Event 20: Kickin' Diaz & Takin Names

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

David Diaz Felts Todd Terry

Todd Terry shoved his remaining 56,000 pre-flop holding A♣ Q♣. David Diaz thought it through, got a count, figured it was heads up, and called.

The WSOP bracelet holder, David Diaz tabled A♥9♥ and knew he was behind.

Terry was not liking the flop of 7♥ 8♥ 8♠.

Turn and river came runner runner hearts (K♥, 4♥) and Terry was flushed out of the Championship.

Another player chimed in that he folded A-9 of diamonds.

Event 20: Long Way to Go

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Rounick Running on Fumes

The eliminations are slow and steady and the county is now at 200 players, 100 away from the money.

"A long way from getting paid," says David Rounick (Narberth, PA) who's a short stack trying to hang on for Day 3.

Event 20 Five-Hundred K Pot

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Kevin Calenzo 500,000

With the break clock ticking down, Kevin Calenzo (Las Vegas, NV) finished out the last hand in the room and scoops a monster pot. Nothing too crazy hand-wise, just a boatload of chips involved.

Calenzo's Q-Q vs. Opponent's J-6 of diamonds.

All the chips tumbled in on a spade-heavy 4-6-2 flop.
After a 7 and a K filled out the hand, Calenzo raked in 500,000.

Also at table 12 sits Anees Puri (Queens, NY) with 386,000 who got most of his chips after his A-A took down A-Q on a dry board.

Seat-6 is off to break but he has 475,000. So there's a ton of chips here at table 12.

Event 20: Break it Down

 $3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Lacey Jones Interviews Vanessa Selbst on Break

Players are on their final break of the night and David Williams continues to lead the way with more than 500k, while Vanessa Selbst is second overall. There's one more 75 minute level tonight before the field bags and tags.


Number of Entrants: 1,313
Players Remaining: 213
Chips In Play: 39.3 million

Average Stack: 185k (45 BB)
Big Stack: 530k (133 BB)

Next Blinds: 2k/4k/400 ante

Total Buy-In: $4,332,900
First Prize: $922,441
Places Paid: 100

 Borgata Video Crew

Event 20: Higher Higher Glantz On Fire

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Matt Glantz - 290,000

Nothing before dinner for Matt Glantz (Lafayette Hills, PA) who was nursing no more than 60,000. But now he's caught fire growing his stack up to 290,000 after his J-J cracked Edgar Lemus-Argueta's Aces.

Other approximate stacks in the room I noticed on my way back to media row:

Matt Affleck - 105,000
Jim Welsh - 80,000
Joanne Monteavaro - 70,000
David Williams - 500,000
John Racener - 290,000
Vanessa Selbst - 410,000
Cornel Andrew Cimpan - 250,000
Tony Antonious - 190,000

Tony Antonious (Egypt) who was moved to David Williams table has quieted down a lot. He whispered to me as I passed, "Tough Table".

Film Producer Mars Callahan couldn't hit a flush to save his life and quoted, "Those who chase flushes ride on buses". Looks like the Greyhound back to LA for Callahan who whiffed on a couple key drawing hands.

$350 + $50 + $100 Big Stack Black Chip Bounty NLH
 

Chainsaw Collecting Bounties

As the Championship Event grinds towards the money, the bounty tournament is already there.  The biggest mover since the dinner break is Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler who's gone from 50k to to more than 200k by "winning every pot," he plays.

The pro, who won the Omaha H/L in the 2010 Borgata Winter Poker Open, adds, "If I keep getting pocket kings I'm going to win this" Kessler, who has $2.3 million in career tournament earnings, has eight bounties worth $800 so far, but only two have come in his recent run, which includes surviving a double-up.

The top 36 cash in this event and are taking home at least $693 as they chase the top prize of $31,161.

Event 20: Full-House Flop No Good

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Matt Isherwood (Roxbury, NJ) knocks a player out but has to sweat the turn and river.

Matt's J-J vs. Opponent's A♣ K♣. Actions is all in pre-flop.

Flop: 5♣ 7♦ 3♣

Isherwood spikes a set on the turn J♥ but still has to sweat a club.
River 2♦ gives him the pot.

Matt is up to 325,000 after the knock-out.

Over on another table, Mike Dentale is fuming after flopping a full-house with 6-6, check-calling the whole way, and losing when an 8 hits the river.

Anthony Newman (Brooklyn, NY) had A-8 and wasn't gonna go away after the flop hit 6-A-A.
"I knew I was being trapped" said Newman who hit the miracle on the river and is now up to 125,000.

