Event 1: Lambeth Last Lady Sitting

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

Ellen Enjoying the Blinds & Antes

With the elimination of Karen Dinunzio (S. Euclic, OH), Ellen Lambeth (Charlotte, NC) is the last lady standing.  With 45 players remaining she recently won an all in pot uncontested with a less than average stack.

The average stack is 1.7 million (29 bb) as blinds are at 30k/60k/5k ante.

Event 2: Jersey Railbirds

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH (Re-Entry)  

Mario Rodriguez' Sister Sandy & Wife Yaritza

Police officer Mario "Mad Dog" Rodriguez says he's been grinding up and down all day. 

Sandy and Yaritza just entered Borgata Event Center to root on their brother and husband.

Mario's stack is a little over the 142,191 average.  68 Players remain.

Event 1: 54th-63rd Place ($3,866)

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

46 Paul Greim
47 Karen Dinunuzio
48 Ylon Schwartz
49 Aaron Mermelstein
50 George Grabe
51 Jimmy Born
52 Marsel Backa
53 Martin Fritz
54 Yevegni Rapoport

Event 2: Spar For The Course

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH (Re-Entry)  

James Sparacio (South Jersey) - 600,000 - chip leader

Moments before the break James Sparacio in the big blind more than spars with his opponent in the small blind.

James held A♥ K♦.  Heads-up action escalated to James 5 betting, Opponent jamming with 75 bigs and James quickly calling.

Sparacio A♥ K♦ vs. Opponent's 10♣ 8♣ .

Both players flopped a pair.  Opponent turned a flush draw but bricked the river.

Board ran: K♣ 8♥ 4♣ 9♣ 2♦

So a 6-bet shove with 10-8 experiment right before the bubble gives Sparacio the 600,000 pot and tournament chip lead.

Event 2: Bubble Busted

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH (Re-Entry)  

Almost immediately during hand for hand play, Frank Labate and Jamie Schleck pounced on a short stack forced in on the big blind.  Labate and Schleck checked down and just like that the bubble busted and the room celebrated.

No big hand, no big story, except everyone has made the green.

Congrats to the remaining 81 players who all have earned at least $734.

We're playing Event 2 the rest of the night in The Event Center until we have a winner.

Event 1: Color-up Break & Big Stacks

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

Darius Studdard

2nd in Chips

Jason Andrews (Allison Park, PA) continues to lead the way with 4.3 million.

Darius Studdard (Medford, NY) is close behind with 3.7 million, while Russ Dykshteyn (Staten Island, NY) and Mark Sykes (Hamden, CT) are each just over 3 million.

The orange (1k) chips are now off the table as players are on a 15 minute color-up break.

54 players remain with an average stack of 1.3 million (22 bb). Play resumes with blinds at 30k/60k/5k ante.

Event 2: Double - Not Bubble

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH (Re-Entry)  

Will "The Thrill" Failla holding KQ sees a flop of K-J-3.  George Sakellaridis (Westbury, NY) shoves and Will quickly calls.  George tables K-10 and is behind.

George seems to be after Will as this is the third all-in battle between these two in the last couple of levels.  Every time before break Geroge and Will literally push it in the middle.

Some history between amateur Sakellaridis and the Player of the Year Failla who are from the same area.  George told Will next year he's gonna be Player of the Year so long as Will slows down.  Will replied, "I can't slow down".

To add to the drama, all the other tables in the room finished dealing and hand for hand bubble action had begun.

Even though Will was ahead, of course he was still sweating.  Will was about to find out if he would double or be the bubble.

Turn was an A and river a 10 giving Will Broadway and the double up.

So Will survives yet again but George has proven he has the "huevos" to go up against his pal and try to bust him.

"It was just a thrill to play against him" said George.

George Sakellaridis (Westbury, NY)

Event 1: 55th-63rd Places ($3,866)

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

55 Nicholas Treppiedi
56 Maciej Stachura
57 Seth Zimmerman
58 James Anderson
59 Raymond Brennan
60 Stephen Scales
61 Matt Maccaroni
62 Matthew Yost
63 Allen Friedman

Event 2: Last Female Bounty Hunter Standing

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH (Re-Entry)  

Patricia Cahill & WJ Vincent

Congratulations to Patricia Cahill who is Event 2's last woman standing.  She's still here thanks to a four way all in where her A-K held up.  That's right, nobody hit anything and ace high took it down.

Patricia says hi to her grandchildren Justin & Jaimie and thanks her son Eddie who is her true inspiration.

WJ Vincent played with Patricia yesterday and ironically was seated to her left yet again today.  "She runs over the table - nothing you can do to stop her.  If she's in, you better get out" said Vincent about Cahill.

87 players remain.

