Championship: 10th Place - Cook

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

Adam Cook (Pasadena, MD)

$39,821

30k/60k/5k ante

On the last hand of the level we finally get our first bustout of the final table.  Adam Cook is all in for 730k and is up against James Anderson.

Anderson: 88
Cook: 77

Flop 8 7 5

Both players flop a set which keeps Anderson out in front.  Cook misses the turn and river and
ends up finishing in 10th place for $39,821.

This was the first elimination in more than two hours as Anderson is up to 3 million.

Event 24: 5th Place - Pimentel

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Irving Pimentel - (Roslindale, MA)

$2,794

And the Player with the most bounties in the tournament is Irving Pimentel who ended the day with 13 for $1,300.

He also cashed in the Championship in 61st Place.

"2 Events and 2 cashes - I can't ask for more than that" said poker pro Irving.

In Irving's exit hand, the two short stacks mixed it up - both all in pre-flop.

Irving - 55 vs. Anthony Wing's A-Q

Board ran: 7-K-3-7-7

After a second look all realized Wing had the Queen of diamonds and just four flushed Irving out the door.

Event 24: Bounty Gate

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Play has tightened up a bit with our final five players.  Here's a bounty count for each player.

1. William "WJ" Vincent - 4 bounties
2. Andrew Kloc - 2 bounties
3. Irving Pimentel - 13 bounties
4. Anthony Wing - 3 bounties
5. William O'Brien - 7 bounties

Whereas Irving is the bounty leader, O'Brien is the chip leader with 1,250,000.

Championship: Well Truong

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

Kevin Truong has been been all in three times at the final table, but has yet to be called. Each time his 750k (12 bb) stack survives he lets out a big smile and a hardy laugh. "I'll take a fold every time," he says after Jeremy Druckman folds to his latest shove.

On one hand Truong begs chip leader Andy Hwang to fold, which he does.  "I had a premium hand," laughs Truong as he shows A♣ 9♣.

Event 24: 6th Place - Harvilla

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

John Harvilla - (Northeast, PA)

$2,328

John gets sucked into the poker chip vacuum known as William O'Brien.

John has Ace high but William hits his flush on the river.

John A♣ 10♦ vs. O'Brien's K♥ J♥

Board: Q♥ 8♣ 7♥ 9♣ 8♥

Event 24: 7th Place - Ridolfo

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

Joshua Ridolfo - (Burlington, VT)

$1,862

Back to Vermont for Joshua Ridolfo who collected 4 $100 bounties but lost his when his K-10 ran into Andrew Kloc's K-Q.

Board: 6-A-5-3-7

Joshua drove down with a friend to play in today's Event and said it was a good idea.

Ridolfo takes home $1,862 for his efforts today.  Since he was short at the final table for so long, he was very happy he moved up a pay spot.

Event 24: 8th Place - Hutchinson

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Bob Hutchinson - (New York, NY)

$1,397

Bob comes up to Borgata once a month to play poker.  Today he finishes in 8th Place for $1,397.

Bob was getting short and got it in with 5-5.  William O'Brien hit the flop hard with his K-J then Bob couldn't catch a five.

Board: K-2-3-8-J

Championship: Lots of B & A

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

 Druckman Folds to Cook's All In

Blinds 30k/60k/5k ante

  

The first 30 minutes of this level have been uneventful. 

Most of the action has been the initial raiser winning the B & A, which is short hand for blinds and antes.

One hand worth nothing is Jeremy Druckman raises to 135k, with Adam Cook moving all in for 600k total, but Druckman folds and it's back to more B & A.

Event 24: Final Table

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Seat - Name - Chips
1. William "WJ" Vincent.....145,000
2. Richard Gipstein - 10th Place
3. Joshua Ridolfo......105,000
4. Andrew Kloc.....270,000
5. Irving Pimentel......450,000
6. Jimmy Born - 9th Place
7. Anthony Wing.....350,000
8. William O'Brien.....800,000
9. John Harvilla.....160,000
10. Bob Hutchinson....560,000

Event 24: Gone & Gone

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Richard Gipstein (New York, NY)

10th Place - $605

Richard Gipstein was down to 1 big blind when his 77 ran into K-Q.  Opponent flopped a king.

He did make the final table but was bounced out on the first hand when his 10-3 1 big shove ran into William O'Brien's QQ.  O'Brien made a full house.

Right behind him in 9th Place was Jimmy Born who takes home $931.

Jimmy had 55 and he also ran into O'Brien who again had QQ.

Board ran: 6-A-8-A-10

Championship: Blinds Up

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

Players are back from a 10 minute break and blinds are moving up to 30k/60k/5k ante.

Andy Hwang is still the chip leader with nearly 9 million (150 bb) while Adam Cook 600k (10 bb)
is the short stack.

"I need a double-up," says Cook, "then I'll start looking at first place."

10th place is $39,821, while first place is $730,053.

Event 24: Eli Eliminated

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

13th Place - Paul Spitzberg (Tenafly, NJ) - $512
12th Place - Elan "Eli" Branas (Forest Hills, NY) - $605

Eli was crippled when his KQ ran into a turned set of Jacks.  Ironically a few hands later he lost against KQ when he was holding 10-10.

Eli had 11 bounties.

Paul Spitzberg went from chip leader to short stack and got it in with A-9 suited vs. Bob Hutchinson's A-Q.  Board ran: 8-2-7-J-5.

Paul picked up a heart draw but bricked out.

Event 24: 14th Place - Choukri

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Yassin Choukri - (Fredericton, Canada)

$514

Yassin flew down from his home in Canada to play in the Championship.  After busting out he decided to play some more Borgata Winter Poker Open Events.

Yassin got it in good holding JJ vs. 10-10.  "Unfortunately a ten came on the river" explained Choukri.

Championship: Final Table

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

 Borgata Boardroom

The remaining players are on the final table with an average chip count of 3.126 million (63 bb)

Blinds 25k/50k/4k ante

Seat-Name-Chip Count

1 Kevin Truong  -  1.2 million
2 Cuong Phung  -  3.2 million
3 Jeremy Druckman  -  3.4 million 
4 Jeremy Stein  -  1.4 million  
5 Adam Cook  -  725k
6 Matt Salsberg  -  3.1   
7 Matt Haugen  -  2.5 million 
8 James Anderson  -  2.5 million
9 Mike Gogliormella  -  3.2 million 
10 Andy Hwang  -  9.5 million 

Remaining Prize Pool

Place - Amount

1st $730,053
2nd $438,698
3rd $265,475
4th $222,336
5th $182,514
6th $147,671
7th $117,805
8th $89,598
9th $61,391
10th $39,821

Event 24: Einsidler Sleeps

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Anthony Wing doubled up with 66 on a board of 7-10-A-5-K.

