Sunday, September 18, 2011

Event 19: Final Five In 6-Max

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

Final Five....Chip Counts
1. Maksim Kvitzo...2,400,000
2. Will Jaffe...1,700,000
3. Jeremy McLaughlin...1,300,000
4. Joseph Couden...1,200,000
5. Spiros Markatos...1,300,000

Spiros Markatos was at risk for his remaining 693,000 then doubled through Jeremy McLaughlin.

Spiros A-Q vs. Jeremy's 8-8

Spiros sat back down after enjoying a queen hit the flop.

Board ran clean with Q-4-7-J-9.

Maksim is your chip leader and the rest of the guys are pretty close to each other.

Event 19: Anthony Ruberto - 6th Place

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

Anthony Ruberto - 6th Place - $19,885

Event: Vinny Pahuja - 7th Place

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

Vinny Pajuja - 7th Place - 14,914

Event 19: Alex Apostol - 8th Place

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

Alex Apostol - 8th Place - $9,946



Event 19: Alok Arora - 9th Place

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

Alok Arora - 9th Place - $5,966



Event 19: Jose Silverman - 10th Place

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

Jose Silverman - 10th Place - $4,772

Event 19: Dylan Hortin - 11th Place

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

Dylan Hortin - 11th Place - $4,772



Event 19: Javier Fernandez - 12th Place

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

Javier Fernandez - 12th Place - $4,772

Event 20: Chip Counts

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

WSOP Bracelet Holder Vanessa Selbst
2nd in Chips

Chip Leaders

Abraham Korotki 260,100
Vanessa Selbst 198,675
Darren Elias 191,200
Will Failla 189,500
Eric Salinas 184,225
Adam White 180,625
Jesse Cohen 177,825
Jason Min 174,000
Andreas Freund 163,525
Roy Winston 142,000
Dan Hirleman 135,275
Cornel Andrew Cipman 133,200
David Battaglia 132,600
Matt Rightnour 120,175
Matt O'Donnell 120,000
Michael Bena 118,350



Notables
James St. Hilaire 94,925
Christian Harder 90,275
Ryan Eriquezzo 89,575
Miguel Borrero 85,200
Chris Bell 79,950
John Racener 75,506
Gordon Eng 75,350
Jerry Maher 63,700
Mike Melkersen 61,375
Jonathan Little 56,950
Russell Crane 53,900
Allen Cunningham, 50,000
Kenny Nguyen 48,650
Ivan Mamuzic 40,425
Taemee Feuer 36,150
John Lakatosh 35,000
Christian Lindley 33,475
Jerry Payne 27,600
Steve Brecher 27,350
Allen Kessler 20,250

Event 20: Korotki Bags $5,000

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH  

Floor Supervisor Ray Morales Verifies Korotki's Chip Lead

As the field bags and tags, Abraham Korotki (Bethany Beach, DE) is not only the chip leader with 260,100, but he's also $5,000 richer as the Day 1A leader.  He says his biggest pot of the day was 60k and that he was able to chip up after the dinner break.

Korotki holds off WSOP bracelet winner Vanessa Selbst and WPT title holder Will "The Thrill" Failla for the extra cash.

Approximately 240 players remain with an average stack of 58k (96BB) when players return for Day 2 Tuesday.

Event 20: Quad Kings 4 Uncle Marv

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Uncle Marv

Marv "Uncle Marv" Siegel (Monroe, NJ) hits runner runner for quad kings knocking a shorty right out of the tourney.

Marv's K-10 vs. Opponent's 4-5 off.

Marv called Opponent's shove after hitting top pair with an okay kicker.

Flop: K-3-6

Siegel still had to sweat after turning another king as Opponent still was open-ended.


River K gives Marv a four-of-a-kind. His totals needed and appreciated the deposit.

Marv was cleaning up some dirty stacks while we spoke and is up to 40,000 after the quads.

An interesting guy who went to the same school as Stu Unger and played poker with him on the Lower East Side before Stu moved to Vegas.

Love to hang out with Uncle Marv sometime and hear about the good old days with Unger and NY poker back in the day.

Event 20: Selbst & Cunningham

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

A couple tables have broken down giving Allen Cunningham a new address to the right of Vanessa Selbts.

Vanessa said she's played medium pots all day and had only one big hand pay off early on. Selbts is up to 144,000 and is among the chip leaders.

"I'm gonna go for the $5,000" said Vanessa with a smile.

She'll have to get past Ari Buchman who has 215,000 for the largest stack I eye-balled in the last fifteen minutes.

262 players remain.

Blinds 250 / 500.

Event 20: Long and Short of It

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

Korotki Climbing in Chips

Consecutive tables have notable chip stacks that are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Table 12 has Jerry Payne with 18k, while Maria Ho on table 13 has 15k.

The big stacks on table 14 are Will "The Thrill" Failla with120k and Abe Korotki who has 157k.

The final level of play for the night is underway.

Blinds: 250/500/50 ante
Players Remaining: 257 (of 460)
Average Stack: 54k (107 BB)

Long Road to Ho

Event 20: A Rose Between Two Allens

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Allen Kessler & Ebony Kenney

Allen Kessler still looking for his first pair. He's below average in chips, looking to scoop some hands and forge a comeback.