Event 1: 7 Tables remaining

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

The following 63 players are still in the running for the $318,104 first prize:

Matt Maccaroni
Paul Greim
John Kulp
Francis Tavolacci
Mark Sykes
Dean Schultz
Sam Taylor
Robert Sembler
Ylon Schwartz
Joseph Stiers
George Grabe
Arnold Pearce-Christian
Michael Belton
Jeff White
Marcel Backa
Robert Masone
Don Preziosi
Nick Palma
Matthew Yost
Russ Dykshteyn
Maciej Stachura
Chris White
Dan Spirer
Tanios Abi-Yaghi
Sam Wasserman
Darius Studdard
Joseph Bowles
Raymond Brennan
James Anderson
Christopher Shumate
Karen Dinunzio
Tony Campagna
Jimmy Born
Aaron Mermelstein
Michael Borovetz
Jack Rapoport
John Muyng
Robson Barbosa
Jonathan Kramer
Tony Tran
Richard DeVito
Jeffrey Nichols
Austen Johnson
Martin Fritz
Peter Grosso
Luke Edwards
Sanjeev Datta
Allen Friedman
Arturo Madera
Ellen Lambeth
Steve Scales
Joseph Nichols
Cuong Phung
Joseph Gay
Anthony Zinno
Lawrence Kim
Seth Zimmerman
Eric Buchman
Sal Leonardi
Michael Molloy
Nicholas Treppiedi
Dustin Carlton
David Grandieri

Event 2: Walters Whittling

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH (Re-Entry)  

David Walters (Washington, DC) finds himself looking for a double up.  Yeah he has five $100 bounties but now he's riding a short stack after a four way all in with 44's didn't set up.

Chip leader Jamie Schleck (Metuchen, NJ) just brought his monster 390,000 stack to Walter's table.  David looking to stay away from Schleck's chip vacuum.

Michael Merkovich is rubbernecking the leaders and finds his stack of 270,000 still among the leaders.

12 tables remain.   Average stack is 98,950.

Event 1: 64th-72nd Places ($3,548)

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
 64 Steve Ryan
65 Travis Greenawalt
66 Nicholas Palma
67 Sanjeev Datta
68 Eli Loewenthal
69 David Tiderman
70 Mohammad Farrah
71 Heungkook Yang
72 Vinny Pajuha

Event 2: Funny Bet

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH (Re-Entry)  

Frank Labate (Dix Hills, NY)

Frank Labate chops a pot when his pocket aces run into opponent who also has aces.  He's currently just north of 200,000 after some other big starting hands held up.

Frank had to put on his Borgata Poker Blogger hat during an early level when another player, who thought he was the chip leader, bet him he couldn't find the tournament chip leader in three minutes.  Frank quickly ran from table to table scanning chips and begging everyone for counts.  Alas, he came up short and lost.

So he's trying to recover the $50 he blew on the bet.   Top 81 score a min cash of $734

Event 1: New Chip Leader

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

Jason Andrews has given up some ground, dropping back to 2.5 million.

Russ Dykshteyn & Marsel Backa

That puts him third behind the new chip leader, Russ Dykshteyn (2.7 million) and Marsel Backa (2.55 million.  These two are currently seated at the same table.

Also among the leaders is Austen Johnson, who's sitting on about 2.2 million.

Event 1: Back to Business

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

Level 26:  Blinds 20k/40k with 4k ante.

Players have returned to the business at hand -- seeing who takes home over $318,000.

Although this was advertised as a two day event and should play out tonight, there are rumors flying around about stopping play in the wee hours and coming back for day three on Friday afternoon.

With 84 players remaining and 77.4 million chips in play, there is still a lot of poker to be played.

Stay tuned to see what happens...

Event 2: Back in Action

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH (Re-Entry) 

Play has resumed in the 11 am tournament with blinds at 1,200/2,400/300 ante.

We're 50 spots from the money as 81 players collect a min cash of $734 with an eye on the $67,546 top prizde.

Event 1: Dinner Time Tweets

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

Here are the Tweets from the field over dinner:

Eli Loewenthal ‏@Eli_Loewenthal
Dinner break. #voucherequity Haven't scooped a pot at new table. 1.28M going back to 20k/40k #challah

Jack Rapoport ‏@jackrapo
Dinner break pretty short 650K goin to 20/40/5 gotta find a double @BorgataPoker #shortstackninja

Aaron smith ‏@aws825
436k on dinner. 20k 40k when we get back. About 85 left

Vinny Pahuja ‏@vinpahuja
Got it to 845k. Then bluffed off 250k to table nit for some stupid reason. Withered down to 375k at 40k BB on dinner. ~80 left @BorgataPoker

Steve Scales ‏@SteveScales
Dinner break with close to 800K, lil card dead last couple lvls, 80 something left #BWPO #lottery

Dan Spirer ‏@danspirer
Dinner Break 1.2 now 550k Still grinding Will not give up 8 or 9 tables left

Event 1: Dinner Break

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

Level 25 is done.