Turn Q - River 8.

Mike is chopped down to 25,000 after the sick cooler. "I check called the whole way because I know I'm getting coolered" explained Dentale.

Blinds: 1500 / 3000 with 400 antes.

256 remain.

Event 20: Mazzola Rollercoaster

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Hank Mazzola (Philadelphia, PA) has reached 140,000 chips seven times. "I've been up and down all day" explained Mazzola.

He just jammed a flop of 7-7-6 holding pocket 8-8's. Gregory Spurdis (Staten Island, NY) called holding A-5 and picked up an open ended draw on the turncard 4.

Deuce on the river doubles up Mazzola who was extremely excited. He couldn't believe his 8-8's held up. "Don't worry, I'll give it right back" admitted Hank to the rest of the table.

The one-seat couldn't believe he jammed with pocket 8-8's. "I made a move and hoped to get lucky, and it worked out" Hank defended.

258 players remain.

Blinds 1200 / 2400 with 300 antes.

Event 20: Egypt vs. Lithuania

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Tony Antonious - Egypt

As we know poker is a global game and a big hand brew up between Inesa Paberzs from Lithuania and Tony Antonious from Egypt.

Tony was bringing the entertainment factor to the table but Raife Peary has had enough and wants it to be broken up. They just see Antonious as a wildcard who calls everything. As one player put it, "The one-seat doesn't have a fold button".

After Inesa shoved all-in pre flop, the table waited five minutes for Tony to make a decision. "I double you up before...you know Santa only comes once a year" said the bearded Antonious.

Finally Tony calls and reveals A-J. Inesa shows K-K.

Clean board for Paberzs who doulbes up. Q-4-3-6-4.

Looks like Santa came twice this year.

Inesa Paberzs - Lithuania

Event 21: Another Double & Bounty For Joshie

$350 + $50 + $100 Big Stack Black Chip Bounty NLH

Everyone returned to the table from dinner and wanted the "up for grabs" $100 bounty for dessert. Of course Joshie Berger had extra incentive to try and capture it.

Sure enough UTG+1 Joshie fires out 7,000 and announces, "I have a legit hand. I'm not bluffing. I will show my hand." Folds around to Jason Nablo who calls. Heads-up to the flop of J-5-2.

Almost instantly Joshie says, "I'm all in" and pushes his 29,600 past the betting line. Jason calls very quickly and tables K-J. Joshie flips A-J.

Queen on the turn and a river 10 gives Joshie another double-up and more importantly, the $100 bounty he felt he rightfully deserved.

By the by, the bounty guy who fled held K-7.

Event 20: Three Guys Burgers & Fries

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Guy Cruickshanks Jr., Guy Cruickshanks, & Guy Dimaria

We already know more guys dominate the Championship but this is getting crazy.

Guy Cruickshanks (Hamilton Ontario) had quad fours earlier today. "I had pocket fours, he had A-K, and the flop was K-4-7" said Guy.

All the chips got in, then Guy hit another four on the river.

Fast forward to before dinner, Guy collects more chips and another knock-out after his A-A holds up against K-K.

Guy is up to 325,000 in chips.

His son Guy Jr. and his friend Guy Dimaria are sweatin' from the rail and wish him even more luck.

Event 20: Bounty Hunters

$350 + $50 + 100 Big Stack Black Chip Bounty NLH

Cortese & Larkin

Jenna Cortese & Victoria Larkin are friends from Syracuse, NY looking to make the money in this event. Larkin says she's been at Borgata throughout the series and "bricking" every event, but hoping they will help build a deep run tonight.

Cortese just got here to watch her boyfriend play the Championship Event, but since he busted he's now keeping tabs of her from the rail.

Larkin has 90k on dinner break, while Cortese is at 57k.

Event 21: Chip Leaders

$350 + $50 + 100 Big Stack Black Chip Bounty NLH

Siraj, Restelli & Devries

Big Stacks

Salah Siraj  (New York City, NY) 274k
Guillermo Rastelli (Gainesville, FL) 230k
Robby Devries (Paterson, NJ) 200k

Number of Entrants: 340
Players Remaining: 65
Chips In Play: 5.1 million

Average Stack: 78k (26 BB)
Big Stack: 274k (91 BB)

Next Blinds: 1,500/3,000/400 ante

Total Buy-In: $119,000
First Prize: $31,161
Places Paid: 36

Event 20: Dinner-Time Tweets

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Some tweets that arrived during the dinner break:

JonathanLittle Jonathan Little 

At 240k. Dinner break now. 1200/2400-300 when we return.

sheetspwns Eric Haber 

Dinner break.....and man I need one....77700 going to 1200/2400 when we come back in 75 mins.

leechilds Lee Childs 

117k at dinner.

