants, winners and number of points earned. The Tournament Leaderboard will be generated and displayed on a weekly basis in the Poker Room for the duration of the promotion.
The promotion will be funded by extracting $2.00 from each Tournament entry or re-entry fee collected. Those monies will be placed in the Tournament Leaderboard promotional fund. At the conclusion of the promotional period the distribution of the promotional funds to the top seven (7) players on the Tournament Leaderboard will be as follows:
Place of Finish Payout
1st Place 28% of promotional fund
2nd Place 22% of promotional fund
3rd Place 17% of promotional fund
4th Place 12% of promotional fund
5th Place 9% of promotional fund
6th Place 7% of promotional fund
7th Place 5% of promotional fund