Right from the outset of PokerStars Festival New Jersey, tournament organizers were clear about one thing. This event, and PokerStars Festivals in general, are not about drawing a huge number of players and awarding massive first-place prizes. These events are about giving the players at them a fun and very different experience than they're used to at poker tournaments where the schedule is typically a 12-hour grind with players rinsing and repeating until they bust.
"Overwhelmingly we just want people to have a bit of fun," PokerStars Department Head of Live Poker Operations Neil Johnson told PokerNews at the outset.