VanessaSelbst Vanessa Selbst 

540k at dinner. Just folded AK after putting in 10 big blinds pre. I cold called a 4b and folded. Lee markholt had AA other guy QQ.

Grippolio Nicholas Grippo 

270k at dinner break

dwpoker David Williams 

Dinner break. Hadnt counted in a while but at 623k. And I made a sick fold on river after putting in 40k. BAM! #wptBorgata

WiLDmAn_75 Daniel Buzgon 

75k on dinner break. Fighting the food fight to still be in. Time to get lucky.

toddbterry Todd Terry 

50k at dinner. 21 BBs. Nothing going right but still in.

bnovena Brandon Novena 

Doubled up before break. $101,000!!!!!! Baby!

vinpahuja Vinny Pahuja

300/1313 left in Borgata WPT. 86k going to 12/2400 i've hit 1 2-outer and 2 3-outers today to still be in this. #skillgame

Ebony_Kenney Ebony Kenney 

Going to dinner break w about 68k. Coming back to 12/2400. So happy to still be in after this roller coaster of a day.

ArgentinaBoy Alex Queen 

206k at dinner break around 300 people left going to 1200/2400 w an ante when we get back

Bhanks11 Brent Hanks 

110k at dinner...and im pretty hungry #peteyrush

HustlerGrune Zachary Gruneberg 

Almost 400K going into dinner break played like a boss once again all day LETS GO #TEAMTUSSEY

jeremyEARS r. jeremy mclaughlin 

about avg 118k feels great as was down to 30k. #wptBorgata 310 remain.

Event 20: Payout Reminder

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Entries: 1,313
Total Buy-In: $4,332,900

Here's a reminder what they're playing for:

Place - Amount

1st   $922,441
2nd  $554,303
3rd   $335,433
4th   $280,925
5th   $230,610
6th   $186,585
7th   $148,848
8th   $113,209
9th     $77,569
10-12 $50,315
13-15 $35,640
16-18 $23,061
19-27 $18,868
28-36 $16,352
37-45 $14,675
46-54 $12,998
55-63 $11,740
64-72 $10,482
73-81   $9,644
82-90   $8,805
91-100 $8,386

Event 21: Two Chips and a Chair

$350 + $50 + 100 Big Stack Black Chip Bounty NLH
 

$100 Bounty with Tournament Chip

On the last hand before dinner break Mike Trivisonno (Lyndhurst, OH) decides he wants to either double his 13k (6 BB) or go home, so he calls the all in bet against Joshie Berger (New York, NY).

Trivisonno: 2 6

Berger: A K

Trivisonno picks up a straight draw on the turn, but bricks the river and is annoyed that he has Berger covered leaving him with with one black (100) chip left and his $100 bounty. Berger is lobbying the table that he should get the bounty, but because he didn't knock out Trivisonno the casino chip is up for grabs.

Berger doubles to 29k as players are on a one hour dinner break and looking forward to the $100 free for all when play resumes at 8:30 pm, Trivisonno says he's not returning to watch the feeding frenzy.

Event 20: Dinner Time

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH   

End of level 14 and time for dinner.  Players get 75 minutes away from the grind.  Play will resume at 8:30pm.

34 tables (304 players) remain.  Average stack is about 129k.  When play resumes, blinds will be 1,200/2,400, so an average stack will have about 53 big blinds.

Event 20: Williams Takes the Lead

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH  

David Williams is now up to 606k, ahead of both Abe Korotki and Vanessa Selbst.

 David Williams

Nelson Robinson ran his pocket 5s into pocket 7s and was busted.

Ebony Kenney got her last 27k in holding KQ and was dominated by AK.  The King on the flop changed nothing, but the Queen on the river gave her a much needed double-up.

Event 20: Chip Leaders

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH   

Looks like Abe Korotki has passed Vanessa Selbst to claim the chip lead. 

