Level 7 (Blinds 250/500/75)
Total Day 1B Entries: 628
It took a little time for the verification process to be completed, but we now have the numbers that a pertinent to the Day 1B flight. Of the 628 total entries that we saw for the flight, just over half of the field managed to make it through to Day 2, with 328 players bagging chips. Here are the top five stacks from Day 1B:
Matthew Itkin – 221,200
Johnny Lam – 209,000
Barry Hutter – 191,300
Eric Doerr – 177,700
Cathy Dever – 169,600
Day 2 chip counts and table draws will be posted in the early mooring, with play resume at 12:00pm.
Level 7 (Blinds 250/500/75)
Total Day 1B Entries: 628
Tournament Director Tab Duchateau has just announced to the field that there will be three more hands played at each table before the bagging process begins. Each player will then count their chips, have the dealer at the table verify said count, and then put chips in the bag before leaving. It does take some time for the bags to make it through the “official” verification after the room empties out, but we will be posting the official “top ten” once we are made aware.
Just a reminder for all players who have bagged chips on either of the starting flights, Day 2 begins tomorrow at 12:00pm, and that will not be changing.
Level 7 (Blinds 250/500/75)
Total Day 1B Entries: 628
Matthew Itkin (Oceanside, NY)
The bagging process has “technically” started already, as tournament supervisors are walking around collecting players names and Borgata card numbers from each table. This will help speed up the end of the night, when each player has to have their counts verified before bagging and leaving the Event Center.
Just moments ago, half of Table 9 would be standing, and it was clear that something big was going on. There would be three players all-in pre, with Borgata regular Matthew Itkin holding the best of it:
Itkin: {as} {ac}
Player X: {qc} {qh}
Player Y: {kd} {ks}
Flop: {8c} {8s} {9d}
Turn: {7s}
River: {7h}
Itkin stood with his hands in his sweatshirt pocket, and a look that summed up the tension he was likely feeling. Regardless of the fact that he had pocket aces against the kings and queens, it’s never a safe feeling until that river hits. Once the board ran out clean, a big grin came across Matt’s face, and he sat back to down to begin stacking up his newfound chips. With only (10) minutes remaining in the night, Itkin is in the running to bag the Day 1B chip lead, which won’t be official until all players are verified.
Level 7 (Blinds 250/500/75)
Total Day 1B Entries: 628
Aaron Mermelstein (Philadelphia, PA)
Just like we did last night, it’s just about that time to check in on the “notables” to us here at Borgata. There are a lot of recognizable names seeing some success in these late stages of the day, including Aaron Mermelstein (Philadelphia, PA). Aaron, who has over $140,000 in career tournament earnings has cashes here at Borgata, at the WSOP, the NAPT, and most every other room on the East Coast…but he’s still looking for his first WPT cash. Heading into the final level with 185,000 puts him in a great spot heading into Day 2, and a potential deep run.
Here are some other counts from Borgata “regs” in the field:
Cathy Dever – 168,000
Kevin Grabel – 107,000
Mitchell Nong – 103,000
Matthew Itkin – 98,000
Jamie Kerstetter – 75,000
Norman Michalek – 62,000
Joseph Galazzo – 53,000
Scott Blumstien – 46,000
Level 7 (Blinds 250/500/75)
Total Day 1B Entries: 628
Jose Reyes (Boyton Beach, FL)
The final two minutes are ticking off the clock for Level 7, with blinds going up to 300/600/75 in the last level of the night (Level 8). Just moments ago, Jose Reyes would open the action with a raise to 1,500, with two players calling behind. “Novermber Niner” Will Tonking was in the small blind, and he’d shove for 16,075, with Reyes and one other player making the call.
The action would be checked through on the flop of {10d} {qd} {8d}, with Reyes placing out a 6,000 bet (side pot) on the {4s} turn. The bet wasn’t enough to deter the third player in the hand, who came along to see the {2c} on the river. Reyes led once again for 12,000, causing his opponent to fold, showing {ks} {10s} for a pair of tens. Tonking stood from the table and flashed his {7h} {7s}, collecting his things before he walked away from the table.
Reyes is looking to parlay his one cash from this series (Event #15 – 20th Place $4,697) into a WPT deep run, which would best his largest career score, even if it was a min cash.
Level 7 (Blinds 250/500/75)
Total Day 1B Entries: 628
Norman Michalek (Westfield, NJ)
Norman Michalek (Westfield, NJ) is coming off a very up and down series, starting off with the largest live tournament score of his career in Event 1 (12th Place – $15,708). He then proceeded to fire many bullets in Event 15, totaling close to $5,000. After a few days off, Michalek is back in action this evening, and is now double the starting stack.
