Borgata Cancels $2M Poker Tournament With 27 Left Amid State Investigation Into Counterfeit Chips

The Associated Press reported early Saturday that the state of New Jersey has decided to cancel the first event of the Borgata Winter Poker Open with 27 people remaining due to an investigation into the counterfeit chips being used.

The state has said that at least one person used a “substantial amount” of phony tournament chips at some point in the event. The prize money was frozen pending the investigation.

According to reports, an extra one million in tournament chips could have been in the event.

A total of 4,814 players put up the $ 560 to enter. It’s unclear if any will receive refunds.

The tournament was suspended on Friday when suspicion of fake chips first arose.

“Thus far, investigators have found 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,” Tom Ballance, the Borgata’s president and chief operating officer reportedly said Saturday morning.

“It is extremely unfortunate that the criminal actions of these individuals can have a detrimental impact on more than 4,000 other entrants,” he added. “We fully understand and regret the disappointment this cancellation causes our valued customers, and we will work diligently with DGE investigators to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. The integrity of our games and the confidence of our players is of the utmost importance to us.”

Other events in the series are moving along as scheduled.

Read more from the Associated Press right here.