These are the ten biggest stacks in the room, according to the WPT:

Abe Korotki - 580k
Vanessa Selbst - 525k
Andrew Blake - 430k
David Williams - 400k
Edgar Lemus-Argueta - 375k
Cornell Cimpan - 368k
Nick Grippo - 350k
John Racener - 300k
Will Failla - 295k
Kyle Burnside - 282k

Event 20: Table Talk

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

(L-R) Failla, Dorin, Terry & Shak

Will "The Thrill" Failla is usually the ring leader at his table, but today on table 19 Alex "Jedi" Nepomnyaschiy
is the one who's been talking a bit too much.  Jedi was given a one orbit penalty for stirring the pot, much to the delight of Todd Terry and Dan Shak who have been two of his nemesis.

Also at the table are Joanne Dorin and David Diaz which as been very entertaining and surprisingly Failla hasn't been much of an instigator.

Event 20: Words with Casual Poker Acquaintances

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH  

'Action' Bob Hwang and Feming Chan were moved to different tables long ago, but they've completed their Words match.  Bob Hwang took the win and side bet from Feming.

"I beat Feming!" he told me proudly.  So he's already up for the day, even without cashing in this event.

They're back to breaking tables already.  37 tables remain -- 370 players.  Average stack is ~106k.  That's about 53 big blinds.

Event 20: Up, Out & In

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

Level 14:  Blinds are up to 1k/2k with 200 antes. 

Out:
Taemee Feuer
Jason Park
Ivan Mamuzic
Jeffrey Papola
Noah Schwartz
Greg Fishberg
Benny Bianco
Byung Yoo

In:
Matt Glantz
Frank Vizza
Alex Todd
Brock Parker
David Diaz
Ray Shackelford
Avdo Djokovic
Tony Antonious
John Lakatosh
Maria Ho

Event 20: Callahan Triples

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

There was a commotion around table 36 so I rushed over to see what was going on.

Three players were all-in:
Ilya Nudelman - AK offsuit
Nelson Robinson - AJ offsuit
Jerry Callahan - KQ offsuit.

Nelson had both players covered and Jerry was the short-stack with only ~15k.

 Jerry Callahan

The board came 5 4 2 Q 7 and Jerry caught a 3-outer on the turn to triple up to ~50k.

Ilya took the side-pot with nut-no-pair and was left with ~35k.

After shipping to both other players, Nelson was left with ~75k.

Event 20: 40 Tables, 9-Handed

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

When the field reached 40 tables, they began changing tables from 10-handed to 9-handed play.  That means 40 people have to bust out before another table breaks (400 to 360 players).

Some people are probably counting the moments until table 40 breaks.  Currently seated on one end of that table are Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Robert Mizrachi, and Ebony Kenney.

Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Robert Mizrachi, & Ebony Kenney

James 'Smiley' Chin is doing his best to not bust out.  He started today 746th out of 753 players, with only 7,525.  Since then, he's built his stack all the way up to ~70k.

He's still a little behind the average which should now be a little over 100k, but he's definitely moving in the right direction.

Event 20: Nguyen Wins, Harder Busted

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

Kenny 'SuperTuan' Nguyen 4-bet-shoved for 85k over Christian Harder's 3-bet (8,300).  All the chips go in and Christian's AK was ahead of Kenny's T9 offsuit. 

A 9 on the flop gave Kenny the lead and that's all he needed for the double up.

Christian was left short and busted out soon after.  The 2011 Borgata Poker Open Heads-Up Champion has left the tournament.

Event 20: Tweeter Tweets

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

Some break-time tweets:

MariaHochips Maria Ho
117k in level 13 playing 800/1600/200. 430 players left, 100 spots pay.

dwpoker David Williams
2nd break and where I began the day at. 155k. Things are looking good though.

JonathanLittle Jonathan Little
At 120k. Picked up AA and won a little. Not much happened besides that.

ArgentinaBoy Alex Queen
154k after 4 levels, blinds going to 800/1600 was down to 36k but got fortunate to cooler some people

leechilds Lee Childs
92K. Going to 800/1600/200. Lots of patience and good timing that level.

Grippolio Nicholas Grippo
215k on break, I'm starting to not play so terrible. Blinds going up to 8/1600/200

JYoungpoker Jason Young
Uhoh...aa vs 10-10 good for a full double were at 100K

sheetspwns Eric Haber
Comfort zone was nice.....170k a bit nicer though.....going to 800/1600

jeremyEARS r. jeremy mclaughlin
78k #wptBorgata 430 remain. 1st: $922,441 100th: $8386 twitpic.com/6nya42

WiLDmAn_75 Daniel Buzgon
Back down to 46k. Going to 800 1600. Needs my run good and that ace and ace.