To Kessler's right sits poker pro Ebony Kenney who was amongst the chip leaders after dinner break. Ebony is aware of the $5,000 bonus and likes the incentive but said she's not going to change her game or let it influence how she plays towards the end of the night.

Ebony was moved to Kessler's table but all morning sat to the right of Allen Cunningham.

Players at the table were joking which Allen she liked better? She was polite in evading her answer so I jumped in, "whoever gives her more chips".

Cunningham has 45,000.

Started the day with 460 and there's 290 players remaining.

Blinds 200 / 400

Event 20: Busted Since Break

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

Pilgrim, Thumbs Up to Day 1B Re-entry

Defending champion Dwyte Pilgrim is out but says he'l use his second bullet for Day 1B re-entry which is available to anyone eliminated today.

Also out is WPT Title holder Jeff Forrest who tweets that he's gone with aces the first hand back.

300 players remain from the 460 starting the day.  The average stack is 46k (115 BB).

Level 7 (200/400/50) is winding down.

PPI Points Challenge

Updated PPI Leaderboard:
(Final Results Through 9/17 excluding Event 19)

465.688 PTS:  JAMES BOYLE (HAVRE DE GRACE, MD)
414.700 PTS:  RYAN ERIQUEZZO (DANBURY, CT)
296.130 PTS:  MATTHEW MAZZEO (EAST WILLISTON, NY)
225.850 PTS:  MICHAEL DENTALE (BROOKLYN, NY)
217.500 PTS:  MICHAEL SICA JR (N BRUNSWICK, NJ)
188.875 PTS:  JONATHAN SORSCHER (LYNBROOK, NY)
166.710 PTS:  JOSHUA BRIKIS (MURRYSVILLE, PA)
160.963 PTS:  ROSLYN QUARTO (EDISON, NJ)
159.020 PTS:  VINEET PAHUJA (HICKSVILLE, NY)
135.975 PTS:  DAVID INSELBERG (LONG BEACH, NY)
135.183 PTS:  IAN PALOMO (NEW YORK, NY)
134.013 PTS:  ADAM LIPPERT (BROOKLYN, NY)
123.538 PTS:  KENNY NGUYEN (LYNWOOD, IL)
115.100 PTS:  ROBERT HWANG (BARNEGAT, NJ)
107.013 PTS:  ALBERT RICCOBONO (OSSINING, NY)
99.663 PTS:  GORDON ENG (CLIFFSIDE PARK, NJ)
97.338 PTS:  JAMES SALTERS (W HEMPSTEAD, NY)
91.750 PTS:  EUGENE TODD (BROOKLYN, NY)
88.813 PTS:  SHEREE BYKOFSKY (ATLANTIC CITY, NJ)
82.400 PTS:  MICAH RASKIN (OLD WESTBURY, NY)
78.975 PTS:  JAMES SANSONE (FAYETTEVILLE, NY)
78.500 PTS:  MICHAEL BORCHETTA (LAGRANGEVILLE, NY)
78.275 PTS:  KELLY ARMENTROUT (ALEXANDRIA, VA)
64.575 PTS:  JASON YOUNG (SUFFERN, NY)
57.600 PTS:  CHRIS RESLOCK (ATLANTIC CITY, NJ)
57.325 PTS:  DAVID ZEITLIN (BROOKLYN, NY)
57.000 PTS:  ANTHONY CAMPAGNA (MANORVILLE, NY)
54.763 PTS:  MICHAEL CASTALDO (PALISADES, NY)
49.775 PTS:  JACK SCHANBACHER (PITTSBURGH, PA)
48.050 PTS:  LISA PICKELL (BRICK, NJ)
44.675 PTS:  CONCETTA RINALDI (LYNBROOK, NY)
35.163 PTS:  STEVEN DANNENMANN (SEVERN, MD)
33.825 PTS:  LAURENCE GOLDSTEIN (MEDFORD, NY)
33.588 PTS:  GEORGE MEDRANO (REGO PARK, NY)
30.050 PTS:  JAMES STENELLA (PIPERSVILLE, PA)
29.900 PTS:  DUANE HUNTON (LUTHVLE TIMON, MD)
29.550 PTS:  ANDREW KLOC (NAUGATUCK, CT)
29.213 PTS:  JAMIE KERSTETTER (MONROE TWP., NJ)
26.863 PTS:  KAREN PEREZ (CHALFONT, PA)
26.400 PTS:  FELIX MOK (BROOKLYN, NY)
20.200 PTS:  JONATHAN WERZ (MELVILLE, NY)
17.825 PTS:  FRANK CIERI (YONKERS, NY)
17.750 PTS:  ALEXANDER CUKAR (POUGHKEEPSIE, NY)
16.800 PTS:  CHARLES MARCHESE (SHOREHAM, NY)
10.800 PTS:  ADAM GERBER (MOORESTOWN, NJ)
9.600 PTS:  MATTHEW CHANG (ROCKVILLE, MD)
8.400 PTS:  BRENT KELLER (HORSHAM, PA)
7.638 PTS:  CARL RESTIFO (WARETOWN, NJ)

Event 20: After Dinner Chip Leader

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Jason Min - Chip Leader - 170,000

Back from dinner break. Had a chance to report on some of the big stacks. If you have over 100,000 you're amongst the chip leaders. Don't forget whoever has the most chips at the end of the night gets a $5,000 prize.

