Why we recommend Borgata Poker: Borgata has the huge sign-up bonus for online poker players in New Jersey.
Like BetMGM, which runs on the same network, Borgata Poker NJ has a market-leading welcome bonus for new players: your first deposit will be matched up to $1000. It’s the clearance terms that make it so appealing: The bonus releases much quicker than on other sites and you have 120 days to get through it, so it means you’re much more likely to clear the full amount and get max value.
Make your first deposit with Borgata Poker NJ and receive $25 – $75 worth of MTT tickets.
Make your first deposit and get a $100% match up to $1000. The bonus is released in 10% increments.
New Jersey was one of the earliest states to allow regulated online poker for real money. Along with five other poker sites, Borgata Poker NJ went live on November 21, 2013. It has provided players in the Garden State with a safe and reliable poker site for over seven years since, and there are few sites that can boast that kind of experience.
Borgata Poker is one of three poker sites hosted on the partypoker US network, the other two being BetMGM and partypoker. All three brands share liquidty, which makes it easier to organize tournament series and offer bigger, more appealing guarantees. Thanks to this, Borgata is a serious contender in New Jersey, despite some heavy competition.
Borgata features a nice welcome package for new players, which includes $75 in MTT tickets combined with the first deposit match offer up to $1000. Thus, the room has plenty to offer to all players, from poker newcomers to serious grinders looking to boost their bankrolls.
In addition to a solid tournament schedule, Borgata Poker NJ also offers a lot of action on cash game tables across all stakes. Texas Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, and 7 Card Stud (including Stud 8) are all available, starting from micro limits and going up to $25/50. So, cash game players have plenty of options at their disposal.
Borgata Poker NJ: Key Facts | |
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Freeplay bonus | Up to $75 with first deposit |
Deposit match bonus | 100% up to $1000 |
Apps | Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android |
Main higlight | Rewarding welcome offer |
Borgata Poker offers new players a twofold welcome, consisting of an instant cash bonus and a first deposit match. This is a pretty standard deal for online poker sites though Borgata’s version is towards the more generous end of the spectrum. However, when it comes to player rewards the devil is always in the detail, so here are the key points that you should be aware of:
Borgata NJ will match whatever you choose to load up your account with, effectively doubling your initial deposit. This part of the deal does come with a few caveats, so it is worth making note of the following:
In addition to the standard match bonus, Borgata Poker NJ also treats all new depositing players with some MTT tickets. The value of the tickets you can get depends on the deposit amount, and the maximum value of the offer is $75.
All tickets can be used in real money tournaments with corresponding buy-ins just like real cash. All winnings resulting from the tournaments you register for using the tickets are yours to keep and do not have any wagering requirements attached to them.
Borgata’s new rewards program is called Borgata Online Rewards and it is open to everyone who play real money games on the site (poker, casino, and sports betting). On top of the ability to exchange their Borgata Online Rewards points for cash and bonuses, they can also be exchanged for MGM Rewards points, which, in turn, can be spent at all land-based locations owned by MGM Resorts.
As players earn online points, they also accumulate Tier Credits at the same rate. And the more Tier Credits you have, the higher your Tier Level will be. There are 5 Tier Levels, each providing better perks than the one before.
Borgata Online Rewards points are earned at the rate of 500 points for $100 rake paid at cash game tables or in tournament fees. You get the equal number of Tier points at the same time.
As a sister site to BetMGM, players can expect to see many of the same promotions running at Borgata, which is no bad thing as BetMGM has a reputation as one of the best providers of promos on the market. Some campaigns might last a month or more, some may only be available for 24 hours.
At any one time, there is a wide spectrum of offers, catering to a range of bankroll sizes and they are pitched at both low-volume and high-volume players. Most promos will fall into one of these categories:
Borgata has a solid offering of tournaments across a range of formats. As you would expect, Texas Hold’em makes up the vast majority of these but if you prefer your poker with four hole-cards, you will also find a couple of PLO and PLO8 tournaments run daily. 7-Card Stud is also available.
There is a healthy selection of Multi Table Tournaments (MTTs) running throughout the day at Borgata NJ. As with all online poker rooms, the biggest fields and prize pools will be found at the weekends—especially on Sundays when all the major tournaments are hosted. Borgata also runs regular tournament series, which attract yet further traffic to the site and tend to have the largest guarantees.
Buy-ins range from $1 to $535, although some series events will have even higher stakes. There are satellites for as little as $0.25 or 10 iRPs as well as a Sunday freeroll offering two tickets to the $35,000 Guaranteed Sunday Major. So, whatever your bankroll, you will have no trouble finding a game that suits you.
