With the Pure Grind Series, the Borgata in Atlantic City has created a tournament format aimed at all poker players, from casual players to professionals. The starting flights are spread out over several days and at various times. Borgata is continuing this concept with the upcoming Black Chip Bounty Edition, taking place October 21–25, 2026, which offers a total of eight starting flights to choose from between Wednesday and Saturday—one flight at 11:15 a.m. and one in the early evening at 5:15 p.m.
The Black Chip Bounty Edition features a buy-in of $350 and offers a guaranteed prize pool of $200,000. All participants start with 30,000 chips. The regular blind levels on Day 1 last 25 minutes, while the Turbo Flight on Saturday evening features levels shortened to 20 minutes. On Day 2, the level durations increase to 40 minutes. On-site registration is available until the start of Level 11 of the respective starting flight. Re-entries are also allowed: Anyone eliminated within the first ten levels of a flight may re-enter. An unlimited number of re-entries is permitted. The final day is scheduled for Sunday, October 25.
The special appeal of the tournament lies in its bounty format. Each player receives a bounty chip, which must remain visible throughout the tournament. Anyone who eliminates an opponent from the tournament receives that opponent’s bounty chip. In the event of split pots, the bounty prize is also split. The bounty chip must be kept separate from the regular tournament stack. If only the bounty chip is placed into the pot, this counts as an all-in. Of the $350 buy-in, $293 goes into the prize pool, including the $100 bounty. Other components include the registration fee, the contribution to the Pure Grind leaderboard, a promo fund, and an optional additional amount.
The Black Chip Bounty Edition is held as a “Best Stack Forward” tournament. Players who qualify through multiple starting flights carry their largest earned stack into Day 2. For each additional qualified stack, they receive an amount equal to the min-cash. Day 1 ends when approximately 12.5 percent of the respective field remains in the tournament. All players who return for Day 2 are therefore considered to be in the money. The Black Chip Bounty Edition also counts toward the Pure Grinder Leaderboard. All 2,026 tournaments offered as part of The Pure Grind Series contribute to this ranking. The player with the most points will receive a custom-designed Pure Grinder trophy, $10,000 in cash, and a seat in the BWPO Championship valued at $3,500.
Players can not only register for the tournament via BetMGM Poker but also secure their seat online. More information is available on the Borgata website.