John Harvilla (Northeast, PA) K-J doubled thru Paul Spitzberg A-10 on a board of 10-2-2-K-4.

Andrew Klock doubled thru Jimmy Born.  K-2 vs. A-8 on a board of 10-3-2-7-9.

But it was Bob Hutchinson (New York, NY) who got the $100 bounty chip after felting Jeff Einsidler in 15th Place.  Bob had K-J vs. Jeff's A-J.  Both had clubs.

Board ran: J-2-7-K-Q giving Bob two pair.

Jeff Einsidler (Bedford, NY) - 15th Place - $512

Championship: 11th Place - Zinno

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

 Anthony Zinno (Cranstan, RI)

$39,821

Blinds 25k/50k/4k ante
 
James Anderson raises from the button and Anthony Zinno moves all in from the big blind for his last 600k.

Zinno: A♠ J♠
Anderson: A♣ Q♦

Flop: A♥ K♣ 6♠ (Anderson leads)

Turn: 10♥ (Both players need each others kicker for a straight)

River: 5♠

The river miss knocks Zinno out in 11th place earning him $39,821.

"I feel great and played really well," says Zinno who earns his 5th cash of the series.  "I picked the wrong day to go card dead. You can survive on Day 1, but not on Day 4. That's when you hope to look down and see pocket kings, but not today."

Anderson takes his stack up to 2.5 million as the remaining 10 players are drawing for their final table seats.

Event 24: Two Tables

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Table 1:
1. John Harvilla (Northeast, PA)
2. William O'Brien (Philadelphia, PA)
3. Paul Spitzberg
4. William "WJ" Vincent (Eau Claire, WI)
5. Richard Gipstein (New York, NY)
6. Joshua Ridolfo (Burlington, VT)
7. Jeff Einsidler (New York, NY)
8. Bob Hutchinson (New York, NY)

Table 2:
1. Andrew Kloc (Naugatuck, CT)
2. Anthony Wing
3. Jimmy Born
4. Miami John Cernuto - 16th Place
5. Brian Adragna
6. Yassin Choukri
7. Irving Pimentel
8. Elan "Eli" Branas (Forest Hills, NY)

Elan took 3rd Place in Event 20 for $15,697.  He's looking to score big once again.

Championship: 12th Place - Paur

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

Taylor Paur (El Dorado Hills, CA)

$39,821

Taylor Paur is in position to double up with K♥ K♠, but is unlucky against chip leader Hwang.
Hwang has A♣ Q♦ and hits an ace on the flop to win the hand with a pair of aces.

Paur finishes in 12th place for $39,821, while Hwang adds 800k and is the first player to crack 10 million chips.

Event 24: 16th Place - Cernuto

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Borgata regular Miami John Cernuto busts out in 16th Place after losing a flip against Irving Pimentel (Roslindale, MA).

John KQ vs. Irving 10 10

Board: 2-4-7-5-9

Irving is running hot after cracking Kawan Rex's AA a few hands ago with a flush.

Used to seeing Miami John in Omaha or Mix games but it was good to see him cash in this Event.

Event 24: Rex Must Be Hexed

Kawan Rex - (Atlantic City, NJ)

$466

Nobody can believe Kawan Rex is out of the tournament.  He was amongst the chip leaders, just got AA and got his Opponent to call his all-in pre-flop.

Kawan A♠ A♣ vs. 8♣ 7♣

Board: 3♦ 10♣ 3♣ 5♣ 2♦

Congratulations to Kawan Rex for his 17th Place finish earning $466.

Championship: 13th Place - DiMartino

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

 Joe DiMartino (Ansonia, CT) 

$28,207

Blinds 25k/50k/4k ante

Joe DiMartino is down to just 12 bb with 600k and moves all in. James Anderson snap calls and shows pocket aces.

Anderson: A♠ A♥
DiMartino J♠ 10♦

There's no help on the board and DiMartino is out in 13th place for $28,207.

Anderson only has 900k at the start of the hand is now up to 1.5 million.

Event 24: Castro & Queens

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Gene Castro - (Henderson, NV)

$419

20th Place finish for PPI's Gene Castro.  Gene busted in the Championship Day 2 after running his QQ into Opponent's AA.  And just now he busted holding 66 vs., you guessed it, QQ.

Board: 2-5-8-K-3

Gene flew in from Las Vegas to play in the 2013 Borgata Winter Poker Open.

Right behind Gene in 19th Place was Anthony Caruso (Medford, NJ).  Caruso had A-Q suited but didn't improve vs. AK.

$419 to Anthony Caruso for his 19th Place finish.

With that their was a redraw for the remaining 18 Players.

Championship: 14th Place - Serock

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

Joe Serock (Albuquerque, NM)

$28,207

Blinds 25k/50k/4k ante

Joe Serock and Jeremy Druckman both have below averages stacks of 1.4 million (28 bb) at the start of the hand.

All the chips are in preflop and Druckman dominates Serock with pocket aces against AK.

The board runs out 4 8 K Q 5 and Druckman's aces hold to nearly double-up to 2.5 million


Serock the reigning WPT Player of the Year finishes in 14th place for $28,207.

Championship: 15th Place - Chan

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

Patrick Chan - (Brooklyn, NY)

$28,207

In the very first hand after dinner break, Patrick Chan sitting with 11 big blinds shipped his last 570,000 in and was called by Andy Hwang (Sugar Land, TX).  Patrick tabled 88 and Andy woke up to pocket Aces.

Board ran: 10-7-K-5-10.

"Andy is really running hot and has a good chance to take this down" said Patrick.

Patrick takes home $28,207 for his 15th Place finish.  He was happy to learn he at least jumped up to the next pay level.

Event 24: Dinner Break

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

Players will return to the felt around 8:30 pm after enjoying a one hour dinner break.

We'll be playing this tournament out until it's conclusion right here in the Poker Room.

First place receives $13,038 from the 48,000 Total Buy In.

We'll get some bounty counts when everyone returns.

Event 24: 21st Place - Kelly

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Mike Kelly (Farmingdale, NY) has no luck with pocket 10s against the AQ of W.J. Vincent II (Eau Claire, WI) when he flops a queen.

