Event 1: Big Stacks

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 11:  Blinds 600/1,200 with 200 ante.

Jedial Pires

Jedial Pires (Goiana Goias, Brazil) is up to ~200k.  Jedial was runner-up in the 2012 Fall Open Double Black Chip Bounty event, cashing for over $19,000.

Max Amjadi

Chip leader (at least in the event center) appears to be Max Amjadi (Marmora, NJ).  He's up to ~240k.

Event 1: More Faces

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

There are lots of crazy characters in the Poker Room including Josip Laces (Woodside, NY) who's wearing a bear hat and using the paw gloves to ante his chips.

The room also features some recognizable women including Ebony Kenney (Miami, FL) and Patricia Barsanti-Chou (Metuchen, NJ).

Josip Laces 

Ebony Kenney

Patricia Barsanti-Chou

Event 1: Poker Room Faces

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Packed Poker Room

With all the hubbub in the Event Center, we escaped to the Poker Room where there's another sea of people.   Here's a look at who we found including Patrick Brown (Brooklyn, NY) who is one of the larger stacks in the room 100k.

Patrick Brown & Mike Summers

Dwyte Pilgrim & Jeremiah McKenna

Event 1: Big Numbers = Big Money

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)     

Level 10:  Blinds 500/1,000 with 100 ante.

Unofficial total entries today was just announced:  2,352.

Total for day 1a:  1,520.

Grand total:  3,872.

Total buy-ins:  $1,936,000.    Final 350 will get paid.

"Thas a lotta chedda, yo!"

Now that the re-entry period is over, tables are breaking as fast as the floor can collect seat cards and pass out chip racks.

Down to 74 tables already here in the Event Center.

Numbers are not official and still have to be verified by the cage.  It will be a while before we have confirmed, final numbers.

Event 1: Tweet-Counts

 $500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)     

Here are some chip counts captured via Twitter during the break:

Joe McKeehen - 92K
Chris Bourassa - 68k
Kevin Saul - 68k
Alan Kraut - 47k
Lana O'Brien - 47k
Brian Reeve - 46k
Eli Loewenthal - 45k
Chris Farley - 44k
Connor Berkowitz - 44k
James Tedrow - 44k
Mike Summers - 42k
Jason Nagers - 40k
Gags30 - 40k
Philly Poker Pro - 38k
Jerry Callahan - 33.6k
John G - 27k
Timothy Finne - 26k
Pokerished - 24.3k
Bob Hwang - 21k
Dave Gutfreund - 20k
Patrick Ricci - 19k
Greg Glassman - 15k
Brad Emdur - 13k
Matthew Chang - 11k
Lee Childs - 10.2k

Event 1: Isn't It Ironic?

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)    

Level 9:  Blinds 400/800 with 75 ante.

The re-entry period is over, but it will be a while before we have final numbers.

Tournament Director Tab Duchateau tweeted that they're already over 3,800 entries, beating the total of 3,705 for the 2012 Borgata Poker Open Event 1.


Ryan Eriquezzo, who entered for the 6th time, was randomly seated next to former girlfriend and fellow Inside The Minds instructor Amanda Musumeci.

In a field this size, what are the odds???

Event 1: Brutal Action

 $500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)    

Igor Miller (Brooklyn, NY) opened, then Jane Hitchcock (Washington, DC) shoved.

Igor called all-in for less, showing A♥6♥.

Jane was way ahead with pocket Aces.

The board came A 8♥3♥ x 2♥ giving Jane top set on the flop, but giving Igor the nut flush on the river.

He doubled up to ~100k.  Jane was left short-stacked.


Three payers took a flop of Q 8 3 with two clubs.  

Chuck Petroy Jr (bb) checked.

Paul Grein (E Brunswick, NJ) fired 3,700.  

Steve Ryan (New York, NY) was on the button and called.

Then Chuck shoved.  Then Paul shoved, putting Steve in the tank.

Steve only had about 12k remaining and opted to fold.

Paul had pocket 8s for middle set.  Chuck had Q8 for top two pair and only two outs.

The last two were blanks and Paul scooped the pot, busting Chuck in the process.


Level 8 is about to wrap and players will be taking a 15 minute break.

Event 1: Ins & Outs

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)    

The latest, reported via Twitter:

In (Alternates)
Matthew Chang
Aaron Massey
Tim Reilly


Out
Monro Secor


Out & In Again
Eugene Fouksman
Kevin Saul
James Sloat
Ryan Eriquezzo (6th bullet)
Jason Paster
Jose Montes
Tim Reilly (yes, already)
Rob Brown
Roman Valerstein

Event 1: Goners

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)     

Rob Sciammarello (Long Island, NY) raised UTG.  Mike McGuire (Mahwah, NJ) was short and shoved for about 12k.

Rob called, showing AJ suited.  Mike had pocket 5s.

The board came T 9 3 A 7 giving Rob top pair on the turn and busting Mike in the process (not sure if he plans to re-enter.

Rob chipped up to ~70k.

Last call for all alternates has been made, so they should all be seated.

Lee Childs (Reston, VA) busted out and has fired bullet #3.  Apparently there's a sizable line for re-entries at the registration desk.

Travis Williams ran pocket Jacks into pocket Queens and was busted.  He's not coming back.

Level 8:  Blinds 300/600 with 75 antes.

This is the last level for re-entries.

Event 1: Boat Sinks Boat

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)    

Richard Heller opened.  Mike Renzulli (Selden, NY) flatted.

On the flop of T 6 5 rainbow, Mike checked, Richard bet, Mike flatted.

Turn was a 4 and Mike checked again.  Richard fired again.  Mike flatted again.

River was a 6.  Mike checked for the third time.  Richard shoved and Mike called.

Richard had 65 for sixes-full.  Mike had pocket Tens for Tens-full to take the pot, sending Richard to the rail.  Not sure if he plans to re-enter or not.


They're all the way up to alternate table # 313.

Event 1: More Frequent Flyers

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)    

Level 7:  Blinds 250/500, with 50 ante.

Bruce Yamron (Naples, FL) busted out and has re-entered, arriving in the Event Center.  Bruce won the PLO event during the 2012 Borgata Fall Poker Open.

More faces are popping up in the Event Center.  Not sure if they're late arrivals or they've been hiding.

Here are some folks spotted on my most recent tour of the floor:

Satish Surapaneni
Joe Wertz
Tiffany Williams
Adel Shakerian
Amnon Filippi
Chris Farley
Sach Ramrakhani
Steven Curtin

Event 1: Lost Boy

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)     

Alternate table 308 has been called.

Rogerio Sousa (Durham, NC) busted out, re-entered, was giving a random open seat, played one hand, then went on break at the end of level 5.

When he came back from break, he couldn't remember where he was seated.

Not surprising in this massive field.  He finally located his empty seat once everyone else was back from break.

Roger made three final tables here at Borgata from November 2011 to November 2012 (5th in Stud, 2nd in Stud, and 3rd in PLO). 

All 90 tables in the Event Center are still busy and no tables will break until all the alternates have been seated.  It will probably be after the re-entry period ends (after level 8) before any tables are broken.

Not sure what's going on down in the Poker Room.  Need more Tweets from the folks down there! 

#BWPO

Event 1: Time to Check the Tweets

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)   

Level 6:  Blinds 200/400 with 50 ante.

