Borgata Online Poker Review
Borgata Poker is a licensed poker site open to players in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It is one of the nation’s oldest legal poker sites, having launched in 2013 after receiving an online gambling license from the Division of Gaming Enforcement.
In the following Borgata Poker review, BettingUSA will explain what to expect, outline its strong and weak points, and share how to claim a welcome bonus worth up to $1,075.
Borgata Poker
- Massive Welcome Bonus
- Shared Tables With BetMGM
- Available In NJ and PA
Pros
Frequent PromotionsEarn Borgata Online RewardsEarn MGM Rewards Tier CreditsCons
Low Mid-High Stakes TrafficSmall Guaranteed Prize PoolsOnly Available In Two StatesBorgata Poker Bonus Code
$1000 Deposit BonusBorgata Poker Bonus Code: BUSABONUSTerms Apply| Title | Details |
|---|---|
Borgata Poker Bonus Code | BUSABONUS |
| First Deposit Bonus | 100% up to $1,000 |
| Additional Bonus | Up to $75 in tournament tickets after first deposit |
| Clearing Requirements | $1 bonus funds cleared for every 10.5 points earned playing poker Bonus released in 10% chunks Up to 5 points earned for every $1 paid in rake/tournament fees |
| Minimum Deposit | $10 |
Use the Borgata online poker bonus code BUSABONUS to claim this welcome offer
Borgata Poker Deposit Bonus
Borgata Poker offers a welcome bonus to all new customers consisting of two promos:
- 100% up to $1,000 first deposit bonus
- Up to $75 in free tournament entry tickets
100% up to $1000 Deposit Bonus
New users who make a first deposit with the Borgata Poker bonus code BUSABONUS get an extra 100% for up to $1000 extra.
For example, if a new player deposits $50, they’ll receive $50 extra for a total starting bankroll of $100. Likewise, anyone who deposits $1000 or more receives the maximum bonus of $1000 extra.
Borgata releases bonus funds to players’ cash accounts in increments of 10% of the bonus amount at a rate of $1 for every 10.5 Borgata Rewards Points (BRPs) they earn.
For example, a player with a pending $100 bonus would receive their money in $10 increments every time they earn 105 BRPs. Similarly, a player with a $50 bonus would receive $5 every time they earn 52.5 BRPs.
Players earn BRPs by playing in real money cash games and tournaments. Unfortunately, Borgata Poker does not explain how quickly players earn BRPs other than stating they can earn up to 500 BRPs for every $100 they pay in rake and tournament fees.
Borgata Poker Free Tournament Entries
In addition to the match bonus, players also earn $25 to $75 worth of free tournament entries based on the size of their first deposit.
- Deposit $10+: Get $25 in tournament entries
- Deposit $500+: Get $50 in tournament entries
- Deposit $1,000+: Get $75 in tournament entries
Borgata Poker VIP Program and Loyalty Points
All Borgata Poker customers automatically join MGM Rewards upon registration and earn loyalty points for playing poker, betting online, and visiting MGM Resorts properties nationwide.
MGM Rewards is a sprawling loyalty program, and members can earn a long list of benefits by earning loyalty points. Players can redeem their points for bonuses and other perks while advancing through the five-tier VIP program. In addition, players earn rewards such as comped hotel rooms, tickets to exclusive events, and much more as they progress through the VIP program.
Borgata Poker players earn two types of points for participating in real-money cash games and tournaments:
- Borgata Online Rewards Points: These are the currency of Borgata’s rewards program. Players can redeem points for bonuses or convert them to MGM Rewards Points redeemable for hotel rooms, free dining, and more.
- Tier Credits: Tier Credits (TCs) determine each member’s level in MGM Rewards. The more TCs players earn, the higher they move and the more benefits they unlock.
In summary, MGM Rewards is a highly rewarding loyalty program and a big advantage to choosing Borgata over other operators. Readers can learn more about the program here:
Borgata Online Poker Download
Players can download the Borgata Poker client for Mac, PC, Android, and iOS. Borgata offered a no-download browser interface at one point, but it removed that option after launching standalone clients for nearly every type of modern device.
Overall, the Borgata Poker download is a high-quality platform. Players will find it easy to resize tables and play at up to four tables at a time. Additionally, games move quickly, so players don’t have to wait long between hands.