Kelly is out 21st place for $419.

The 11 am tournament is now down to 20 players on two tables.

Event 24: 22nd Place - Tobin

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Justin Tobin (Holland, PA) hits the rail with pocket 9s against the pocket aces of Elan Branas (Forest Hills, NY).  Tobin finishes in 22nd place for $419.

Event 24: 23rd Place - Powell

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Pam Powell (Milton, PA)

$419

Pam Powell sends the last of her chips to Jimmy Born (Clarksville, MD) when her A9 doesn't connect against AK.  Powell is the last woman standing and finishes in 23rd place for $419.

Event 24: 24th Place - Wolper

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

 Howard Wolper &"Miami" John Cernuto

Howard Wolper (Atlantic City, NJ) is all in with pocket 9s against the AJ of Jeff Einsidler (Westchester, NY).  Einsidler flops two pair and knocks Wolper out in 24th place for $419.

Event 24: 11 am Bustouts

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

Since the bubble broke the bustouts have been fast and furious. Irving Pimentel (Roslindale, MA) gets a double knockout with pocket aces. He eliminates Alan Lee (Columbia, MD) and
Mike Millikin (Owosso, MI) in 26th and 25th place respectively.


Place-Name-Amount
25 Mike Millikin (Owosso, MI) $419
26 Alan Lee (Columbia, MD) $419
27 Joe Campellone (Sewell, NJ) $419

Event 24: 11 am Bubble Breaks

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Ruthie Ruffman (Colts Neck, NJ) is down to her last 13k when she moves all in with pocket 10s.

William O'Brien (Philadelphia, PA) makes the call with AK and hits an ace on the flop to end Ruffman's day.  The Borgata regular is the unfortunate bubble girl, but quickly buys her entry into the 6 pm bounty tournament.

The final 27 players are all in the money and guaranteed a min cash of $419 as they play for the top prize of $13,038.

Championship: Dinner Break Chip Counts

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

The 15 remaining players are on dinner break until 8:15 pm.

Blinds resuming at 25k/50k/4k ante.

Name-Chip Count

Andy Hwang 8.5 million (170 bb)
Cuong Phung 3.5 million
Mike Gogliormella 2.5 million
Kevin Truong 2.4 million
Matt Salsberg 2.3 million 
Jeremy Stein 2.1 million 
AVERAGE STACK 2.1 million (42 bb)
Joe Serock 1.4 million
Matt Haugen 1.4 million
Adam Cook 1.3 million
Jeremy Druckman 1.3 million
Jim Anderson 1 million
Taylor Paur 900k
Joe DiMartino 700k
Patrick Chan 600k
Anthony Zinno 500k (10 bb)

Championship: 16th Place - Crane

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

Russell Crane (Howell, NJ)

$18,251

Blinds 20k/40k/4k ante

With 2.1 million chips Russell Crane 5-bets all in against chip leader Andy Hwang and runs into a monster:

Hwang: K♣ K♠
Crane: A♥ 4♥

Crane catches a gutshot straight draw on the turn, but bricks the river for a 16th place finish and $18,251.  Hwang now has more than 8 million chips.

Crane won the 2011 Borgata Spring Poker Open for $277,000.

Championship: Serock Doubles Through Haugen

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

Blinds 20k/40k/4k ante

Joe Serock is all in preflop with pocket 8s vs Matt Haugen's AK

The board runs out 4 8 5 J 2 and Serock gets a 570k double-up, while Haugen drops to 2.1 million.

Championship: "Cook"ing Up a Story

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

Blinds 20k/40k/4k ante 

DiMartino & Cook

Joe DiMartino opens to 85k from the cutoff
Adam Cook calls from the button
Jeremy Stein calls from the bb

Flop: 3♥ 5♣ 4♣

All three players check

Turn: J♥

Stein checks, DiMartino bets 85k, Cook raises to 315k, Stein and DiMartino both fold.

Cook shows a bluff with 10♦ 9♦ and scoops the pot.

Championship: 18th Place - Brattole

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH  

Joesph Brattole (Parsippany, NJ)

$18,251

In a battle of the blinds, Joe Brattole (sb) shoved and Mike Gogliormella (bb) called.

Joseph - AT
Mike - 99

The board change nothing and Mike's pair was good to take the pot.

Joseph busted out in 18th place, earning $18,251.

Championship: 19th Place - Taylor

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH   

Sam Taylor (New York, NY)

$14,933

Sam Taylor got his short-stack in with pocket 4s and was up against Kevin Truong's JT suited.

The board came Q T 3 J Q and Kevin took the pot.

Sam took $14,933 for 19th place.
 

Championship: Hwang Takes Lead

 $3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH  

On the turn with a board of A♥4♣3♣3♠, Andy Hwang bet 383k.  Russell Crane called.

River was the 3♦, putting trips on board. 

Andy checked.

Russell bet 700k.

Andy checked into the think-tank for an extended stay.

He eventually called.

Russell showed 65 suited for a busted straight-draw.

Andy showed Q♣7♣ for Queen-high kicker to the board.  He took the pot, chipping up to ~5 million and the chip lead.

Russell dropped to ~2.4 million.

Event 24: Spitzberg Sprints to 11 am Lead

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Paul Spitzberg

Chip Leader

With 36 players remaining, Borgata regular Paul Spitzberg (Tenafly, NJ) is the chip leader with 300k (75 bb).

While Spitzberg doesn't have any Borgata trophies, he did win the August 2012 Deep Stack Double Play for $40,000.

The average stack is 80k (20 bb) with blinds at 2k/4k/500.

Championship: Double, Double, Double

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH  

Mark Sykes doubled his short-stack through Russell Crane when his AQ held up against Russell's AJ.

Joe DiMartino doubled his short-stack through Adam Cook when Joe's Q9 ran down Adam's A4.

Jim Anderson doubled his short-stack through Adam Cook when his KJ caught a jack to run down Adam's KQ.

Event 24:11 am - Down the Stretch They Come

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

40 players remain and with 27 making the money it will be close as to which happens first, the bubble or dinner break.

Here's what's on the line:

Entries: 240
Total Buy-In: $48,000

Place - Amount

1st $13,038
2nd $7,682
3rd $4,423
4th $3,585
5th $2,794
6th $2,328
7th $1,862
8th $1,397
9th $931
10-12 $605
13-15 $512
16-18 $466
19-27 $419

Championship: Break Time Tweets

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH  

Level 27:  Blinds 20k/40k with 4k ante.  Play has resumed.

