Malfunction at Garden State Super Series in New Jersey

The online Garden State Super Series hosted by Partypoker in New Jersey experienced a server malfunction during the Main Event that featured a guaranteed prize pool of $200,000.

More than 700 players entered the contest at a $200 buy-in, allowing for a hefty overlay. Unable to remedy the technical issues, Partypoker was forced to cancel the event and follow its rules specifically designed for such unfortunate incidents.

Players still alive in the tourney and affected by the malfunction received an email from Partypoker sincerely apologizing for the mishap. As pointed out in the email, "the entire prizepool is considered for payout including the guaranteed money which had not yet been covered by player buy-ins."

According to players who posted on various social media outlets, Partypoker indeed made good on covering the entire $200,000 guarantee. Partypoker reps admitted to being "humbled by this experience" and have commenced to "diligently work" at preventing the occurence of such technical issues at future events.

Unfortunately, online poker is susceptible to such problems from time to time due to the nature of the game being played over the Internet. It likely won't be the last time such an issue crops up.

The fact that it happened in New Jersey where the state's ipoker scheme has also experienced geolocation issues sort of magnifies the entire problem. However, Partypoker handled the incident as best as can be expected under the circumstances and their promise to endeavor to avoid a repeat certainly can be believed.