Time to check the torrent of Tweets that came during the break:

Timothy Finne ‏@HighlandFox
12,750 over 400. Have pulled chips twice. #nittagetowinnage #biggestdoltinborgatahistory

Daniel Chan ‏@DanielChanPoker
KK<QQ aipf Q on the door #ontothenext bullet

Anthony Arnieri ‏@TonyL0C0
Is this guy serious with his sunglass/headphone combo? ... 15400 on break. pic.twitter.com/iNxCfSx4

Pokerished ‏@pokerished
15.5k at break coming back to 200/400/50 table gone crazy almost every hand jammed all in

Cathy Dever ‏@CathyDever
23K @ 1st break.

Brian Reeve ‏@ravensfutbal
T29325 going to 400 BB, couple of missteps, but still feeling good #BWPO1

Ryan Eriquezzo ‏@RyanEriquezzo
5th barrel. Got like 23k going to 400. Gl us :). #lifeisgood

Kevin Saul ‏@BeL0WaB0Ve
Finally got into event 1 at borgata w 15 min left in lev 5. Have 15k from 20k on 1st break. 3 more levels to re-entry if needed

Steve Scales ‏@SteveScales
Little under SS at break, not much going on

Patrick Ricci ‏@pricci21
24K at break

Chris Bourassa ‏@BoringAssa
71.5k/20k ss coming back to 400bb. #MakingFriends

monro secor ‏@suited4battle
Tough start today, lost 1/2 my stack right away w/1010 n would have lost a lot less as it turned out my opponent is tight but had no read.

Jerry Callahan ‏@callahanja911
17.5k at first break. #BWOITM #BWO2013

Bill Childs ‏@bill_childs
43425 @ the break

Lee Childs ‏@leechilds
19,950 from 20,000. Feels like 60,000. 400/50 coming up. #BWOITM

Brad Emdur ‏@coasterbrad
14.8k at break after level 5. Nothing good to report yet.

Rob Brown ‏@RobBrownPro
23.8k break going to 200/400/50 #nittagetowinnage

Greg Glassman ‏@theglassdog
32k from 20. Bystander to 2 medium-size arguments. #BWPO

Brandon ‏@BwandonAlb
Last hand before break I overraise two limps with AK. Get all in 3 ways vs qq and T7. Door card A and now have 60k

Robert Hwang ‏@ActionBobNJ
17k from 20k start at first break. I think I've played 3 hands in 5 levels. #noactionbob

monro secor ‏@suited4battle
About 22 bbs going to 200/400. Already in short stack ninja mode.

summers mike ‏@summerspro
Better start today end of level 5 I have 40k#bwoitm

Event 1: Break Time

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)    

Alternate tables 306 & 307 have been called.

End of level 5 and time for a 15 minute break.

Alternates are still lining the rail in the event center, so no tables have broken yet.

All 90 tables in the Event Center are full (well, they're empty now because players are on break).

The Event Center's food court is full as hungry players try to grab a bite before returning to play.

Event 1: More Familiar Faces

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)   

Alternate tables 304 & 305 have been called.

I keep spotting more Borgata regulars in the packed house:

Joe Simmons
Alex Rocha
Travis Greenawalt
John Zoldak
Steve Dannenmann
Matt 'Muffins' Mazzeo
Cherish Andrews
Jedi
Mark Bramley
Byung Yoo
Daryl Boatwright
David Fox
Paul Shedaker
Roger Sousa
Tony Campagna
Matt Maccaroni

Event 1: Entering & Re-Entering

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)    

Level 5:  Blinds 150/300 with 25 ante.

Alternate tables 302 & 303 have been called for seating.

Jason Young (Suffern, NY) has arrived in the Event Center.  His first buy-in today resulted in a seat down in the Poker Room.  Apparently he wasn't happy with that location and 'gave' his chips away so he could re-enter and get a new seat.

The 2008 WSOP Shootout winner appears to be happier with his new seat up here in the Event Center.  He says he's lost count of how many times he has entered, but I saw two yesterday and two today, so that's at least four for Jason.

Players will get their first break of the day at the end of this level (about 1:47pm).

Event 1: Checking in Via Twitter

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

In this massive field, there's no way to keep up with them all.  Thanks to Twitter, we can at least keep up with some folks down in the Poker Room.

Keep those Tweets coming!    #BWPO

These folks have checked in via Twitter:

 Daniel Chan ‏@DanielChanPoker
Day1b in poker room with them comfortable chairs @BorgataPoker

Ryan Eriquezzo Ryan Eriquezzo ‏@RyanEriquezzo
Barrell 4. Jesus

Rob Brown ‏@RobBrownPro
Just say down at my @BorgataPoker $560 1 mill gaur table looks dolly 19.5k 75/150

Peter Lubrano ‏@petegotaplan
I'm in the poker room today for the @borgatapoker 1mm gtd

James Tedrow ‏@teddyrowe
Day 1b of 1M..

Manh Nguyen ‏@MunMunny
Just took my seat in day 1B #BWO2013

Ebony Kenney ‏@Ebony_Kenney
Only 62 min late for the tourney...had to throw on the HEAT! #borgataopen #feelingfrisk @ Borgata Poker Room http://instagr.am/p/UjVsdzsQVq/

Joe Branagan ‏@jbranagan10
#WSOP main event final tableist @leechilds sat down directly to my right. #Ouchcash

Eugene Fouksman ‏@efouks
day 1b. thx @vinpahuja & @HighlandFox for making me & @moishenow register last night. our brilliant plan was to show up around 12.

Eli Loewenthal ‏@Eli_Loewenthal
Playin the shit show that is Borgata 1MM gtd. 1b. Gl everyone else out there #timbeymadness

Event 1: Defending Champion?

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)   

Level 4:  Blinds 100/200.

Ben Bianco (Franklin Square, NY) took down the first-ever Borgata Open two-starting-days Event 1 here last September during the 2012 Borgata Poker Open.

Ben Bianco & Dan Wach

That event generated 3,705 entries over the two day ones and a prize pool of over $1.8 million.  Benny collected $309,196 for his win in that event in a two-day event that had to be stretched to three days.

Benny is back to see if he can do it again.

Dan Wach (Boonton, NJ) was the runner up in that event, good for over $200,000.  He's also playing today, trying to improve on that second-place finish.


Table 301 alternates have been summoned.

Event 1: More Familiar Faces

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

Level 3:  Blinds 75/150.

Perry Johnston (Oak Island, NC) is back at Borgata and hoping for another deep run.  He says "Hi!" to his granddaughter Brynn, who always remote-sweats her PawPaw via the blog.

Managed to cover the other half of the Event Center and spotted these faces:

Bill Seymour
Dan Wach
Vitaly Kovyazin
Bob Hwang
Austen Johnson
Gregg Miller
Michael Forca
Steve Eyzerovich
Allyson Parker
Victor Ramdin
Lee Childs
Greg Glassman
Todd Robello
David Kim
Brian O'Donoghue
Eugene Fouksman
Tony Sinishtaj
Dan Buzgon
Javier Fernandez
Amanda Musumeci
Frank Ingardia
Mickey Woll
Martha Patella
Ricardo Velasco
Paul Leon
Matt Brady
Howard Wolper
Alex Bolotin
Jerry Callahan
Chris Reslock
Steve Ryan
Leanne Rosenblatt
Rathe Miller
Mukul Pahuja

Many more down in the poker room I'm sure.