Russell Crane leads with ~4.3 million.

Andy Hwang is second with ~3.7 million.


Just a few tweeters left in the crowd.  Here are their latest:

Taylor Paur ‏@taypaur
Awful level just over 1 mill now. 19 left

Adam Cook ‏@AdamNCook
2.4m on break, next level is 20k/40k 4ka. 19 left. #wptborgata

Kevin Truong ‏@KT_nowitsover
Break time Just double to 2.3 mil w 7 5 Turn two pair. All money went in and beat KK

matt salsberg ‏@msalsberg
1.7 mil on break. 19 left.

Championship: Truong Doubles

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH 

On the turn with a board of J 7 2 5, Kevin Truong got all his chips in the middle and called by Sam Taylor.

Kevin - 75 (two pair)
Sam - KK

The river was a 6 and Kevin doubled up to ~2.4 million.  Sam dropped to ~500k.


End of level and time for a break.  Nineteen players remain, making the average stack almost 1.65 million.

Championship: 20th Place - Paluf

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH 

Ryan Paluf (Highland Heights, OH)

$14,933

Ryan Paluf got all his chips in the middle pre-flop against Russell Crane.

Ryan - A3 off

Russell - QJ

The board came 9 5 3 T J and sent the pot to Russell. He's now over 4 million and definitely the chip leader.

Ryan finished 20th, earning $14,933.

Championship: Druckman Chips Up

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH  

Jeremy Druckman and Patrick Chan take a flop of T 6 3 rainbow.

Jeremy checks

Patrick bets 300k, leaving ~630k behind.

Jeremy shoves for 839k total.

Patrick tanks for a few minutes, then folds.

Championship: Serock Doubles

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH  

Joe Serock opened for 60k utg and action folded around to Mark Sykes in the big blind.

Mark asked how much Joe had left (~386k) then announced he was all-in.

Joe snap-called, showing pocket Jacks.  Mark had pocket 9s.

The cards ran out A Q 6 J 9 and both players improved to sets, but Joe's was higher and he doubled up to ~920k.

Mark was left with ~650k.

Championship: 21st Place - Tsinis

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH  

Arkadiy Tsinis (Las Vegas, NV)

$14,933

Joe DiMartino (cutoff) shoved and Arkadiy Tsinis (sb) looked him up.

Joe - 97
Arkadiy - AK

The board ran out T 8 4 8 6 and gave Joe a straight.  He doubled up to almost 1 million.

Arkadiy was left with less than 300k and busted out soon after.  He finished 21st for $14,933.

Championship: Break Time Tweets

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH  

Level 26:  Blinds 15k/30k with 3k ante.

Twenty-one players are back in action following the break.  Average stack is almost 1.5 million.

Russell Crane and Cuong Phung are both right around 3 million and battling for the chip lead.


Here are the player's Tweets from the break:

Joe Serock ‏@floesknowshoes
Down to 387k. Gonna be 15/30k. 21 left.

matt salsberg ‏@msalsberg
Swingy level that ended well. 1.35m. And remind me Not to walk and tweet. You might end up in the ladies room lol.

Kevin Truong ‏@KT_nowitsover
Break time; Sitting w 1.6 mil Crazy table. Just read the blog to see all the crazy action on table 3

Adam Cook ‏@AdamNCook
1.576m, gonna play 15k/30k 3ka next. Got moved n I don't see how that can be worse than where I was. #wptborgata #zZZzzzZzzz

Championship: 22nd Place - Kerstetter

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH 

Jamie Kerstetter (Monroe Twp, NJ)

$14,933

Matt Salsberg (cutoff) opened and Jamie Kerstetter (button) moved in.

Matt looked her up with AQ.  Jamie held KT suited.

The board changed nothing and Matt took the pot, chipping up to almost 1.4 million.

Jamie took 22nd place and $14,933.

Another level is done and players are taking ten.

Championship: Taylor Doubles

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH  

Sam Taylor (sb) raised, Jeremy Druckman (bb) 3-bet, Sam 4-bet, Jeremy shoved, and Sam called.

Jeremy - AQ
Sam - 66

The board came Q 3 3 6 2 giving Jeremy the lead on the flop, but giving Sam sixes-full on the turn.  He doubled up to over 2 million.

Jeremy dropped to ~1.1 million.

Championship: 23rd Place - Tuthill

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH 

Nathan Tuthill (Fredericksburg, VA)

$14,933

Nathan Tuthill got all-in again and this time was up against Cuong Phung.

Nathan - AA
Cuong - 66

The board did not run clean this time.  It fell 8 6 3 Q K giving Cuong a set of sixes to crack those Aces.

Nathan busted out in 23rd place, earning $14,933.

Championship: Tuthill Doubles

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH  

After Cuong Phung opened for 50k and Sam Taylor called, Nathan Tuthill shoved from the small blind for 325k.

Cuong folded (later said pocket 8s).  Sam called, showing pocket 9s.

Nathan was in the lead with pocket Kings.

The board ran out K 6 5 Q 6 giving Nathan Kings-full.  He doubled up to ~740k.

Sam dropped back below 1 million.


Russell Crane claimed a big pot without showdown and is back over 3 million chips and back in the chip lead.

Championship: 24th Place - Shklover

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH 

Mike Shklover (Stamford, CT)

$14,933

Mike Shklover got all-in pre-flop holding pocket Tens.

Jeremy Stein looked him up with AJ suited.

The board ran dry until the river, when an Ace fell, giving Jeremy a pair of Aces for the pot.

Mike busted out in 24th place, earning $14,933.

Championship: Phung Doubles

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH 

Andy Hwang (cutoff) and Mark Sykes (button) engaged in a game of chicken.

Andy opened, Mark 3-bet, Andy 4-bet to 168k, Mark 5-bet to 325k, Andy 6-bet to 533k, and Mark announced he was all-in.

That was the end of it as Andy folded.


Cuong Phung (hijack) opened for 49k.

Sam Taylor (cutoff) raised to 125k.

Cuong 4-bet to 290k.

Sam moved in a big stack of 25k chips, Cuong announced all-in, and Sam called.

Cuong - KK
Sam - AK

The board fell J 9 5 T 8 and Cuong doubled up to over 2 million.

Sam dropped just under 1 million.

Championship: Break Time Tweets

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH 

Level 25:  Blinds 12k/24k, 3k ante.

