WPT BPO: 6th Place - Diaz

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

David Diaz (Memphis, TN)

$167,337

After David Diaz raised utg, Steve Brecher moved all-in from the big blind.

David called and was ahead with A9.

Steve had K8.

The cards ran out 7 5 3 4 8 and the river card gave Steve a pair and the pot.  He's up to almost 6 million.

David Diaz finished in 6th place, earning $167,337.

David has been playing poker professionally for six years now and won his first WSOP bracelet this summer in a No Limit Triple Chance tournament, along with over $352,000.

He was born in Honduras and lost his right arm to cancer when he was a small child.  Now he goes by the nickname 'Lefty'. 

WPT BPO: Blinds Up

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

Level 34:  Blinds 100/200 with 20 ante.

Steve Brecher (utg) moved all-in and got no takers.

There's 420k in the pot before he acted, so he added that much to his short-stack, climbing back to 3.2 million.

WPT BPO: Crabs Big for Hamnett

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

David Diaz opened for 320k utg and was called by Ben Hamnett on his left and Steve Brecher in the big blind.

The flop fell A K 5 and was checked around.

Turn was a 3.  It was checked to Ben, who bet 735k.

Steve called.  David folded.

River was a Ten.  Steve checked.  Ben bet 1.6 million.

Steve called.  Ben showed pocket 3s for a set of crabs.  Steve mucked.

Ben chipped up to almost 9.5 million.  Steve dropped to about 3.7 million.

Event 27: Coloring Up

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

The floor just finished doing a color up, and 90 players are coming back from the break.  After a scan of the room while players were dispersed, the largest stack in the room looks to be 280,000.  Our earlier feature player (Grace Sun) has been elimated.

WPT BPO: Patterson Doubles Thru Hamnett

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Ben Hamnett opened for 325k on the button and got a call from Tyler Patterson in the small blind.

The flop came Q Q J and Tyler checked.  Ben bet 400k.

Tyler took some time, then raised to 1.1 million.

Ben shoved.  Tyler called all-in.

Ben had Q9 for trip Queens.

Tyler had him out-kicked with QT.

The last two fell 5 6 and Tyler's kicker played.  He doubled up to over 7.8 million.

Ben dropped to ~6.2 million.

WPT BPO: Pushing Pots Around

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Ben Hamnett opened for 325k from the cutoff.  Ofir Mor called from the button.

The flop came A A A and both checked (yes, that's three Aces).

Turn was an 8 and Ben checked.  Ofir bet 300k and Ben let it go.


Ben opened for 325k and got action from Steve Brecher in the big blind.

The flop fell 9 9 3 and Steve checked.  Ben bet 280k and Steve called.

Turn was a Queen.  Both checked.

River was a King and again both checked.

Steve showed pocket 5s and Ben mucked.  Steve picked up the pot.

WPT BPO: No Showdowns

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

Ofir Mor opened for 350k from the cutoff.

Matthew Burnitz raised to 750k from the small blind.

Ofir gave it some thought, then 4-bet to 1.72 million.

Matthew let it go.


Ben Hamnett opened for 325k utg.  Steve Brecher (sb) made it 1 million straight.

Ben let it go.


In a battle of the blinds, David raised to 350k from the small and Ben called from the big.

Both checked the flop of 6 5 5.

Turn was a 9.  David checked, Ben fired 340k, and David folded.

Event 27: Sun's Rising

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

With 90 players now remaining, Grace Sun (Merrick, NY) is trending upwards.  Even after doubling an opponent up while we stood at the table, Grace is still one of the chip leaders with 140,000.  The blinds are currently 1,500/3,000/400.

WPT BPO: Back From Break

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Level 33:  Blinds 80k/160k, with 20k ante.

Play resumed after the break and Steve Brecher took the first pot with a pre-flop raise from the cutoff.

At this level, there's 360k in the pot before any action, so it's well worth a stealing.

Ofir Mor (sb) came over the top of David Diaz's open from the cutoff and David gave it up.

On the third hand of the level, David opened for 350k from the cutoff and Ben Hamnett called from the button.

On the flop of 8 8 6,  David fired 400k and Ben called.

Turn was another 6 and David fired 550k.  Ben called.

River was a 7.  David checked.  Ben bet 1.075 million.

After giving is some thought, David let it go.

WPT BPO: Chip Counts

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

David Diaz took three small pots in a row without showdown.

They finished the level and took a break.

Here are the chip counts provided by the WPT (in millions):

Ben Hamnett - 9.095
David Diaz - 7.465
Steve Brecher - 5.335
Matthew Burnitz - 5.295
Ofir Mor - 4.190
Tyler Patterson -  4.070

Event 27: Century Mark

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

There are 110 players remaining now, with blinds at 1,200/2,400/300.  The chip average is 72,000, while there aren't many stacks separating themselves from the field.

Notables to hit the rail:

Michael Marder
"Miami" John Cernnuto
Tom Colamaria

WPT BPO: Patterson v Burnitz

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH
 
Matthew Burnitz (utg) opened for 250k and was called by Tyler Patterson in the big blind.

The flop was T T 3 and Tyler checked.  Matthew fired 310k.  Tyler called.

Turn was an Ace and again Tyler checked.  Matthew fired 650k and Tyler called.

River was a King and both players checked.

Tyler showed pocket Jacks.  Matthew showed KQ for a pair of Kings to take the pot.

