Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Event 25: $230 Tournament - 65 Left

$200 + $30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

As expected, the bustouts have been fast and furious since the bubble broke.  65 players remain with an average stack of 425k (18 BB) as blinds are 12k/24k/3k ante.  Familiar faces still in the field include:

Nancy Martin
Mike Shasho
Rick "Rocket" Petroy
Neville Darrell
Patricia Barsanti-Chou
Alik Sitnyakovsky
Kim Sachse

WPT BPO: Diaz Busts Andrews

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Andrews Moves All In

Cherish Andrews (St. Thomas, PA) moves her last 300k all in with A 10 and says, "that's a nice hand," when David Diaz (Bartlett, TN) turns over pocket kings.

The board is no help and Andrews is out in 45th place.

WPT BPO: 46th-54th Places ($10,905)

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

46. Pejman Niyati (Plano, TX)
47. Matthew O'Donnell (Lutz, FL)
48. Arthur Loring (West Palm Beach, FL)
49. Shawn Cunix (Delaware, OH)
50. Bruce Yamron (Naples, FL)
51. Irving Lorenzo (New Rochelle, NY)
52. Walter English (Washington, DC)
53. Darryl Ronconi (Naperville, IL)
54. Chris McCormack (Syosset, NY)

WPT BPO: Cunix Doubles Through Paradis

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Shawn Cunix (Delaware, OH) is all in with A♠ 10♠ vs the A A♣ of Maurise Paradis (Jewett City, CT).

Cunix hits the nut flush to double his 180k, while Paradis drops to 300k.

47 players remain with an average stack of 754k (47 BB) as blinds continue at 8k/16k/2k ante.

WPT BPO: Childs Doubles Through Mor

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Mor (left) Watches Childs Count Down his Stack

Lee Childs (Alexandria, VA) moves all in with A J for his last 216k and is called by Ofir Mor (Woodmere, NY) who is a big stack with pocket 7s.

Childs flops a jack and gets the double up while Mor drops to 800k.

WPT BPO: Back in Action

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

The 52 remaining players are back from break with an average stack of 681k (43 BB). Blinds are now 8k/16k/2k as play continue tonight until 27 players remain.

WPT BPO: 55-63rd Places - $9,589

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championships NLH

55. John Spadavecchia (Morresville, NC)
56. Kyle Frey (Milford, CT)
57. Jong Man Kim (Silver Spring, MD)
58. Mohammad Siddiqui (Pembroke Pine, FL)
59. Shahriar Assareh (Landowne, VA)
60. Robert Nicotra (Weehawkin, NJ)
61. Joshua Mancuso (Mandeville, LA)
62. Thomas Hoglund (New Bedford, MA)
63. James St. Hilaire (Glen Burnie, MD)

WPT BPO: 64-69th Places - $8,762

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

64. Tony Dunst (Las Vegas, NV)
65. Alexander Queen (Bethlehem, PA)
66. David MacDonald (Calgary, CA)
67. Brian Lemke (Norristown, PA)
68. Carlos Alvarado (Freeport, NY)
69. Brandon Vargas (Malverne, NY)

WPT BPO: Killer Table

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Table 4 is one of of our featured tabled and it has a lot of chips.  Jeremy Brown, who finished runner-up to Olivier Busquet in the 2009 Borgata Poker Open, is second overall with 1.6 million.

Ofir Mor, who was third to Dwyte Pilgrim in 2010, is also at the table which also includes Jean Max Gaspard and Mike Zat, both in the top 10, and Lee Childs.

Seat-Name-Chip Counts

1-Jean Max Gaspard 1.2 million
2-Mike Zats 1.3 million
3-Ofir Mor 1 million
4-Lee Childs 300k
8-Jeremy Brown 1.6 million

Event 25: $230 Bubble Breaks

$200 + $30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)          

The bubble breaks and the 110 players are guaranteed $403 as they chase the $46,650 top prize.

The average stack is 251k and the big stacks are north of 400k including:

  Neville Darrelle (Sarasota, FL)

Juda Gabay (New York, New York)

WPT BPO: Mother Knows Best

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Jamie Kestetter and Mrs. Kerstetter (Mom)

Can there be a better rail than Mom?  I don't think Jamie Kerstetter thinks so, as her Mom came to see how she was doing.  Jamie is one of three women left in the event (Cherish Andrews and Helen Ellis).

WPT BPO: Rich Get Richer

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Open Poker Championship NLH

Brian Lemke opened the pot from the cutoff to 25,000, and Patrick Eskandar then called out of the small blind.  Carlos Alvarado (Freeport, NY) then went all-in out of the big blind for 300,000.  It was Lemke's turn to act and he called the 300,000 (leaving 160,000 behind).  Eskandar then went all-in, and Lemke was left to call with some much of his chips in the pot.  We had a three way all-in, with Eskandar (chip leader) covering both:

Lemke: 8 8            Eskandar: As Ad            Alvarado: Ah Kc

Flop: Qs 5c Ac

Turn: 4d

River: 4h

Eskandar would win the monstrous pot and watch as his stack goes over the 2 million chip mark (2.3 million).  Alvarado would go home in 68th ($8,762), while Lemke takes home the same money for 67th.

WPT BPO: Back In The Act

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Players are back from dinner, and they are playing Level 22 with blinds at 6,000/12,000/1,000.  There are 69 players remaining with a chip average of 515,000.