24 players remain.  Average stack is ~1.3 million.

Taylor Paur has edged out Russell Crane for the chip lead.  He's up to 2.8 million while Russell is down to 2.7 million.

There are still a few Tweeters in the field.  Here are their thoughts from the break:

Kevin Truong ‏@KT_nowitsover
Break time; 24 left; 1 mil for me

matt salsberg ‏@msalsberg
Just over a mil on first break. 24 left.

Taylor Paur ‏@taypaur
First break 24 left 2.8m coming back to 24k bb.

Adam Cook ‏@AdamNCook
1.39m on a break. 12k/24k 3ka next. #wptborgata

Jamie Kerstetter ‏@JamieKerstetter
475k going to 12/24k, card dead morning, 24 left. Whole tourney has been feast or famine. Time for #feast

Championship: Sykes Chipping Up

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH 

Mark Sykes (bb) and Ryan Paluf (button) get to the river with a board of K♦Q♠7♦5♦J♥.

Mark bet 190k and Ryan tanked for a couple of minutes.

He finally called and Mark showed pocket 7s for a set.

Ryan mucked, dropping to ~775k.  Mark chipped up to over 1.3 million.


Level 24 came to a close with 24 players remaining and they're taking a break from the action.

Championship: Cook Doubles

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

Adam Cook got all-in pre-flop against Ryan Paluf.

Adam - TT
Ryan - 88

The board bricked out and Adam doubled up to almost 1.2 million.

Ryan dropped to just under 1 million.

With 24 players remaining, the average stack is ~1.3 million.

Championship: 25th Place - Horn

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

Gary Horn (Sugar Land, TX)

$14,933

Gary Horn raised up front and got called by both blinds. 

On the flop of Q J 2 -- all diamonds -- it was checked to Gary who moved his last chips in the middle.

Cuong Phung (bb) looked him up with 93 of diamonds for the flopped flush.

Gary had KQ -- no diamonds -- for top pair and was drawing slim.

No help for Gary as the last two fell 8 6 and Cuong took the pot.  Gary busted out in 25th place, earning $14,933.

Cuong is approaching the 1 million chip mark.

Championship: 26th Place - Reslock

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

Chris Reslock (Atlantic City, NJ)

$14,933

Three players got their chips in the middle pre-flop.

Mike Shklover - AA
Chris Reslock - AK
Joe DiMartino - AJ

Mike was ahead with pocket Aces, but the board ran out K Q 9 T 3 giving Joe the Broadway straight.  He tripled up and Mike took the side pot with his Aces.

Chris took the walk to the rail, finishing 26th for $14,933.

Championship: 27th Place - Wahba

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

Mark Wahba (Cleveland, OH)

$14,933

On the river with a board of K♣T♦5♦J♦A♣,  Mark Wahba led out for 200k.

After giving it some thought, Russell Crane shoved for just over 1 million.

Mark called, showing A♦Q♣ for the Broadway straight.

Russell rolled over 7♦6♦ for the flush to take the pot.  He doubled up to almost 3 million.

Mark was left with about 60k (three big blinds).

Despite tripling up on a subsequent hand, Mark busted out soon after in 27th place ($14,933).

Championship: 28th Place - Diehl

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

Matt Diehl (Flemington, NJ)

$12,942

Matt Diehl opened up front and got three-bet by Mark Sykes on the button.  Matt shoved and got the call.

Matt - QQ
Mark - AQ

An Ace on the flop spelled the end of Matt's day.  He finished 28th for $12,942.

Table four broke and those players have moved to the empty seats at the final three tables.

Championship: Day Four Underway

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

Level 24:  Blinds 10k/20k with 2k ante.

Cards and chips are on the move as day four is underway!

Borgata Winter Poker Open Leaderboard Update (1/31)

Borgata Winter Poker Open Leaderboard
By participating in any Borgata Winter Poker Open event (January 15 - February 1, 2013), players earn points based upon the Borgata Winter Poker Tournament Leaderboard Formula.

Below are the top scores for the 2013 Borgata Winter Poker Open Leaderboard*

(Final Results from Main Events: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23 
 Secondary events: 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47,48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)

877.038:  MICHAEL LINSTER
594.665:  MICHAEL DENTALE
551.813:  NASHAAT ANTONIOUS
543.788:  SHERVIN GOLBARI
540.875:  TOMISLAV DOBRILOVIC
530.525:  JOSEPH STIERS
515.538:  IVERSON SNUFFER
489.653:  TOMASZ GLINIECKI
483.663:  SAMUEL TAYLOR
479.325:  GARY LUCCI
456.175:  BARUCH THALER
455.163:  BEZHAN HAMDARD
444.638:  ROBERT PANITCH
444.370:  ROBERT MIDGETTE
432.150:  ELAN BRANAS
427.195:  ROBERT QUIGLEY
421.475:  AARON MASSEY
414.775:  JEFFREY EINSIDLER
400.758:  H MICHAEL BOROVETZ
398.568:  MUKUL PAHUJA
393.388:  COLLIN WHYTE
391.550:  LAURENCE WOLF
388.813:  ALEXANDER ROCHA
385.700:  ANTHONY RUBERTO
382.200:  TANIOS ABI-YAGHI
379.278:  NICHOLAS PALMA
375.613:  GORDON ENG
372.650:  PEARCE-CHRISTIAN ARNOLD
368.625:  IBRAIM IBRAIMOVIC
368.063:  JEFFREY PAPOLA
364.223:  ALAN KRAUT
357.888:  MATTHEW MAZZEO

Championship: Begins Momentarily

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

We're in the Poker Room today for playdown to the final table.

Twenty-eight players are coming back, but only six will survive the day to appear at the final table tomorrow, which will be live streamed (with a delay) by the WPT.

Players are arriving and unbagging their chips.  Play will be getting underway shortly.

Event 24: More Faces

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

Level 2:  Blinds 50/100.

The field is filling up and out as more tables are put into action.

These are the latest smiling faces to join the crowd:

Marella Keene
David Heck
Andrew Klein
Miami John Cernuto
Neville Darrell
Marsha Wolak
Eric Seigel

Event 24: Familiar Faces

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Only a short line at registration today as the modest field fills.

These familiar faces were spotted on my first pass:

Elan Branas
Pasquale Boffice
Howard Wolper
Anthony Caruso
John Koliner
Paul Spitzberg
Mike 'Mad Dog' Shasho
Sheree Bykofsky
Eric Miller
Elliott Zaydman
Don Brown
Michael Forca

Event 24: Underway

$200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Today's penultimate Borgata Winter Poker Open post-limmain event is a very popular Bounty event.