Event 1: Packed House

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

Just a few minutes remain in level two and it is surprisingly quiet here in the Event Center, which is packed to the gills with players.

No more alternates have been called as yet and they're still waiting patiently.

Event 1: Familiar Faces

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

Level 2:  Blinds 50/100.

Table 300 alternates have been called for seating here in the Event Center.

An early pass through about half the room revealed these familiar faces:

Michael Marder
Mike Shasho
Jason Henrici
Al Riccobono
Jason Deutsch
Edward Pham
Grace Sun
Bruce Frank
Greg Fishberg
Ylon Schwartz
Dallas Williams
AJ DeNicco
Nancy Martin
Cuong Phung
Eric Miller
Todd Terry
Mike Lydon
Fritz Stoner
James Boyd
Maurice Paradis
Rick Austin
Chris Edwards
James Boyle

Event 1: Alternates Chillin'

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

Tables 1 through 90 are in the Event Center.  Tables 90 and higher are down in the Poker Room.

Alternates have been asked to stay close here in the Event Center so they can hear when they are called.  Lots of folks are milling around, waiting for their chance to get in the action.

 Hopeful Alternates

The familiar cry of "Seat Open" has already been heard, but re-entries get priority over alternates.

Event 1: Cards Are In the Air

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
             $1 Million Guaranteed 

That $1 million guarantee has already been blown out of the water.  Today's event is sold out, but online pre-reservations are still guaranteed their seats.  About 200 alternates will get in -- that's all.

Plus there are the inevitable re-entries from today's massive field.  We won't have final numbers until registration closes after the break after level 8.

Levels 1-4 are 30 minutes long, then levels 5-18 will last 40 minutes.

Day 1 was supposed to end at the end of level 18, but day 1a had to stop early half-way through in order to avoid dropping below 10% of the field (161 survived out of 1,520 entries).  Play will end today with 20 minutes remaining in level 18.  Survivors will bag their chips and return for day two on Thursday at noon.

Players began with 20,000 chips.

Level 1:  Blinds 25/50.

Cards are in the air!!

Event 1: Borgata Buzzing Early

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
             $1 Million Guaranteed

Yep, you got it.  We warned you online, we warned you on Twitter.  Event 1 sold out before 10am this morning, with nearly two hundred alternates to get in.

Please Note:  If you pre-registered online for day 1b, YOUR SEAT IS GUARANTEED.

Here are some of the Tweets flying early today:

 ~9:30am

Edward Pham ‏@EdwardPhamPoker
line to Borg 560 1 milly is at borgata buffet and at alternate #60 already

Paul Halata ‏@PaulHalata
Finally reg'd. Heading back to sleep for a few hrs.

Tim Bishop ‏@timbishop847
Standing in line for this borgata with @natesix playin OFC !! Going to be up 500 before I register ! #easygame

Mark Bee ‏@markbeenyc
#wpo2013 #1b starting up at 11am .sold out im sure, 4000 entries..easy to get thru...gl friends!

Matthew Chang ‏@ChangMatt
@Mikunbelievable #watdahell hope u get here soon Alt #200 ish is what's being thrown around that they can accommodate...I'm @ 128...

Todd Terry ‏@toddbterry
@MrPerfekt Huge line and turnout is going to make it tough to enter 4 times today  Matthew

Chang ‏@ChangMatt
#watdahell Borgata Event 1 is now capped...hopefully all 200 alternates gets in...

Kevin Saul ‏@BeL0WaB0Ve
Borgata is an absolute mad house. Event 1 is officially sold out, 200 alternates in line. I'm alternate 57 been in line for over an hour

kevin benitez ‏@highrisk18
Missed reg for the 1mil gtd :/. The line is just too ridic!! At least I got some sleep before a full day of grinding


~9:45am

Jerry Callahan ‏@callahanja911
Today is already sold out should be a crazy day #leggo #BWOITM #BWO2013

Brad Emdur ‏@coasterbrad
BWO Event 1 table 85. Already sold out, going to be huge.

dave gutfreund ‏@afkam
Delayed on airplane heading to sold out event at Borgata, a $500 buy-in with over 3000 entries...hope my reservation is upheld

Trevor Savage ‏@TreMomey
Got into this massive borgata 500 as 22nd alternate, hope the wait is worth it

Anthony Erekat ‏@Bigkaterekat
“Sick that i couldn't make it to Borgata Winter Poker Open 2013 today event 1 Borgata $1 Million Guarantee!

Event 1 SOLD OUT

Attention all players ...
Event 1 is SOLD OUT. 

Thank you.

Event 1 - End of Day 1A Chip Leaders

Borgata Winter Poker Open
Event 1:  $500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em
January 15-17, 2013

Day 1A Entries: 1,520
End of Day 1A Players Remaining:  161
Average Chip Stack:  189,000