Table three has a ton of chips.

Lee Childs with 113,000 in seat 3.

Audulah Delianin sitting on 130,000 in seat 8.

But Jason Min leads the table with 170,000 in seat 7. In fact, Jason has more chips than everyone in the entire room.

Other leaders include:
Darren Elias at T-11, S-7 with 165,000.
Ari Buchman at T-14, S-9 with 160,000.
Ebony Kenney at T-27, S-4 with 100,00.

Ebony just took a hit after folding a river all-in on a board with three spades.

Our chip leader Jason Min scooped a nice pot and a knock-out after his 7-7 saw a 7 in the window and held on a board of: A-2-7-K-4.

Who will take home the $5,000?

We'll keep you updated.

And don't forget if you bust out tonight, you can re-buy again tomorrow. And if you're short on chips, you can turn them in and re-buy again tomorrow.

Event 20: Dinner Time Chip Counts

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH    

Here are some random chip counts as of the dinner break:

Lars Bonding - 81k
Alex Queen - 72k
Gordon Eng - 65k
Jonathan Little - 42k
Adam Cook - 39k
Jerry Payne - 14k
Trevor Savage - 13k

About 335 players remain, making the average stack about 41k.  When they return from dinner, the blinds will be 200/400 with 50 antes, so an average stack has about 100 big blinds.


Event 20: Possible Dinner Break Chip Leader

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH    

Players have taken off for a 75-minute dinner break.  Play will resume at about 8:25pm.

Looks like the chip leader may be Lee Childs with ~130k.

 Lee Childs

Lee's been moved to table three, along with Ray Shackelford, Alex Venovski, Noah Schwartz, and Chris Klodnicki.

Event 19: Two Gone Before Dinner

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

Keith Crowder - 14th - $3,579

Keith Crowder knocked out David Jones in 15th place then Javier Fernandez knocked out Keith a few hands later in 14th.

Hand 1) Keith Q-Q vs David's 10-10 all in pre-flop. Queens hold and Jones is gone.

Hand 2) Keith K-2 vs. Javier's A-8.
Board ran: 5-J-5-7-10

Everyone said "good game" to Keith as he shook hands and departed.

15th...David Jones ...$3,579
14th..Keith Crowder ...$3,579

Table 3 is down to three players and needs another.

The 6-Max is on dinner break.

Event 20: Full House S-Quad-shed

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

Mateo Makes Quads

On a board 6 5♣ 5 Brownie Garrett (Virginia Beach, VA) is at risk for his last 25k against Mateo Rajkumar (New York, NY).

Garrett: Q 5(trip 5s)
Rajkumar: 8♣ 8(over pair)

Turn: 8♠

The table erupts as Rajkumar hits a full house

River: 5♠

The explosion is twice the roar when Rajkumar has quad 5s to win the pot, sending a stunned Garrett to the rail.

"I didn't even see the river," says Rajkuman, "I had my head in my hands and then heard everyone starting screaming."  Rajkuman, who was looking at being left with 14k, now has more than 100k.

Event 20: The Thrill is Home

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH   

Will 'the Thrill' Failla won the Legends of Poker WPT Championship just a couple of weeks ago, then headed to Europe to play in the Partouch Poker Tour event.

 Will 'the Thrill' Failla

He cashed in that event and jumped on a plane back to the states to play today.  He made it just in time to register for day 1A and go seated at table 14 with Abe Korotki (Brent Hanks was at this table, but busted out already).

Event 19: Tournament Out - Money In

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

Exit Pos. ...Name...Prize Payout

16th...Michael Michnik...$3,579
17th...Joseph Brooks...$3,579
18th...Josh Mancuso...$3,579
19th...Mark Epstein...$2,585
20th...Edward Cotter...$2,585
21st...Brandon Vargas...$2,585
22nd...David Grana...$2,585
23rd...Zachary Gruneberg...$2,585
24th...Jiacong Zhang...$2,585

Total Buy-In is $410,000

First place gets a whopping $93,259.

Leaderboard Update (9/18)

Borgata Poker Open Leaderboard Update

By participating in any Borgata Poker Open event (September 7-23, 2011), players will earn points based upon the Borgata Poker Tournament Leaderboard Formula.