Sit and Go Tournaments (SNGs) were once the bread and butter of online card rooms. Although their star has faded somewhat in recent years, they still retain a certain level of popularity, particularly at lower buy-ins, due to their convenience and short duration.
Borgata spreads Six-Max and Heads up SNGs in Turbo and Hyper formats with a range of buy-ins between $1-$200. For the real high rollers there are also $500 Heads Up Turbos.
Of course, one of the main reasons for the SNGs decline in popularity has been the rise and rise of Jackpot SNGs. Unfortunately, this format is not currently available at Borgata but given the appetite for this format, we would expect it to be rolled out in the future.
Borgata NJ has a similar selection available at its cash tables. The games on offer are as follows:
All bankroll budgets are catered for: NL Texas Hold’em games start at $0.01/0.02 at go all the way up to $25/50, and the range is similar for other variants.
There is not the greatest selection of games at Borgata and that is reflected in our rating—but the most popular variants are available, and it is hard for a site like Borgata to offer more variety without greater liquidity; it needs to ensure that there will be enough demand for the games already on offer.
Borgata Poker NJ uses partypoker’s software and shares the player pool of other sites on the network, namely partypoker NJ and BetMGM Poker NJ. Whilst pooling players is undoubtedly a plus for everyone involved, liquidity still poses an issue. The Multi State Internet Gaming Agreement paved the way for inter-state online poker but so far, has had little impact on player pools.
A real game changer would be the much-anticipated entrance of Pennsylvania into the shared liquidity pool. With 13 million residents, the Keystone State is the biggest so far to regulate online gaming. The addition of this huge potential player base would surely lead to bigger fields, larger prize pools and greater game selection.
As mentioned above, Borgata Poker runs on software provided by partypoker, one of the biggest and most trusted names in online poker. So it should know something about the three qualities we consider essential when it comes to poker software: reliability, functionality and appearance.
With that said, the desktop software is a little out of date, and the mobile client has not yet been upgraded to partypoker’s new apps. This should hopefully come soon—it recently went live in Michigan—and that will represent a pretty major upgrade.
You do not get to operate poker sites for 20 years without reliable software. Partypoker’s has been put through its paces more than almost any other, so bugs are few and far between. No online service can be 100% reliable but partypoker’s tech team are second to none when it comes to keeping its client up and running and on those rare occasions when glitches do happen, Borgata’s support team will be on hand to help you out.
Again, partypoker’s software has been through two decades of development to get where it is today and as a result it is versatile across a range of platforms. Borgata Poker works just as well on desktop or mobile devices and there are versions for Windows, iOS and Android. The client features many customization options allowing you to set up tables to your own preferences.
There is nothing flashy about Borgata’s partypoker client and we mean that in the best possible sense. The lobby is functional and clearly set out which is exactly what you want if you are going to be using it on a daily basis. The menus and filters are intuitive and simple to use.
The tables themselves are well structured and carry lots of information without being cluttered. They are very customizable: players can choose from a variety of themes and change aspects such as colors and card styles.
If you like gimmicks like throwable items and animations, the partypoker software has these too but they are easy to switch off for the more serious grinders that wish to maintain their focus.
Fast and secure banking is an essential feature for an online poker operator and Borgata is as good as it gets in this respect, offering as wide a range as we have seen for both deposit and withdrawal methods. The table below lists these in detail.
Payment Method | Deposit | Withdrawal |
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VIP Preferred (ACH/e-check) | Yes | Yes |
Play+ | Yes | Yes |
Visa/Mastercard | Yes | No |
PayPal | Yes | Yes |
Electronic Transfer | Yes | No |
PayNearMe | Yes | No |
Borgata Cashier Window | Yes | Yes |
Skrill | Yes | Yes |
American Express | Yes | No |
Discover | Yes | No |
PayWithMyBank | Yes | Yes |
Check by mail | No | Yes |
Borgata has a two-part welcome bonus for new players:
As a sister site to BetMGM, Borgata has no shortage of promos running at any given time. They come in a variety of styles to suit all bankrolls and volumes of play. Some of them last throughout a month or more while others can change on a day-to-day basis. Common formats for promotions are leaderboard races, deposit bonuses, volume bonuses and freerolls.
As Borgata Poker is part of the MGM Resorts International group, players are entered into its M life Rewards program. Players earn Tier Credits at the same rate as iRPs and the amount they earn determines which Tier Level they earn rewards in and the value of rewards on offer increases with each new level. There are five Tier Levels to progress through:
New Jersey regulations require online gaming operators to ensure that all players are eligible to play. As such, you will need to verify your account with Borgata Poker, and you will not be able to play real money games until this process has been completed. This will require uploading official ID documents which you can do through the Borgata website.