The 84 surviving players have taken off for a one hour dinner break.

Play will resume at about 8:30 pm.

Average stack is about 922k.

Jason Andrews still leads with approximately 3 million chips.

Event 2: 11 am Payouts

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH (Re-Entry)

Entries: 865
Total Buy-In: $302,750

Place - Amount

1st $67,546
2nd $39,352
3rd $24,081
4th $19,823
5th $16,152
6th $13,215
7th $10,572
8th $7,929
9th $5,580
10-12 $3,671
13-15 $2,643
16-18 $1,733
19-27 $1,468
28-36 $1,263
37-45 $1,116
46-54 $998
55-63 $881
64-72 $793
73-81 $734

Event 1: Queen Quashed

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

Alex Queen was ahead with AK against A9 when all the chips went in the middle, but managed to lose anyway.

Alex Queen

He busted out in 88th place, earning $3,025.

Alex was the 2010 Borgata Spring Poker Open Champion, which earned him $355,535.

He's won another Borgata Open preliminary event since then, making him one of only a couple dozen two-time Open series winners.

Event 2: Dinner Break

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH (Re-Entry)

The 11 am tournament is on a one hour dinner break and Jamie Schleck (Metuchen, NJ) continues to lead the way with 340k.

Schleck is on a tough table that features Daniel Buzgon (Marlton, NJ) and Travis Williams (Reading, PA)

129 players remain with an average stack of 81k (34 bb).

Play resumes at 8:15 pm.

Event 1: Andrews Extends Lead

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

As players bust out, the remaining stacks are growing fast.

88 players remain, making the average stack about 880k.

Jason Andrews (Allison Park, PA) has just crested 3 million chips and is well ahead of the field.

A few players, including Austen Johnson and Mike Borovetz, are hovering around 2 million chips.

Event 2: Cards Working in Concert

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH (Re-Entry)

 Schleck's Son Needs a New Saxophone

Jamie Schleck (Metuchen, NJ) came to Borgata to have fun, win some bounties and leave early. What he didn't expect is to have the chip lead and a permission slip to try and win the tournament.

"I have no business having these chips," says Schleck who's missing his 10-year-old son's winter concert to keep playing.  "I was trying to leave at 4:30 and offered a blue light special."

Schleck moved all in six times in a row "dark" and now has more than 300k, all without looking at his cards.

"This is crazy," says Rich Brancato (Linhurst, NJ) who was the first to double-up Schleck's 50k. "He stayed true to his word."

The biggest pot is when a player with 210k  moved all in ahead of Schleck who had the player covered. Schleck called with J 7 against AK and hit a jack to earn one of his eleven $100 bounty chip.

When Schleck realized he was in position to make a deep run he made the tough call to his son Luke .

"I told him I would definitely buy him a new saxophone if I win this thing." 

Schleck has more than 150 bb as 160 players remain with an average stack of 33 bb with blinds at 1k/2k/300 ante.

As the concert starts at 7 pm Schleck doesn't have to feel bad and can focus on playing poker as his wife Pam is recording the concert.

And a big payday for Schleck will make up for missing it and will be sweet music for the whole family.

Event 1: Notable Departures

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

Level 25:  Blinds 15k/30k with 4k ante.

Ryan Eriquezzo  (Danbury, CT) entered this event six times and has now busted out six times.

After winning a WSOP Circuit Championship Event at Caesar's AC in March 2012 ($191k), Ryan earned his seat in the WSOP National Championship in Las Vegas.  He parlayed that into a win, good for $419k and included a WSOP bracelet.

Ryan then took about 6 months off from poker for personal reasons and this event was his return to the game.

After a rough start, he held on all the way to 109th place, earning $2,614.

Other notable departures:

228th - Olivier Busquet (2009 BPO Champion)

173rd - Dwyte Pilgrim (2010 BPO Champion)

107th - Cornel Cimpan (2 time WPT Champion)

Event 2: 11 am Big Stack

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH (Re-Entry) 

 Merkovich on the Move

Less than 20% of the field remains of the 865 starting entries as the Black Chip Bounty Rolls along.

One of the bigger stacks is Michael Merkovich (Forest Hills, NY) who is at 200k (125 bb).

175 players remain with an average stack of 59k (37 bb) as Level 12 (800/1,600/200 ante) winds down.