VanessaSelbst Vanessa Selbst
555k going to 8/16.

Event 20: Back from Break

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

As everyone hustles on break to grab a soft pretzel or a scoop of ice cream, players hopeful of making the blog state their case and it usually starts with something along the lines, "I just had an interesting hand."

The winner of this round's random update comes from Joe McElwee (Harleysville, PA) who says he just doubled-up to 130k when his top pair, top kicker dodges a flush draw.

Also stopping by media row is Roz Quarto who says she ran her stack to 100k, dropped to 5k and is now back to 100k.  "Xanax helps," she says while going with the more healthy approach on break by grabbing some fruit.

Play resumes with 435 players and an average stack of 90k (56 BB) as level 13 (800/1,600/200 ante) is underway.

Event 20: Gordon Gonzo; Selbst Leads

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH  

After a player in late position opened for 2,800, Gordon Eng moved in his last ~20k.

Gordon's pocket Queens were way ahead of his opponent's KT...then the flop came T T x.  Goodbye Gordon.

Vanessa Selbst has meanwhile overtaken all opponents and claimed the chip lead with over 500k.  According to her tweet, she flopped a set, turned a boat, and got paid off by two callers.

Event 20: Bad Beat to Remember

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Gigi Giddy with Excitement

A bad beat in a tournament of this caliber usually features bad blood and angry words, but we've just seen the most cordial elimination ever.

Diane "Gigi" Gagne (Clearwater, FL) and Bert Lambert (Duffield, VA) are all in preflop with Gagne holding pocket queens against Lambert's pocket aces.

The flop brings an ace and a queen for set over set as the table lets out a mini roar. The turn is another queen to give Gagne quads and everyone erupts.

"I love it," says Gagne, "I waited and waited and waited and it finally came," she says giddy with excitement after finally doubling-up. "This is huge," after stacking 100k in chips.

Lambert is very gracious about having aces cracked and stops to tell his story with a huge smile to anyone who will listen. This is Lambert's first big buy-in tournament and the oil distributor says it's been a "great trip, other than the bad beat."

Level 12 (600/1,200/100 ante) is winding down as players are heading on a 15 minute break.

 Lambert (right) Laments Bad Beat

Event 21: Kessler Leads

$350 + $50 + 100 Big Stack Black Chip Bounty NLH

Many of the players who busted out of the Championship event are now playing in today's other event.  Allen 'Chainsaw' Kessler is one of those players.  He just tweeted:

AllenKessler allen kessler

@BJNemeth I'm chipleader in the $500 bounty event. Why cant I run like this in #wpt main?

Event 20: Tough Table Ten

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

Matt Affleck and Al Riccobono have moved to table 10 to surround Eugene Todd like bookends.

 Matt Affleck, Eugene Todd, & Al Riccobono

  None of them appeared too happy about that.  Matt is up to about 300k.  The other two, not so much.

Event 20: More Goners

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

More folks taking the afternoon off:

Kathy Liebert
Bruce Yamron
Brandon Hall
Trevor Savage
Norman Kapczynski
Mike Holm
Aziz Muinde
Keith Crowder
Jean Gaspard
Eugene Fouksman
Freddy Rouhani
Blake Purvis
Jake Toole
Jerry Payne
Darryll Fish

Event 20: Table 19 Thrillin'

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

Level 12:  Blinds are up to 600/1,200 with 100 antes.

Todd Terry was moved to table 19, joining Will 'the Thrill' Failla, Joanne Dorin, and Dan Shak.

 Will Failla, Joanne Dorin, & Todd Terry

Will is keeping the table entertained while at the same time, growing his stack to ~255k.

Event 20: Quickies

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

Nelson Robinson won a pot with boat over boat -- he's up to 70k.

James St. Hilaire's pocket Aces hold against Alan Sternberg's pocket Queens.

Lars Bonding is busted.

Jason Young busted Steve Dannenmann.

Jennifer Shahade took Steve's seat on Jason's right.

Eric 'sheets' Haber's pocket 7s lost to a short-stack's 86 (all-in pre-flop).

Filipp Khaven ran his AK into pocket Aces.  He's toast.

Event 20: Barta Busted

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH     

Andrew Barta got all-in pre-flop holding pocket Queens against AK.  He flopped a set of Queens, but his opponent made a four-flush on the river to crack his set.

Andrew reported to the rail about half-way through level 11.