As we were standing at Michalek’s table, Norman check-called a bet of 4,000 from an unknown player on a board of {9d} {5c} {4s}. He would check once more after the dealer dropped down the {7c} on the turn, and would be faced with another bet, this time for 10,000. Michalek made the call once again, checking a third time after the {kc} on the river. His opponent looked as if he was going to bet, but eventually tapped the table for a check, with Norman turning over {10s} {10d}. That would be good enough for the win, and Michalek chips up to 63,000.
Michalek is usually very active on Twitter throughout these events, but has chosen to keep a low profile during this prestigious event.
Level 7 (Blinds 250/500/75)
Total Day 1B Entries: 628
Sean Ripp (Massapequa, NY)
As we were at Table 36 talking to daily fantasy sports aficionado Alex Rocha, he would look over towards the table and say, “What’s going on over here?” Rocha was refencing a hand that was going on between Joe Liberta and Sean Ripp. The two players were on the river of a board reading {4h} {6d} {8c} {ad} {5d}, and Liberta sitting with a 7,800 bet in front of him (pot was about 20-25,000).
Ripp then took a small pile of blue t5,000 chips, added a few other colors, and casually tossed in a raise to 40,500. Liberta looked over to Ripp…looked back at his cards…and pushed the hand towards the muck. As the dealer began pushing the pot to Ripp, he exposed the {jc}, leaving Liberta (and the rest of the table) to question what he had.
Ripp is close to tripe the starting stack after taking down that hand, while Liberta is still far from danger, right around the 35,000 mark.
Level 7 (Blinds 250/500/75)
Total Day 1B Entries: 628
If you were just sitting in the Event Center during the (75) minute period that was dinner, you didn’t miss much at all. But if you weren’t checking up on Twitter, then you may have missed the following:
15k at 250-500 #bu
— Ronnie Bardah (@RonnieBardah) January 27, 2015
Back at it. 250/500 and 52k. 2 more levels tonight — Gags30 (@Gags30poker) January 27, 2015
Won a bunch of small pots, lost with 2pr to top set in fairly big pot, busted @vinpahuja in standard spot b4 re-entries closed. 73k dinner.
— Cliff Josephy (@JohnnyBaxPoker) January 27, 2015
21k on dinner break going back to 250/500 — Dan DiZenzo (@dazedace) January 27, 2015
38 k on dinner break at Borg
— Young Samuel lloyd (@YoungSamLloyd) January 27, 2015
Level 6 (Blinds 200/400/50)
Total Entries: 541
Troy Skinner (Safford, AZ)
The final few minutes are ticking off the clock for Level 6, with players ready to exit the Event Center and take a (75) minute dinner break. A lap around the field would yield a new name on top of the chip counts, as Troy Skinner (Safford, AZ) leaves the table with a stack over 180,000. Skinner may be from across the country, but he’s got a place in his heart for this establishment, with his largest career score coming here at Borgata.
Skinner has over $96,000 in career tournament earnings, $26,728 coming from his second place in a $1,000 No Limit Hold’em Event during the 2012 WPT Borgata Poker Open. We are sure to see a number of updated chip counts vis Twitter once the break begins, but here are some of the top stacks we spotted before dinner:
Troy Skinner – 182,000
Ravi Raghavan – 115,000
Cathy Dever – 167,000
Barry Hutter – 89,000
Cherish Andrews – 84,000
Joe Kuether – 75,000
Matthew Waxman – 72,000
Darren Elias – 65,000
Harrison Gimbel – 57,000
Level 6 (Blinds 200/400/50)
Total Entries: 541
Rose Rainoff (Fairfax, VA)
Rose Rainoff (Fairfax, VA) may be “free rolling” this event, but she’s taking things just as seriously as others in the field. We approached Rose’s table just as she called a 5,000 raise from an unknown player on a flop of {4h} {7h} {9c}. The two players watched as the dealer placed down the {kc} on the turn.
Rose checked once again, but wasn’t planning on just calling the 7,000 turn bet her opponent fired out. Rainoff collected all of the chips in front of her, stacked them in one neat pile, and pushed them across the line. It would be another 13,650 for her opponent to call her all-in, and after three minutes of deliberation, he adversary’s cards ended up in the muck.
The unknown player showed {qh} {9h}, trying to justify to the table what took him so long to make his decision. Rainoff’s kindness then made an appearance, as she decided to show that it was a good lay down at the moment, as she had {ad} {ac}. With those new chips, Rose is now over 45,000, and should be heading to dinner with an average stack.