WPT BPO: Payout Reminder

$200 + $30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)    

Here's a reminder of what's still at stake:

Payouts:

  1. $818,847
  2. $488,850
  3. $298,950
  4. $250,065
  5. $206,821
  6. $167,337
  7. $131,613
  8. $97,770
  9. $69,003
10-12. $44,937
13-15. $30,083
16-18. $20,118
19-27. $16,922
28-36. $14,665
37-45. $12,785
46-54. $10,905
55-63. $9,589
64-69. $8,762

WPT BPO: Dinner Tweets

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH


Event 25: Payouts

$200 + $30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)    

Entries:  1,104
Total Buy-In:  $220,800

Place - Amount

1.                         $46,650
2.                         $27,843
3.                         $17,027
4.                         $14,243
5.                         $11,780
6.                         $9,531
7.                         $7,496
8.                         $5,569
9.                         $3,930
10 - 12.                $2,559
13 - 15.                $1,713
16 - 18.                $1,146
19 - 27.                $964
28 - 36.                $835
37 - 45.                $728
46 - 54.                $621
55 -63.                 $546
64 - 72.                $499
73 - 81.                $460
82 - 90.                $424
91 - 100.              $413
101 - 110.            $403

Event 25: Dinner Break Numbers


$200 + $30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)   

Number of Entries:  1,104

Players Remaining:  170

Chips in Play:  27.625 million

Average Stack:  163k (16 BB)

Next Blinds: 5k/10k, 1k ante

Total Buy-In:  $220,800

First Prize:  $46,650

Places Paid: 110

Play Resumes: 8:40 pm.

WPT BPO: 70-72nd Places - $8,762

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Just before the dinner break, three more players reported to the rail.

72nd - Tom Thomas (Shelton, CT)
71st - Vitaly Kovyazin (Brooklyn, NY)

Joe Brooks (Egg Harbor Twp, NJ) got his chips in good with pocket Kings against pocket 7s, but a 7 fell on the turn.

Joe busted out in 70th place.

All three of these players earned $8,762.

69 players took off for the dinner break.  Average stack is 513k.

WPT BPO: Dinner Break

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Players are on dinner break for 75 minutes and will return at 8:50 pm.

WPT BPO: Mounds Of Chips

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Lemke, Siddiqui, Eskandar

Flop: 10c 6h Kh

Patrick Eskandar opened the pot for 24,000 and was called behind by Brian Lemke.  The action was then to Mohammad Siddiqui (Pembroke Pines, FL) who three bet to 75,000.  Both Eskandar and Lemke called behind.

Turn: 8h

Lemke checked and Siddiqui fired out a bet of 135,000.  Eskandar called and Lemke folded afterwards.

River: Qd

Siddiqui acted quickly while putting out a bet of 305,000, and Eskandar was agonizing over his decision.  He was left with only 190,000 if he folded, and took about four minutes taking his decision.  Eskandat finally decided to call and showed his A K before Siddiqui could do anything.  Mohammad's cards went in the muck and Eskandar became the chip leader in the tournament.


WPt BPO: 73-81st Place - $8,085

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

73.  Orson Young (Oceanport, NJ)
74.  Scott Zakheim (Davie, FL)
75.  Ian Palomo (NewYork, NY)
76.  Joey Couden (Blacklick, OH)
77.  Dennis Frederick (Drexel Hill, PA)
78.  Joshua Templeton (Chattanooga, TN)
79.  David 'the Dragon' Pham (Lakewood, CA)
80.  John Alfera (Arnold, PA)
81.  George Lampert (Naples, FL)

WPT BPO: Templeton Tossed

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Joshua Templeton (Chattanooga, TN) and Kyle Frey (Milford, CT) sat next to each other at table ten all day.  These are the same two players that got to the finals of the Heads-Up tournament and finished second and first, respectively.

When table ten broke, they got new seats -- right next to each other at table four, just reversing positions.

It looked like these two would never get away from each other, but Joshua has finally busted out.

He got his last chips in with pocket 5s and ran into pocket Tens.  Joshua has reported to the rail.

WPT BPO: 82-90th Places - $7,446

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

82. Yaacov Haviv (Flushing, NY)
83. Matthew Leon (Virginia Beach, VA)
84. Alek Givotovsky (New York, NY)
85. Simon Verkhovsky (Ramsey, NJ)
86. Francis Vizza (Cold Spring Harbor, NY)
87. Robbie Renehan (Dublin, Ire)
88. Brian Munshower (Apollo, PA)
89. Peter Ippolito (East Meadow, NY)
90. Jess Yawitz (St. Louis, MO)

WPT BPO: Watermelon Entered

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

From here on out you may see pictures of players with all different chip denomination and colors.  Everything has been the same until the last color up break when the 25,000 denomination (watermelon colored) chip was added to the mix.

Event 25: 225 Remain

$200 + $30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)   

Level 16:  Blinds 2,500/5,000 with 500 ante.

225 players remain.  Average stack is 123k.

WPT BPO: Break Time

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Justin Zaki (Tierra Verde, FL) got his chips in good with pocket 9s and was racing against AK.

The ubiquitous Ace on the river sent Justin to the rail in 93rd place ($7,258).

Cherish Andrews busted Jesse Cohen in 91st place ($7,258) when her KQ outran his A9.

End of level and they're taking a 15 minute color-up break.

88 players remain.  Average stack is 403k.

WPT BPO: 91-100th Places - $7,258

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

91. Jesse Alexis Cohen (Ardmore, PA)
92. Shawn Busse (Maasapequa, NY)
93. Justin Zaki (Tierra Verde, FL)
94. Benjamin Sage (Brooklyn, NY)
95. Edward Shade (Hurricane, WV)
96. Ho Van Nguyen (Pasadena, MD)
97. Alan Kraut (Doylsetown, PA)
98. Steven Saklad (Hartsdale, NY)
99. Meikat Sui (New York, NY)
100. Kurt Jewell (Frankfurt, KY)

WPT BPO: Just One Of Us

$3,300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

There are tons of players throughout Borgata Poker Open events that play poker for a living, and others that just consider it a recreational hobby.  We've had a chance to sit down with some well known pros, as well as the chip leader going into the WSOP Main Event final table.  I wanted to sit down with with someone that plays well and has results, but that everyone may not know.

