As March Madness keeps the attention of many Americans, it’s the perfect opportunity to give poker players the chance to get in some online poker action as they watch basketball. BetMGM wants to use its presence in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Michigan.
March Poker Mania will offer a weeklong online series for players in those three states. But BetMGM is going further. They are enlisting some big names in poker to promote the series.
In September 2021, BetMGM announced that longtime poker pro Darren Elias would be the brand ambassador for the BetMGM-partypoker network in the US market. He lived in New Jersey, making it easy to promote tournaments like BetMGM Poker, Borgata Poker, and partypoker NJ.
For this 2022 March Poker Mania, Elias will be in full ambassador mode to play the series. However, BetMGM is taking it to another level. Elias will host a live meet-up to play a live tournament on March 25. High-stakes poker pro and poker academy founder Matt Berkey will travel to his home state of Pennsylvania to stream some of the series events online. Poker pro and vlogger Andrew Neeme is going to spend the week of the series in his hoe state of Michigan to stream some of the series events and then host a meet-up for live cash games on March 23.
This is a fresh way to marry live and online poker in the new US online poker market, one that is actually still in its infancy.
BetMGM Director of Poker Luke Staudenmaier said, “We’re thrilled that March Poker Mania will feature three poker titans, offering BetMGM players multiple new touchpoints with our brand. It’s the first time that we’ve produced an online poker event in multiple states and with multiple hosts – simultaneously – and we’re excited to further connect our players and our brand with MGM properties across the country.”
March Poker Mania will run March 20-27.
New Jersey March Poker Mania
As the largest of the three state markets for BetMGM and partypoker US, New Jersey will feature $472K in guarantees across 19 events. The majority of the series will consist of No Limit Hold’em tournaments, but there are two Omaha events for four-card fans.
On March 24, Elias will host a special live event at the BetMGM Sportsbook at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City. That meetup will be a chance to talk to other New Jersey players and Elias. Then, on March 25, the Borgata poker room will host the Spring Rebound Poker Tournament with a $1K buy-in. The No Limit Hold’em event will offer a $100K guarantee on the prize pool.
Elias will also livestream some online play for the first time.
This is the full online schedule:
BetMGM US
March Poker Mania in New Jersey
Event 1 (Mar 20)
$535
NLHE 8-Max ($50K GTD)
Event 2 (Mar 20)
$109
NLHE 8-Max Half-Price PKO ($35K GTD)
Event 3 (Mar 20)
$55
NLHE Phase 1A to $535 Phase 2
Event 4 (Mar 20)
$215
NLHE 8-Max Turbo ($25K GTD)
Event 5 (Mar 21)
$55
NLHE Phase 1B to $535 Phase 2
Event 6 (Mar 21)
$215
PLO 6-Max ($15K GTD)
Event 7 (Mar 22)
$55
NLHE Phase 1C to $535 Phase 2
Event 8 (Mar 22)
$535
NLHE 6-Max PKO ($25K GTD)
Event 9 (Mar 23)
$55
NLHE Phase 1D to $535 Phase 2
Event 10 (Mar 23)
$320
NLHE 8-Max ($20K GTD)
Event 11 (Mar 24)
$55
NLHE Phase 1E to $535 Phase 2
Event 12 (Mar 24)
$320
NLHE 6-Max PKO ($25K GTD)
Event 13 (Mar 25)
$55
NLHE Phase 1F to $535 Phase 2
Event 14 (Mar 25)
$215
PLO 6-Max ($15K GTD)
Event 15 (Mar 26)
$1,060
NLHE Heads-Up Turbo 32-max ($10K added for winner)
With the Michigan market still in its relative infancy, BetMGM set the overall guarantee lower. Across the 19 events in this series, they’re guaranteeing $397K. For all intents and purposes, the schedule is the same as for New Jersey with the guarantees adjusted slightly.
Andrew Neeme will host a meet-up at the MGM Grand Detroit poker room on March 23. Everyone will be welcome to join in the cash games. And on March 24, he will host a college basketball-watching meet-up at the BetMGM Sports Lounge. Meanwhile, he will livestream on his YouTube channel throughout the week.
BetMGM US
March Poker Mania in Michigan & Pennsylvania
Event 1 (Mar 20)
$535
NLHE 8-Max ($40K GTD)
Event 2 (Mar 20)
$109
NLHE 8-Max Half-Price PKO ($30K GTD)
Event 3 (Mar 20)
$55
NLHE Phase 1A to $535 Phase 2
Event 4 (Mar 20)
$215
NLHE 8-Max Turbo ($20K GTD)
Event 5 (Mar 21)
$55
NLHE Phase 1B to $535 Phase 2
Event 6 (Mar 21)
$215
PLO 6-Max ($15K GTD)
Event 7 (Mar 22)
$55
NLHE Phase 1C to $535 Phase 2
Event 8 (Mar 22)
$535
NLHE 6-Max PKO ($25K GTD)
Event 9 (Mar 23)
$55
NLHE Phase 1D to $535 Phase 2
Event 10 (Mar 23)
$320
NLHE 8-Max ($15K GTD)
Event 11 (Mar 24)
$55
NLHE Phase 1E to $535 Phase 2
Event 12 (Mar 24)
$320
NLHE 6-Max PKO ($20K GTD)
Event 13 (Mar 25)
$55
NLHE Phase 1F to $535 Phase 2
Event 14 (Mar 25)
$215
PLO 6-Max ($15K GTD)
Event 15 (Mar 26)
$1,060
NLHE Heads-Up Turbo 32-max ($10K added for winner)
BetMGM is guaranteeing $397K for Pennsylvania players, too. The series is identical to the one in Michigan, with the same buy-ins and guarantees.
Matt Berkey will not host a live event but will play all week via a livestream starting on March 24. He will also livestream some online cash games and handicap college basketball. This will all happen on his Solve For Why YouTube channel.
https://twitter.com/partypokerUS/status/1504509297811767302?s=20&t=zednpzWfo3NXXtVMN1V2wg
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