Event 1: In The Money

$400 + $50 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

It's got to be tough being the short-stack and having the chip leader on your immediate left.  That's the situation Daniel Lombardi (Huntington, NY) found himself in today.

 Daniel Lombardi and George Cicak

He had anted and blinded his way down to only 2k in chips.  Those went in for his ante (he was in the cutoff seat) and he was all-in before the cards were even dealt.  Action folded to chip leader George Cicak on the button, who flat-called.  Both blinds came along for the ride and checked down the board of 5 3 2 T 4.

Daniel held Q3 suited for a pair of 3s, but George had an Ace for the wheel to take the pot.

Daniel is today's bubble-boy and was a good sport about it as he left the tournament area. 

The remaining 120 players are all in the money and guaranteed to cash for at least $1,000.

Event 1: Still Bubbling

$400 + $50 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

Whorley & Parretta Showing Off the Ladies

All-in action continues, but the bubble has yet to break. One anti-climatic showdown is Q♦ Q♥ vs Q♠ Q♣ and Dajuan Whorley (Accokeek, MD) shouts "black," as he's holding the black ladies against Dave Parretta (Williamstown, NJ) and his ladies in red.

The board fails to put out a flush and the two chop the 650k pot.

Just before that, on a neighboring table, Gordon Eng (Cliffside Park, NJ) three-bets and when the original raisers folds, he show's pocket aces and says, "easy game."

Hand-for-hand play continues.

Event 1: Titans Clash Again

$400 + $50 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry) 

On the turn with a board of T 9 4 6 (two clubs, two hearts) George Cicak opts to call Jeremy Rosen's 80k bet. 

The river delivered the 8 of spades and George led out for 200k.  Jeremy folded.  He was left with ~600k.

George increased his lead to 1.8 million.

Still 121 players, still hand-for-hand.

Event 1: Break On The Bubble

$400 + $50 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry) 

One player busted out, leaving 121 players on the true-money-bubble.  They completed the level and were sent on a break.

Average stack is almost 355k.

When they return, blinds will be 6k/12k with 2k antes and play will continue hand-for-hand until one more player is eliminated.

Event 1: Monster Hand, Monster Pot

$400 + $50 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

With 122 players remaining, they went to hand-for-hand play.  Two more must go to reach the money.

A huge hand developed on table 11 between Jeremy Rosen (utg) and George Cicak (Randolph, NJ).  Jeremy raised, George 3-bet from the small blind, Jeremy 4-bet, George 5-bet, Jeremy 6-bet (+202k) and George tanked.

Crowd surrounding table 11 during this massive hand

All hands were completed at the other tables with no bust-outs, so a crowd gathered around this table.

George finally decided to move all-in (565k more on top).  Both players were very close in chips.

Now it was Jeremy's turn in the tank.  He eventually opted to fold (without showing).  His six-bet-fold ties the record held by Scott Blackman from the 2010 Spring Poker Open.

At the urging of the surrounding crowd, George showed his hand -- AK suited.

Jeremy was left with ~700k.  George claimed the chip lead with over 1.6 million.

Event 3: Up All Night

$350 + $50 Omaha H/L 8B

Burr & Rouhani

The large fields and great values are luring the big game cash players into the Borgata Poker Open. Melissa Burr (Brigantine, NJ) was up all night grinding cash before deciding to enter the Omaha event.

She's just one of the recognizable names at what's turned into an all-star table. On her left is Freddie Rouhani (Gaithersburg, MD) and Eric Siegel (Melville, NY).

Also in the field is Brent Keller (Horsham, PA) who's a three-time WSOP circuit event champion and says, "it's pretty tough to bust out this early in the tournament."

12k starting stacks, limit betting, and split pots sets up a long day at the table.

Event 1: 135 Remain

 $400 + $50 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

Table 16 was quite a handful with amateur Frank Piasecki (Tonawanda, NY) in the two seat holding his own, sandwiched between poker pros Gordon Eng (Cliffside Park, NJ) in the one seat and Paul Darden (Hampton, CT) in the three seat. 

 Gordon Eng and Frank Piasecki

They've now broken table sixteen, so Frank's been moved to a new table away from the pros.

15 tables remain with 135 players.  The tension in the room is ratcheting up as they can now smell the money.

Events 2 & 3: Numbers Game

The early returns have 500+ players in Event 2 (NLBounty) and 190 in Event 3 (Omaha).

Registration for both tournaments is closed and the cage is verifying the numbers for each prize pool.