Andrew is best-known for his 3rd place finish in the WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic in 2008, where he finished 3rd ($281k).  Erik Seidel won that event ($992k) earning not much more than the winner of this event will claim (over $922k)

Event 20: Chip Counts

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

Some chip counts from the non-tweeting:

 Edgar Lemus-Argueta

Zachary Gruneberg ~ 250k
Edgar Lemus-Argueta ~ 235k
Jason Min ~200k

WPT is reporting that Darren Elias is the chip leader with 360k and Abe Korotki is second with 350k.

Event 20: Back to Business

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH    

Level 11 is underway with blinds of 500/1,000 with 100 antes.

560 players remaining. 

Average stack is ~70k or ~70 big blinds.

Event 20: Break Time Tweets

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH   

At the end of level 10, players were sent on a 15 minute break while the green 25 chips are colored up. 

Here are some of their tweets from the break:

JamesStHilaire James St. Hilaire
Picked up a cool 1950 in chips the first two levels. #crushing

JYoungpoker Jason Young
62,375 at break just busted danneman...

Grippolio Nicholas Grippo
Pittsy first couple levels. Down a little, 130k now going to 500/1k/100

BenVolpe Ben Volpe
120k but I'm downswinging. 500/1k

mcmattopoker Matthew Affleck
210k on break. Got a guy to stick in 45k drawing dead on flop... #RunLikeMattWaxman

D_Dayy Nelson Robinson
28k on first break goin to 500/1k/100

Bhanks11 Brent Hanks
85k at first break @WorldPokerTour....Building a castle this level. #whoneedsgravy

WiLDmAn_75 Daniel Buzgon
53k on first break. Table about to break. Going to 500 1k.

JeffMadsenobv Jeff Madsen
285k first break #heaping twitpic.com/6nwgg4

Ebony_Kenney Ebony Kenney
What an uber swingy start of the day for me! First break w 56k. Have a ton of chips still. Watching videos of my kids. #TiltPrevention

TreMomey Trevor Savage
24.8k firs break got moved to great table going to 500-1k/100

bnovena Brandon Novena
Just played first two levels. Still in with $32,000.

sheetspwns Eric Haber
End level.....42250 going up to 5k/1k (100)....out of comfort zone but oh well.

toddbterry Todd Terry
53300 at first break. 53 BBs.

filkgb filipp khavin
19k on 1st break, grinding

JonathanLittle Jonathan Little
At 105k. I made 2 decent hands and piled money in then won a flip for 55k.

getinthur tim faro
On 1st break today cone back to 500/1k 100A with 100k. Pretty good table, I'm feeling great looking forward to doing work. 

leechilds Lee Childs
49k on break. Going to 500/1000/100.

RealLarsBonding Lars Bonding
I hate color ups for several reasons: 1st, my number of chips decreases, 2nd, TD's always start the process while playing, DON'T do that!

Flashgordon227 Gordon Eng
Down to 54k. Blinds going to 500 1k for the next 75mins

Event 20: Goners

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH   

These folks are already busted:

Mike 'Little Man' Sica
 Dan Heimiller
Adam Cook
Allen Kessler
Patricia Barsanti-Chou
David Inselberg
Eric Siegel
Tom McCormick
Travis Greenawalt
Matt Brady

Most of them can now be found playing in today's noon $350 Black Chip Bounty tournament, which is filling up all the tables not being used by this event.

Event 20: Table 42 Laughing

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH  

One table over, table 42 is also having a good time today.

Top: Steve Dannenmann & Jason Young

Left: Gordon Eng & Christina Lindley; Right: Mike Devinsky

Steve Dannenmann, everyone's favorite runner-up, and Jason Young and enjoying themselves today.  Jason is wearing his lucky #13 jersey again today.

Also at the table are Gordon Eng, Christina Lindley, and Mike Devinsky, so there's lots of poker talent here!

Event 20: Table 43 Loaded

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH  

The random table draw for day two has resulted in table 43 being heavily loaded with poker savvy.

David, Jason Min, Chris Bell, Josh Spiegelman, Gavin Smith, Leonard Sande, Michael Dichiaro and Brandon Novena are all seated there.

Jason Min started today 12th in chips out of 753 players.
Brandon finished 4th in this event last year ($223,475).
Gavin Smith has 1 WPT title, 1 WSOP bracelet, and over $5.7 million lifetime.
Chris Bell has 1 WSOP bracelet and over $2.7 million lifetime.
The others have numerous cashes here at Borgata and elsewhere.

Event 20: Thomas Triples

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH  

Level 10:  Blinds are up to 400/800 with 75 antes.