Players have a $100 price on their heads and the player who busts them gets to collect their bounty (one black chip = $100 cash).

Players began with 12,000 tournament chips and the first 8 levels are 25 minutes long (levels 9+ are 30 minutes long).

Anyone who busts out during the first eight levels may re-enter as many times as they want.

This is a one day event, so they'll play until a winner is determined.

Level 1:  Binds 25/50.

Cards are in the air.

Championship Event - Day 4 Table Assignments

Borgata Winter Poker Open
Event 21: $3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH
January 27 - February 1, 2013

Day 4:  Play resumes in Poker Room at 12PM

Entries:  1,042
Total Buy-In: $3,438,600

Players Remaining: 28
Average Chip Stack: 1,112,000

START OF DAY 4 TABLE ASSIGNMENTS & CHIP COUNTS:
T1 | S1 -   JOSEPH SEROCK (ALBUQUERQUE, NM):  1,578,000
T1 | S2 -   MARK WAHBA (CLEVELAND, OH):  1,490,000
T1 | S3 -   MATTHEW HAUGEN (CHICAGO, IL):  883,000
T1 | S4 -   ADAM COOK (PASADENA, MD):  643,000
T1 | S5 -   RUSSELL CRANE (HOWELL, NJ):  1,477,000
T1 | S6 -   TAYLOR PAUR (EL DORADO HILLS, CA):  2,080,000
T1 | S7 -   RYAN PALUF (HIGHLAND HTS, OH):  1,630,000

T2 | S1 -   ARKADIY TSINIS (LAS VEGAS, NV):  660,000
T2 | S2 -   JEREMY STEIN (WASHINGTON, DC):  891,000
T2 | S3 -   MICHAEL SHKLOVER (STAMFORD, CT):  634,000
T2 | S4 -   MATTHEW SALSBERG (STUDIO CITY, CA):  567,000
T2 | S5 -   JOSEPH BRATTOLE (PARSIPPIANY, NJ):  959,000
T2 | S6 -   JAMIE KERSTETTER (MONROE TWP, NJ):  754,000
T2 | S7 -   JAMES ANDERSON (WOOSTER, OH):  853,000

T3 | S1 -   SAMUEL TAYLOR (NEW YORK, NY):  2,390,000
T3 | S2 -   JEREMY DRUCKMAN (PORTLAND, OR):  2,598,000
T3 | S3 -   PATRICK CHAN (BROOKLYN, NY):  844,000
T3 | S4 -   ANTHONY ZINNO (CRANSTON, RI):  1,012,000
T3 | S5 -   NATHAN TUTHILL (FREDERICKSBURG, VA):  634,000
T3 | S6 -   MIKE GOGLIORMELLA (YONKERS, NY):  1,173,000
T3 | S7 -   HUNG TRUONG (FREEHOLD, NJ):  858,000

T4 | S1 -   JOSEPH DIMARTINO (ANSONIA, CT):  411,000
T4 | S2 -   CHRIS RESLOCK (ATLANTIC CITY, NJ):  594,000
T4 | S3 -   GARY HORN (SUGAR LAND, TX):  252,000
T4 | S4 -   MATTHEW DIEHL (FLEMINGTON, NJ):  407,000
T4 | S5 -   CUONG PHUNG (ATLANTIC CITY, NJ):  854,000
T4 | S6 -   YUNG HWANG (SUGAR LAND, TX):  3,039,000
T4 | S7 -   MARK SYKES (MARGATE, NJ):  974,000

Event 23 Recap

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

Congratulations to our winner Eric Tal (Atlantic City, NJ) who takes down a whopping $35,199 after beating Raymond Morgan (New York, NY) in one hand of heads up.

The hand of the tournament he'll never forget was when he was short stacked with three tables to go and won a QQ vs. AK race.   That chip up cascaded Eric to the final table in good shape.  Then at the final table another key flip came when Eric's 3-3 won against Anthony Maio's K-Q.

"This is actually the first real tournament I ever played in" said the local Atlantic City Community College accounting student.  "My friend I drove here with also made it to the final table".   Eric was referring to James Ross who finished in 8th Place earning $4,172.

The tournament kicked off in the Event Center at 11AM and finished in the Poker Room at 8AM.

Event 23 was a big stack tournament so players began with a comfortable 20,000 chips.  It was also a $75,000 guarantee which was toppled with a huge $156,400 prize pool.

Amongst the 782 entries was a field of familiar faces including Mickey Woll, Don Brown, David Heck, Lana O'Brien, and Wendy Freedman just to name a few.  Borgata regular Eric "Clownfish" Doerr was the chipleader once the bubble broke and ended up cashing for $804 in 26th Place.

WPT poker millionaire Anthony Licastro (Long Valley, NJ) made the final two tables and took home $1,896 for 12th Place. 

But once again, the winner of the Event 23 trophy and $35,199 was Borgata newbie, Eric Tal who quietly stormed the final table and ended up in the top spot making an incredible return on his $230 investment.

Final Table
1. Eric Tal (Atlantic City, NJ) - $35,199
2. Raymond Morgan (New York, NY) - $20,481
3. John Kirsch (Neptune, NJ) - $12,516
4. Mark Felcon (Brooklyn, NY) - $10,316
5. Anthony Maio (Jamison, PA) - $8,344
6. Charles Lee (Scotch Plains, NJ) - $6,827
7. Arnie Fried (Fort Lauderdale, FL) - $5,461
8. James Ross (Jersey City, NJ) - $4,172
9. Jesse Elliot (Voorhees, NJ) - $2,882
10. Anthanasios Diakos (Jersey City, NJ) - $1,896

FINAL RESULTS

Event 23: 1st Place - Tal

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Eric Tal - (Atlantic City, NJ)

$35,199

Emotional victory for Eric Tal who takes down the very first Borgata tournament he's ever played in.  And to really add to the drama, his good friend James Ross, who he drove to Borgata with, also made the final table, finishing in 8th Place.

"We ran good...We both play cash and I used to play on-line" said Eric.

Eric is 29 and attends accounting classes at ACCC.  Some good numbers he can play around with include $35,199.  He also takes home the engraved Borgata Event 23 trophy.

Congrats again to a very nice guy who deserved and earned this win.

