Friday, September 21, 2012

Event 27: Coming Up Small

$170 + 30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry

Blinds 12k/24k/3k

Kerry Small (Ventnor, NJ) moves all in for 190k and Daniel Yoo (Palisades Park, NJ) isolates from the BB by moving all in as well.  Alex Rumbaugh (Tacoma Park, MD), who called from the cutoff (but was really trying to raise), is forced to fold.

Yoo dominates Small with AJ vs A6 and hits a jack on the turn to win with a pair of jacks.

Small is out in 15th place for $526.

Event 27: 16th-18th Places ($447)

$170 + 30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry

Position-Name

16 Chuck Spero (Netcong, NJ)
17 Mark Dikker (Morganville, NJ)
18 Mark Kaganovsky (Brooklyn, NY)

WPT BPO: Champion - Hamnett

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Ben Hamnett (Pittsburgh, PA)
$818,847

When the final hand was played, Ben Hamnett held all 35 million chips in play.  After five long days, he is the newest member of the WPT Champions Club.

Ben has been playing poker professionally for seven years now, but his biggest tournament cash before today was for almost $40k in the WSOP main event this summer.

He said if he won this tournament, he wanted to use the money to start a film production company, so now he can make that dream come true.

WPT BPO: 2nd Place - Burnitz

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Matthew Burnitz (Bear, DE)
$488,850

Blinds increased to 250k/500k with 75k ante.

On the first hand of the new level, Matthew Burnitz opened for 1.05 million.

Ben Hamnett announced he was all-in.

Matthew called all-in.

Ben was ahead with KQ off.

Matthew had JT suited.

The board fell Q 8 2 3 5 and it is over!

Ben Hamnett takes the pot with a pair of Queens.

Matthew Burnitz finished in 2nd place, earning $488,850.

Matthew is an IT Engineer and semi-professional poker player, who actually entered this event twice because he busted out during the re-entry period.  He began this final table as the chip leader, but came up just short of the win.

Event 27: 18 Player Redraw

$170 + 30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry

Table1

Seat-Name

1 Mark Kaganovsky (Brooklyn, NY)
2 Chuck Spero (Netcong, NJ)
3 Jim Freebody (Middle Island, NY)
4 Tony Bruschi (Atlantic City, NJ)
5 Chris Zaffuto (Hoboken, NJ)
6 Lenny Green (Huntingdon Valley, PA)
7 Ed Cybulski (Laurel Springs, NJ)
8 Andrew Interdonato (Washington, DC)
9 Mike Harmeson (Philadelphia, PA)

Table 2


Seat-Name

1 Alex Rumbaugh (Tacoma Park, MD)
2 Angelo Wedra (Palisades Park, NJ)
3 Kerry Small (Ventnor, NJ)
4 Daniel Yoo (Palisades Park, NJ)
5 John Shul (Morris Planes, NJ)
6 Jane Mignanelli (Franklin Square, NY)
7 Mark Dikker (Morganville, NJ)
8 Daryl Boatwright (Deptford, NJ)
9 Eric Rivkin (New York, NY)

WPT BPO: Hamnett Cruising

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Ben Hamnett raised and Matthew Burnitz called.

On the flop of K J J, Ben bet 675k.  Matthew raised to 1.5 million.  Ben Hamnett moved all in.

Matthew surrendered.

Ben is up to 31 million.  Matt's down to 4 million.

Event 27: Player Down, Down to 2 Tables

$170 + 30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry

Angelo Wedra (Palisades Park, NJ) uses pocket aces to eliminate Hans Anderson (Converse, TX) in 19th place for a $395 payday.

The final 18 players a redrawing for seats on the final two tables.

WPT BPO: Shifting Chips

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Blinds 200/400 with 50 ante.

Ben Hamnett completed the small blind, then Matthew Burnitz raised to 600k.  Ben called.

On the flop of A 9 5, both checked.

Turn was an 8.  Matthew fired 950k.  Ben called.

River was a 4.  Matthew bet 1.725 million.  Ben called, showing K8 to take the pot.  Matthew mucked.

Ben's up to ~25 million.


A few hands later, Ben took another pot at showdown, chipping up to over 28 million.

Matthew was left with ~7 million.