Borgata Poker also provides custom avatars that allow players to adjust their appearance at the table, and a four-color deck option makes it easy to spot any potential flushes. Players can save their hands histories for later study, establish automatic buy-ins and rebuys to cash games, and save their favorite table arrangements.
The only areas for improvement as far as software goes would be more flexibility in resizing tables and an option to resize the lobby. However, these are minor issues because players can resize tables to an extent and the lobby isn’t a crucial factor as long as it works.
Readers can visit BorgataPoker.com to download the poker software and see it in action with no deposit necessary.
Borgata Poker Software Screenshots
Borgata Poker App
$1000 Deposit BonusBorgata Poker Bonus Code: BUSABONUSBorgata Poker offers mobile apps for iOS and Android devices.
The Borgata online poker app is not elegant, but it’s easy to use. Upon login, the app presents players with their choice of four lobbies dedicated to cash games, fast-forward poker, tournaments, and SNGs.
Visiting any lobby displays a list of games and basic information about current table conditions. For example, the cash game lobby lists all active tables, how many players are at each, the stakes, game type, and blinds.
Similarly, the tournament lobby lists all open tournaments, guaranteed prize pools, entry fees, # of entrants, and more. In summary, the Borgata Poker lobby is easy to use and provides all the essential information players need to select tables that suit their preferences.
After players pick a table and take a seat, the Borgata poker app switches to a standard overhead view to show what’s happening on the felt. It’s a simple look, but it’s ideal for mobile play.
Borgata Online Poker Tournaments
$1000 Deposit BonusBorgata Poker Bonus Code: BUSABONUSBorgata Online Poker runs scheduled MTTs and SNG tournaments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Weekdays can be slow during the day, but things pick up in the evenings and weekends with numerous scheduled events.
The biggest regularly scheduled tournament is the Sunday $35K Guarantee, which runs every Sunday at 5 PM EDT with $35,000 guaranteed no matter how many people enter.
The Sunday Guarantee comes with a hefty $215 entry fee, but players can enter multiple satellites the week before to win their way in at a fraction of the cost. Borgata holds at least one freeroll qualifier before the big tournament each week.
Borgata also hosts daily $10K guarantees with a $109 buy-in and $10,000 on the line. These run every evening at 7 PM EDT. Other daily tournaments cover a full range of buy-in prize levels, spanning small tournaments that cost $0.25 to high roller events with $1K entry fees.
In addition, Borgata hosts regular qualifiers to live events with seven-figure prize pools. Other tournament types include turbos, six-max turbos, bounties, deep stack events, pot-limit Omaha tournaments, pot-limit Omaha 8/b events, freerolls, rebuys, and more.
In addition to regularly scheduled tournaments, Borgata Poker hosts sit-n-go (SNG) tournaments. The SNG scene isn’t nearly as busy as the scheduled tournament scene, but Borgata does have all the groundwork in place for the future. The software currently supports single-table SNGs, multi-table SNGs, steps, coin-flips, heads-up hypers, and winner-take-all.
Borgata Poker Cash Games
$1000 Deposit BonusBorgata Poker Bonus Code: BUSABONUSBorgata Poker Online hosts no-limit Texas Holdem, fixed-limit Holdem, and pot-limit Omaha cash games at stakes ranging from $2 buy-ins at the low end to as high as $5,000 at the high end. Multi-tabling the cash games is easy thanks to stable software that never gave BettingUSA any issues even after running the software for 8+ hours one morning.
The vast majority of the players congregate at the no-limit Texas Holdem and pot-limit Omaha tables. At some points during the day, no-limit Holdem is the only option due to low traffic at the other game types. However, traffic for the other game types picks up in the evenings and weekends.
Borgata Poker also holds fast-forward cash games.
For readers unfamiliar with the term, fast-forward poker (also known as “fast fold”) is a Texas Holdem variant that moves at a much faster pace than traditional poker cash games, even by online standards.
Whenever players fold a hand in fast-forward poker, Borgata instantly moves them to another table and deals them into a new hand with other players who also just folded at their tables. The players at the first table have no idea someone has folded until the action gets to them to prevent everyone else from taking advantage of other players’ early folds.
In this way, Borgata constantly shuffles players around and creates new tables to keep the action running at a fast clip.
For action-minded players who get tired of waiting between hands as they fold poor hole cards over and over, fast-forward poker is worth a look. It almost eliminates the waiting time between hands, so players can spend more time playing poker and less time watching other people play.
