Event 23: WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship

$3,300 + 200 No Limit Hold'em (3 Million Guarantee)

Tomorrow afternoon begins the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship, and whether you've played in any of this series's previous events or been in the poker room, you've noticed the influx of players (and players you may recognize).

The poker room has spread all different games and limits throughout this week, and this current weekend is no different.  With already 50 games running live, you'd be hard pressed to have a problem trying to find a game to get into.  That's what has made Borgata what it is today though, because this type of crowd isn't isolated to just this week, it's like this day in and day out throughout the year.

You may have seen some of the biggest names in poker in the past few days, and they're here not only because of the WPT.  These players (and players from all over) are here because winning a title at the Borgata has become a very prestigious accomplishment in the poker world.

This championship event may look like the "who's who" of poker, but that's what makes our community as great as it is.  You will not see players clamoring to get autographs or pictures of these "poker celebrities," but that's out of respect for the player and the game.  Rather than get an autograph, why get involved in a hand with one of these players, it's much better of a story.

All of these players are here, whether professional or a social player, because they want to be able to say that they beat some of the best.  The one thing we can be sure of over the next 5-6 days (other than the $3 Million Guarantee), is that whomever takes home the title here at Borgata will have done it outclassing some of the best players in the world.

Event 20: 24th Place - Gregory

$1,000 + 90 + 500 Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em

Derek Gregory (Madison, WI)

$2,165

In a three-way pre-flop all-in, Derek Gregory was the shortest stack.  Carmelo Puliese was the middle stack, and Michael Brown had them both covered.  

The hands were tabled:

Derek: AT suited
Carmelo: KK
Michael: AQ suited

The board ran out J 7 3 9 J and Carmelo tripled up.  Michael took the side pot, along with Derek's bounty.

Derek Gregory finished in 24th place, earning $2,165.

Event 20: Two More Out the Door

$1,000 + 90 + 500 Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em

Steve Russell

Steve Russell (Coolville, OH) was felted in 26th place.

Nick Blackburn

Nick Blackburn (Long Bottom, OH) departed in 25th place.

Both earned $2,165.

Event 22: Level Up...More Late Arrivals

$1,000 + 90 Six Max No Limit Hold'em

Level 4 has just begun with blinds at 100/200, and players are still continuing to file in.  This is the last level for re-entry (or entry in some cases).  Some players to just walk in:

Allen Cunningham
Theo Tran
David Diaz
Henry Tran

Event 20: 27th Place - Cappello

$1,000 + 90 + 500 Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em

Play resumed with

Level 15:  Blinds 1,500/3,000 with 400 ante.

In early action Joey 'Bobo' Cappello (New Rochelle, NY) was eliminated in 27th place ($2,165).

Event 22: Picture Gallery

Event 22: $1,000 + 90 Six Max No Limit Hold'em

Brian O'Donoghue (Bayside, NY)

Kyle Frey (Cheshire, CT)

Vinny Pahuja (New York, NY)

Event 22: Late Entries

$1,000 + 90 Six Max No Limit Hold'em

Some of the players to use the "fashionably late entry" option:

Grace Sun (Event 12 Winner)
Eugene Fouksman
Alex Rocha
Jamie Kerstetter
Miles Lipsky

Event 20: Day 2 To Begin At 1:00 pm

$1,000 + 90 + 500 Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em

The bags of chips are laid out on the tables waiting for their rightful owners to claim them, and begin action for Day 2 of this event.  There are 27 players remaining (all in the money) coming back today, with Maruti Yarlapati (Parsippany, NJ) returning as our chip leader with 425,500.  Also coming back today are Aaron Massey (Elmwood Park, IL), Shawn Busse (Maasapequa, NY), Terry Grimes (New Rochelle, NY), and Steve Dannenman (Severn, MD).

Event 22: Break Time

$1,000 + 90 Six Max No Limit Hold'em

Players are going on their first break of the day (10 minutes), and will be returning to Level 4 and blinds of 75/150.  The is a re-entry event, and players have the ability to use that option until the end of Level 4 (approximately 1:30 pm).

Event 22: Six Max Tweets

$1,000 + 90 Six Max No Limit Hold'em

Event 22: More Familiar Faces

$1,000 + 90 Six Max No Limit Hold'em

More familiar faces taking their seats:

Ryan D'Angelo
Feming Chan
Thomas Hoglund
Joe Palma
Norman Michalek

Event 22: Return Acts

$1,000 + 90 Six Max No Limit Hold'em

Players are still sitting down, but many we have seen have great success throughout this series:

Kyle Frey (Event 16 Winner)

Joshua Templeton (Event 16 Runner-Up)

Brian O'Donaghue (Event 10 and Event 15 Winner) 

Dan Dizenzo

Mohammed Farrah

Ed Pham

Joe Commisso

Matt Affleck

Vinny Pahuja (Event 17 Winner)

In The MIXX

The team from the World Poker Tour in just arriving, and the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship begins tomorrow (Sunday).

The Borgata would like a chance to welcome everyone in town to play in Event 23 ($3,500 Championship), and we are extending entrants the invite to our welcome party at MIXX.

