WPT Borgata Winter Open Event Cancelled, Fake Chips Found

Multiple players may be involved in a chips scam at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Borgata Winter Open: counterfeit 5,000 denominations were found during the $2,000,000 guaranteed live event.

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The World Poker Tour Borgata Winter Open kicked off last week with the $560 Big Stack NLHE Re-entry event, which offered a $2,000,000 guaranteed prize pool. A total of 4,814 players registered and only 27 of them were left in play when organizers paused the tournament, while streaming, and cancelled it eventually. Behind the decision was the discovery of a number of 5,000 denomination chips with a paler tone than normal. The suspicion arose that one or more of the players used the fake chips to increase their stacks in-game.

A subsequent investigation revealed that the number of counterfeits is large, leading to the conclusion that multiple players must have been involved in the scam to help them to the high payout finishes. The tournament, as mentioned, got cancelled and the $1.4 million remaining prize pool got frozen indefinitely.

Borgata COO Tom Balance released a statement, confirming that “one or more tournament entrants improperly introduced a significant number of counterfeit chips into the tournament, gaining an unfair advantage and compromising the integrity of play for the event.” He expressed his regret over the incident and added that they “thoroughly verified all remaining chips in our inventory, and are confident in moving forward with our tournament schedule as planned and approved by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.”

Concerning their plans with the $1.4 million remaining in the prize pool, investigator body New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has not yet informed the public.