Event 1: Chip Leader

$400 + $50 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

David Tawil (Brooklyn, NY) has taken the chip lead with ~1.3 million.  He was at table 17, but that table has broken and he landed at table 13 (hope he's not superstitous).

 David Tawil

16 nine-handed tables remain leaving 144 players still in the hunt for the money and the top prize of over $140k.  Only the final 120 players will take home a piece of the prize pool.  Average stack is now over 298k. 

They've just moved into level 20 with blinds of 5k/10k with 1k antes.

Event 1: Another One Bites the Dust

$400 + $50 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry) 

Jeremy Rosen (Paramus, NJ) is having a good day.  He started at noon with186,500 and is now sitting behind almost 1 million chips.

 Jeremy Rosen

His latest kill was when he called a short stack's all-in holding J8.  The all-in player was ahead with AK.

Both players picked up a pair when the flop came K 8 x.  The turn was a blank, but when another 8 landed on the river, Jeremy took the pot with trips, sending another player to the rail.

Event 2: Going Crazy

$350 + $50 + 100 NLH Black Chip Bounty

Over enthusiasm in the early levels of a tournament can rub players the wrong way, but sometimes its pure joy. Jamal Ghanim, (South Plainfield, NJ) twice in the last 30 minutes, has stood on his chair and shouted after surviving a couple of all ins.

The latest comes while holding A 10 against the Q Q of Scott Eininger (Montebello, NY). Ghanim explodes with, "yes, yes yes!" when he hits trip aces to stay alive.

The players are unfazed and find Ghanim refreshing, "no hard feelings at all, I didn't want to take his $100," says Eininger, who doesn't mind forgoing the bounty he would have gotten for a knockout.

One other player chimes in, "he's good for the table, we don't want him to go."

Level 5 (150/300/25 ante) is underway.

Event 1: It's Good to be Lucky

$400 + $50 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry) 

Play has resumed following a color-up break with blinds of 4k/8k and 1k antes.

Just before the break, Bernard Dominiak (Lower Burrell, PA) opened for 16k.  Austen Johnson (Woodsboro, MD) three-bet to 34k, Bernard four-bet for 105k, and Austen five-bet-shoved for another 175k on top.

 Austen Johnson

Bernard tanked for a few minutes, then made the call holding pocket Queens.  He was way ahead of Austen's JT suited.  Austen was at risk of elimination.

The flop came 9 7 6 giving Austen a gutshot, needing an 8.  The turn was a Queen, giving Bernard a bigger lead with a set of Queens, but giving Austen more outs with an open-ender.

River was a King, completing the straight for Austen and doubling him up to ~700k.  Bernard was left with ~50k after that hand.

As of the break, Bernard was down to ~20k.  Austen had lost a little and was down to ~650k.

Austen Johnson was the winner of the Borgata Summer Poker Open Leaderboard promotion, winning his $3,500 entry into the BPO Championship, which begins on September 18(Day 1A)/19 (Day 1B).

** 5pm update:   Bernard Dominiak not only held on to make the money, but made it all the way to 94th place, earning $1,067.

Event 1: Royal On The River

$400 + $50 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry) 

Nicolas Markatos (Astoria, NY) raised it pre-flop and got one caller.  On the flop of K Q T with two spades, all the chips went in the middle.  Nicolas was ahead with AQ of spades for middle pair with flush draw and gutshot straight and straight-flush draws.  His opponent held JT offsuit for bottom pair with open-ender.

 Nicolas Markatos

Turn was a King giving both players a second pair.  River was the Jack of spades, giving Niko the Royal flush for the overkill (he was ahead the whole way) and sending his opponent to the rail.

Niko has made quite a comeback.  At 1am on day one, he was down to only 20k with an hour left to play.  He finished day one with 223,500 and now is up to just under 400k.

Niko finished 5th in the $170 NL event during the Borgata Winter Open in January 2011, taking home over $11,000.

Event 2: Name Dropping

 $350 + $50 + 100 NLH Black Chip Bounty

The Black-Chip Bounty Hunters are currently in level 3 with blinds of 75/150.

There are quite a few recognizable faces in the field.  Here are some I spotted on my last pass:

Mike Dentale
Alex Bolotin
Eric Seigel
Russell Crane
Rick Austin
James 'Suits' Salters
Dan Spirer
David Inselberg
Ian Palomo
John Myung
Adam Lippert
Mirsad Kovaci

WSOP bracelet holder Mike "Little Man" Sica busted out of event 1, day 2 and has joined the bounty hunters in this event.

They're down to 45 tables now, meaning 450 (or fewer) players remain.