To be legally eligible to play at Borgata, players must be at least 21 years of age, and physically located within New Jersey.
It is a legal requirement that players be physically present in New Jersey in order to access Borgata’s NJ poker site. Operators have to comply with this under the terms of their licenses and they employ geolocation trackers to ensure players are within state boundaries.
Geolocation is a combination of technological methods that online gaming providers use to determine the location of a device that is connected to the internet. If your device is determined to be outside of jurisdictional boundaries, you will be excluded from playing. These days geolocation tools are extremely accurate.
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) should not be used to play at Borgata from outside of New Jersey. Detection tools are very sophisticated, and you are likely to get caught eventually, if not immediately. If you are caught, you will probably have any funds confiscated and receive a lifetime ban, which will be particularly frustrating if your state ever does regulate online gaming.
At the moment Borgata Poker is live in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, but these states are not currently part of any interstate liquidity arrangement.
However, the situation is very fluid, and the recent First Circuit ruling has renewed hope that pooled liquidity could be just around the corner.
Borgata Poker NJ spreads Texas Hold’em in both No limit and Fixed Limit forms. It also runs Pot Limit Omaha and Fixed Limit &-Card Stud tables. Both Omaha and Stud are available in their Hi/lo split pot version, as well as their standard format.
Stakes run from the absolute micro stakes of 0.01/0.02 up to $10/20 at Six-max NLH and $25/50 for Heads Up.
Borgata does spread partypoker’s quick-fold variant known as fastforward. However, this poker variant requires a certain volume of players to work properly and outside of peak times, players may struggle to find a game running.
**This is just one of the many reasons that operators and players alike are keen to see shared liquidity pools across the US marketplace.
There are plenty of MTTs running throughout the day at Borgata, covering all the poker variants, buy-in levels and game speeds. For tournament with larger fields and guarantees, Borgata spreads the usual Sunday specials and majors as well as regular series such as the Online Borgata Poker Open.
Yes, Borgata has SNGs running in NL Hold’em and PL Omaha formats. They are available as six-max and heads up tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $1 to $500.
Partypoker’s lottery SNG variants, SPINS and SPINS Ultra are not currently available at Borgata NJ.
Borgata NJ has a wide range of deposit options. Specifically, these are:
Borgata also provides players with plenty of options for taking funds out of their accounts. These are as follows:
Borgata NJ is licensed and regulated by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE). As such it is authorized to offer online poker, casino games and sports betting within the state.
It is a legal requirement for online gaming sites to be partnered with a land-based outlet. In Borgata NJ’s case this is the Borgata Atlantic City resort.
Borgata Poker is available for mobile phones and tablets, and there are dedicated apps for Android and iOS platforms. The iOS version is available from the App Store while the Android app must be downloaded directly from the Borgata Poker site as Google Play does not currently support the app.
Yes, Borgata offers a wide range of digital and live dealer table games as well as a large selection of slots.
Borgata has an extensive sportsbook covering all the most popular sporting events.
Borgata Poker NJ hosted a number of interesting online tournament events over the years. This is an overview of some of the biggest and most important ones to take place on the platform.
Running March 20 – 27, March Poker Madness was the first major series to take place at Borgata Poker NJ in 2022 together with their partner room BetMGM Poker NJ.
The series featured several events every day, with buy-ins of $109 – $1,060 and solid guarantees. Some of the highlight tournaments on the schedule included:
Players at Borgata Poker NJ had their schedules filled in the second half of December 2021. The operator hosted the Cheap Stakes Series, with buy-ins varying between $20 and $50. The Main Event, which took place on December 26, offered $20,000 up for grabs, and it was played in a progressive knockout format.
Tournament players at Borgata Poker NJ had something to look forward in November as well. Instead of the usual Open series, the operator hosted a smaller End Boss series.
It comprised six tournaments, running November 23 – 28, with buy-ins ranging from $215 to $1060. In addition to generous guarantees, the series offered a chance of playing against Darren Elias, one of the best tournament players around and a new brand ambassador for BetMGM / Borgata.
Borgata hosted a new iteration of the partypoker US Network Online Series in October together with its partners in the state, partypoker NJ and BetMGM Poker NJ.
The series ran October 17 – 24 and featured nine events this time around, with a total of $175,000 in guaranteed prizes. The Main Event was played as a progressive knockout this time around, which made for some interesting action on the felt.
The $535 Main Event attracted 106 entries, generating the total prize pool of $53,000, breaking the $50K guarantee. The eventual winner walked away with $5832 to their name.