Event 1: Schwartz Doubles

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

Ylon Schwartz

Original November Niner and WSOP Bracelet holder Ylon Schwartz (Austin, TX) caught a full double-up with pocket 4s.

He's now up to ~1 million chips.

About 105 players remain. 

Event 1: Chip Chirps

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

Level 24:  Blinds 12k/24k with 3k ante.

Players are back in action.  About 125 remain.

Chip counts from the break, via Twitter:

Eli Loewenthal - 1.48 million
Alex Queen - 1 million
Steve Scales - 800k
Aaron Smith - 520k
Steve Ryan - 500k
Ryan Eriquezzo - 400k
David Zeitlin - 220k

Event 1: Three Pair No Good

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

Kim (left) & Kennedy Wait on Dentale (right)

H. Jo Kim (New Brunswick, NJ) moves all in from the button for 278k and Chris Kennedy (Harrisburg, PA) makes the call from the SB. Mike Dentale (Brooklyn, NY) goes in the tank as the short stack before folding from the BB.

Kim: A♦ Q♣
Kennedy: 4♠ 4♣

Flop: 9♣ 10♠ 3♥ (Kennedy leads)

Turn: 10♦ (Kim picks up chop outs)

River: 9♦

The double paired board means Kim's ace high is best after Kennedy's pocket 4s are counterfeited and don't play.

Kim doubles-up to an average stack, which cripples Kennedy.

Dentale is out a few hands later and reports on twitter:

Michael Dentale ‏@Mikunbelievable

Out got a clueless champ to snap call my all in with A7. I had Ak. He makes a flush.

Event 1: Bustouts via Twitter

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

End of level 23 and time for another break.

These folks won't be coming back.  Here are their departing shots, via Twitter:

Michael Dentale ‏@Mikunbelievable
Out got a clueless champ to snap call my all in with A7. I had Ak. He makes a flush.

Phil Weast ‏@Prowannabe
I lost most of my chips AK vs KK. Finished 133rd/3871 for peanuts. Sick brag: I lasted longer than @Mikunbelievable #bwpo #ontothenextone

Antonio Payne ‏@Anthony_1Payne
@BorgataPoker Shoved 120k (6 big blinds) with 99 A-10 called board ran KJJ5K. Got counterfeited :( 125/3,871 for $2,241:( only 1 bullet

Pierre Deissler ‏@PierreDeissler
Busto borgata. Utg AK I'm in bb 88 I ship 220k. A on flop. Glgl gg #tpedge

Event 1: More Millions

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

Scott Wardell (Tabernacle, NJ) got his chips in good with pocket Aces and got called by a player holding pocket Queens.

The his opponent picked up a straight draw for the sweat, but whiffed it and Scott doubled up to close to one million.

Alex Queen, Austen Johnson, & Mark Sykes

More confirmed members of the million chip club:

Nick Palma ~ 1.6 million
Eli Loewenthal ~ 1.4 million
Mark Sykes ~ 1.2 million
Austen Johnson ~ 1.2 million
Alex Queen ~ 1.1 million

Event 1: It's a 'Burgh Thing

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

Mike with Nearly 2 Milly

Jason Andrews (Allison Park, PA) has company at the top of the chip counts.  Mike Borovetz (Pittburgh, PA) has 1.9 million as both are knocking on the 2 million chip door.

Allison Park is just north of the Steel City as Western Pennsylvania is well represented with ~140 players remaining and the average stack at 553k (28 bb).

Blinds continue at 10k/20k/3k ante.

Event 2: Poker Room Shuffle

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH (Re-Entry)

The remaining eight tables in the Poker Room from today's 11 am tournament have been relocated to the Event Center.

Combined with the 24 tables upstairs, the remaining head count is at ~315 and the average stack is 33k (33 BB).

Level 10 (500/1k/100 ante) is underway.

Familiar Faces who moved from the Poker Room include:

Tony Sinishtaj
Alan Kraut
Bob Hwang
Steve Eyzerovich
Ilya Vasserman

Event 1: Spitzberg Sacked

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

Level 23:  Blinds 10k/20k with 3k ante.

Paul Spitzberg (Tenafly, NJ) has had a rough day.

On a flop of K K 3 with two hearts, Paul got his last chips in holding AQ of hearts.

His opponent had KQ of spades and had flopped trips.

No heart appeared to save Paul and he was busted.

The day 1a and start of day 2 overall chip leader finished in 158th place, earning $1,718 to go with his $3,000 chip leader bonus.

Event 1: New Chip Leader

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

Jason Andrews

Jason Andrews (Allison Park, PA) busted three players shortly before the break to chip up to about 1.8 million, good for the chip lead.

Nick Palma has also joined the Million Chip Club.  He's up to ~1.2 million.