Thursday, January 31

TODAY'S EVENTS (POKER ROOM) 

11AM: Event 24 - $200 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

• Players start with 12,000 in tournament chips 
• This is a Bounty tournament.  Players must have their Bounty chip clearly displayed on table in order to remain active in tournament
• Levels 1-8: will last 25 minutes each | Levels 9+: will last 30 minutes each
• Players may Re-Enter through Level 8 
• 1-Day event 

12PM: Event 21 - WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship - Day 4 

• Day 3 Levels will last 90 minutes each
• 5-Day event

6 PM: Event 55 - $100 + $20 + $25 Green Chip Bounty NLH (Re-Entry) 

• Players start with 10,000 in tournament chips 
• This is a Bounty tournament.  Players must have their Bounty chip clearly displayed on table in order to remain active in tournament
• Levels will last 20 minutes each
• 1-Day event

Event 23: 2nd Place - Morgan

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Raymond Morgan (New York, NY)

$20,481

It only took one hands of heads-up to determine our winner, Eric Tal. 

Congratulations to Raymond Morgan who busted two shells out of the Championship then figured he'd jump into this Event on virtually no sleep.

"Good thing I took one more shot at it" said Morgan who was happy with his 2nd Place finish.

It's amazing how far he finished despite having such little sleep.  He was even splashing cold water on his face during breaks.

Jedi railed his friend throughout the entire final table.

Morgan plays poker professionally and has a big 2nd Place finish at Foxwoods but today's $20,481 is his largest cash at Borgata to date.

Event 23: 3rd Place - Kirsch

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

John Kirsch - (Neptune, NJ)

$12,516

Congrats to John Kirsch who takes home $12,516 for his one day at the office.

John had the shortest stack three-handed and shipped in his last 1.66 million holding A-3.

He ran into QQ of Raymond Morgan and the board ran clean.

Board: 5-3-5-6-J

He admits luck was on his side today but never really ran into too much trouble.

Event 23: 4th Place - Felcon

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Mark Felcon - (Brooklyn, NY)

$10,316

Great run for Mark Felcon who played great and was rooted from the rail by friends Sal "Sally Gorgeous" and Tommy.

Mark made a move with K-4 and was called by Raymond Morgan who held K-J.

Board: Q-6-10-K-8

Not sure if Mark was serious or joking but he did announce that his wife at home will get half of his $10,316 winnings.

Sal finished in 34th for $713.  Tommy who the guys said was the best player out of the three did not make the money in this Event.  All three friends are from Brooklyn, NY.

Event 23: 5th Place - Maio

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Anthony Maio - (Jamison, PA)

$8,344

The hand that crippled Anthony was when he lost a K-Q vs. 3-3 flip against Eric Tal.  He then immediately doubled his short stack winning with A-J vs. John Kirsch's K-10.

But in the end, Maio's J-8 was way behind Raymond Morgan's J-J on a board reading Q-2-Q-Q-2.

Anthony was down to 7,000 and built back.  Twice he was down to 1 big blind and stacked back.

"It was an accident I even got in this tournament.  I busted out of the Championship" explained Maio.

Congratulations to Anthony for his 5th Place finish earning $8,344.

Event 23: 6th Place - Lee

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Charles Lee - (Scotch Plains, NJ)

$6,827

Charles' goal was to make 5th Place or better causing him to sadly utter, "I bubbled my own goal".

He was happy to jam A-Q with a semi-short stack but couldn't believe John Kirsch called and tabled A-K.

Board ran clean for Lee sending him to the rail with his friend Sherin.  Sherin rooted throughout the entire final table always with a smile.

Board: 10-8-9-5-7

"I'll take it" said Charles who pockets a haul of $6,827 for his one day's worth of work.

Event 23: 7th Place - Fried

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

 Arnie Fried - (Fort Lauderdale, FL)

$5,461

Arnie Fried was waiting for a great hand to ship his short stack into the middle.  He looked down at AK and happily jammed.  Uh-oh, Eric Tal woke up to KK and quickly called.

Board ran: 9-9-7-9-J

Arnie grew up in Philly but currently lives in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

The table complimented Arnie and agreed there's nothing he could have done in that spot with that hand other than ship it in.

Guys are on a ten minute break.

Playing until we have a winner today.

Event 23: 8th Place - Ross

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

James Ross - (Jersey City, NJ)

$4,172

Once Jesse the dealer got his rubber band, he went to work and dealt a classic coin-flip hand.

James Ross jammed with deuces and got called by Anthony Maio who had him out-chipped.

James 22 vs. Anthony A-K

Board: K-9-3-4-9

James says hi to Julia and will be back for the next Borgata Open.

Congrats to James Ross who takes home $4,172 for his 8th Place finish.

Event 23: 3 Million Chip Pot

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

Biggest hand at the final table just went down in the Borgata Poker Room.

John Kirsch went all in and nobody called.  The very next hand he shipped his last 1,500,000 again, but this time James Ross quickly called.

John A♥ 10♥ vs. James A-J

No turn or river sweat for John who flops the world hitting 6♥ K♥ 9♥ .

Turn J , River 4 .

Ross dusts off 1,500,000 but confidently states, "I'll come back".

Our dealer has called himself, "The Terminator" but hasn't knocked anybody out yet.

John Kirsch is now up to ~ 3,000,000.

Event 22: 9th Place - Elliot

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

Jesse Elliot - (Voorhees, NJ)

$2,882

Jesse Elliot jammed with A-J suited but was snap called by James Ross who tabled QQ.

A clean board of 4-K-8-8-10 had Jesse shaking hands and saying "good game" to his former tablemates.

Jesse says hi to his newborn baby girl (three weeks old) Makayla.  For his 9th Place finish he can now buy $2,882 worth of Pampers.

Event 23: 10th Place - Diakos

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

Anthanasios Diakos - (Jersey City, NJ)

$1,896

Anthanasios is frustrated after losing his last race of the day.  He went down swinging with A-K but ran into a set of sevens from Raymond Morgan.

Board: 9-7-6-4-Q

Championship: End of Day 3 / Day 4 Preview

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

It was moving day at the Borgata Winter Poker Open as 160 players returned for their shot at the $3,438,600 total buy-in, but after a long day only 28 remain for their chance at the $730,053 first place prize.

Day 3 closed with Yung Hwang (Sugar Land, TX) as the chip leader with more than 3 million chips (150 bb).  Late rallies by Jeremy Druckman (Portland, OR) and Sam Taylor (New York, NY) put them second and third respectively.