Alan Kraut (Doylestown, PA) was nice enough to sit down with me and discuss his situation, and I found out some really interesting things.  With ~130 players remaining Kraut was still alive in the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship, and sat just below chip average.

Alan played a less than average stack miraculously throughout the latter stages of the championship event, and sat 50,000 below average when players made the money.  Unfortunately Kraut got extremely unlucky just moments ago as he had a chance to win a 270,000 pot with A A all-in pre-flop against As Js.

He couldn't recover from that hand an finished the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship in 97th place for $7,258.



WPT BPO: Queens Everywhere

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Vinny Pahuja doubled up with pocket Jacks over pocket 9s.  He's up to ~500k.

Alex Queen's AK lost a race to pocket Queens.  He's down to ~155k.

Cherish Andrews' pocket Queens were good for a double-up against AK.  She's up to ~400k.

Josh Templeton's AK lost a race to pocket Queens.  He's down to ~145k.

Then Josh lost a race with pocket 8s to QJ, dopping to ~80k.

Borgata Poker Open Leaderboard Update (9/19)

Borgata Poker Open Leaderboard
By participating in any Borgata Poker Open event (September 5-21, 2012), players earn points based upon the Borgata Poker Tournament Leaderboard Formula.

Below are the top scores for the 2012 Borgata Poker Open Leaderboard*
(Final Results from Main events: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24
Qualifiers and Secondary events: 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)

617.250:  BRIAN ODONOGHUE
518.800:  BENEDETTO BIANCO
511.208:  MICHAEL HOLM
479.520:  JOHN HINDS
436.148:  CHII CHING SUN
406.900:  CHRISTOPHER GROVE
388.138:  VINEET PAHUJA
372.650:  GHEORGHE GRADINARU
370.338:  FRANK INGARDIA
366.238:  SAAD GHANEM
352.763:  POFUK YING
349.123:  JOHN DELROSSI
339.453:  THOMAS HOGLUND
337.700:  DANIEL WACH
336.175:  ERIC BALDWIN
332.663:  IVERSON SNUFFER
328.250:  KENNY NGUYEN
324.688:  STEPHEN COWAP
320.963:  NICK BLACKBURN
319.588:  ELLIOTT ZAYDMAN
318.288:  JULIE CORNELIUS
313.588:  XINYI WANG
312.200:  MARTIN MATRANCA
311.750:  ALEXANDER ROCHA
308.288:  MARGUERITE SPAGNUOLO
307.570:  JACOB FERRO
306.613:  CHUN CHEN

WPT BPO: 101-110th Places - $7,070

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

101. Marek Uharcek (Velky Meder, Slovakia)
102. Nicholas Manfredo (Levittown, NY)
103. Wendy Freedman (Las Vegas, NV)
104. Dana Kellstrom (Stevenson Ranch, CA)
105. Aaron Overton (Philadelphia, PA)
106. Jeffrey Kaplan (Dix Hills, NY)
107. Jay Meyerwitz (Fort Lee, NJ)
108. Ardavan Yazdi (Los Angeles, CA)
109. Dwyte Pilgrim (Brooklyn, NY)
110. David Kim (Flushing, NY)

WPT BPO: New Chip Leader

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Now the bustouts are coming fast.

2010 WPT Borgata Poker Open Champion Dwyte Pilgrim (Brooklyn, NY) has busted out in 109th place ($7,070).

Michael Hickman

Dana Kellstrom (Stevenson Ranch, CA) was all-in with pocket Jacks against the big stack of Michael Hickman (Media, PA) who had AJ.

The board fell A T 2 3 T and Michael took the pot with Aces-up.

Dana took 104th place and $7,070.

Michael Hickman is the new chip leader with over 1.2 million.

WPT BPO: Back From Break

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Once the bubble burst, players were sent off on a 15 minute break.  They've returned to new blinds.

Level 20:  Blinds 4k/8k with 500 ante.

110 players remain.  Average stack is 322k.

Event 25: Chip Leader

$200 + $30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

At the end of level 13, they took an extended break to move the overflow tables up from the poker room.

We'll finally be able to determine the size of the remaining field.

Unofficially, there were 1,104 entries, putting 27.625 million chips in play.

Bradley McFarland

Bradley McFarland (Whitehall, PA) may be the chip leader.  He's currently at 402k, more than 8 times his starting stack.

WPT BPO: Bubble Bursts!! In The Money

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

It was fast and furious once we were hand-for-hand.  Any dealers with players all-in were to announce that so cameras and media could be present.  Right away there was an all-in at Table 1 featuring last years WPT champ Bobby Oboodi (Morris Plains, NJ).  Oboodi was all-in and at risk with 9c 9h against his opponents Ac As.  Oboodi could not find any help and would be out in 112th place.  And as that hand was ending....

There was an all in at Table 6.  Albert Smith (Ithaca, NY) was standing up and asking for his hand to "Hold one time!!"  He was up against Andrew Lee (Asbury Park, NJ):

Smith: Ah Ks               Lee: As Qc

Flop: 7h 7s 4c

Turn: Qh

River: Ad

Albert Smith took being the bubble boy in stride, and was nice enough to do a piece on camera with the WPT:


WPT BPO: Nice Time to Claim the Chip Lead

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

Just as they got to hand for hand play two off the money, we discover that Barry Hutter has claimed the chip lead.

Barry Hutter

He's up to ~1.1 million and ahead of the field.

Just two more to go to reach the money.

WPT BPO: Level Up

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

The tournament director has just announced the level up, so Level 20 has just started with blinds at 4,000/8,000/500.  There are a handful of short stacks doing their best to survive.  Players are currently hand for hand, so each hand will be dealt out once all tables have finished the current hand.