Winners will be announced Monday, September 26:
  • 1st Place: $3,500 Entry for Borgata Fall Poker Open (November 9-23, 2011) 
  • 2nd - 4th Place: Sony Web TV 
  • 5th - 7th Place: Apple iPod Touch 
  • 8th - 10th Place: Nikon digital camera

Below are the top scores for the Borgata Poker Open Leaderboard contest through September 17 events*
*(Final Results from events 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)



465.688 PTS: JAMES BOYLE (HAVRE DE GRACE, MD)
438.488 PTS: BYUNG YOO (NORWOOD, NJ)
414.700 PTS: RYAN ERIQUEZZO (DANBURY, CT)
413.600 PTS: JOSEPH LIBERTA (BERLIN, NJ)
373.633 PTS: MICHAEL HOLM (WOODRIDGE, IL)
358.400 PTS: VINCENT MAGLIO (REVERE, MA)
324.478 PTS: GONZALO VILLARREAL (E HANOVER, NJ)
319.693 PTS: MITCHELL MANTIN (LAS VEGAS, NV)
314.875 PTS: ROBERT CHUNG-SHUI (NEW YORK, NY)
313.450 PTS: TOMASZ GLINIECKI (JACKSON, NJ)
308.250 PTS: MANH NGUYEN (MUNHALL, PA)
307.155 PTS: SAAD GHANEM (ROSEDALE, MD)
296.130 PTS: MATTHEW MAZZEO (EAST WILLISTON, NY)
293.750 PTS: MICHAEL WATTERS (MIDDLE VLG, NY)
291.805 PTS: TERRANCE BEINS (JACKSON, NJ)
282.613 PTS: DAVID LAUFER (BROOKLYN, NY)
281.088 PTS: OMAR GHANIM (PATTERSON, NJ)
279.100 PTS: JERRY PAYNE (CENTERVILLE, OH)
275.388 PTS: WADE WOELFEL (MANKATO, MN)
274.250 PTS: BRIAN ADRAGNA (E MEADOW, NY)
269.615 PTS: TA WEY (HACKENSACK, NJ)
269.613 PTS: STANLEY COMBS (BROOKVILLE, OH)
260.513 PTS: JOSEPH WERTZ (MONTOURSVILLE, PA)
259.113 PTS: WAYNE KAUFMANN (SMITHTOWN, NY)
254.075 PTS: CHRISTOPHER MCCABE (ROLLINGS MEADOW, DE)
248.813 PTS: JEREMIAH CALLAHAN (OYSTER BAY, NY)
245.100 PTS: ILYA DYMENT (BROOKLYN, NY)
245.050 PTS: WAZIR AKSH (QUEENS VILLAGE, NY)

Event 19: Three Tables Of Five

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

The six max just dropped down to the 5-Max as three tables are fighting it out.

Table 1:
1. Alok Arora
2. Jeremy McLauglin
3. Will Jaffe
4. Bobby Suer
5. Alex Apostol

Table 2:
1. Dylan Hortin
2. Spiros Markatos
3. Joseph Couden
4. Anthony Ruberto
5. Jose Silverman

Table 3:
1. Vinny Pahuja
2. Javier Fernandez
3. Maksim Kvitko
4. David Jones
5. Keith Crowder

Most recent bust-out was Michael Michnik.

Keith Crowder just doubled through table leader Maksim Kvitko.
A-3 suited vs. 10-Q

Average stack is 455,555

Chip Leaders:
Maksim Kvitko - 1,000,000
Anthony Ruberto - 850,000
Will Jaffe - 685,000
Jose Silverman - 640,000

Event 20: Goners

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH  

Blinds are up to 150/300 with 25 antes.

These folks are outta-here, but they have the option to try again on day 1B, if they choose:

Dan Shak, Todd Terry, and Andy Frankenberger.

Olivier Busquet:  he arrived late and left early -- not sure how it happened.

Jeff Madsen

Jeff Madsen:  flopped trip Kings, but KJ wasn't good enough.

Dan Buzgon: got his short-stack in with pocket Tens, only to run into pocket Aces.

Event 20: Seriously Sharp Player

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Ernst-ing His Way in with a Win

John Ernst (Oakhurst, NJ) is free rolling in the Championship Event after winning his seat in the third annual Put a Bad Beat on Hunger poker tournament.

The tournament, presented by Cabot Creamery Cooperative, was at Borgata last month and in addition to winnning the $19,988 first prize, Ernst was given an additional $3,500 seat into this event.

Poker pro Bernard Lee presented the voucher to Ernst in a tournament that benefited the Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

Seriously Sharp Cheddar is just one of the many tasty cheeses produced by Cabot and a deep run by Ernst will help him buy a lot more of it.

Ernst & Lee

Event 20: On the Rail (In a Good Way)

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH  

Gangemi & Dentale

Not everyone is taking the "two bullet" approach and using Day 1B re-entry as a backup if they bust on Day 1A.

Scoping action from the rail are Frank Gangemi, Mike Dentale, Eric Siegel, and Patti Haggerty, who are all expecting to begin play Monday.

Steve Dannenmann, who's playing Day 1A, chats with Siegel & Haggerty

Event 20: Field Size, Chip Leader?

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH      

Unofficially the player count for today is 460.  It will be a while before we get an official count.

40 tables remain (400 players).  Average stack would be about 35k.

Lee Childs may be our chip leader.  He's up to 122k after flopping a set of Kings and busting a player holding the case King.

