The live poker action is heating up at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City as the Summer Poker Open continues in full swing. Crown jewel of the schedule is the $2,700 Summer Poker Open Championship which comes with a guaranteed prize pool of $1,000,000 and features three starting days in the following three days from Sunday July 26, 2026, until Tuesday, July 28, 2026.
The history of the series in New Jersey dates back all the way to June 2008 according to The Hendon Mob when it ran for the first time with 14 tournaments as part of the schedule. With a higher price tag of $5,200, the Championship Event attracted a field of 399 entries and Allen Bari defeated Vinny Pahuja in heads-up to claim the top prize of $500,250.
Throughout the years, the overall number of events and buy-in for the flagship tournament changed several times and last year's edition contained more than two and a half dozen tournaments with notable champions such as Peter Moffatt, Giuseppe Lomuscio, Jeffrey Gibson, and Joey Weissman.
None other than seasoned poker pro Olivier Busquet came out on top of an 685-entry strong field in the $2,700 Championship Event to claim the largest slice of the $1,644,000 prize pool after cutting a heads-up deal with eventual runner-up Abraham Gordon when he claimed $255,135 for the victory. Notable finalists included Farid Jattin, Ryan Dodd, Matthew Beinner and Sridhar Sangannagari with a total of 87 spots paid.
Whether or not any of the 2025 finalists will return to take another shot at the win remains to be seen. The first of three Day 1 heats kicks off in two hours from now at 12:15 p.m. local time. All participants receive 40,000 in tournament chips including the voluntary add-on and each of the three starting flights will play a total of ten levels of 60 minutes apiece.
Day 1 Level Structure
| Level | Small Blind | Big Blind | BB Ante |
|---|
| 1 | 100 | 200 | 200 |
| 2 | 200 | 300 | 300 |
| Break | 15 minutes | | |
| 3 | 200 | 400 | 400 |
| 4 | 300 | 500 | 500 |
| Break | 15 minutes | | |
| 5 | 300 | 600 | 600 |
| 6 | 400 | 800 | 800 |
| Dinner | 75 minutes | | |
| 7 | 500 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 8 | 600 | 1,200 | 1,200 |
| Break | 15 minutes | | |
| 9 | 1,000 | 1,500 | 1,500 |
| 10 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
Unlimited reentries are available during the first ten levels before the late registration closes at the start of Day 2. Players can bag up chips in multiple flights and will carry forward the larger stack while the smaller stack is forfeited. On each Day 1 and Day 2, the level duration remains at 60 minutes before it will increase to 90 minutes on Day 3, which is set to play down to the final six if possible before a winner is crowned on the penultimate day of the series.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor for the entire duration of the 2026 Borgata 2,700 Summer Poker Open Championship to provide as many of the key hands as possible until a winner is crowned on July 31, 2026.
Tags:
Abraham GordonAllen BariFarid JattinGiuseppe LomuscioJeffrey GibsonJoey WeissmanMatthew BeinnerOlivier BusquetPeter MoffattRyan DoddSridhar SangannagariSunday JulyVinny Pahuja
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