END OF DAY 1A CHIP STACKS:
 PAUL SPITZBERG  902,000
 DANIEL CORBETT  604,000
 JASON ANDREWS  601,500
 MICHAEL NORMAN  556,500
 JIA LIU  550,000
 EDWARD LEACH  458,000
 JASON LEONE  448,000
 CARMELO TRAINA  439,000
 ERIC RIVKIN  435,000
 ALEXANDER QUEEN  434,000
 MICHAEL MOLLOY  419,000
 MARK SYKES  417,000
 JOSEPH TRACY  414,500
 DAVID GRANDIERI  410,500
 YEVGENY FISHMAN  402,000
 MACIEJ STACHURA  385,500
 NICHOLAS PALMA  375,000
 STEPHANIE HUBBARD  342,000
 TONY TRAN  325,000
 HENRY MICHAEL BOROVETZ  320,500
 BRIAN NICHOLS  317,500
 FELQUIN PIEDRA  315,000
 MICHAEL JAGROO  311,500
 DAVID VUOLO  307,500
 KYLE KENNEY  300,500
 JIMMY WONG  297,000
 ZHEN CAI  286,000
 NIBERSON DORLEUS  280,000
 MAKSIM KVITKO  270,500
 DAVID ZEITLIN  268,500
 RYAN DION  266,000
 JEAN JOSEPH  263,500
 LEWIS HUDNELL  254,500
 CORNEL ANDREW CIMPAN  254,000
 ANTHONY DI MAULO  253,000
 FRANK FEDERICI  250,500
 MARTIN FRITZ  240,500
 REGGIE YU  237,000
 DAVID SERKOCH  236,000
 KENNETH SILBERSTEIN  235,500
 LINH LE  228,000
 ANTONIO PAYNE  226,500
 JAMES ANDERSON  224,000
 LAWRENCE LAKATOSH  219,000
 FRANCO MASTROIANNI  218,000
 ABRAHAM FARONI  216,500
 PETER GROSSO  215,000
 GEORGE LAMPERT  210,000
 RAUL FERNANDEZ  209,500
 ANTHONY MASTRAGOSTINO  209,500
 NACHMAN BERLIN  205,000
 IBRAHIM ALQANAWI  202,000
 SAMUEL TAYLOR  200,500
 GARY KOZLOWSKI  199,000
 DANIEL AMAR  198,000
 HIEU TRAN  197,500
 KEVIN WALLER  195,500
 DANIEL PIGNATARO  195,000
 JEFFREY LEE  192,000
 SEFAT LEE  189,500
 SHAWN BUSSE  185,000
 PHILIPPE DUMAS-COUTURE  184,000
 RICHARD CORLEY  183,000
 NATHAN PARSONS  181,000
 VLAD GUTT  177,000
 PHILLIP WEAST  175,500
 CHRISTOPHER LEONG  175,000
 JEFFREY YUEN  174,000
 ARTHUR PETERS  171,500
 KHOI TA  170,000
 JOSEPH GIBBONS  168,000
 THOMAS GLEASON  166,500
 THOMAS GUIFFRE  165,500
 CHRISTIAN GORIS  165,000
 MAURICE SESSUM  164,000
 YEFIM NOVAK  160,500
 ANTHONY ZINNO  160,000
 ADAM BITKER  159,500
 JOSEPH CAPPUCCIO  157,500
 PHUONG NGUYEN  157,000
 ORSON YOUNG  157,000
 CHRISTOPHER JONES  155,500
 ANTHONY IMPERIAL  152,500
 PHILLIP REED  151,000
 ANTHONY SCATURRO  150,000
 WILLIAM MOHR  148,000
 MIKHAIL MIRONENKO  147,500
 KAREN DINUNZIO  141,000
 BARUCH THALER  141,000
 ISMAEL CABRERA  140,500
 DANIEL SPIRER  140,500
 PHILIP DELBROCCO  138,500
 AVDO DJOKOVIC  138,500
 JONATHAN KRAMER  137,000
 RONALD DURANTE  136,000
 GINTAUTAS PUTINAS  136,000
 JORDAN LUDWICK  134,000
 ROHAN LONG  133,500
 ALEXANDER BERDICHEVSKIY  132,000
 ROBSON BARBOSA  131,000
 CASIMER FIJALKOWSKI  130,500
 JOHN HAAS  125,000
 JOHN WALSH  125,000
 PEARCE-CHRISTIAN ARNOLD  124,000
 DEAN SCHULTZ  124,000
 RAY SHACKELFORD  124,000
 FRANK FICADENTI  120,500
 WERNER MULLER  119,000
 DAVID JACKSON  117,000
 PIERRE DEISSLER  116,500
 ELIZABETH MCKANE  115,000
 DOUGLAS INGBER  113,500
 IVAN PERRY  112,500
 BENJAMIN CHAN  110,500
 MICHAEL JOHNSON  108,500
 SETH ZIMMERMAN  107,500
 RYAN WINCE  107,000
 BENJAMIN BERG  106,000
 JAMES WETHINGTON  105,500
 THOMAS HOGLUND  104,500
 JAMES SZAMRETA  102,500
 CALVIN LIU  100,500
 OLIVIER BUSQUET  98,000
 GREGORY WEBER  98,000
 JOHN ALEXANDER  96,500
 ANDREW GLAUBERG  96,000
 ELAN BRANAS  95,500
 JASON RIVKIN  95,500
 CLAYTON CROTTY  95,000
 JASON LOEHRS  92,000
 VICTOR FIGUEROA  92,000
 DANIEL SANTIAGO  91,000
 HEONJO KIM  90,000
 YOSSEF HAZUT  89,500
 ROBERT CHUSID  86,500
 JEFFREY LOPEZ  85,000
 ANDREW BIMONTE  84,500
 JACK DEUTSCH  84,000
 ANDUAMLAK ENDALE  84,000
 MOHAMMAD SAADEGHVAZIRI  82,500
 ILYA DYMENT  80,500
 DAVID SLAN  80,500
 JOHN HINDS  80,000
 JASON ESTOCK  79,500
 HENRY LOPEZ  79,500
 QUINN BRUNO  77,500
 ALEXANDER BRODY  77,000
 DANIEL DACONTI  77,000
 DAVID TIDERMAN  74,000
 GORDON ENG  70,500
 ABRAHAM BASH  65,500
 ABDELILAH ELBOUKILI  63,500
 JOSHUA LYNCH  62,000
 SALAH SIRAJ  55,000
 ATHANASIOS DIAKOS  53,500
 SCOTT LE  48,000
 RADU PANFIL  47,500
 MARSHA WOLAK  45,000
 JOSEPH SHADY  39,000
 HA TRAN  38,500
 PAUL BITTERMAN  24,500

Wednesday, January 16

TODAY'S EVENTS (Event Center) 

11AM: Event 1B - $500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
             $1 Million Guaranteed

• Players start with 20,000 in tournament chips 
• Levels 1-4 will last 30 minutes each | Levels 5-18:  will last 40 minutes each |
  Day 2 Levels: will last 50 minutes each 
• Players may Re-Enter through Level 8 
• 2-Day event with two starting days.  Day 2 begins Thursday at 12PM
• $3,000 will be subtracted from the prize pool and awarded to the chip leader at the end of Day 1A and the chip leader at the end of Day 1B
  $2,000 will be subtracted from the prize pool and awarded to the player finishing second behind chip leader at the end of Day 1A and the player finishing second behind chip leader at the end of Day 1B. 

7 PM: Event 27 - $150 + $30 + $50 Double Green Chip Bounty NLH  (Re-Entry) 

• Players start with 12,000 in tournament chips 
• This is a Bounty tournament.  Players must have their Bounty chips clearly displayed on table in order to remain active in tournament.
• Levels will last 20 minutes each 
• Players may Re-Enter through Level 6 
• 1-Day event

Event 1: Big Stacks = Free Roll; End of Night

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

Spitzberg Sitting Pretty

Paul Spitzberg (Tenafly, NJ) rode his big stack to a $3,000 bonus as the end of Day 1A chip leader.  The Borgata regular finished with 942k and was well ahead of second place which came down to a verifying count between two players.

Dan Corbett (Liverpool, NY) edged Jason Andrews (Pittsburgh, PA) by 2,500 to win the $2,000 bonus as runner-up; Corbett bagged 604k to Andrews 601,500.

Another big stack in the mix was Jai Liu (Brooklyn, NY) who finished with 550k. Liu won the 2012 Borgata Spring Poker Open where he earned $312,000.

Spitzberg is no Borgata stranger as he has a Borgata win on his resume from the 2012 August Deep Stack Double Play for $40,000.  He began a steady climb the last six levels of the night and won a 750k pot with pocket 7s against a pair and an open ended straight draw.

~165 players remain of the 1,520 Day 1A entries. The average stack is 184k (31 BB) as players return noon Thursday for Day 2 for completion of Level 18 (3k/6k/500 ante).

Wednesday is another round of madness as Day 1B will bring a much larger field than Day 1A.

Dan the Man, Second in Chips

Event 1: Early Ending

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

With 170 players remaining, Tournament Director Tab Duchateau announces that Level 18 (3k/6k/500) is going to be cut in half and will last only 20 minutes. Officials don't want the field to drop to less than 10% of the 1,520 total entries.

They'll play four more hands before bagging and tagging for the night.

Event 1: Million Chip March

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

It was projected that the end of night chip leader would be in the 500k range, but Paul Spitzberg (Tenafly, NJ) is on fire and up to 920k.

"A very tough call," he says, after being put to the test with pocket 7s on a 6 high flop.  Spitzberg's opponent bricks an open ended straight draw, with a pair, and is now on the rail.

Spitzberg adds 400k to his stack and has a strangle hold on the $3,000 bonus to the end of night chip leader, while a couple of players are in the 500k range and going for the $2,000 bonus that goes to runner-up.

Level 18 (3k/6k/500 ante), the last level of the night, is underway.