With 20 tables remaining, they are going to nine-handed tables.

Event 1: Break Time Tweets

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

Level 22:  Blinds 8k/16k with 2k ante.

Twenty tables returned to action with fewer than 200 players still in the hunt.

Here are some Tweets from the break:

Stephanie Hubbard ‏@StephHub31
215K on 2nd break jj<qq aipf for 200K pot.. Time to rebuild again

Steve Scales ‏@SteveScales
760K or so at break #BWPO #lottery

Aaron smith ‏@aws825
Got 323k going to 8k 16k. About 190 left. #borgatamilly

Antonio Payne ‏@Anthony_1Payne
@BorgataPoker E1. $2,000,000 purse. About 190 left. After level 21 got 284k. Lost two tough ones. #TeamBSO #TeamProPayne #2013ItsRturn

David Zeitlin ‏@SugDpoker
435k going to 8k-16k. About 200 players left. My son would enjoy these swings.

Paul Spitzberg ‏@PaulTheGrayAceS
Things definitely not going my way. I need to regroup. Lost every big hand today. Down to 500k.

Ryan Eriquezzo ‏@RyanEriquezzo
410k going to 8k 16k bb

Clayton Crotty ‏@ClaytonCrotty
@BorgataPoker 365k. Grinding my face off #itsmyturn

Artyem Perlov ‏@ArtyemPerlov
Break. Just played a huge hand with Dwight. Open from cutoff to 28k with KQc. Dwight ships for my stack. I tank call and he shows 45d. 725k

Eli Loewenthal ‏@Eli_Loewenthal
650k going to 8k/16k #challah

Phil Weast ‏@Prowannabe
376k coming back to 16kbb. Haven't had any premium hands yet today. Maybe time for a rush is in order. #bwpo

Event 1: Recently Departed

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

Level 21 is done and players were sent on a 15 minute break.


Chris Bourassa (Leesburg, PA) got his last chips in with AJ and was up against pocket Kings.

No help for Chris and he was busted in 243rd place.

Chris Leong (Forest Hills, NY) got his last chips in with JT suited and was racing against pocket 9s.

Chris came up short and was busted in 231st place.

Al Riccobono (Ossining, NY) got his last chips in with AQ and was racing against pocket 7s.

Al flopped a Queen, but his opponent flopped a 7.

Al busted out in 217th place.


All three players earned $1,251 for their efforts.

Event 1: Million Chip Club

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

Membership in the million chip club has doubled.

Paul Spitzberg used to be exclusive in the club, but he surrendered his membership card.

Now there are two new members.

 Russ Dykshteyn

Russ Dykshteyn (Staten Island, NY) is up to ~1.2 million.  Russ finished 3rd in the 2012 Borgata Spring Poker Open, good for $112,950.

Russ is now sharing the felt on table 17 with Paul Spitzberg and James Kim.

 Robson Barbosa

Robson Barbosa (Long Branch, NJ) is the current chip leader, however, with ~1.4 million.

Event 1: Falling Fast

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

Players are busting and tables are breaking as fast as the floor can move.

The line at the desk to get payout paperwork is longer than the registration line was for most of these guys.

Down to 23 tables (230 players).

Nick Palma

Nick Palma (New Rochelle, NY) is doing well.  He's up to over 800k (and really wanted his picture in the blog).

Event 1: The Mighty Have Fallen

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

Level 21:  Blinds 6k/12k with 2k ante.

After Paul Spitzberg (Tenafly, NJ) opened, James Kim (Centreville, VA) shoved for ~100k.

Paul Spitzberg & James Kim

Paul looked him up and was ahead with pocket Tens.

James was in bad shape with pocket 8s.

Then an 8 came on the flop, giving James new life with the double up.

Paul, who started the day as chip leader, is down to ~650k.

Event 1: Goners

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

Now that they're in the money, the departures are coming even faster.  They're down to 27 tables (270 players)

Some of the folks who have reported to the rail:

Earning $1,176

296th - Marsha Wolak (Sarasota, FL)

290th - Gordon Eng (Cliffside Park, NJ)

286th - Bruce Frank (Montclair, NJ)

Event 1: Tough Table

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

 Table 16

This one gets my vote for the toughest table remaining in the room.  Table 16 is currently home to

Max Amjadi
Artyem Perlov
Shawn Busse
Dwyte Pilgrim
Corri Pranevich
John Myung
John Lakatosh
Ylon Schwartz (not pictured)


*** Update:  after making this post, Steve Scales was moved to this table.

Event 1: Chip Chirps

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

After an extended color-up break, play resumed with

Level 20: Blinds 5k/10k with 1k ante.

32 tables (320 players) remain.  Average stack is ~242k.