On Sunday, September 16th, all players who have bought into Event 23 ($3,500 Championship) Day 1A - (and already bought into Day 1B on Monday), are invited to Mixx.

Please bring a valid tournament receipt (white copy), and you (plus 1 guest) will receive complimentary admission into MIXX.

Event 22: Saturday's Six Max

$1,000 + 90 Six Max No Limit Hold'em

The six max format is back in the Event Center, only this time the buy-in is bigger.  Players are filing in right now for the 11:00 am start.

This Saturday also offers players who don't want to buy directly into WPT Borgata Poker Open Chamionship a few different options.  Event 44 is our $350 + 50 qualifier where approximately 1 in 10 entrants will gain a seat.   Event 45 (3:00 pm) carries a $700 + 50 option, and that will bring approximately 1 in 5 entrants the chance to play in the championship.

Event 20 Table Assignments

Borgata Poker Open
Event 20: $1000 + $90 + $500 Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em

Entries:  248
Total Buy-In:  $248,000

Players Remaining: 27
Average Chip Stack:  165,000

START OF DAY 2 TABLE ASSIGNMENTS & CHIP COUNTS

T1 | S1:  THOMAS MORGENSTERN (CROSSWICKS, NJ):  251,000

T1 | S2:  JEAN GASPARD (EVANSTON, IL):  78,800

T1 | S3:  GARY SCHOENGOLD (OLNEY, MD):  301,800

T1 | S4:  TERRY GRIMES (NEW ROCHELLE, NY):  359,400

T1 | S5:  SHAWN BUSSE (MAASAPEQUA, NY):  350,600

T1 | S6:  RAY SHACKELFORD (FREDERICKSBURG, VA):  126,800

T1 | S7:  JESSE ALEXIS COHEN (ARDMORE, PA):  32,200

T1 | S8:  STEVEN RUSSELL (COOLVILLE, OH):  68,700

T1 | S9:  JOSEPH DEGEORGE (BRANCHPORT, NY):  178,000

T2 | S1:  MATTHEW ODONNELL (LUTZ, FL):  41,300

T2 | S2:  CHUN CHEN (SEATTLE, WA):  24,700

T2 | S3:  JOSEPH GIBBONS (TARPON SPRINGS, FL):  172,700

T2 | S4:  MICHAEL BROWN (CORBYVILLE, CAN):  373,800

T2 | S5:  CARMELO PUGLIESE (KENILWORTH, NJ):  59,700

T2 | S6:  MARUTI YARLAPATI (PARSIPPANY, NJ):  425,500

T2 | S7:  AARON MASSEY (ELMWOOD PARK, IL):  365,300

T2 | S8:  DEREK GREGORY (MADISON, WI):  170,600

T2 | S9:  THOMAS WILLIAMS (WILMINGTON, NC):  249,100

T3 | S1:  JOSEPH CAPPELLO (NEW ROCHELLE, NY):  24,700

T3 | S2:  MATTHEW GAMBINO (WEST BABYLON, NY):  95,200

T3 | S3:  HARRISON GIMBEL (JUPITUR, FL):  156,900

T3 | S4:  NICK BLACKBURN (LONG BOTTOM, OH):  109,800

T3 | S5:  DAVID STEFANSKI (EAST LYME, CT):  162,600

T3 | S6:  KEN FISHMAN (LUTZ, FL):  142,500

T3 | S7:  MANH NGUYEN (MUNHALL, PA):  316,600

T3 | S8:  DARWIN VALDEZ (BROOKLYN, NY):  229,200

T3 | S9:  STEVEN DANNENMANN (SEVERN, MD):  111,300

Saturday, September 14

TODAY'S EVENTS (EVENT CENTER)

11AM: Event 22 - $1000 + $90 + $500 Six Max NLH (Re-Entry)

• Players start with 15,000 in tournament chips 
• Levels 1-15: will last 40 minutes each | Levels 16+: will last 60 minutes each
• Players may Re-Enter through Level 4
• 2-Day event | Day 2 begins Sunday at 1PM 

12 PM: Event 44 - $350 + $50 Championship Qualifier No Limit Hold'em

• Players start with 12,000 in tournament chips 
• Levels 1-15: will last 25 minutes each | Levels 16+: will last 30 minutes each
• Approximately 1 in 10 will win entry into WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship (Sep 16-21)
• 1-Day event

3 PM: Event 45 - $700 + $50 Championship Qualifier No Limit Hold'em

• Players start with 15,000 in tournament chips 
• Levels 1-15: will last 30 minutes each | Levels 16+: will last 40 minutes each
• Approximately 1 in 5 will win entry into WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship (Sep 16-21)
• 1-Day event

7 PM: Event 46 - $150 + $30 + $50 Double Green Chip Bounty NLH (Re-Entry)

• Players start with 12,000 in tournament chips 
• This is a Bounty tournament. Players must have their Bounty chip clearly displayed on the table to remain active in the tournament. 
• Levels will last 20 minutes each 
• Players may Re-Enter through Level 6
• 1-Day event

Recap Event 21

 $260+40+100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold 'Em

In a true grindout heads-up, Joseph Agron defeated former Borgata series champion Cuong Phung to take down Event 21 and $19,138.