Event 27: Finally Some Action

$170 + 30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry

After folding a lot of hands, chip leader Andrew Interdonato (Washington, D.C.) gets into a big pot on the last hand before break.

Blinds 6k/12k/2k ante

Mark Kaganovsky (Brooklyn, NY) raises to 40k and Interdonato calls before Mike Nguyen (Atlantic City, NJ) moves all in for 136k.  Kaganovsky calls, as does Interdonato.

Interdonato and Kaganovsky both check the flop of J 2 3, and again when a 6 hits the turn. The river is a king and Kaganovsky checks before Interdonato moves all in and has his opponent's remaining 125k covered.

Kaganovsky reluctantly folds and Interdonato shows AK for a pair of kings to beat Nguyen's pocket 4s to scoop a 400k chip pot and take him over 1 million chip mark.

Players are on a ten minute break as blinds are moving up to 8k/16k/2k ante.

WPT BPO: Swapping Pots

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

After the final two traded walks, Matthew Burnitz opened for 650k on the button.

Ben Hamnett raised to 1.625 million. 

After about a minute in the tank, Matthew let it go.


Ben Hamnett opened for 600k on the button.  Matthew raised to 1.3 million.  Ben called.

Flop was J 5 2.  Matthew checked, Ben bet 750k, and Matthew called.

Turn was a 9.  Both checked.

River was a 3.  Matthew fired 1.65 million.  After some thought, Ben called.

Matthew showed KQ for King-high.  Ben showed 75 off for a pair of 5s to take the pot.

Event 27: Interdonato Leads

$170 + 30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry

Interdonato Folds Again

As eliminations slow to a crawl, we find Borgata regular Andrew Interdonato (Washington, D.C.) with 750k and the chip lead.  He hasn't played a lot of hands and literally thanks the dealer for dealing him "black jack" hands.

8-3, 7-4, 9-2 are all good double-down hands when trying to make 21, but are lousy starting hands in poker.  "I'm being serious," Interdonato says to the dealer, "they keep me out of trouble," as he folds again.

WPT BPO: First Heads-Up Flop

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

On the fifth hand of heads-up, we saw the first flop in a limped pot.

It was A 6 5 rainbow and Ben Hamnett checked.

Matthew Burnitz bet 375k.  Ben raised to 1 million.  Matthew called.

Turn was an 8.  Ben checked.  Matthew fired 1.675 million.  After some thought, Ben let it go.

WPT BPO: Heads-Up Underway

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Still in  Level 36:  Blinds 150k/300k with 50k ante.

Heads-up play is underway.

Ben Hamnett has slightly more than a 2:1 chip lead over Matt Burnitz. 

Event 27: Payouts


$170 + 30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry

Entries: 319
Total Buy-In: $63,800

Place - Amount

1st $14,196
2nd $7,890
3rd $4,892
4th $3,945
5th $3,051
6th $2,578
7th $2,078
8th $1,552
9th $1,052
10-12 $684
13-15 $526
16-18 $447
19-27 $395
28-36 $316

WPT BPO: Heads Up Chip Counts

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

There was a delay as the set was prepared for heads-up play and the money presentation was filmed.

Here are the chip counts before the start of heads-up play:

Ben Hamnett - 24.075
Matthew Burnitz - 11.375

Play should resume shortly.

Event 27: 28th-36th Places ($316)

$170 + 30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry

Position-Name

28 Matthew Urick (Oaklyn, NJ)
29 Tony Mignanelli (Franklin Square, NY)
30 Dennis Capriglione (Atlantic City, NJ)
31 Frank Adair (Virginia Beach, VA)
32 Brian Kruyd (Boonton, NJ)
33 Chi Ching Sun (Merrick, NY)
34 John Panzarella (Germantown, MD)
35 Paul Vacchio (Inwood, NY)
36 Jorge Rivera Carrero (Galloway, NJ)

WPT BPO: 3rd Place - Patterson

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Tyler Patterson (Everett, WA)
$298,950

After Ben Hamnett raised on the button, Tyler Patterson shoved from the small blind.

Matthew Burnitz folded the big blind and Ben checked into the tank for an extended stay.

A few minutes later, he decided to call, showing A4.

Tyler was ahead with A6.

The board fell J 5 2 4 K and Ben paired his kicker on the turn to take the pot.

Tyler Patterson busted out in 3rd place, earning $298,950.

