What NJ Online Poker Players Need To Know About The Upcoming PokerStars Festival At Resorts AC

This weekend, PokerStars will spring open the doors to its first ever sponsored event in New Jersey.

The debut PokerStars Festival, which runs from October 29 – November 6 at Resorts Casino in Atlantic City, differs from past events hosted by the operator in that poker tournaments are just one of many focal points.

To get the most out of this multi-faceted experience, online poker players hailing from NJ (and other locales) will want to prepare.

Register for PSLive

As part of its live event revamp, PokerStars now requires players participating in any live Festival or Championship event to register and own an active PSLive card.

The good news is that beginning October 29, NJ online poker players will have ample opportunity to sign up for PSLive at Resorts’ land-based venue. However, they may be even better served by pre-registering online.

Doing so will expedite the verification process, and allow players to reserve tournament and other tickets in advance. PSLive card holders can also view their reserved tickets, account information and tournament history from an online portal.

Festival players are encouraged to pick up their physical cards (or sign up if they haven’t yet registered) at Resorts’ Ocean Ballroom between 7 – 9 p.m. local time on Oct. 29. However, those who miss this window will still have plenty of chances to sign/pick up their cards from an on-site registration team member.

Bring a mobile device

Before heading down to Resorts, players should load up their mobile device or laptop with the PokerStars NJ client, and if they haven’t already, might want to consider registering a real-money account.

Not only will this allow players to multi-table live PokerStars Festival and NJCOOP events (including the $200,000 guaranteed Main Event), but they’ll also be eligible to play in the Onlive Freeroll.

As the name implies, the Onlive Freeroll is played online, with the catch that players must be physically present at Resorts’ Atlantic Conference Room in order to participate. The five top finishers of this exclusive event will win a PokerStars Festival NJ Main Event seat, valued at $1,100.

This event takes place at 8 p.m. on October 29.

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Getting in on the cheap

The Onlive Freeroll is not the only way budget-conscious players can get in on the cheap, as PokerStars is offering myriad activities that will cost the frugal player next to nothing.

These include, but aren’t limited to:

• PokerStars Casino tournaments: These run daily from Oct. 29 – Nov. 6 and will span blackjack, roulette, slots and video poker. Entry costs $20 + $5.
• StarsFun paid entry events: From Oct. 31 – Nov. 4 players can pony up $10 to play in a variety of skill-based games, including Miniature Golf Hole-in-One Progressive, Arcade Basketball Shootout, and Pinball Progressive.
• StarsFun free events: Throughout the Festival, free-play games, such as table tennis, air hockey and darts, will also be on hand.

As for the tournaments, a fair portion are in the $100 – $200 buy-in range. Admittedly, at these price points, players will mostly be playing turbos. But the good news is that deep-stack and mixed-games tournaments are well represented at the lower buy-in levels.

Full tournament schedule here.

Other can’t miss events

Visitors to Resorts next week are encouraged to mark these one-off events on their calendars:

• Run It Up Day: On Saturday, November 5, at 8 p.m., Twitch superstar Jason Somerville and his RIU warriors will take center stage for an evening of mixed game events (including a Dealer’s Choice Stud Club event), a poker seminar and a Q&A session.
• 3rd Annual Chad Brown Memorial Poker Tournament: Beginning at 7 p.m on November 3, Daniel Negreanu will host an event that kicks off with a one-hour cocktail reception, followed by a tournament where half the proceeds go to the TJ Martell Foundation. The Foundation funds medical research focused on finding cures for a variety of diseases, including AIDS, cancer and leukemia. The initial buy-in is $200, and unlimited rebuys ($100) will be available.
• Sully Erna Concert: Focus will turn to Resorts’ Superstar Theater on Saturday, November 5. That’s because the lead singer of Godsmack will be performing a solo concert. Those in possession of a PSLive Card will receive a 20 percent discount on tickets.