Chip counts from the break, via Twitter:

Paul Spitzberg - just over 1 million
Artyem Perlov - 670k
Antonio Payne - 433k
Steve Scales - 400k
Chris Leong - 370k
David Zeitlin - 343k
Gordon Eng - 300k
Pierre Diessler - 285k
Ryan Eriquezzo - 270k
Steve Ryan - 263k
Chris Bourassa - 260k
Phil Weast - 223k
Clayton Crotty - 180k
Aaron Smith - 120k
Heon-Jo Kim - 70k

Event 1: Good Laydown; Break Time

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

On the turn with a Jack-high board, Mike Dentale (Brooklyn, NY) was in the tank.

His opponent had made a big bet, giving Mike something to think about.

Eventually the floor was called, but Mike folded before his time was up, showing pocket 8s.

His opponent had pocket Tens.  Good laydown.


John Hinds (Greenville, NC) busted out in 339th place ($1,120).

End of level 19 and time for a break.

Event 1: No Bubble!

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

Eight tables were cleared in less than an hour of play, leaving 36 tables in action.  As players continued to bust, they halted play to get a head count, which took a while given the size of the field.

Looked like they had enough empty seats, so they broke table 36.

That left 35 tables, ten-handed -- 350 players, who are now all in the money.  Once that was confirmed and announced, they had to put some time back on the clock, then play resumed.

Not in the money (via Twitter):

Amanda Musumeci ‏@TheReaLMander
Sighs. Lost a flip 99< ak. Gg. Reg'ing the $400+$100 bounty reentry(event2) @BorgataPoker #bwo

Lana O'Brien ‏@lanaob22
ugh out. shoved AQ into KK of guy who had AA the hand before. mbn.

Michael Marder ‏@MMarder86
Busted, got aipf A8dd<KQo c/o vs sb. Oh well, #BWPO1

Event 1: Tran Tripled, Wolak Crippled

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

In a three-way all-in, Ha Tran (Atlantic City, NJ) was all-in and ahead with pocket Kings.

Ha Tran

WSOP Ladies event will Marsha Wolak (Sarasota, FL) had AQ.

A third player had them both covered and was holding AJ.

The board bricked out and Ha tripled up to about 150k.

Marsha took a very small side pot and was left with less than 10k.

She was all-in on the next hand and got one caller, then Anthony Licastro (Long Valley, NJ) raised to 40k to isolate.

Marsha Wolak

Marsha had KT suited.  Anthony had pocket Jacks.

The board came A Q 8 K 7 and Marsha tripled up.

Event 1: Perlov Doubles

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

On the third hand of the day, Artyem Perlov (Ft. Lee, NJ) flopped a set of 7s and doubled up to about 500k.

Artyem Perlov

Level 19:  Blinds 4k/8k with 1k ante.


Other early action via Twitter:

John Allan Hinds ‏@JABistro
Started day w/ 80k at 3k/6k/500, now after 1st orbit 184k AA>TT. $318k for the belt. I like belts. & I like kays. 318 of them would be nice

Chris Bourassa ‏@BoringAssa
AA>77 BvB aipf for a double up. $330k now #BWPO01

Antonio Payne ‏@Anthony_1Payne
@BorgataPoker Why would a guy re raise me if I had pocket 2's and got another one on the river. over 314k now. We Be Rollin ! #2013ItsRturn 

Event 1: Eli Screws Cappooch

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

On the first hand of the day:

One player opened for 13k and Eli Loewenthal (Carmel, IN) called, then Joe Cappuccio (Hammonton, NJ) shoved for ~150k.

Eli Loewenthal

The opener folded and Eli made the call, showing AQ off.

Joe was racing with pocket 5s.

An Ace on the flop was all Eli needed to take the pot, sending Joe to the rail.

Eli chipped up to ~520k.

Event 1: Day Two Underway

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

Players have arrived and unbagged their chips in the back of the Event Center.

434 players are still in the hunt for the top prize of $318,104.  Only 350 will earn a piece of the prize pool, so 84 will leave empty handed.

20 minutes remain in level 18 with blinds of 3k/6k and 500 ante.

Shuffle up & Deal!

Event 2: More Familiar Faces

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

Level 2:  Blinds 50/100.

Lots more smiling happy faces in today's event:

Jerry Callahan
Michael Forca
Ara Melikian
Kevin Saul
Guyana Petrossian
Grace Sun
Roger Sousa
Vitaly Kovyazin
Cathy Dever
George Medrano
Travis Williams
Wendy Rubin
Nancy Martin
Dan Buzgon
Peter Ippolito
Paul Shedaker

For those players relegated to the event center, keep those Tweets coming!   #BWPO

Event 2: Event Center Overflow

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Since 44 tables in the Event Center are needed for day two of Event 1, that only leaves 46 tables for this event.