The 29-year-old family man calls himself a professional gambler for the last 8 years.

Event 27: Bubble Breaks

$170 + 30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry

It only takes three hands for the bubble to break shortly after the dinner break.  Jorge Rivera Carrero (Galloway, NJ) is all in for 100k and Daryl Boatwright (Deptford, NJ) calls from his 400k stack.

Carrero has KK against J 10 and Boatright goes runner-runner for the winning trip jacks.

"It's a bad beat, what are you going to do," says Carrero, who is the first player to hit the money, finishing 36th for $316.

WPT BPO: Massive Pot, No Showdown

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Level 36:  Blinds 150k/300k with 50k ante.

Matthew Burnitz completed the small blind and Tyler Patterson checked his option in the big.

On the flop of 8 5 4, Matthew checked, Ben bet 475k, Matthew raised to 1.3 million, and Ben called.

Turn was a 6.  Matthew checked, Ben bet 1.675 million.  Matthew raised to 4 million.  Ben called.

River was another 8.  Matthew checked again.  Ben shoved.  Matthew let it go.

Ben chipped up to over 21 million.  Matthew dropped to ~10 million.

WPT BPO: Color Up Break

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Another level is done and players are on break while the blue 5k chips are colored up.

Chip counts, courtesy of the WPT (in millions):

Matthew Burnitz - 16.645
Ben Hamnett - 15.540
Tyler Patterson - 3.265

WPT BPO: 4th Place - Mor

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Ofir Mor (Woodmere, NY)
$250,065

After Matthew Burnitz opened Ofir Mor shoved from the small blind.  Tyler Patterson then shoved from the big blind.

Matthew got out of the way.

Tyler rolled over pocket Kings.  Ofir had pocket 9s.

The board ran out A 3 2 J 4 and Tyler's Kings were good for the double-up to almost 7 million.

Ofir was left with only 225k.

Ofir mucked the next hand, but then put his last chips in on the next, which was less than the big blind. 

The button and both blinds called and checked to the river as the board came K Q T 4 5 (with three diamonds). 

On the river, Tyler (button) bet 400k, folding the other two.  He rolled over A6 of diamonds for the nut flush.  Everyone mucked, including Ofir, and Tyler scooped both pots.

Ofir Mor finished in 4th place, earning $250,065.

He's probably suffering a little deja vu.  He was at the final table of this same event two years ago, but finished 3rd for $266k.  He came close to that amount today with his 4th place finish.

WPT BPO: 5th Place - Brecher

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Steve Brecher (Reno, NV)
$206,821

Steve Brecher completed the small blind, then Ben Hamnett raised from the big.

Steve called and the flop came 9♦8♣7♦.

Steve checked.  Ben bet 565k.  Steve shoved.  Ben called.

Steve had T♥9♠ for top pair with open-ender.  Ben had K♦T♦ for the same open-ended straight-draw along with a flush draw and overcard.

Turn was the 8♦, giving Ben the flush.  Steve needed to boat up on the river to survive, but the river washed up the A♣.  Ben chipped up to over 15 million.

Steve Brecher finished in 5th place, earning $206,821.


Steve has been a tournament pro for 9 years now.  He won his WPT title in 2009 in the Bay 101 Shooting Star event.

Event 27: Dinner...Then Bubble

$170 + 30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry

Players are currently on dinner break, and when they return it will be the money bubble time.  46 players remain, with 37 getting paid.

WPT BPO: Shifting Chips

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Tyler Patterson clawed his way back to almost 4 million chips with pre-flop raises that got no callers.


Ofir Mor opened and got a call from Matt Burnitz in the big blind.

The flop was 8 6 2 rainbow.  Matt checked, Ofir bet 550k, and Matt called.

Turn was another 6.  Both checked.

River was another 6.  Both checked.

Matt showed A7 off and took the pot with Ace-high (Ofir mucked).

WPT BPO: Brecher Doubles thru Patterson

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

 Tyler Patterson opened for 575k and Steve Brecher shoved from the small blind.

Tyler looked him up with AK off.  Steve had pocket Queens and the lead.

The board came 9 4 3 8 5 and Steve doubled up to ~6.1 million.  Tyler's stack was cut to just under 3 million.


Tyler shoved on the next hand, but got no callers.   He picked up 510k in dead money.