He's back up to ~5.9 million.

WPT BPO: Burnitz Takes One

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Steve Brecher (utg) opened for 260k and was called by David Diaz on his left and Matthew Burnitz in the big blind.

The flop fell J J 6 rainbow.  Matthew checked.

Steve fired 475k.  David raised to 975k.  Matthew check-raised all-in.

After about two minutes in the tank, Steve folded.  David folded quickly and Matthew took the pot.

WPT BPO: Hamnett v Burnitz, Again

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Ben Hamnett (bb) and Matthew Burnitz (cutoff) tangled again.

Matthew limped and both blinds came along for a flop of Q♠T♠8♠.

They checked to Matthew, who fired 250k.  David Diaz folded (sb) and Ben called.

Turn was the 6♦ and both checked.

River was the 6♠ putting a pair and four spades on the board.

Ben checked.  Matthew bet 300k. 

Ben gave it some thought, then called.

Matthew showed K♣♦6♣ for trips.  Ben rolled over Q♦2♠ for the nut-low-flush, which was good to take the pot.

Ben's up to ~9.7 million.  Matt was down to ~3.6 million.

Event 27: Swift Pace

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

Things are moving had a steady pace in the poker room as already half of the field had been cleared out.  There are currently 150 players remaining from the 319 that started the day.  Blinds are currently 1,000/2,000/300, and the chip average is 66,000.

WPT BPO: Burnitz Gets Some Back

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

On the next hand, Matthew Burnitz got some of his chips back from Ben Hamnett.

Ben raised to 250k and Matthew called.

Both checked the flop of 6 4 3 with two diamonds.

Turn was an offsuit 8.

Matt fired 350k, Ben raised to 1.025 million, Matt shoved for another 1.885 million on top.

Ben let it go.

WPT BPO: Hamnett Doubles thru Burnitz

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

On the third hand of the day, Matthew Burnitz raised from utg to 325k.

Ben Hamnett three-bet from the button to 525k and Matthew called.

The flop came J♣8♦4♦ and Matthew checked.

Ben fired 445k and Matthew called.

Turn was the A♦ and again Matthew checked.

Ben bet 1.21 million.  Matthew gave it some thought, then called.

River was the 7♣.  Matthew checked again.  Ben declared he was all-in.

After about a minute, Matthew called, showing A♣9♠.

Ben showed A♥Q♦ to out-kick Matthew and double up to over 10 million.

Matthew drops into last place with about 3.3 million.

Event 27: Blending In

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

The players at Table 14 may just think they're sitting next to just another average poker player, and we're pretty sure that's just how Barry Shulman (Las Vegas, NV) wants it.  That's one of the great things about poker, where even some of the best players in the world could just blend right into a tournament.

Barry is the CEO of the publication Card Player, and has over $4,000,000 in lifetime earnings.  He won his first WSOP bracelet this year in Europe, while watching his wife Allyn Jaffrey Shulman with a bracelet in this year's WSOP Seniors Event.

Barry sits with about 65,000, which is above average at the moment.  His wife is hovering right around chip average (41,000), and they are hoping to meet at the same destination....the final table.

WPT BPO: Cards Are In The Air!

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

Blinds 60k/120k with 10k ante.

One hour remains in this level.

Cameras are rolling and cards are in the air!

WPT BPO: Revised Chip Counts

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

After four long days, a few of the final six had some trouble counting their chips last night.  The chips counts have been corrected.  Here are the actual counts at the start of the final table:

Seat-Name-Chip Count (in millions)

1 Matthew Burnitz - 8.885
2 Steve Brecher - 5.755
3 David Diaz - 7.250
4 Ben Hamnett - 4.720
5 Ofir Mor - 3.580
6 Tyler Patterson - 5.260

Event 27: Twitter Verse

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

The Twitter world is not as ramped anymore towards the end of the series, but it still shows some life:

WPT BPO: Getting Underway Soon

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

We're still about 15 minutes away from the first hand here at the final table.  The audience has been warmed up and the Royal Flush Girls are on set.

Player intros are about to begin here on the WPT set in the Borgata Event Center.

But this is what it's all about.

WPT Champions Cup and Lots of Cash

 

Event 27: Levels Up, Levels Longer

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

Players just came back from another break, with the blinds going up to 600/1,200/200.  The chip average in the room sits at 41,000, and the early chip leader is Neil "G-Money" Gay (Brooklyn, NY) with 120,000.

The structure change coincides with this level as the 20 minute levels are a thing of the past.  Blind levels now last 30 minutes.

Event 27: Unofficial Numbers

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

We have some unofficial numbers for this event, with the total number of entries at 319, and the first price prize being ~ $14,000.  When the official numbers are ready we will bring them to you immediately.

Event 27: Brotherly Love

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

 Eric Rivkin (New York, NY)

Jason Rivkin (Eatontown, NJ)

We have had not quite a theme, but more of an occurrence during this series with brothers going deep together in events, or just cashing throughout the series.  Jason and Eric Rivkin have been mainstays throughout this series, and have both seen some success.  In Event 11 ($300 + 40 Limit Hold'em) they finished 6th (Eric) and 7th (Jason), and Jason followed that final table with a third place finish in Event 19 ($350 + 50 Omaha 8B).

We also saw both Vinny and Mukul Pahuja in our WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship event.