WPT BPO: Bubble Time

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

The most tense time of the tournament is upon us, as 112 players currently remain.  Players were supposed to be on break in one minute, but will be playing until the money before the break will commence.

WPT BPO: New Chip Leader

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Benjamin Hamnett (Pittsburgh, PA)

Not too bad of a day for Benjamin Hamnett (Pittsburgh, PA), who started the day today with 67,000.  Hamnett is now our chip leader with just under 830,000.  This has somehow happened primarily under the radar, but Hamnett can't hind anymore.  

WPT BPO: Cunningham Doubles Up

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

After losing a big pot to Jean 'Prince' Gaspard earlier in the day, Allen Cunningham has extracted his revenge.

Allen was all-in with pocket Kings against Jean's pocket Queens.  The cowboys held up and Allen doubled up to over 750k.

Jean was left with 360k.

13 tables remain  (9 handed) with about 114 players still in the hunt. Average stack is ~311k.

WPT BPO: Gotti Doubles, Banwari Busted

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

When action folded to him on the button, Narendra Banwari (Charlotte, NC) shoved.

Walt English folded his small blind.

Narendra Banwari, Walt English, & Irv Gotti

Then Irv 'Gotti' Lorenzo (New Rochelle, NY) called all-in for 135,500.

Narendra had A5 off.  Irv had pocket Kings.

The board came 8 4 4 Q 2 and Irv doubled up.

Narendra was left short and busted out soon after.

WPT BPO: Marder Busts

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH



Michael Marder (Sewell, NJ) has just been eliminated from the tournament, bringing us even closer to the money bubble.  Marder was our runner-up in the Borgata Summer Poker Open (2012) taking home $110,044.  Marder had been short most of the day, and was really battling to stay afloat.  There are now 120 players remaining, meaning we are ten away from the bubble.

WPT BPO: Folding, Folding

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

On the river with a board of K Q 3 8 3, Vinny Pahuja (Hicksville, NY) checked from the big blind.

Vinny Pahuja

Kyle Bowker (Walton, NY) fired 83k.

Vinny tanked until the clock was called.

Before his time expired, he mucked his hand.

Tony Dunst

On the turn with Q 8 4 4 on the board, Tony Dunst (Las Vegas, NV) bet 36k and after some thought, Orson Young (Oceanport, NJ) called.

River was another Queen, double-pairing the board.  Tony fired a bet and Orson let it go.

WPT BPO: The Hardest Thing To Tweet

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH



WPT BPO: Level 19 Begins

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Open Poker Championship NLH

Level 19 has just started with the blinds going up to 3,000/6,000/500.

WPT BPO: Break Time Tweets

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH



WPT BPO: Paster Pastured

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

Jong Man Kim (Silver Spring, MD) was all-in and ahead with pocket Aces.

Jaston Paster (Hamilton, NJ) held pocket Jacks.

Jong Man Kim & Jason Paster
 
The board came T 5 3 8 9 and the Aces were good.  Kim doubled up.

Jason was left with less than 4k.

On the next hand, after anteing, he was all-in for 3,500.

Both blinds called and checked the flop of J 6 3.

Turn was a Queen and the small blind checked.  Vincent Napolitano (bb) bet and the small blind folded.

Jason showed K9.  Vincent had Q8 for top pair.  Then another Queen fell on the river.

Jason headed out to look for greener pastures. 

WPT BPO: Brikis Bricks Board

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

Josh Brikis (Pittsburgh, PA) was in for his last 122k holding AK.

Ofir Mor

Ofir Mor (Woodmere, NY) had him covered in chips and led with pocket 9s.

The pair held up when the board bricked out and Josh was busted.

Ofir is up to ~480k.  He finished 3rd in this event in 2010, the year that Dwyte Pilgrim won it all.

WPT BPO: Cunningham Trending Upwards

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Allen Cunnigham

Allen Cunningham had been crippled earlier when he lost the hand to "Prince."  Since that hand he has managed to build his stack over chip average.  We walked over during a hand between Cunningham and WPT Parx runner-up Stephen Reynolds.  The hand was on the river with a board of Ac 3c 4s Jd 5c, and Allen had bet out 65,000 after Reynolds had checked.  The pot was about 150,000 and Reynolds was doing all the talking he could to get something out of Cunningham.  Allen stood stone faced and Reynold folded his hand face up, showing A 10.  Allen has over 360,000 now, and on the other end of that spectrum we have just lost John Allan Hinds.

WPT BPO: Meet Joe Brooks

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Joe Brooks opened from the cutoff and John Hinds shoved from the button for ~70k.

 Joe Brooks

Joe looked him up with AK.

John had A9 suited.

Joe's kicker was good and he chipped up to ~360k.  John hit the rail.

Event 25: Break Time Tweets

$200 + $30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

After 8 levels and the end of the re-entry period, players were finally given their first break of the day.  They're now back in action with

Level 9:  Blinds 500/1,000 with 100 ante.

Here are some of their Tweets:

Alik Sitnyakovsky ‏@KingAlikMJstyle
On brake got105K going to 500-1000 just busted 2 players and went from 20K~~>105K #rungoodtimes #Yalla #LFG #MJ23style

Kevin McColgan ‏@Buk101Poker
42k from 25k at first break, about to be 600/1200 100a #turbofun

monro secor ‏@suited4battle
Going to have 16bbs going to 500/1k/100 in borgata 100k guarantee. Lost big pot in a standard spot. Hate listening to ppl complain on break.

Pierre Deissler ‏@PierreDeissler
3rd bullet wpt Borg evt 25. Last AKdd v KK. Flop fd turn str8 miss everything. Here we go. Lol 

WPT BPO: Feel His Payne

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Jerry Payne was all-in with pocket 3s and was racing against Matthew Burnitz' KJ.