Another monster table developing:

Table 30
James St. Hilaire
Joseph Grodowski
Michael Buttacavoli
Tony Sinishtaj
Kyle Bowker

Event 20: Late Entries, New Tables

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH     

Some late arrivals:

Noah Schwartz
Chris Klodnicki
Jason Dewitt

Hasan Habib has landed at table 22 with
Alex Smith
Miguel Borrero
Andy Lee
Yevgeniy Timoshenko

Event 20: Break-Time Tweets

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH      

 Play has resumed with level 5, blinds 100/200 with 25 antes.  41 tables remain (ten-handed).

The latest news from the tweeters in the field:

Jerry Payne 
no sweat. back to 33,675 on break.
Lars Bonding 
Good 4th level, got 43k now
Lee Childs 
97k at break. Miscounted last break by a little so up from 91 to 97 those last two levels. Blinds 150/300/25 next level.
Adam Cook 
31k second break. Very disappointed w/ my play in the combo draw hand, should still have bout 45k and/or got to showdown. We'll get em back.
Trevor Savage 
25.3k going to 100/200/25 folded 55 on kh 8h 5d 2d board and was right, he had 88
Jeff Madsen 
Comeback initiated. Back to 30k
Nelson Robinson 
37k @ 2nd break. Come back to 100/200/25
Christian Harder 
65k from 30k in @BorgataPoker 
Jake Toole 
Back up to 20k on 2nd break 
Ken Adams 
end of level 6, I have 56,800. Still runnin good and playin good

Event 20: Table 42 Broken

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH     

Table 42 has broken and those players have scattered to fill empty seats around the room. 

I haven't located all the players yet, but Tuan Le landed at table two with Russell Crane, Alex Queen, and Steve Dannenmann.

Allen Cunningham and Bobby Wisiak ended up on table 28 with Chris Bell, and Adam Cook.  Ta Wey was at this table, but he has busted out.

All remaining players are enjoying their second break of the day.

 Event Center Food Court During the Break

Event 19: Bustages

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

Earning $2,187:

30th - Hiep Nguyen
29th - Todd Terry
28th - Anthony Gregg
27th - Eric Panayiotou
26th - Andrew Touchette
25th - Michael Melena

Many of these players have now joined event 20 day 1A, already in progress.

Event 20: Out & In

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH     

Mike Holm, winner of preliminary event 13, has busted out of this event.  He's headed for the satellite area to try to win a seat so he can play again tomorrow.

Joining Christina Lindley and Mike Devinsky at table 10 is Erik Cajelais

Event 20: Also in the Field

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH     

Also playing today:

Matt Glantz
Kyle Bowker
Tony Sinishtaj
Abe Korotki
Eric Wasserson
Darren Elias
Rep Porter
Kenny Nguyen
Hiep Nguyen
Maurice Hawkins
Leonid Lerner
Erik Cajelais - 1 WSOP-E bracelet
Brent Hanks
Jeff Forrest - 1 WPT title
Olivier Busquet - 2009 WPT Borgata Poker Open Champion
Yevgeniy Timoshenko - 2009 WPT Championship winner

Allen Bari was in, but now is out.

Event 20: Toughest Table

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH     

This has to be the toughest table I've seen in a long time.

 Table 42

It's a table filled with late entries and it should break soon, but this is a killer.  Here are the players with their seat assignments:

1 - Eric Ladny
2 - Tuan Le - 2x WPT champion
3 - Hasan Habib -  1 WSOP bracelet
4 - Amnon Filippi
6 - Bobby 'Wiz' Wisiak
7 - Ebony Kenney
8 - Allen Cunningham - 5 WSOP bracelets
10 - Orson Young - 2nd in event 18 yesterday

Event 20: Still More Tables

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH    

 Level 4:  Blinds 100/200.

And still more...

Table 22
Alex Smith
Miguel Borrero

Table 23
David Diaz - 1 WSOP bracelet
Darryll Fish
David Fox

Table 29
Andy Frankenberger
Kunal Patel
Christian Harder - Borgata Heads-Up Champion
Todd Terry


Table 34
Matt Afflek
Maria Ho

Table 38
Ken Aldridge
David Rittmeyer
Julian Miranda
Taemee Feuer
Curt Kohlberg


Event 19: Busted

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

31 Jason Deutsch $1,989
32 Matt Affleck $1,989
33 Wade Woelfel $1,989
34 Lawrence Lakatosh $1,989
35 Patrick Halter $1,989
36 Michael Tauman $1,989
37 Peter Macchia $1,790
38 Jean-Christopher Ferreira $1,790
39 Nathan Tuthill $1,790
40 Carlos Alvarado $1,790
41 Adam Lippert $1,790
42 Henry Pagliuca $1,790

Event 20: Jamshidi Jammed, Jilted

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH     

Sirous Jamshidi turned a set of 8s and got all his chips in the middle, but his opponent had a straight.  Sirous was busted.

David Williams, 2010 WPT Championship winner, arrived and has filled the empty seat vacated by Sirous.

Also at that table are Tony Behbahani, Lee Markholt, and Alan Sternberg.

Event 19: Bustage

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

The eliminations have been fast and furious as 12 players are out since the bubble broke.  Notable eliminations include Adam Lippert and Matt Affleck, who is now in the Championship Event.