On the final hand of the night, Taylor's pocket aces held against the pocket kings of Donald Himpele (Mahwah, NJ) and Taylor added 500k to his stack to finish with nearly 2.4 million while Himpele finished 31st.

"I'm not going to say it's surreal," said the 22-year-old Taylor. "I'm starting to know how this should feel." This is Taylor's third deep run of the series which has featured two final tables including a third place finish in Event 1 for $137,000.

Druckman also finished strong and picked up more than a half million chips from Ana Marquez (Bethesda, MD) who finished 34th.  "It doesn't hurt when she bluff-shoves the river when you have quads," said Druckman who finished with 2.6 million. "I got pretty lucky that she was trying to make a move."

The highlight of the day came when it took 2 hours and 15 minutes to break the money bubble. Paul Volpe (West Chester, PA) was the unfortunate bubble boy as his elimination gave the 100 remaining players a min cash of $6,637.

Those still in the running for the big money include Russell Crane, the 2011 Borgata Spring Poker Open Champion, three-time Borgata trophy winner Chris Reslock, reigning WPT Player of the Year Joe Serock, WPT title holder Matt Salsberg and the last woman standing Jamie Kerstetter.

Those who cashed included Matt Glantz (36th), Allen Kessler (70th), Jonathan Little (72nd) and Matt Matros (77th).

Day 4 resumes 12 pm Thursday in the Poker Room with the average stack at 1.1 million (56 bb) and blinds beginning at 10/20k/2k ante.

Check back after 9 am for the Day 3 Table Draw

Top 5 Stacks

Yung Hwang 3.039 million
Jeremy Druckman 2.598 million
Sam Taylor 2.39 million
Taylor Paur 2.080 million
Ryan Paluf 1.63 million

Event 23: Final Table Set

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

Seat - Name - Chips
1. Anthony Maio - 1,400,000
2. Arnie Fried - 2,400,000
3. Raymond Morgan
4. Anthanasios Diakos - 1,700,000
5. Eric Tal
6. James Ross - 2,200,000
7. John Kirsch - 1,700,000
8. Jesse Elliot
9. Mark Felcon - 1,400,000
10. Charles Lee

Congratulations to our final table of ten.

Top spot takes home $35,199.

Fellows have bagged their chips and will re-locate in The Poker Room.

Next hand will be dealt at 4:15AM - as guys have a 20 minute break.

Championship: 29th-36th Places

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

Place-Name (Earning $12,942)

29 Mark Ketteringham (Las Vegas, NV)
30 Donald Himpele (Mahwah, NJ)
31 Derek Chisholm (Greenlaw, Great Britain)
32 Nicholas Manfredo (Levittown, NY)
33 Frank Athey (Mineral Wells, WV)
34 Ana Marquez (Bethesda, MD)
35 Denis Gnidash (Fairlawn, NJ)
36 Matt Glantz (Lafayette Hill, PA)

Event 23: 11th Place - Boatwright

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

Carless "Joe" Boatwright - (Woodbridge, VA)

$1,896

Joe just missed making the final table.  His stack was quickly dwindling so the retired army major shipped it in with A-6.  His Opponent had a monster stack so took a chance with K-6 suited.

Wouldn't you know K-6 found a flush and spiked a king at the end just to rub it in.

"GI Joe" got it in good and had fun.  He'll go home with $1,896 for his 11th Place finish.

Championship: End of Day 3 Chip Counts

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

Name-Chip Count

Yung Hwang 3.039 million (150 bb)
Jeremy Druckman 2.598 million
Sam Taylor 2.39 million
Taylor Paur 2.080 million
Ryan Paluf 1.63 million
Joe Serock 1.578 million
Mark Wahba 1.49 million
Russell Crane 1.477 million
Mike Gogliormella 1.173 million
AVERAGE STACK 1.1 million (55 bb)
Anthony Zinno 1.012 million
Mark Sykes 974k
Joe Brattole 959k
Jeremy Stein 891k
Matt Haugen 883k
Hung Truong 858k
Cuong Phung 854k
Jim Anderson 853k
Patrick Chan 844k
Jamie Kerstetter 754k
Arkadiy Tsinis 660k
Adam Cook 643k
Mike Shklover 637k
Nathan Tuthill 634k
Chris Reslock 594k
Matt Salsberg 567k
Joe DiMartino 411k
Matthew Diehl 407k
Gary Horn 252k (13 bb)

Play resumes 12 pm Thursday in the Poker Room with blinds beginning at 10k/20k/2k ante

Check back after 9 am for the Day 3 Table Draw 

Event 23: 12th Place - Licastro

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

Tony Licastro - (Long Valley, NJ)

$1,896

Tony Licastro is a big name in poker.  He has over 1.3 million in career earnings.  In 2005 he came in 2nd during the WPT Main Event (Season 4) winning $1,035,000. 

In this Event, Tony was getting short stacked so he shipped with 66 and was called by Mark Felcon (Brooklyn, NY).  Mark's J-5 connected on the flop and felted Licastro.

Board: J-6-7-K-2

Championship: Bag & Tag

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

The final 28 players are done for the night and with a late flurry Yung Hwang (Sugar Land, TX) is the first player to crack the 3 million chip mark.

Championship: 29th - Ketteringham / 30th Himpele

$3300 + $200 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship NLH

On the last hands of the night we have two bustouts on two different tables.

The most dramatic hand has Donald Himpele (Mahwah, NJ) all in against Sam Taylor (New York, NY).

Taylor: A♣ A♥
Himpele: K♠ K♣

Flop: A♠ K♥ 9♠ (both players flop a set)

Turn: 6♠ (Himpele flush draw)

River: 3♥

Himpele doesn't connect on the river and he sends 500k to Taylor who ends the night with 2.3 million
Himpele finishes in 30th place.

Meanwhile Mark Ketteringham (Las Vegas, NV) has his tournament end in 29th place with A 10 against the pocket jacks of Taylor Paur (El Dorado Hills, CA).

Both Ketteringham and Himpele earn $12,942.

Event 23: 13th Place - Barnow

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

 Dave Barnow - (Eldora, NY)

$1,365

Dave Barnow woke up to QQ under the gun, but was rundown by big blind who had 10-10.

Board ran; 10-3-2-7-9

A hit and run for Barnow who played a Survivor last night, this tournament today, and now will head home with $1,365 extra in his pocket.