Matthew Burnitz

The race was a short one as the flop came K K J, giving Matthew the full boat.

Jerry was left drawing super-slim to running 3s.

The last two fell 2 7 and Jerry hit the road.

Matthew chipped up to ~330k.

WPT BPO: Rail Grows, Field Shrinks

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

The Rail Is Full

As the field is down to 144 players (246,000 chip average), the rail begins to grow.  This is shaping up to be one of the highest profile main events in Borgata's history.  There are too many big names to even name left in the tournament, and the onlookers continue to crowd the rail.  We have just lost one of those bigger names as Matt Glantz was seen taking the walk out of the event center.

WPT BPO: Back From Break

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

After level 19, players took ten and are back on the felt.

They're down to 17 tables (153 players) making the average ~232k.

Orson Young is still the chip leader with about 728k.

WPT BPO: Templeton Doubles

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

After seat 1 opened, Cherish Andrews flatted, seat 5 flatted from the button, then Joshua Templeton (Chattanooga, TN) shoved from the big blind for ~80k.

Joshua Templeton

Seat 1 folded, Cherish called, seat 5 folded, and Joshua said "I'm live" when he saw her pocket Tens.

Joshua rolled over Q4.

The board came Q 8 5 3 J and Joshua more than doubled up.

WPT BPO: First Break Of The Day

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Players are now on their first fifteen minute break of the day, and will be coming back to play 2,500/5,000/400.

WPT BPO: Paster Doubles Up

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Jason Paster (Hamilton, NJ)

Jason Paster (Hamilton, NJ) just doubled through with aces, as he came into the day below chip average.  He has now got his stack above 230,000 (current chip average), and is hoping for another deep run at the Borgata.  Paster managed third place earlier this year in March, in our $1,500 NLH Borgata Deep Stack Double Play Open ($45,211).  

WPT BPO: Manfredo Doubles

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Nick Manfredo (Levittown, NY) was all-in with pocket 9s against Aaron Overton's (Philadelphia, PA) A9 off.

Nick flopped a set, then had to fade a flush draw on the turn.  His set help up and he doubled up.

WPT BPO: Cunningham Crippled

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Jean "Prince" Gaspard

Alan Cunningham was standing at Table 13, and he wasn't eyeing chips that were coming his way.  He was looking to see how much Jean "Prince" Gaspard's all-in would cost him.  The chips got in on the flop, which was 3s 3d 2h.  Gaspard had Kh 3h while Allen had 9s 9c, and Cunningham could not spike a two-outer to save him.  Gaspard would double up to over 380,000, while Cunningham saw his stack shrink to 120,000.


WPT BPO: Aces Good

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

David 'the Dragon' Pham (Lakewood, CA) had pocket Aces and covered James Watkins (Clinton, MD) who was all in with Jacks.

The Aces held up and the Dragon took the pot.  James reported to the rail.


Joe Brooks (Egg Harbor Twp, NJ) was all-in with Aces.

Jess Yawitz (St. Louis, MO) had him covered, but was behind with Queens.

The Aces held up and Joe doubled to ~275k.

WPT BPO: Seth Sacked

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Akash Seth (Port Jefferson Station, NY) was all-in with AK against Jake Toole (Sharon, MA).

Jake had pocket Jacks and flopped a set to take the pot.  After the chips were counted down, Akash was covered and busted.

Jake chipped up to ~190k.

WPT BPO: Day 3 Picture Gallery

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

 Matt Glantz and Borgata's Stan Strickland

 Dwyte Pilgrim

 Joshua Templton and Kyle Frey ($2,000 Heads Up Finalists)

 Cherish Andrews

 Lee Childs

Allen Cunningham

WPT BPO: Greenstein Gone

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

In early action, Barry Greenstein (Racho Palos Verdes, CA) was all-in holding KQ against Josh Mancuso's pocket 9s.

Despite making two pair by the river, it was not enough as Josh had flopped a set of 9s.  Josh took the pot and Barry took a walk.

John Hinds, who is also seated at this table, has yet to arrive and begin play.

WPT BPO: Day 3 Underway In Moments

$3,300 + 200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

The players are currently taking their chips out of the bags, and getting acquainted with their new neighbors.  Players are coming back to Level 17 with blinds at 2,000/4,000/400, and 175 player come back today trying to first make the money.  As a reminder, 110 players are going to make the money in this event, and the plan today is to play down to 27 players.  Orson Young (Oceanport, NJ) comes into the day with the chip lead (728,000), and Barry Hutter (Bradenton, FL) is his nearest competitor with 605,000.

Event 25: Frequent Tournament Fliers

$200 + $30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 4:  Blinds 100/200

I've only been able to scan about half the tables in the Event Center, but have already spotted these frequent fliers:

Robert Melo
Dan Shapiro
Frank Reina
Dan Spirer
Chris Reslock
Cuong Phung
Tony Antonious
Andrew Klein
Mike Lydon
Elliott Zaydman
Mike Dentale
Gheorghe Gradinaru
Pasquale Boffice
Cotton Snuffer
Ted Geier
Leonardo Palermo
Jason 'Gorilla Fish' Evans
Demetrios Georgous
Howard Wolper

Event 25: Kolinar Doubles

$200 + $30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 3:  Blinds 75/150.

This field is going to overflow the event center into extra tables down in the poker room.

John Koliner

John Kolinar (Kings Park, NY) doubled up on the first hand of the day.  He's already up to 50k.