Event 1: Silver Linings

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Event Center Registration

While waiting in a long line at 11 pm isn't what poker players want to be doing, it beats the alternative, which is to be potentially shutout of Day 1B.

Players are taking heed that there's a good chance there will be an alternate list Wednesday and no certainty on how many entries will be in the field.  The registration desk is expected to take players up until midnight when the line will eventually be closed off.

The $1,000,000 Guaranteed prize pool always brings out big numbers and the opening event of the 2013 Borgata Poker Open is a great way to kick off the series.

Waiting Beats Being Shutout

Event 1: Chips and a Chair

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

 Parad Parades with Chair

Yury Parad (Chicago, IL via Ukraine) is one of 220 players remaining and because of a back problem travels with his own chair.

The average stack is 138k (28 BB) as Level 17 (2,500/5k/500 ante) is underway.

Event 1: Ladies Everywhere

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

So & Parker

Lots of recognizable women are still in the field including two of our favorite Borgata grinders. Alyson Parker (Plainsboro, NJ) and Jenny So (Galloway, NJ) are side-by-side.

Another duo next to each other are Lynn Le (Egg Harbor Twp., NJ) and Stephanie Hubbard (Hazlet, NJ).  Cherish Andrews (Brigantine, NJ) is another recognizable face still in the field.

Event 1: New Big Stack

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Carmen Collecting Chips

Carmen Traina (Bayonne, NJ via Cicily) found out just in time that there's an end of night bonus of $3,000 for the chip leader.  Why? Because he has more than 400k.

"I didn't know until ten minutes ago," says Traina, who appears to be the chip leader on the last break of the night.

"I just keep knocking them out," when a player asks how he got all his chips, "If it was a bounty, I'd have a lot of money. A lot of money.

Former chip leader Paul Spitzberg (Tenafly, NJ) has dropped into the 250k-300k range where a lot of players are licking their chops at the chance of the top prize or the $2,000 that goes to second place.

~300 players remain with an average stack of 102k (25 bb) as blinds are now 2k/4k/400 ante.

Event 1: Tweet Humor

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Gordon Eng ‏@Flashgordon227

Just got aces and they held up @BorgataPoker new year baby. I've lost so many times wit them here

John Allan Hinds ‏@JABistro

207k at 1200/2400/300 in Borgata one drop #teammurder

You can read these gems and more by signing up for the Borgata-WPO-2013 list by blogger extraordinaire @Kaelaine.

Event 1: More Big Stacks

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

(l-r) Lampert, Reed & Tran

The two big stacks from dinner break are still healthy on Table 6 and are both in the 200k range.

George Lampert (Naples, FL) and Tony Tran (Bensalem, PA) have made it tough for Phil Reed (Washington, DC) who's sandwiched in the middle.

Reed is extremely short and moves all in with K♦ 3♣ against A♥ 10♥. The board of A K 4 5 2 gives Reed the winning hand as he called for a deuce on the river to complete a gutshot straight.

Level 15 (1,500/3k/400 ante) is underway.

Event 1: 300k Club

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Spitzberg Stands Tall

As the short stacks grind along, the big stacks are focusing on the end of night bonuses.  The end of night chip leader earns $3,000, while second overall grabs $2,000.

A scan of the 330 remaining players reveals two stacks north of 300k with Paul Spitzberg (Tenafly, NJ) leading the way at 370k.  Lynn Le (Egg Harbor Twp., NJ) is in the elite club with 310k, while
a host of other players are in 250k range.

Level 14 (1,200/2,400/300 ante) is winding down.

 Lynn Looking Good

Event 1: Attention Day 1B Players.....

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

......REGISTER NOW!!!

With more than 1,500 entries on Day 1A, it is strongly advised that anyone looking to play Day 1B that they register tonight.

More than 500 players are already signed up for tomorrow and with 1A players busting tonight the number will continue to grow.  The Event Center registration window is staying open until midnight.

1B fields are always crazy big, so to avoid the long lines and the possible alternate list, sign up now and avoid what will be a hectic Wednesday of poker.

Event 1: Rivered Flush is No Good

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)    

One of the original WSOP November Niners is running well and hit a big hand before dinner break.

On a flop of 10 5 4 with two clubs, Ylon Schwartz (Brooklyn, NY) has a set of 4s against his opponent's pocket queens.  The turn brings a third club and Schwartz faced a flush draw.

Another club brought the river flush, but it's the 4♣ to give Schwartz quads.

Schwartz finished 4th in the 2008 WSOP Main Event earning him $3.8 million. He earned his first WSOP bracelet this summer in HORSE.

Event 1: Play Resumes

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Players are back from their one hour dinner break and playing Level 13 (1k/2k/300 ante).  The average stack is 63k (32 BB).

Event 1: Tweeter-verse

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Players reporting their chip counts on dinner break include:

Lee Childs 125k
Joe Cappuccio 117k
Mike Dentalee 110k
Clayton Crotty 105k
Phil Weast 87k
Ryan Eriquezzo 63k
Cathy Dever 62k
Vinny Pahuja 52k
Dave Zeitlin 48k
Gordon Eng 46k
Stephanie Hubbard 36k
Daniel Chan 36k

Event 1: Dozen Tables Relocate

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Before going on dinner break, the remaining 12 tables in the Poker Room bagged and tagged their chips so they could be moved to the Event Center.

When play resumes the entire field will be in the same room for the first time today. ~480 players remain of the 1,520 that started Day 1A.

They'll play six more levels before bagging and tagging for real later tonight at right around midnight.

Event 1: Chow Time

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)   

 David Stefanski (Waterford, CT) is Impressed with Bitker's Stack

Players are on a one hour dinner break, and while we don't have an official chip leader, we did find a table with a ton of chips.

On Table 2 Adam Bitker (New Haven, CT) has 185k and is third fiddle to two other players who bolted early for break.  Seat 4 is at 230k, while Seat 6 has 190k.

Play resumes at 8:15 PM.

Event 1: "I Almost Folded"

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

 Leong (left) Watches the Flop as his Opponent Can't Believe the Bad Timing

Chris Leong (New York, NY) was put to the test on the last hand before the color-up break and he passed with flying colors.

Leong three-bets with pocket jacks after two players called the big blind, but one of the limpers moved all in and put Leong to the test for 60k, 3/4 of his stack.

Leong made the call and his opponent is in bad shape with pocket 10s.  "I almost folded," says Leong, as his jacks hold. "He hadn't played a hand all day."

Leong is now up to 140k as blinds continue with Level 12 (800/1,600/200 ante).

Event 1: Going Green

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)    

Jeff Nichols (Baltimore, MD) 

Green Chip Table Captain

Players are back from the color-up break and playing Level 12 (800/1,600/200 ante). This will be the last level before dinner break.

Event 1: Buz-Gone

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

After a player opened and got one caller, Dan Buzgon (Marlton, NJ) shipped his last ~20k.  The opener folded, but the caller called.

Dan's pocket Queens were crushed by pocket Aces and he was busted.

Dan's a fixture here a Borgata, with more cashes than you can count.  During the 2012 Winter Open, he cashed 5 times, including one final table.  He also made the 2011 Borgata Poker Open WPT televised final table, finishing 3rd for over $335,000.

Dan will be back tomorrow for day 1b.

End of level 11 and time for a color-up break.

