The son of a basketball coach has won the first non-poker skill-based tournament organized by a US casino.

Atlantic City’s Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa announced its basketball free-throw tournament last month in what Borgata Snr. VP Joe Lupo called a bid to engage “a little bit younger demographic.” By 9am on Saturday, there was a 50-deep lineup at the sign-in station. In the end, 1,022 people – mainly twenty- and thirty-somethings – anted up the $20 entry fee for a shot at a $10,220 payday.

But the day belonged to Al Callejas, a 37-year-old Pennsylvania resident who played NCAA Division III ball at the University of Scranton. New Jersey native Wayne Nelson earned $6,132 for placing second, despite an unorthodox style that involved banking in every shot off the backboard. The Press of Atlantic City quoted Nelson justifying this technique by saying: “It’s a casino. The bank is always open.”

The Borgata won’t truly know if the event was a success until data from the contestants’ Borgata Rewards cards indicates how many stayed on to eat, drink and gamble at the casino. Regardless, Lupo said the Borgata will “100%” host similar skill-based contests in future. Lupo told the Inquirer that future contests could involve electronic games similar to Angry Birds, X-Box titles or even the venerable old arcade game Asteroids.