Event 25: Borgata Ladies

$200 + $30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 2:  Blinds 50/100

The Ladies are representing in fine fashion today.  Lots of Borgata regulars and not-so-regular Ladies are playing this event today:

Wendy Rubin
Kelly Armentrout
Nancy Martin
Leanne Rosenblatt
Patricia Barsanti-Chou
Marguerite Spagnuolo
Grace Sun
Lana O'Brien
Julie Anna Cornelius
Abbey Daniels

Event 25: Underway

$200 + $30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 GUARANTEE

Today's other main event is underway and it guarantees total buy-ins of $500,000!

Players began with 25,000 chips (deep stack)  and 20 minute levels.

Level 1:  Blinds 25/50.

Late registration and re-entry will be allowed through level 8.

After registration closes, levels will be 30 minutes long for the duration on the tournament.

This is a one day event, so they'll play all night until a winner is determined.

WPT BPO: Day 3 Table Assignments

WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship
Event 23:  $3,300 + $200 No Limit Hold'em

Entries:  1,181
Total Buy-In:  $3,897,300

Players Remaining: 175
Average Chip Stack: 202,500

START OF DAY 3 TABLE ASSIGNMENTS & CHIP COUNTS
T01 | S01:   CLINTON HOLES (UNIONTOWN ,PA):  47,300
T01 | S02:   SCOTT SCHWALICH (MIAMISBURG ,OH):  235,800
T01 | S03:   BRANDON VARGAS (MALVERNE ,NY):  301,300
T01 | S04:   MICHAEL HICKMAN (MEDIA ,PA):  537,300
T01 | S05:   ARI EIBLUM (ELDERSBURG ,MD):  226,400
T01 | S06:   DAVID WEISBERGER (NEW YORK ,NY):  169,300
T01 | S07:   STEVE RYAN (NEW YORK ,NY):  146,000
T01 | S08:   JOSEPH COUDEN (BLACKLICK ,OH):  158,500
T01 | S09:   BAHBAK OBOODI (MORRIS PLAINS ,NJ):  73,800

T02 | S01:   OSAGYEFO GREENE (CHARLOTTE ,NC):  256,900
T02 | S02:   FRANK FICADENTI (SPRINGFIELD ,VA):  251,300
T02 | S03:   DAVID DUNG PHAM (LAKEWOOD ,CA):  365,000
T02 | S04:   BARRY HUTTER (BRADENTON ,FL):  604,500
T02 | S05:   CHRIS MCCORMACK (SYOSSET ,NY):  40,000
T02 | S06:   TREVOR SAVAGE (THOROFARE ,NJ):  37,900
T02 | S07:   VALERIE FILION (MONTREAL ,CAN):  109,200
T02 | S08:   JAMES WATKINS (CLINTON ,MD):  132,300
T02 | S09:   JEFFREY WILLIAMS (DECATUR ,GA):  198,800

T03 | S01:   ABRAHAM FARONI (PHILADELPHIA ,PA):  253,200
T03 | S02:   SCOTT DEHM (NEW ALBANY ,OH):  172,200
T03 | S03:   MATTHEW ODONNELL (LUTZ ,FL):  299,700
T03 | S04:   JOSEPH COMMISSO (PHILADELPHIA ,PA):  275,200
T03 | S05:   JOSEPH GIBBONS (TARPON SPRINGS ,FL):  124,900
T03 | S06:   DENNIS FREDERICK (DREXEL HILL ,PA):  183,200
T03 | S07:   ANTHONY LAMARRA (CHERRY HILL ,NJ):  172,000
T03 | S08:   CHAD POWER (PITTSBURGH ,PA):  419,000
T03 | S09:   BENJAMIN HAMNETT (PITTSBURGH ,PA):  67,100

T04 | S01:   JOSEPH BROOKS (EGG HARBOR TWP ,NJ):  169,100
T04 | S02:   JOHN HINDS (GREENVILLE ,NC):  236,300
T04 | S03:   JESS YAWITZ (SAINT LOUIS ,MO):  339,100
T04 | S04:   WILLIAM CHILDS (ALEXANDRIA ,VA):  226,200
T04 | S05:   BARRY GREENSTEIN (RANCHO PALOS VERDES ,CA):  57,700
T04 | S06:   DAVID MACDONALD (CALGARY AB ,CAN):  116,200
T04 | S07:   XIN WANG (DERWOOD ,MD):  206,700
T04 | S08:   ROBBIE RENEHAN (DUBLIN ,IRE):  190,400
T04 | S09:   JOSHUA MANCUSO (MANDEVILLE ,LA):  83,700

T05 | S01:   THOMAS HOGLUND (NEW BEDFORD ,MA):  44,400
T05 | S02:   ARTHUR AZEN (STATEN ISLAND ,NY):  220,000
T05 | S03:   JAMES ST HILAIRE (GLEN BURNIE ,MD):  120,500
T05 | S04:   TYLER PATTERSON (EVERETT ,WA):  212,600
T05 | S05:   JAVIER FERNANDEZ (SAN JUAN ,PR):  131,800
T05 | S06:   MICHAEL SCHOULTZ (ARLINGTON ,VA):  148,400
T05 | S07:   STEVE BRECHER (RENO ,NV):  251,600
T05 | S08:   ALI ALAWADHI (LONGWOOD ,FL):  261,500
T05 | S09:   JOHN SPADAVECCHIA JR (MOORESVILLE ,NC):  167,000

T06 | S01:   JACOB TOOLE (SHARON ,MA):  71,600
T06 | S02:   ANDREW LEE (ASBURY PARK ,NJ):  236,800
T06 | S03:   MAURICE PARADIS (JEWETT CITY ,CT):  492,700
T06 | S04:   TODD TERRY (HOBOKEN ,NJ):  448,800
T06 | S05:   NORMAN ZAPCZYNSKI (FT LAUDERDALE ,FL):  93,500
T06 | S06:   ANTON NIKAJ (PUTNAM VALLEY ,NY):  249,000
T06 | S07:   AKASH SETH (PORT JEFF STA ,NY):  98,000
T06 | S08:   ARDAVAN YAZDI (LOS ANGELES ,CA):  114,400
T06 | S09:   ALBERT SMITH (ITHACA ,NY):  194,000