Borgata Poker Cash Game Types and Limits
- No limit Holdem: $0.01/$0.02 NL to $25/$50 NL
- Fixed limit Holdem: $0.02/$0.04 to $30/$60
- Pot-limit Omaha: $0.01/$0.02 PL to $25/$50 PL
- Fast Forward Holdem: $0.05/$0.10 to $0.25/$0.50 (6-handed and heads-up tables)
- Seating options: 6, 9, 10, or heads-up
Borgata Player Traffic
Borgata Poker’s traffic congregates at the no-limit Holdem and pot-limit Omaha cash games and tournaments. Even during off-peak daytime hours, players can expect to find upwards of 180 players seated at real-money tables.
Traffic is better than one would expect for a poker site that was only available in one state for most of its life to date. Further, all indications point to Borgata continuing to improve on that front as it eyes expansion in additional states.
That said, Borgata still faces the same traffic challenges that all US poker sites face. The US market is limited in scope, and it still has a long way to go before any poker site can regularly host ultra-high-stakes cash games and monstrous tournaments.
Tournament traffic is about on average with Borgata’s online poker competitors. The daily $10K and weekly $35K guarantees offer substantial prizes, and the occasional special tournament series offers even bigger prize pools. For example, a recent seven-day event at Borgata Poker featured 19 tournaments with guaranteed prize pools ranging from $15K to $100K.
Borgata Poker Rake
Borgata Poker collects rake from cash games and tournaments at varying rates based on the stakes, pot sizes, and number of players in the game.
Tournament fees range from 0% to 25% of the buy-in, and all heads-up tables charge $0.05 for every $1.00 in the pot up to a maximum rake of $1.00 per hand. Rake at all other cash game tables follows:
| No-Limit/Pot-Limit | # of Players | Rake Rate | Rake Cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0.10/$0.25 and higher | 2 | $0.01 per $0.20 | $1.00 |
| $0.10/$0.25 and higher | 3-4 | $0.01 per $0.20 | $2.00 |
| $0.10/$0.25 and higher | 5-10 | $0.01 per $0.20 | $3.00 |
| $0.01/$0.02 to $0.05/$0.10 | 2-10 | $0.01 per $0.20 | $1.00 |
| Fixed Limit | # of Players | Rake Rate | Rake Cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0.02/$0.04 to $0.15/$0.30 | 2-10 | $0.01 per $0.20 | $0.50 |
| $0.25/$0.50 to $1/$2 | 2-10 | $0.05 per $1.00 | $1.00 |
| $2/$4 | 5-10 | $0.25 per $5.00 | $3.00 |
| $2/$4 | 3-4 | $0.25 per $5.00 | $2.00 |
| $2/$4 | 2 | $0.25 per $5 | $1.00 |
| $3/$6 | 5-10 | $0.50 per $10 | $3.00 |
| $3/$6 | 3-4 | $0.50 per $10 | $2.00 |
| $3/$6 | 2 | $0.50 per $10 | $1.00 |
| $5/$10 to $10/20 | 5-10 | $0.50 per $10 | $3.00 |
| $5/$10 to $10/20 | 3-4 | $0.50 per $10 | $2.00 |
| $5/$10 to $10/20 | 2 | $0.50 per $10 | $1.00 |
| $15/$30 to $30/$60 | 5-10 | $1 per $20 | $3.00 |
| $15/$30 to $30/$60 | 3-4 | $1 per $20 | $2.00 |
| $15/$30 to $30/$60 | 2 | $0.50 per $2 | $1.00 |
Borgata Poker Deposit Options
Borgata Poker FAQ
Expert Opinion: Is Borgata Poker Legit?
Although Borgata Poker is easily one of the stronger offerings in the US right now, it is not a perfect site. Borgata Poker still sits right in the middle of the pack in terms of traffic and prize pools.
However, the software, game types, welcome bonus, and integration into MGM Rewards are all big pluses.
There are no issues to report regarding safety and security, and that will not likely change any time soon. Borgata Poker is owned and operated by the highly experienced BetMGM Inc.
In addition, Borgata Poker is fully legal and holds a valid license in every state where it operates.
Wes Burns has more than a decade’s worth of experience as a writer, researcher and analyst in the legal gambling industry and is co-founder of BettingUSA.com. As a former professional online poker player, Wes approaches his work from the viewpoint of players.