Event 1: Borgata Winners Still Playing

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)    

Busquet Biding his Time

A couple of former Borgata Champions are still playing here on Day 1A including 2009 WPT Borgata Poker Open winner Olivier Busquet (New York, NY).

Busquet is at 30k and to the left of Michael Borovetz (Pittsburgh, PA), who has a mountain of chips.   Dan Spirer (Mechanicsville, PA) is also at the table.

Across the room is 2011 Spring Poker Open Champion Russell Crane (Howell, NJ) who is sitting with 50k. Crane is joined by Dan Buzgon (Marlton, NJ) who was third in the 2011 WPT Borgata Championship Event.

Level 11 (600/1,200/200 ante) continues.

Russel Rolling Along

Event 1: Chip Leader?

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

 Niberson Dorleus

Although we don't have an exact count, Niberson Dorleus (Long Island, NY) appears to be the chip leader among the players in the Event Center with about 230k.  (He took a hit before I got this posted and was down to about 200k).

He also gets the award for Best Dressed as his pressed shirt and tie outshine the rest of the room (and James 'Suits' Salters is not present).

46 tables remain in action in the Event Center.

Event 1: All In, All In, All In

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

With stacks ranging from just a few chips to one big stack that tops 250k, there are lots of players
on the short side and there seems to be an all in at every other table.

Jimmy Wong (Brooklyn, NY) knocks out a player with AK vs AQ, while Albert Roh (Rutherford, NJ) gets a much needed triple-up with pocket jacks.

But the best hand has the biggest sweat as Mike Newman (Nanuet, NY) and his pocket aces dodge a lot of outs. His opponent misses a flush draw and a gutshot straight draw and ends up on the rail, giving Newman some breathing room.

Wong, Roh and Newman are all in the 20k-30k range (20-30bbs) as Level 10 (500/1k/100 ante) continues.

Event 1: Goners

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)       

Victor Ramdin (Las Vegas, NV) got his chips in with A8 on an A8x flop, thinking he was good.  Unfortunately his opponent had pocket Aces for the set to take the pot and send Victor to the rail.

No more re-entries today, but Victor will try again on day 1b tomorrow.

Jose Montes (Bronx NY) got his last chips in good with AQ, but was run down by an inferior hand.  He'll also be back tomorrow for another try.

Jerry Callahan (Oyster Bay, NY) suffered a similar fate.  Not sure if he's planning to fire another bullet tomorrow.

Event 1: 1,500 Plus for 1A

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)      

Level 10:  Blinds 500/1,000 with 100 ante.

Down to 59 tables in the Event Center and approximately 21 tables remain in the Poker Room, leaving ~80 tables in action today (about 800 players).

The final count is not yet in, but over 1,500 entries have played today. (That 1700+ number showing on the monitors in the Poker Room includes day 1B entries that have registered and paid already).

Event 1: Tweets Galore

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)     

The Twitter-verse is abuzz with updates from the last break:

 Tony Sinishtaj ‏@ToNiSiNz
One bullet gone. Gonna try again tomorrow. #bwo

Heon-Jo Kim ‏@PokerJourney
1,750 players for day 1A. Level 9. Av chip stack 23,000. At 61,000.

Chris Leong ‏@ChrisLeongPoker
~70k at 75/400/800

Mark Bee ‏@markbeenyc
#wpo2013 #1 Busto QQ < AA retry tomrrw

Antonio Payne ‏@Anthony_1Payne
@BorgataPoker E1 $1,000,000 Guarantee. After level 8 got 25k surviving. #TeamBSO #TeamProPayne #2013ItsRturn #BWOITM

Timothy Finne ‏@HighlandFox
Made it thru reentry period on first bullet. 14.4 over 800. #biggestdoltinborgatahistory

Stephanie Hubbard ‏@StephHub31
50K on 2nd break.. This bullet is going a tad better thankfully :) 400/800 now

Joe Cappuccio ‏@poochpoker
64k 400/800/75 borgata million

Dan Spirer ‏@danspirer
99.4 break 2 borgata #BWOITM

monro secor ‏@suited4battle
53k going to 400/800.

Jose Montes ‏@suganills
25k on break most chips I've had so far

Pierre Deissler ‏@PierreDeissler
Borgata 2nd break. 53k. 1500+ runners #tpedge

John G ‏@JohnGsss
33k 2nd break 4/8 blinds

Jason Estock ‏@JasonEstock
Up to 48k and the end of late registration. Happy to only be in for one entry. #bwo

Cathy Dever ‏@CathyDever
2nd break 70K.

Lana O'Brien ‏@lanaob22
70k at second break didn't have to re enter yay. first time under 100 bbs in awhile :( going to 400/800

Mark Bee ‏@markbeenyc
#bwpo2013 #1 2nd break..card dead all day..Sat in the wrong seat again..direct right has 130k... 25.1k

Lee Childs ‏@leechilds
58k. End level 8 & reentry for day 1a. 800/75 coming up @BorgataPoker #BWOITM

James Tedrow ‏@teddyrowe
26k on break, lost AK<AA for 90k pot after deciding to 4b/c pre. Going to 400-800.

Jerry Callahan ‏@callahanja911
Down to 24.3k at end of re-entry. Made awful hero call on river for 13k. 400/800 (100) #BWO2013 #BWOITM

David Stefanski ‏@DaveStefanski
Had it up to 56k..just lost 80k flip AK<QQ..down to 18k going to 400/800

Event 1: Big Stacks

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)      

Level 9:  400/800 with 75 ante.

Before the break I located a couple of other big stacks in the event center.

Khoi Ta

Khoi Ta (Greenbelt Pg, MD) is up to about 140k and the biggest stack I've found so far.

 Jia Liu

Jia Liu (Brooklyn, NY) is up to ~130k.  Jia won the 2012 Borgata Spring Open championship, good for over $312k.

Event 1: Break Two

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)    

End of level 8 and time for another break.

They've got 15 minutes to take care of business. 

The end of the break will also be the end of the entry/re-entry period for today.

Late arrivals checking in via Twitter:

Gordon Eng ‏@Flashgordon227
Just got to @BorgataPoker and decided to jump in wit 20k blinds 300/600 that's plenty

Eugene Fouksman ‏@efouks
borgata $1mm guarantee. left work at 1 pm, pleasantly surprised to be able to register & w no line! fun tbl w comeback kid

Michael Dentale ‏@Mikunbelievable
@Mikunbelievable came in late reg, build It up to 50k and lose it all after getting rivered in 5 pots in a row. Glad I took a break.

Event 1: Big Stack

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)     

Anthony Scaturro

Anthony Scaturro (Elizabeth, NJ) is up to about 120k and among the big stacks in the Event Center.

Not bad, considering he's sharing the felt on table 30 with Mukul Pahuja, Jason Young, and Travis Greenawalt.

Anthony was not aware of the bonus for the top two in chips at the end of the day -- but he is now.

Event 1: Pahuja Checks In

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)    

Level 8:  Blinds 300/600 with 75 ante.

This is the last level for entering/re-entering today.

Vinny Pahuja (Hicksville, NY) has checked in via Twitter.   He's down in the poker room and tweets:

The obligatory @BorgataPoker 560 1mm guar tweet: 55k from 20k SS. Over 1600 runners already in 1A so easily > 4k total prob. GL all in 2013!

Vinny won his second Borgata Poker Open title here back in September for over $58k.  His lifetime tournament earnings are now over $1.3 million.