Late comer Jeremy McLaughlin doubles through Dave Grana when his pocket jacks hits a full house to take his stack to more than 400k.

Brandon Vargas is still in the field and sends a shout out to his wife Nina and his son Sebastian

Number of Entrants: 410
Players Remaining: 30
Chips In Play: 8.2 million

Average Stack: 273k (BB)

Blinds: 3k/6k/500 ante

Total Buy-In: $410,000
First Prize: $93,259
Places Paid: 42

Event 20: More Tough Tables


$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH    

And they just keep turning up:

Table 20
Al Grimes
Jesse Cohen
George Cicak

Table 25
Sirous Jamshidi
Tony Behbahani
Alan Sternberg

Table 26
Eugene Todd
John Racener

Also spotted:
Amnon Filippi
Dan O'Brien
Darryll Fish
Mike Omelchuk
Mike Melkersen
Adam Cook

Event 20: Gerber In The House

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH    

Adam Gerber has been absent from the poker scene in recent months and inquiring minds wonder why. 

He's been coaching little league baseball.


August 2011:


"The Moorestown 8U District recreation baseball team (pictured) won the Cal Ripken South Jersey Championship for players aged 8 and younger, held in Hamilton, after beating Marlton 9-6. Coach Adam Gerber’s team of elementary school-aged athletes went undefeated for 20 straight games, advancing to the Mid-Atlantic Regionals in Great Kills, N.Y."

The secret of their success, according to Coach Adam Gerber, is: “Smile, have fun.”


Photo courtesy MoorestownPatch.com.

We'll see if Adam's formula for success translates from the green diamond to the green felt.

Event 20: More Faces

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH    

Play has just resumed after the first break.  Blinds are now 75/150 for level 3.

The names just keep pouring in and the tables just keep getting tougher.

Victor Ramdin - 1 WPT title
Allen Bari - 1 WSOP bracelet

Table 9
Ken Adams
Christopher Edwards
Steven Levy
Dan Spirer

Table 10
Christina Lindley
Mike Holm - won prelim event 13
Mike Devinsky

Table 11
Brock Parker
'Miami' John Cernuto
Dwyte Pilgrim - defending champion


Table 21
Avdo Djokovic
Gordon Eng
Jeff Madsen


Event 19: Bubble Breaks

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

The bubble breaks sending 42 players into the money who are all guaranteed $1,790. 

Jeremy McLaughlin is now here after over sleeping and says, "I wish I had an alarm clock that tweets."

We're looking forward to rapid fire bust outs as the field chases the first prize $93,259.

Event 20: Spring Champions

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH    

Random seating has created an interesting pairing on table two.

 Russell Crane (far left) and Alex Queen (far right)

2010 Borgata Spring Open Champion Alex Queen is two seats to the left of 2011 Borgata Spring Open Champion Russell Crane.

Also seated at table two is 2005 WSOP Main Event runner-up Steve Dannenmann.

Event 20: Tweet-Time

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH   

Some interesting tweets from today's field:

Gordon Eng
Nice start up to 40k from 30k. Only guys I know at my tbl is pete ippolito and hopefull a long day for us. Flopped a set of ks

Lee Childs
Uneventful first level. 29,200. Blinds now 50/100. Couple solid players at table but seems like decent draw.

Lars Bonding
1st level is done, still got 28k despite the setup-hand.

Maria Ho
The guy to my left in the event just ordered a coffee w/6 sugars after losing pot to me. Assuming he's gonna get aggro soon.

Event 19: Paging Jeremy McLaughlin

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

45 players were supposed to return for the 6-max, but Jeremy McLaughlin (Washington, D.C.) is a no show. There's an APB out for 2010 Borgata Poker Open Heads Up Champion who's MIA.

Two players putting the remaining 43 players on the bubble as they're now playing hand-for-hand. McLaughlin can easily blind into the money with 244k, but the poker pro is missing a chance to chip up and take down the $93,259.

A lot of heavy hitters are still in the field including Matt Affleck, Keith Crowder, Joey "The B" Brooks, Toddy Terry, Vinny Pahuja, Adam Lippert, John Lakatosh and Will Jaffe.

Event 20: Yet Another Tough Table

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH  

Table 7 has turned into a monster.  Not one but two WPT title holders are seated there. 

Steve Brecher is in the four seat and Jonathan Little is in six.  Steve won his WPT championship at the Bay 101 Shooting Star in 2009. 

Jonathan has two WPT titles, one from 2007 at the Mirage Poker Showdown and one from 2008 at the Foxwoods World Poker Finals.

 Steve Brecher, Joseph Altomonte, and Jonathan Little

Also at that table, in seat one, is Ivan Mamuzic, who finished 3rd in the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship here in 2009.

Finally, stuck in-between the two WPT title holders in seat 5, is Joseph Altomonte, who won a preliminary event here during the 2010 Borgata Summer Open and has numerous other final tables and cashes here.

In a recent hand, Joseph Altomonte tangled with Ivan Mamuzic.  At the river, Joseph showed pocket Kings which were good.  Ivan mucked and Joseph picked up a nice pot.