T07 | S01:   KEVIN HANEY (OCEANPORT ,NJ):  42,400
T07 | S02:   STEPHEN MCCANN (MADISON ,NJ):  69,700
T07 | S03:   IRVING LORENZO (NEW ROCHELLE ,NY):  75,200
T07 | S04:   SHPEND MARKU (STATEN ISLAND ,NY):  214,300
T07 | S05:   BRIAN LEMKE (NORRISTOWN ,PA):  456,800
T07 | S06:   MOHAMMAD SIDDIQUI (PEMBROKE PINE ,FL):  477,600
T07 | S07:   PATRICK ESKANDAR (GULFPORT ,MS):  293,500
T07 | S08:   MEIKAT SIU (NEW YORK ,NY):  243,300
T07 | S09:   TIMOTHY CHANG (WOODBURY ,NY):  34,000

T08 | S01:   JEFFREY SAUNDERS (CHESTNUT HILL ,MA):  295,400
T08 | S02:   MICHAEL GLICK (BALA CYNWYD ,PA):  113,100
T08 | S03:   BRUCE YAMRON (NAPLES ,FL):  263,800
T08 | S04:   ROBERT BEHRENST (ASHBURN ,VA):  101,300
T08 | S05:   HELEN ELLIS (NEW YORK ,NY):  115,200
T08 | S06:   JUSTIN ZAKI (TIERRA VERDE ,FL):  215,400
T08 | S07:   BRANDON SETZER (CHARLOTTE ,NC):  198,500
T08 | S08:   TOM THOMAS (SHELTON ,CT):  256,600

T09 | S01:   SOUNG KIM (STATEN ISLAND ,NY):  91,000
T09 | S02:   ANTONIO WALKER (WILLINGBORO ,NJ):  114,700
T09 | S03:   MUKUL PAHUJA (NORTH LAUDERDALE ,FL):  327,800
T09 | S04:   CARLOS ALVARADO (FREEPORT ,NY):  356,900
T09 | S05:   VINEET PAHUJA (HICKSVILLE ,NY):  174,800
T09 | S06:   JOHN ALFERA (ARNOLD ,PA):  311,600
T09 | S07:   JERRY PAYNE (CENTERVILLE ,OH):  111,000
T09 | S08:   FRANK ALPANDINAR (BATON ROUGE ,LA):  74,500
T09 | S09:   STEVEN SAKLAD (HARTSDALE ,NY):  200,700

T10 | S01:   ROBERT NICOTRA (WEEHAWKEN ,NJ):  131,000
T10 | S02:   MATTHEW LEON (VIRGINIA BCH ,VA):  170,800
T10 | S03:   CHERISH ANDREWS (ST. THOMAS ,PA):  495,300
T10 | S04:   JESSE ALEXIS COHEN (ARDMORE ,PA):  204,000
T10 | S05:   SCOTT ZAKHEIM (DAVIE ,FL):  206,700
T10 | S06:   MICHAEL DEVINSKY (MIDDLETOWN ,NJ):  399,000
T10 | S07:   JOSHUA TEMPLETON (CHATTANOOGA ,TN):  277,800
T10 | S08:   KYLE FREY (MILFORD ,CT):  309,200
T10 | S09:   MICHAEL MARDER (SEWELL ,NJ):  55,500

T11 | S01:   DAVID HECK (COLTS NECK ,NJ):  567,800
T11 | S02:   ARIEL ALBILIA (SYOSSET ,NY):  316,100
T11 | S03:   MICHAEL MELKERSEN (NEW MARKET ,VA):  83,600
T11 | S04:   SHAWN CUNIX (DELAWARE ,OH):  373,900
T11 | S05:   ERIC LADNY (MERCERVILLE ,NJ):  68,000
T11 | S06:   PETR ZHMUTSKIY (NORMAN ,OK):  190,300
T11 | S07:   BENJAMIN SAGE (BROOKLYN ,NY):  225,700
T11 | S08:   FRANCIS VIZZA (COLD SPG HBR ,NY):  104,000
T11 | S09:   MAREK UHARCEK (VELKY MEDER ,SLO):  214,600

T12 | S01:   JAY SHARON (FRESH MEADOWS ,NY):  115,000
T12 | S02:   DAVID DIAZ (BARTLETT ,TN):  541,900
T12 | S03:   AMIR MARMAR (BROOKLYN ,NY):  45,000
T12 | S04:   BRANDON PADULA (OAKTON ,VA):  182,900
T12 | S05:   VINCENT NAPOLITANO (WILLISTON PARK ,NY):  244,000
T12 | S06:   JONG MAN KIM (SILVER SPRING ,MD):  168,200
T12 | S07:   JOSHUA BRIKIS (MURRYSVILLE ,PA):  52,800
T12 | S08:   KEN FISHMAN (LUTZ ,FL):  98,000

T13 | S01:   DWYTE PILGRIM (BROOKLYN ,NY):  330,000
T13 | S02:   ALLISON SCHULTZ (UPPER SADDLE RIVER ,NJ):  89,900
T13 | S03:   STEPHEN REYNOLDS (LITTLE EGG HARBOUR ,NJ):  510,800
T13 | S04:   EDWARD SHELMERDINE (WINSTON SALEM ,NC):  121,200
T13 | S05:   JEAN GASPARD (EVANSTON ,IL):  218,600
T13 | S06:   BRIAN MUNSHOWER (APOLLO ,PA):  181,900
T13 | S07:   ALLEN CUNNINGHAM (LAS VEGAS ,NV):  391,200
T13 | S08:   SIMON VERKHOVSKY (RAMSEY ,NJ):  155,000
T13 | S09:   BRANDON NOVENA (COLUMBUS ,OH):  130,300