Event 1: Free-Rolling

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)   

Robert Haavind (Boston, MA) is a regular here at Borgata and decided to invest some time and money in his game by attending the Inside The Minds poker training yesterday. 

Bob Haavind

For students registered and paid by a certain date, there was a drawing for a free entry into Event 1 and Bob was the lucky winner of that drawing.

That means he's free-rolling this event today.  So far he's up to about 25k from his 20k starting stack.

Event 1: Recent Sightings

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)   

Level 7:  Blinds 250/500 with 50 ante

Players continue to arrive and move around the Event Center.  I've just spotted these frequent flyers in the room:

Travell Thomas
Carl Restifo
Joe Liberta
Ilya Dyment
Anthony Caruso
Michael Drabot
Esther 'E-Tay' Taylor (Brady)
Orson Young

Event 1: 1,340 and Counting

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)   

With two more levels (after the current one) remaining in the late registration/re-entry period today, they have 1,340 entries.

They were down to 75 tables, but then re-opened one to accommodate new enties.  Apparently players weren't busting fast enough.

Dan Spirer did his part, busting an all-in player.  Dan had pocket Aces and flopped quads to lock it up.

Martha Patella was all-in with the best of it, but her opponent caught a three-outer to bust her.  She's not sure if she wants to re-enter.

Both Dan and Martha were in yesterday's Inside The Minds training session.

Jason Young also reported back to registration and returned with a new seat assignment.

Event 1: Break Time Tweets

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

Level 6:  Blinds 200/400 with 50 antes.

Players have returned to their seats and are back in action.

Here are their thoughts Tweeted during the break:

Robert Hwang ‏@ActionBobNJ
First break 23k from 20k start.

Joe Cappuccio ‏@poochpoker
First break 50k from 20k 200/400/50 

Lee Childs ‏@leechilds
51k at break. @BorgataPoker $1Milly. 200/400/50 coming up. #BWOITM 

Dan Spirer ‏@danspirer
48.7 @ First Break Event 1 Borgata #BWOITM

Pierre Deissler ‏@PierreDeissler
Break Borgata event 1 57k 400bb #tpedge

Philly Poker Pro ‏@phillypokerpro
On break need traction? Is that a poker term? @LuckyJadeJules or am I in labor? FML I'll never make the blog. Oh wait,borgata staff is great


Clayton Crotty ‏@ClaytonCrotty
@ClaytonCrotty: Borgata $1mil gtd after level 5 have 18.575k from 20k ss #itsmyeffinturn

Amanda Musumeci ‏@TheReaLMander
Made hero call for most of my chips...was right for nearly a double. 40k at first brk...

David Stefanski ‏@DaveStefanski
First tment of the year..borgata 1 million guarantee..36k from 20k ss

Chris Leong ‏@ChrisLeongPoker
26k at 50/200/400

Cathy Dever ‏@CathyDever
1st break 33K.

Mark Bee ‏@markbeenyc
#wpo2013 #1 26.7k 1st break.. from 20k ss

James Tedrow ‏@teddyrowe
~41k on first break.

Jerry Callahan ‏@callahanja911
21.4k on first break. 3 more levels til end of re-entry. 400bb (50) after break #BWO2013 #BWOITM

Ryan Eriquezzo ‏@RyanEriquezzo
Starting stack of second bullet. On first break. 20k goin to 200 400

Antonio Payne ‏@Anthony_1Payne
@BorgataPoker E1 $1,000,000 Guarantee. 20k starting stack after level 5 got 9.1k ( Table 38) #TeamBSO #TeamProPayne #2013ItsRturn #BWOITM

monro secor ‏@suited4battle
20k->43k going to level 6 200/400 borgata 560.

Phil Weast ‏@Prowannabe
Sitting on 14k from 20k. Nothing too exciting yet. Great turnout with lots of fun players. Time to run it up!

Event 1: Break Time!

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

Also appearing in the crowd:

Jimmy Wong
David Kim
Mike Linster
Andrew Klein
Jia Liu
Amnon Filippi
Jake 'Team Snake' Deutsch

Apologies to the players down in the poker room for lack of coverage.  Just too much real estate to cover.  Keep those Tweets coming.

 End of level 5 and players were rewarded with a 15 minute break.

Event 1: Interesting Tables

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

More players arriving and re-entering are creating some interesting table lineups.

Chris Leong fired his second bullet and landed at table 70 with locals Jenny So and late arriving Chris Reslock.

Abe Faroni and Steve Dannenmann have joined Jason Young at table 26.

Table 27 held Ray Shackelford, Alex Smith, DJ Whorley, and Mark Sykes until Ray busted out.  He's planning to re-enter, so he'll be back, but at a different table.

Avdo Djokovic and Todd Terry have turned up at table 17.

Event 1: No Break (Yet)

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

Level 4 ran out and players were disappointed to hear they were not getting a break.

Level 5:  Blinds 150/300 with 25 ante.  Levels are now 40 minutes long.

The first break of the day will come after level 5.

Steve Scales has busted out and is apparently not re-entering today.  He tweeted his demise:

89h in the bb, 4 limpers I shove 2550 on top, guy calls 44 and we brick to bust, GG try again tmrw #goodstart

Cathy Dever, Jose Montes, and Chris Leong have also busted out.  All three re-entered.

'Action' Bob Hwang has announced his late arrival via Twitter:

 Late reg Borgata 1 mil guarantee. Table looks good. Don't they all?

Event 1: More Familiar Faces

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

More familiar faces from tables 70+ and late arrivals and/or just spotted:

Cherish Andrews
Sirous Jamshidi
Mike Kalfa
Chris Brand
Will Failla
Marsha Wolak
David Zeitlin
Timothy Finne
Alex Smith

Event 1: Out & In Again

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

Level 4:  100/200.

The bust-outs are starting to pick up.  Four tables have cleared out in the Event Center, leaving 86 in action.

Among those busting was Alex Queen, who tweeted:

First buyin didn’t work out, on to number two #borgatatimbeyfest

Alex has two Borgata Poker Open event titles, including the 2010 Spring Open Championship.  He also just took home over $100k in the Borgata December Deep Stack event.

Austen Johnson and another player at his table were rewarded with one orbit penalties.  After the hand was over, they exchanged words that were, shall we say, 'heated'.

They'll surrender one round of blinds (300 chips) but since the antes have not yet started, that is all.

Event 1: Tweet-Time

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Checking in via Twitter:

Monte Hoover ‏@MHoover10
After months of no tournament poker, im back in action today at the borgata, alantic city playin the 500.. Lets go

James Tedrow ‏@teddyrowe
Day 1A $560 1M, 20k SS

Andrew Davies ‏@cheekbeater55
Playing in the 1 million guarantee tournament today at the borgata in AC... Wish me luck!

Gags30 ‏@Gags30poker
Playing massive borgata $560 today. Should be over $250k to first. Starting with 20k at 25/50, here we go

Stephanie Hubbard ‏@StephHub31
BPWO Event 1 underway.. GL everyone playing!