Event 20: Another Tough Table

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

If you register late, you take your chances...

That's what's happened on table 40 in the back a little while ago.  Currently seated there are Todd Rebello, Roy Winston, Ryan Eriquezzo, and Mike Summers.

 Roy Winston (seated) and Ryan Eriquezzo (standing)

As Ryan approached the table to take his seat, he was taken aback when he saw who was already seated there.

Event 48: Satellite Hopefuls

$200 + $30 Championship Qualifier

Also taking place in the event center today are Championship Event qualifiers (aka satellites).

The $200 + $30 version is underway in the back.  Approximately 1 in 18 players will win a seat into the main event for day 1B.

One of those hopefuls is Chris Racioppo.  Chris won a contest on WFAN Sports Radio in New York, garnering a seat in this satellite. 

 Chris Racioppo

He's hoping to win his way into the main event so that he can then win some life-changing money (last year Dwyte Pilgrim won over $733,000).  If he does, he's going to tell his bosses at SHI International, where he's a sales manager, where they can stick that job.

Event 20: Blinds Up

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Level 2 -- Blinds are up to 50/100.

 Round Two - Sunisa

Sunisa is letting the crowd know about the blind increase.  Players are still arriving and locating their seats.  Late registration is available through the break after level four, so until about 4:30pm today.

Of course if anyone misses registering today, they can always register for day 1B which starts tomorrow at 11am.

Event 19: Play Resumed

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

45 players returned for day two of this event.  Only 42 get paid, so it will be bubble time very soon. 

They've got cards in the air and they'll play as late as it takes to find a winner, who'll take home over $93,000 for his troubles.

Event 20: Tough Table

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

Table 24 is heavily loaded.  Currently seated there are (with seat number):

5 - Alex Bolotin
6 - Lars Bonding
7 - Ed Corrado
9 - Chris Valence

Table 24

Ed recently turned 80 years old, but he's still holding his own with these "youngsters".

** 1:15pm update   Steve Ryan has landed in the 10 seat at this table.

Event 20: More Faces in the Crowd

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Spotted on my latest pass through the 41 active tables:

Charles Furey
Alexander Queen
Mike 'Little Man' Sica - 1 WSOP bracelet
Adam Gerber
Alek Givotovsky
Joanne Dorin
Dan Spirer
Steven Levy
Dwyte Pilgrim - Defending Champion of this event
Jesse Cohen
Al Grimes
Kathy Liebert - 1 WSOP bracelet
Natale Kuey
Eugene Todd
Sirous Jamshidi
Tom Lee - winner of prelim event 6
 Fred Goldberg - 1 WSOP bracelet
Michael Buttacavoli
Chris Bell - 1 WSOP bracelet
Ta Wey
Lee Childs
Heather Sue Mercer
Jeff Papola - 1 WSOP bracelet
Dan Shak

Event 20: Familiar Faces

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Here are the folks I spotted on the way in today:

Cornell Cimpan - 2x WPT Champion
Taemee Feuer
Roland Israelashvilli - winner of prelim event 17
Mike Devinsky
Julian Miranda
Tony Antonious
Ray Shackelford
Steve Brecher - 1 WPT title
Allen 'Chainsaw' Kessler
Ali Eslami
Brock Parker - 2 WSOP bracelets
Feming Chan
Gavin Smith - 1 WSOP bracelet, 1 WPT title
Andrew Barta - 2007 Borgata Summer Open Champion
Lars Bonding
Kunal Patel - winner of prelim event 16
Jonathan Little - 2x WPT Champion
Christopher Edwards
Gordon Eng
David Laufer
Ken Aldridge - 1 WSOP bracelet
Mike Holm - winner of prelim event 13
'Miami' John Cernuto - 3 WSOP bracelets

Mike Devinsky wants to send a shout-out to Alissa and the whole Devinsky family - done!

Event 20: Cards Fly on Day 1A

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Day 1A of the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship event is underway.  The first wave of hopefuls are still arriving and locating their seats here in the event center.

Players began with 30,000 chips each and levels are 75 minutes long.

Level 1 blinds are 25/50, so the starting stack contains 600 big blinds.  With such large stacks and small blinds, some players will take the opportunity to sleep late and skip the first level, letting their stack get blinded off.

Nevertheless, Mike Sexton has issued the directive to "Shuffle Up and Deal!"

Eight levels will be played today, wrapping up about 10:45pm. 