Travell Thomas (Buffalo, NY) min-cashed in this event last year, finishing 97th for $6,671.  Roy Winston won this event in 2007 along with over $1.5 million.  Today, they find themselves seated together and having a good time.

 Travell Thomas & Roy Winston

They started today at opposite ends of the chip-count spectrum.  Roy was 25th out of 753 returning players, with 142k.  Travell returned with 15,500, ranking 699 out of 753.

Travell has already tripled those chips today, thanks to pocket Aces holding up against pocket Kings and pocket Queens holding up against pocket Jacks.  He's currently up to ~55k.

Event 21: Cards Are In The Air

$350 + $50 + $100 Big Stack Black Chip Bounty NLH

Today's other event is the $350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip No Limit Hold'em Bounty tournament.  Perfect entertainment for players who have busted out of the Championship event, but aren't ready to leave.

They began with 15,000 chips and blinds of 25/50.  Levels are 30 minutes long. 

Cards are in the air!

Event 20: Words With Casual Poker Acquaintances

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH 

Bob Hwang and David Fox

When I saw 'Action' Bob Hwang and David Fox seated next to each other staring at their phones, I thought they were playing Words with Friends against each other. 

 Justin Friedman (far left) & Feming Chan (far right)

As it turns out, Bob was playing with Feming Chan and Justin Friedman, who were sitting at the opposite end of the table.

 Words with Casual Poker Acquaintances

Apparently Bob has some side bets and he may need to cash in this event in order to pay them off. 

Event 20: Two More Out the Door

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Andy Frankenberger (WPT Season 9 Player of the Year) busted out when his AJ failed to out-run AQ, despite flopping a Jack -- his opponent turned Broadway.

Andy has departed, leaving Jonathan Little (2-time WPT title holder) to rule over table 44.

Heather Sue Mercer 's AQ was not so lucky.  She was up against AK, which held up.  She busted out in early day 2 action.

Event 20: Felting Fast

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Early action and the bust-outs are coming fast.  I scanned four tables, watched 3 all-ins, and two players got felted.

Austen Johnson, who won his seat in this event in the Borgata Leaderboard Contest during the Borgata Summer Open, has already busted out.

 Zachary Gruneberg

Zachary Gruneberg busted Nathan Goldstein when his pocket 8s won the race against Nathan's AK (Zachary flopped a set).  He's up to ~130k.

Zachary is having a good time today, sharing table 4 with Roz Quarto, Alex Queen, and Fred Goldberg.

Event 20: Cards Fly

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

753 players returned for day two and scrambled to find their tables and seats in a jam-packed event center.

76 tables are in action at the start of play, but they will start to break down quickly as the short-stacks make their moves. 

Play began with level 9, blinds 300/600 with 75 antes.  Levels are still 75 minutes long and they'll play 9 more levels today, wrapping up about midnight.

Cards are in the air!

Championship Event Table Assignments

Borgata Poker Open
Event 20: WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship
$3,300 + $200 No Limit Hold'em
September 18 - 23, 2011

Entries:  1,313
Total Buy-in:  $4,332,900

START OF DAY 2 TABLE ASSIGNMENTS:
T: 01 S: 06 - ABRAMS, LAWRENCE: 179,100
T: 52 S: 06 - ADAMS, BARUCH: 68,150
T: 68 S: 03 - ADLER, ADAM: 78,000
T: 18 S: 03 - ADVANI, MONI: 81,050

T: 52 S: 08 - AFFLECK, MATTHEW:  156,075

T: 50 S: 01 - AFRIAT, ERIC:  89,025

T: 39 S: 10 - AGAEV, ADAM:  25,975

T: 45 S: 10 - AIEVOLI, MICHAEL:  65,375

T: 27 S: 07 - ALAWADHI, ALI:  31,250

T: 30 S: 04 - ALBERRO, ROBERTO:  53,175

T: 34 S: 04 - ALJANEDI, SAMEER:  35,300

T: 71 S: 08 - ALMANZAR, JOHN:  13,925

T: 45 S: 03 - ANDERSON, SCOTT:  32,900

T: 25 S: 06 - ANDREWS, CHERISH:  21,875

T: 12 S: 02 - ANTONAKOS, MICHAEL:  89,025

T: 63 S: 01 - ANTONIOUS, NASHAAT:  83,325

T: 06 S: 08 - APICELLA, PETER:  110,900

T: 53 S: 07 - ARJANG, PAYMAN:  63,825

T: 03 S: 04 - ARON, MICHAEL:  59,000

T: 13 S: 10 - ARORA, ALOK:  16,700

T: 37 S: 03 - ARTA, BALINT:  47,725

T: 74 S: 05 - BARNA, EDMOND:  27,200

T: 75 S: 06 - BARNES, WENDELL:  50,600

T: 35 S: 08 - BARRILE, BRYAN:  37,000

Championship Event Chip Leaders

Borgata Poker Open
Event 20: WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship
$3,300 + $200 No Limit Hold'em
September 18 - 23, 2011