The table started off with a bang as Larry O'Halloran and Nicolas Alafogiannis were knocked out on a four-way hand by Agron and at the same time took a chunk out of R.J Wright's hand.  Joseph never looked back.

Back to back shaky calls from Ruslan Dykshteyn sent most of his stack over to Agron who held aces and flopped trips and then sent Ruslan packing the next hand.  And then to follow it up, Agron had aces again to quickly eliminate Ed Rappa in 4th place.

Nissin Benjamin, who had only 30,000 chips to start the final table battled his way back to third but got blasted out of the tournament by Cuong Phung's flopped quad fours ending his comeback bid.

The heads up was a true grind as Phung had gotten a two-to-one lead on Agron but he slowly worked his way back and then won a critical hand on a J-6-4-10-7 board which put him up three-to-two.  Agron told us he was holding 3-5 and caught a straight on the river while Phung had J-10 for top two but was able to lay it down.  Agron built his lead even more when he hit trip 9's with Phung holding 10's.

Tens turned out to be the winner as they held against Phung's AQ and at 5:30 am, Borgata had a new champion.  Agron told us he felt he had to a take a slow and delibarate style because he felt Phung "was the better heads-up player" and he felt "phenominal" after the victory.  Agron also picked off 11 bounties plus kept his own on the way to the title.

Congratulations to Joseph Agron - Event 21 Champion!

Final Table Results

1st - Joseph Agron - Langhorne, PA - $19,138
2nd - Cuong Phung - Atlantic City, NJ - $11,277
3rd - Nissin Benjamin (Brooklyn, NY) - $6,493
4th - Ed Rappa (Fort Lauderdale, FL) - $5,263
5th - Ruslan Dykshteyn (Brooklyn, NY) $4,101
6th - Howard Wolper (Atlantic City, NJ) - $3,417
7th - R.J. Wright (Toms River, NJ) - $2,734
8th - Scott Kilcullen (Ocean Township, NJ) - $2,050
9th - Larry O'Halloran (Colonia, NJ) - $1,367
10th - Nicolas Alafogiannis (Toronto, ONT, CAN) - $889

Event 21: 1st Place - Agron

$260+40+100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold 'Em

 1st Place - Joseph Argon - Lanhorne, PA - $19,138

Event 21: 2nd Place - Phung

$260+40+100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold 'Em

2nd Place - Cuong Phung (Atlantic City, NJ) - $11,277

Event 21: Place - Benjamin

$260+40+100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold 'Em

3rd Place - Nissim Benjamin (Brooklyn, NY) - $6,493

The Cinderalla for the man who started this final table with only 30,000 chips came to a crashing halt.  Going in with Q2 suited against Cuong Phong's 4's.  Phong flopped quads and Benjamin, who doesn't have a room for the night, leaves the Borgata at 4 AM with $6,493.

Event 21: Chip Counts

$260+40+100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold 'Em

The players hit a break and with the back to back eliminations holding aces, Joseph Agron has soared into the chip lead.

Joseph Agron - 1.95 million
Cuong Phung - 850,000
Nissim Benjamin - 476,000

Event 21: 4th Place - Rappa

$260+40+100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold 'Em

Ed Rappa (Fort Lauderdale, FL) - $5,263

The Agron Express continues to roll on as Ed Rappa ran into another pair of  Agron's aces.  Rappa hits the rail in 4th place for $5,263

Event 21: 5th Place - Dykshteyn

$260+40+100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold 'Em

5th Place - Ruslan Dykshteyn (Brooklyn, NY) - $4,101

Dykshteyn may not want to see Joseph Agron again anytime soon.  Agron crippled Ruslan when Ruslan called his all-in with an A10 for a pair of aces but Agron just happened to have two of them for set of Aces and left Dykshteyn on life support.  One hand later, Agron ended Rulsan's tourney in 5th place for $4,101.

Event 21: Argon Catches Dykshteyn

$260+40+100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold 'Em

John Agron had to be happy to hear those two little words.

Ruslan Dykshteyn decided to push his stack holding a 9 on a Q9Q board and see if Argon had the queen.

He did.

Argon doubles up and the chips are now spread around the table with the exception of Cuong Phung who is now the overwhelming chip leader with five players left holding over 700k.

Event 20: End of Day One

$1000 + $90 + $500 Purple Chip Bounty NLH (Re-Entry)   

With a short-stack all-in against Aaron Massey, who held 53, a 3 hit the board to give Aaron the pot and burst the money bubble.

The final 27 players are bagging their chips for the night.  Average stack is 184,700.

Maruti Yarlapati (file photo)

Maruti Yarlapati (Pine Brook, NJ) leads with 425,500.

Mike Brown (Ontario, Canada) is second with 373,800.

Other Big Stacks:
Aaron Massey - 365,300
Terry Grimes - 359,400
Shawn Busse - 350,600
Manh Nguyen - 316,000

Complete list of chip counts and day two seat assignments will be posted in the blog later this morning.

Day two play begins at 1pm Saturday. 

53 minutes remain in level 15, blinds 1,500/3,000 with 400 ante.