Sunday, September 18

Today's Events (Event Center)

11AM: Event 20 - $3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH (Day 1A)
  • $3,000,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
  • Players start with 30,000 in tournament chips 
  • Day 1 Levels: will last 75 minutes
  • 5-Day event (with two Day 1 starting days)
  • Day 1 ends after Level 8
  • Chip Leader at end of Day 1A and Chip Leader at end of Day 1B each will win $5,000 CASH

12PM: Event 48 - $200 + $30 Championship Qualifier

  • Players start with 15,000 in tournament chips 
  • Levels will last 25 minutes each 
  • Approximately 1 in 18 will win entry into the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship event (September 18-23, 2011)
  • 1-Day event

4PM: Event 49 - $700 + $50 Championship Qualifier NLH
  • Players start with 15,000 in tournament chips 
  • Levels will last 40 minutes each 
  • Approximately 1 in 5 will win entry into the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship event (September 18-23, 2011)
  • 1-Day event
7PM: Event 50 - $350 + $50 Championship Qualifier NLH
  • Players start with 12,000 in tournament chips 
  • Levels will last 30 minutes each 
  • Approximately 1 in 10 will win entry into the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship event (September 18-23, 2011)
  • 1-Day event
10PM: Event 51 - $350 + $50 Championship Qualifier Turbo NLH
  • Players start with 12,000 in tournament chips 
  • Levels will last 15 minutes each 
  • Approximately 1 in 10 will win entry into the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship event (September 18-23, 2011)
  • 1-Day event

    Event 19: End Of Day Chippies

    $1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

    End of Day Chip Count Leaders:
    1. Mark Epstein...459,600
    2. Will Jaffe...410,000
    3. Andrew Touchette...363,300
    4. Javier Fernandez...348,800
    5. Joey Couden...347,900
    6. David Grana...347,300
    7. Josh Mancuso...305,300
    8. Jason Deutsch...288,000
    9. Dylan Hortin...279,600

    End of Day Chip Count Notables:
    1. Adam Lippert...165,000
    2. Matt Affleck...231,000
    3. Todd Terry...108,200
    4. Keith Crowder...125,000
    5. Joey Brooks...206,900
    6. Brandon Vargas...49,800
    7. Jeremy McLaughlin...244,100
    8. Viny Pahuja...194,300
    9. Wade Woelfel...224,700

    45 players remain and return tomorrow at noon, to play until completion.

    With 8,200,000 the average chip stack is 182,222.

    Gotta love the 6-Max. This finish is sure to be action packed.

    See you manana!

    Event 19: Epstein Marks Territory

    $1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

    Mark Epstein - 400,000

    Mark Epstein (Peabody, MA) scooped a monster pot after Opponent ships it with 5-4 of clubs. Mark unwraps that gift pot as soon as his A-K holds on a dry board.

    Epstein couldn't believe his good fortune.

    In 30 minutes we'll see if Mark's total is enough to be the biggest bag in the room.

    8 Tables remain.

    Event 19: Set Over Set

    $1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

    Joey "The B" doubles up after flopping a bigger set than his Opponent on the button.

    Be careful on those limped pots. And both players were limping with pairs.

    Joey 8-8 vs. Opponents 5-5

    Flop of 5-9-8 caused Joey to shove over top of Opponents pot size bet.

    Opponent tanks for what felt like an entire level. Can't blame him after he tabled what he tables. He really thought about folding. "I almost folded. I knew you wouldn't go all-in unless you had something" cried Joey's Opponent in seat 1.

    Each player put the other on a straight or a straight draw.

    Turn 4, River J pushes the pot to "The B" who is now up to 220,000 while his Opponent sets sail off into the horizon.

    Event 19: Mancuso Busto

    $1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

    Anthony Mancuso & Railbird Damien

    Anthony Mancuso (Harrisburg, PA) is out but had a ton of fun playing in the 6-max.

    He blames karma for his loss. "I knocked someone out earlier after rivering a boat and now it just happened to me" explained Mancuso.

    Friend Damien has been watching his Bro-gata all day from the rail and commented he was below average chips for most of the day.

    It took poker pro Bobby Suer to knock Mancuso out in 62nd place.

    Mancuso K-Q vs. Suer 10-J. Started off as a limped pot.

    Flop: A-J-10. Anthony flops the joint and is doing somersaults in his head - can't wait to count his double-up and finally climb over the chip average.

    Turn: 4. Things are still looking good for the kid who still has to sweat four outs.

    River: 10. Oh, the horror. Bobby hits his man and a full-house.

    Suer pads stack to 242,000.

    Event 19: Phan Punches Papola

    $1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

    Edward Phan (Lansdale, PA)

    After Jeff Papola's (Little Egg Harbor, NJ) A-J off ran into pocket kings, Edward Phan (Lansdale, PA) gave him the one-two punch out the door.

    Hand 1) Jeff shipped his big blind holding J-9 of spades. Phan calls on-the-button and shows 3-3. Edward has to sweat as the flop falls 5-2-A with two spades. Alas a 3 and 6 round out the board cleanly. Jeff down to just a few thousand and Phan doubles to 50,000.

    Hand 2) Papola's K-2 vs. Phan's A-Q. Board: 6-6-J-3-6.

    The WSOP bracelet holder is out in 64th place.

    42 make the money.

    Event 19: 6-Max Experience

    $1000 + $90 Six-Max NLH

    John Lakatosh - 145,000

    John knows how to navigate a field of 6-Max players. He took 2nd in 2011 Winter Poker Open.

    That event had 291 players where this one has 410. "The field today is tougher now than it was then" said John.

    He also told me he prefers the two day format. His tournament was a classic that ended 9:20 AM. I know because I blogged the last 12 hours.

    Lakatosh looking to repeat his second place finish or better it one spot.