Entries:  1,313
Total Buy-in:  $4,332,900



END OF DAY 1 CHIP COUNT LEADERS:
1. ABRAHAM KOROTKI: 260,100
2. JEFFREY MADSEN: 216,925
3. ALEX TODD: 200,000

4. VANESSA SELBST: 198,675

5. EDGAR LEMUS-ARGUETA: 191,925

6. DARREN ELIAS: 191,200

7. EMANUEL FAILLA: 189,500

8. ERIC SALINAS: 184,225

9. ADAM WHITE: 180,625

10. LAWRENCE ABRAMS: 179,100

11. JESSE ALEXIS COHEN: 177,825

12. JASON MIN: 174,000

13. TYNG LOW: 165,875

14. DANIEL WACH: 164,875

15. ANDREAS FREUND: 163,525

16. JOANNE DORIN: 160,000

17. DANIEL COLMAN: 159,775

18. RONALD PEASE: 156,250

19. MATTHEW AFFLECK: 156,075

20. NICHOLAS GRIPPO: 154,250

21. DAVID WILLIAMS: 153,850

22. AUDULAH DELJANIN: 146,225

23. COREY BURBICK: 146,100

24. MATTHEW LEVINE: 145,425

25. ROY WINSTON: 142,000

26. MARSHA WOLAK: 138,125

27. TONY GRAND: 136,000

28. DANIEL HIRLEMAN: 135,275

29. THOMAS HOGLUND: 135,225

30. CORNEL ANDREW CIMPAN: 133,200

Tuesday, September 20

Today's Events (Event Center)

11AM: Event 20 - $3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH (Day 2)

• $3,000,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Day 2 Levels: will last 75 minutes
• 5-Day event (with two Day 1 starting days)
• Day 2 ends after Level 16

12PM: Event 21 - $350 + $50 + $100 Big Stack Black Chip Bounty NLH

• Players start with 15,000 in tournament chips 
• This is a Bounty tournament.  Players must have their Bounty Chip clearly displayed on the table in order to remain active in tournament.
• Levels will last 30 minutes each 
• 1-Day event

6PM: Event 54 - $150 + $30 No Limit Hold'em

• Players start with 10,000 in tournament chips 
• Levels will last 20 minutes each 
• 1-Day event

Event 20: Madsen Leads Day 1B

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH

Madsen Making Magic at Borgata

Jeff Madsen is no stranger to playing well and winning at Borgata. The 2010 Winter Poker Open Champion ($625,000) is not only the Day 1B chip leader with 217k, but he also takes home $5,000 for bagging the most chips.

"When you do well at one place there's a good vibe around it," said Madsen, who's a two time WSOP bracelet holder and whose last tournament win came here.

"But it's not all about the money. Yeah it would be great to win $900,000, but for me it's about the competition and winning and adding to the resume.  WPTBorgata Poker Open Championship event  is one of the most prestigious tournaments and I'm glad I'm off to a great start."

The Day 1B field of 853, combined with 460 players on Day 1A helped Borgata set the attendance record with 1,313 players for the third consecutive year. 

"It's exciting to be a part of the largest field ever in WPT history," said Vanessa Selbst, who was second in chips on Day 1A with 199k and will be fourth overall heading into Day 2.  The WSOP bracelet holder added, "to have a chance to win that much money is incredible."

The nearly $4.3 million total buy-in helped blow away the $3 million guaranteed prize pool and set the top prize at $922,441 as the top 100 players will cash in this event.

When Day 2 play resumes 11 am Tuesday, Abe Korotki (Bethany Beach, DE), who also earned a $5,000 bonus as the Day 1A chip leader, will lead the field with 260k. Madsen is second overall, followed by Alex Todd (New York, NY) with 200k, and Selbst.

Approximately 750 players return for Day 2 play with an average stack of 51k (84 BB) as blinds will start with level 9 (300/600/75 ante).

Check back after 9 am for an updated list of chip counts