Tables 47+ are down in the Poker Room (about 20 tables in use down there at this point).

Here are some of the familiar faces in action in the Event Center:

Bart Dowling
Leo G
Martha Patella
Robert Melo
Gregg Miller
Wooyang Lin
Frank Reina
Chris Farley
Eric Miller
Smiley Chin
Tony Antonious
Roland Israelashvillli
David Schulman
Abbey Daniels
Mark Wahba

Event 2: Bounty Hunting

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Today's main event is one of the very popular Bounty tournaments, where there is a price on every player's head.  Today the reward for busting an opponent is $100 (one Black Chip).

Players began with 12,000 chips.

Level 1:  Blinds 25/50.

Levels 1-10 are 30 minutes long, then they increase to 40 minutes for the rest of the tournament.

The bounty hunting has begun!

This is a one day event, so they'll play all night until one Bounty Hunter reigns supreme -- and gets to keep his/her own bounty!

Event 1 - Start of Day 2 Table Assignments

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

Entries:  3,871
Total Buy-In:  $1,935,500

Players Remaining:  434
Average Chip Stack:  178,000

START OF DAY 2 TABLE ASSIGNMENTS & CHIP COUNTS:
T01 | S01 -   TODOR BLAZEVSKI (WAYNE, NJ):  170,000
T01 | S02 -   BRANDON PADULA (OAKTON, VA):  242,000
T01 | S03 -   JOHN KULP (CRANBERRY TWP, PA):  167,500
T01 | S04 -   NICHOLAS KRACHTUS (EGG HBR TWP, NJ):  181,500
T01 | S05 -   THOMAS GUIFFRE (E STROUDSBURG, PA):  165,500
T01 | S06 -   ROBERT BUFF (STROUDSBURG, PA):  130,000
T01 | S07 -   CORNEL ANDREW CIMPAN (SACRAMENTO, CA):  254,000
T01 | S08 -   ISMAEL CABRERA (MARIETTA, GA):  140,500
T01 | S09 -   KYLE KENNEY (ROXBURY, NH):  300,500
T01 | S10 -   MARK REYNOLDS (ELDERSBURG, MD):  149,500

T02 | S01 -   MICHAEL AMATO (BOCA RATON, FL):  83,500
T02 | S02 -   JOHN FANELLI (SEWELL, NJ):  144,000
T02 | S03 -   GEORGE GRABE (HAUPPAUGE, NY):  254,500
T02 | S04 -   PEARCE-CHRISTIAN ARNOLD (WASHINGTON, DC):  124,000
T02 | S05 -   ADAM BITKER (NEW HAVEN, CT):  159,500
T02 | S06 -   CALVIN LIU (BROOKLYN, NY):  100,500
T02 | S07 -   JEFFREY WHITE JR (CHARLTON, MA):  257,500
T02 | S08 -   JOHN HINDS (GREENVILLE, NC):  80,000
T02 | S09 -   JERMAINE REID (BRONX, NY):  221,500
T02 | S10 -   JASON BROWN (EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ):  147,500

T03 | S01 -   HAROLD VASQUEZ (PHILADELPHIA, PA):  275,000
T03 | S02 -   DAVID SLAN (CHESTERFIELD, MO):  80,500
T03 | S03 -   DON PREZIOSI (EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, NJ):  316,000
T03 | S04 -   RONALD PENTO (HICKSVILLE, NY):  76,500
T03 | S05 -   ABRAHAM FARONI (PHILADELPHIA, PA):  216,500
T03 | S06 -   IBRAHIM ALQANAWI (CLIFTON, NJ):  202,000
T03 | S07 -   DANIEL DACONTI (MOUNT LAUREL, NJ):  77,000
T03 | S08 -   MAXWELL MCCURDY (CHARLOTTE, NC):  161,000
T03 | S09 -   ANDREW GLAUBERG (TENAFLY, NJ):  96,000
T03 | S10 -   DANIEL BUTLER (ROCKY MOUNT, NC):  36,500

T04 | S01 -   RONALD DURANTE (HAINESPORT, NJ):  136,000
T04 | S02 -   LEE LOMAN (KENSINGTON, MD):  102,500
T04 | S03 -   JOSEPH BOWLES (PHILADELPHIA, PA):  246,000
T04 | S04 -   ALEXANDER QUEEN (BETHLEHEM, PA):  434,000
T04 | S05 -   MAKSIM KVITKO (BROOKLYN, NY):  270,500
T04 | S06 -   EDWARD LEACH (GEORGETOWN, MA):  458,000
T04 | S07 -   GEORGE LAMPERT (NAPLES, FL):  210,000
T04 | S08 -   LEWIS HUDNELL (LONG IS CITY, NY):  254,500
T04 | S09 -   JOSEPH TRACY (AVOCA, PA):  414,500
T04 | S10 -   NATHAN RAGGI (TONAWANDA, NY):  182,500