T14 | S01:   GEORGE LAMPERT (NAPLES ,FL):  70,000
T14 | S02:   KURT JEWELL (FRANKFORT ,KY):  445,900
T14 | S03:   PEJMAN NIYATI (PLANO ,TX):  168,800
T14 | S04:   PAUL JANNEY (FREDERICKSBURG ,VA):  111,300
T14 | S05:   EMMANUIL DIGILOV (STATEN ISLAND ,NY):  455,800
T14 | S06:   ANTHONY CAMPAGNA (MANORVILLE ,NY):  87,700
T14 | S07:   JEFFREY KAPLAN (DIX HILLS ,NY):  135,100
T14 | S08:   MATTHEW GLANTZ (LAFAYETTE HILL ,PA):  136,000
T14 | S09:   SHAHRIAR ASSAREH (LANSDOWNE ,VA):  246,600

T15 | S01:   RICK BORDIAN (MAPLE GROVE ,MN):  45,500
T15 | S02:   ALAN KRAUT (DOYLESTOWN ,PA):  136,700
T15 | S03:   SAMIR HICKSON (COLLEGEVILLE ,PA):  32,000
T15 | S04:   ROBERT GEORATO (NAPLES ,FL):  268,200
T15 | S05:   MICHAEL SANTORO (EGG HARBOR ,NJ):  269,000
T15 | S06:   WENDY FREEDMAN (LAS VEGAS ,NV):  384,100
T15 | S07:   YAACOV HAVIV (FLUSHING ,NY):  140,400
T15 | S08:   DARRYL RONCONI (NAPERVILLE ,IL):  145,000
T15 | S09:   JEREMY BROWN (MEDFORD ,NJ):  236,500

T16 | S01:   FARHAN MADHANI (MIRAMAR ,FL):  264,800
T16 | S02:   DARREN ELIAS (MONTCLAIR ,NJ):  100,500
T16 | S03:   KYLE BOWKER (WALTON ,NY):  108,000
T16 | S04:   MICHAEL ZATS (BROOKLYN ,NY):  484,300
T16 | S05:   NARENDRA BANWARI (CHARLOTTE ,NC):  174,500
T16 | S06:   MATTHEW BRADY (HAVERTOWN ,PA):  59,200
T16 | S07:   PHILIP CONSOLO (MIAMI SHORES ,FL):  320,800
T16 | S08:   DAVID STEFANSKI (EAST LYME ,CT):  176,600
T16 | S09:   DAVID BLACK (ROBBINSVILLE ,NJ):  110,300

T17 | S01:   AARON OVERTON (PHILADELPHIA ,PA):  116,000
T17 | S02:   VADIM BULAVCHIK (BAL HARBOUR ,FL):  149,900
T17 | S03:   JASON PASTER (HAMILTON ,NJ):  126,700
T17 | S04:   ARTHUR LORING (WEST PALM BEACH ,FL):  112,400
T17 | S05:   FRANCO AMORELLI (ROSEMERE ,CAN):  214,500
T17 | S06:   OFIR MOR (WOODMERE ,NY):  414,600
T17 | S07:   EDWARD SHADE (HURRICANE ,WV):  250,300
T17 | S08:   NICHOLAS MANFREDO (LEVITTOWN ,NY):  108,400

T18 | S01:   ORSON YOUNG (OCEANPORT ,NJ):  728,000
T18 | S02:   ADEL JO (MIAMI ,FL):  45,000
T18 | S03:   VITALY KOVYAZIN (BROOKLYN ,NY):  234,900
T18 | S04:   HO VAN NGUYEN (PASADENA ,MD):  111,000
T18 | S05:   JAMIE KERSTETTER (MONROE TWP ,NJ):  220,800
T18 | S06:   WALTER ENGLISH (WASHINGTON ,DC):  114,300
T18 | S07:   MARUTI YARLAPATI (PARSIPPANY ,NJ):  253,000
T18 | S08:   MATTHEW BURNITZ (BEAR ,DE):  301,700

T19 | S01:   ALEK GIVOTOVSKY (NEW YORK ,NY):  109,400
T19 | S02:   DANA KELLSTROM (STEVENSON RANCH ,CA):  203,200
T19 | S03:   SHAWN BUSSE (MAASAPEQUA ,NY):  171,000
T19 | S04:   EDWARD OCHANA (ELGIN ,IL):  120,400
T19 | S05:   ANDREW SAROWITZ (HUNTINGTON ,NY):  193,800
T19 | S06:   DAVID KIM (FLUSHING ,NY):  233,800
T19 | S07:   STEVEN WEIXEL (ROCKY RIVER ,OH):  57,200
T19 | S08:   PETER IPPOLITO (EAST MEADOW ,NY):  87,900
T19 | S09:   EDWARD PHAM (LANSDALE ,PA):  72,700

T20 | S01:   GEORGE ANTHONY DUNST (LAS VEGAS ,NV):  304,000
T20 | S02:   JAROSLAW OSINSKI (NAPLES ,FL):  163,100
T20 | S03:   IAN PALOMO (NEW YORK ,NY):  156,500
T20 | S04:   LOUKAS MICHAEL (SILVER SPRING ,MD):  60,500
T20 | S05:   ALEXANDER QUEEN (BETHLEHEM ,PA):  176,600
T20 | S06:   JAY MEYEROWITZ (FORT LEE ,NJ):  42,100
T20 | S07:   LLOYD MANDEL (SKOKIE ,IL):  116,500
T20 | S08:   TRAVELL THOMAS (BUFFALO ,NY):  115,000