Manh Nguyen ‏@MunMunny
Just took my seat in Event 1 #BWO2013

Antonio Payne ‏@Anthony_1Payne
@BorgataPoker E1 $1,000,000 Guarantee. 20k starting stack after level 2 got 17.4k (Table 38) #TeamBSO #TeamProPayne #2013ItsRturn #BWOITM

Chris ‏@Chr1s_Brand
At the Borgata for the $1mill guarantee winter open starting event. #rungood #onetime pic.twitter.com/uIoodrqZ

Event 1: Inside The Minds

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

All four Inside The Minds instructors are in action today.

top:  Lee Childs & Jason Young

bottom: Amanda Musumeci & Ryan Eriquezzo

Lee Childs, Jason Young, Amanda Musumeci, and Ryan Eriquezzo  held their ITM poker training session here at Borgata yesterday, will a room full of eager students looking to soak up some poker knowledge.

Most of their students are also playing today.  It will be interesting to see who lasts longer and goes deeper.

Blinds are going up in a few minutes to

Level 3:  Blinds 75/150.

Event 1: Familiar Faces

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

Level 2:  Blinds 50/100.

Lots of regulars, who recognize the value in this event, have turned up to play today.

On my first pass through part of the room, I spotted these familiar faces:

Ibra Ibraimovic
Austen Johnson
Allyson Parker
Jerry Callahan
Frank Ficadenti
Alex Queen
Mike Summers
Brian Mooney
Dallas Williams
Frank Ingardia
Dan Spirer
Daniel Chan
Bob Santilli
Bart Dowling
Russell Crane
Dan Buzgon
Victor Ramdin
Martha Patella
Mark Baatz
Pierre Diessler
Joe Pitti
Ray Shackelford
DJ Whorley
Mark Sykes
Travis Greenawalt
Abe Korotki
Cornel Cimpan
Paul Shedaker
Vincent Basilicata
Cotton Snuffer
Ara Melikian
Maurice Paradis
Vitaly Kovyazin
Ryan Eriquezzo
Mike Lydon
Jim Wylie
Chris Leong
Dean Schultz
Bruce Frank
Javier Fernandez
Scott Wardell
Cathy Dever
Ari Albilia
Brian O'Donoghue
Tony Sinishtaj
Natale Kuey
David Stefanski
Mike Borovetz
Bob Haavind
Grace Sun
Joe Gibbons
Collin Whyte
Jenny So
Jason Deutsch
Russ Dykshteyn

and that's just tables 1-70!

Borgata Winter Poker Open Leaderboard

Borgata Winter Poker Open Tournament Leaderboard 
Win prizes for the Borgata Winter Poker Open Tournament Leaderboard promotion

How To Qualify:
By participating in any Borgata Spring Poker Open event (April 2013), players earn points based upon Borgata’s poker tournament leaderboard formula, which takes into consideration these criteria:

• Participation 
• Tournament Buy-In Amount 
• Total Event Entries 
• Place Finished

Players earn points for participating in tournaments and earn bonus points based on cashing in tournaments.
The Borgata Tournament Leaderboard will be updated throughout the tournament.

Prizes*:
1. $2,700 Entry into Borgata Spring Poker Open Championship (April 2013)
2. Entry into Borgata $25,000 Guaranteed Friday daily tournament
3. Entry into Borgata $7,500 Bounty Monday daily tournament
4. Entry into Borgata $7,500 Bounty Monday tournament
5. Entry into Borgata $15,000 Guaranteed Wednesday daily tournament
6. Entry into Borgata $15,000 Guaranteed Wednesday daily tournament
7. Entry into Borgata $15,000 Guaranteed Wednesday daily tournament
8. Entry into Borgata $15,000 Guaranteed Wednesday daily tournament
9. Entry into Borgata $15,000 Guaranteed Wednesday daily tournament
10. Entry into Borgata $15,000 Guaranteed Wednesday daily tournament

Winners will be announced Wednesday, February 6, 2013.

* All "Entry" prizes must be used towards tournament entry for tournament identified. All prizes are non-transferable and have no cash value. Prizes must be redeemed for tournament entry by April 30, 2013. 

Event 1: Event Center Overflowing

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Today's massive starting field has already overflowed the event center.

Tables 1 through 90 are up the escalator in the Event Center.  Tables 90+ will be down in the Poker Room.

At 10:30 this morning, they already had over 900 players registered for day 1A.

As usual with re-entry events, the ten seats are held open for early re-entries.

Another twist on today's event is the end-of-day-one chip-lead bonuses.

The player with the most chips at the end of day will collect $3,000 in cold, hard cash.  The player who is second in chips will collect $2,000 in cash.

Same goes for day 1B tomorrow, so keep your eyes on the prize!

Event 1: Off With A Bang

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
             $1 Million Guaranteed

Today's opening event is a first-time ever event for the Borgata Winter Poker Open.

It carries a $1 million guarantee on the prize pool and has two starting days.

Players who bust out today (day 1A) may re-enter through the end of level 8 and may also re-enter tomorrow (day 1B).

Levels 1-4 are 30 minutes long, then levels 5-18 will last 40 minutes.

That's all they'll play on day one -- 18 levels -- then call it a night.  Survivors will bag their chips and return for day two on Thursday at noon.

Players began with 20,000 chips.

Level 1:  Blinds 25/50.

Cards are in the air!!

Tuesday, January 15

TODAY'S EVENTS (Event Center) 

11AM: Event 1A - $500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
             $1 Million Guaranteed

• Players start with 20,000 in tournament chips 
• Levels 1-4 will last 30 minutes each | Levels 5-18:  will last 40 minutes each |
  Day 2 Levels: will last 50 minutes each 
• Players may Re-Enter through Level 8 
• 2-Day event with two starting days.  Day 2 begins Thursday at 12PM
• $3,000 will be subtracted from the prize pool and awarded to the chip leader at the end of Day 1A and the chip leader at the end of Day 1B
  $2,000 will be subtracted from the prize pool and awarded to the player finishing second behind chip leader at the end of Day 1A and the player finishing second behind chip leader at the end of Day 1B. 

7 PM: Event 26 - $150 + $30 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

• Players start with 12,000 in tournament chips 
• Levels will last 20 minutes each 
• Players may Re-Enter through Level 6 
• 1-Day event

Exclusive Offers for Tournament Participants

Present your Borgata Winter Poker Open Tournament Receipt and receive the following offers:

• 15% off Roma, The Metropolitan, Bread+Butter, Borgata Buffet, Tony Luke's and Lettuce Head
  (Sun - Sat)
• 15% off Wolfgang Puck American Grille, Fornelletto and Izakaya
  (Sun - Fri)
• 15% off Barbershop services (reservations required - call x7556)
• $50 Fitness Pass Package for Spa Toccare (7-day access)
• $30 Day Pass to Spa Toccare men's spa or women's spa (includes use of spa lounge, whirlpools, steam room, sauna and locker area, and use of Pump Room) 
• $20 Ladies manicure (valid 1/21 - 2/1/2013) 
• Special hotel rates available during tournament for participants, based upon availability

Exclusions apply. Management reserves all rights. Only valid January 15 - February 1, 2013 at Borgata. Tax and gratuity not included. Must present tournament receipt along with valid identification at time of purchase/service to receive offers. Offers not transferable. Food and Beverage: offers are not valid in conjunction with other promotions; valid for participant only; and must surrender blue tournament receipt at time of redemption.  Hotel Room: reservation must be made in advance to receive special rates. Must present tournament receipt at checkout to receive tournament rate quoted at time of reservation. Subject to availability, change or cancellation.  Spa:  Ladies manicure offer not valid 1/26/2013.  Certain restrictions apply.