T05 | S01 -   NICK STEVIS (YONKERS, NY):  27,500
T05 | S02 -   DENIS GNIDASH (FAIRLAWN, NJ):  150,000
T05 | S03 -   KAREN DINUNZIO (S EUCLID, OH):  141,000
T05 | S04 -   MOHAMMAD SAADEGHVAZIRI (BASKING RIDGE, NJ):  82,500
T05 | S05 -   PAUL PAEZ (WELLINGTON, FL):  372,000
T05 | S06 -   JONATHAN MILLER (MOUNT LAUREL, NJ):  370,500
T05 | S07 -   LANA OBRIEN (ENGLISHTOWN, NJ):  272,500
T05 | S08 -   ROBSON BARBOSA (LONG BRANCH, NJ):  131,000
T05 | S09 -   PATRICK CHAN (BROOKLYN, NY):  102,000
T05 | S10 -   MICHAEL MARDER (SEWELL, NJ):  46,000

Thursday, January 17

TODAY'S EVENTS (Event Center) 

11AM: Event 2 - $350 + $50 + $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 chips clearly displayed on table in order to remain active in tournament.
• Levels 1-10 will last 30 minutes each | Levels +  will last 40 minutes each 
• Players may Re-Enter through Level 6 
• 1-Day event 

4 PM: Event 28 - $250 + $30 SURVIVOR No Limit Hold'em

• Players start with 12,000 in tournament chips 
• Levels 1-10:  will last 25 minutes each | Levels 11+:  will last 30 minutes each
• Approximately 1 in 10 will win $2,500 CASH 
• 1-Day event

7 PM: Event 29 - $100 + $20 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em

• Players start with 12,000 in tournament chips 
• Levels will last 20 minutes each 
• 1-Day event

Event 1: Day 2 Preview

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

A Borgata record of 3,871 entries is down to 434 players as the field returns noon Thursday for Day 2 to play for the $318,104 top prize.

Day 1A chip leader Paul Spitzberg (Tenafly, NJ) is the big stack with 942k (157 bb), while Day 1B leader Jack Rapoport (Brooklyn, NY) is second overall with 755k.  Both players took home $3,000 as end of night chip leaders.

Dan Corbett (Liverpool, NY) begins Day 2 with 604k and is third overall, followed by Jason Andrews (Pittsburgh, PA) 602k and Mike Caruso (Flourtown, PA) 592k who are fourth and fifth respectively.

Corbett (Day 1A) and Caruso (Day 1B) each earned a  $2,000 bonus as they finished second on their respective days.

The average stack is 174k (29 bb) as blinds resume at 3k/6k/500 ante.

84 eliminations until we reach the money with 350 players min cashing for $1,120.

Numbers Game

Day 1A - 162 returning players of 1,520 starting (10.6%)
Day 1B - 273 returning players of 2,261 starting (12.1%)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Day 2 - 434 returning players of 3,781 (11.4%)

Event 1: Event Center Fireworks

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

Caruso Cashes in with Set of Jacks

While several players in the Poker Room are in the running for second place in the Day 1B chip counts, there are fireworks in the Event Center.

On the last hand of the night, Mike Caruso (Flourtown, PA) flops a set of jacks against a set of 8s for a huge pot.

Both players begin the hand with ~280k and Caruso was slightly covered.  When the dust settles, Caruso finishes with 592k and earns a $2,000 bonus as the second highest Day 1B chip count.

Caruso's good fortune was disappointing to several players who are just shy of 500k.

Patrick Brown (Brooklyn, NY) bags 497k, while John Myung (Viena, VA) finishes with 484k as both just miss the bonus.

Event 1: Rumors Turn into Reality

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

Rapoport Rakes In $3,000 Bonus

The rumors are  true and the 700k+ stack belongs to Jack Rapoport (Brooklyn, NY).

Rapoport used quad 7s twice to build his stack in the Poker Room to finish as Day 1B chip leader with 755k, earning himself the $3,000 bonus.

"You guys said I needed a hat before you'd take my picture," Rapoport jokes, in reference to this picture we took earlier in the day.

Rapoport decided a lot of chips were better than a goofy looking hat and is now in position to make a run at the Event 1 title.

Event 1: Spygate

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

Rumor has it there's a 700k+ stack in the Poker Room which is way ahead of the 450k stacks here in the Event Center.

We're taking a field trip to check it out as they're playing four more hands before bagging and tagging for the night.