Event 2 – $350 + $50 Black Chip Bounty NLH
Level 19: Blinds 4,000/8,000/1,000 ante
Total Entries: 640
Players Remaining: 53
Average Stack: 302,000
These 45 minute long levels are giving these players plenty of time to play patiently, so the field is not dropping very quickly.
Stephanie Hubbard (Hazlet, NJ)
Stephanie Hubbard just got them all one notch closer in a three-way hand.
On a flop of {qh}{9c}{8s}, the short-stack in seat 8 (middle position) was all-in for about 100,000. Stephanie (cutoff) shoved for 187,000 total and the player in the big blind tanked for a couple of minutes before calling, showing {Ad}{Qd} for top/top. The player in seat 8 rolled over {js}{9s} for middle pair.
‘I flopped it,” Stephanie said, as she tabled {Jc}{td} for the nut straight and the current nuts.
When the {4s} landed on the turn, seat 8 picked up some hope with a flush draw, but the {4c} on the river sealed his fate. He exited in 54th place.
Stephanie more than doubled up with that pot to about 570,000 — and she collected her very first bounty of the tournament!
As the first ever female winner of a Borgata Poker Open opening event last Fall, Stephanie carved her name into Borgata Poker history. The $159,776 win took her lifetime earnings over $265,000. She’s a full-time pharmacy manager and part-time poker player, but she should not be underestimated!
Event 2 – $350 + $50 Black Chip Bounty NLH
Level 19: Blinds 4,000/8,000/1,000 ante
Total Entries: 640
Players Remaining: 54
Average Stack: 296,000
Larry Gold (Medford, NY) has one Borgata title from 2010 and numerous final table appearances. His lifetime tournament earnings top $227,000, but he took all of 2015 off (from cashing in tournaments, at least).
Event 2 – $350 + $50 Black Chip Bounty NLH
Level 19: Blinds 4,000/8,000/1,000 ante
Total Entries: 640
Players Remaining: 57
Average Stack: 280,700
Bounty hunters have just returned from a color-up break and play has resumed.
Before the break, the big stacks were running into trouble.
Kevin Grabel opened pre-flop, got one taker, then fired again on the J 7 3 flop. His opponent raised, Kevin shoved, and his opponent called all-in. Kevin had pocket Queens, but his opponent had pocket 7s and had flopped middle set.
After shipping the double, Kevin’s stack dropped below 250,000.
Finian Anuforo has also lost a little ground, dropping back to ~500,000.
Mickey Woll is holding on to his chips and is now the chip leader with ~650,000.
Other random approximate chip counts:
Paul Spitzberg – 470,000
Sallie Stohler – 280,000
Norm Michalek – 275,000
John Moe – 250,000
Greg Fishberg – 240,000
Stephanie Hubbard – 235,000
James Lillis – 195,000
Chris Edwards – 255,000
Event 2 – $350 + $50 Black Chip Bounty NLH
Level 18; Blinds 3,000/6,000/500 ante
Total Entries: 640
Players Remaining: 63
Average Stack: 254,000
The money bubble has just burst in Event 2 and the remaining 63 Bounty Hunters are all guaranteed to score at least $739.
Finian Anuforo came into Day 2 as the chip leader and has yet to relinquish that lead. He’s stacking about 700,000.
Kevin Grabel is coming on strong. He’s pulled into second with roughtly 650,000.
Mickey Woll has moved into third with ~625,000.
Paul Spitzberg, who came into the day 2nd in chips, has stalled and is holding about 450,000.
Event 1 – $2,000,000 GTD
Returning to Level 30: Blinds 50,000/100,000/10,000 ante
Total Entries: 5,101
Players Remaining: 48
Average Stack: 2,657,000 (27 big blinds)
The final 48 players will return at 12 noon Saturday for Day 3 of the $2 Million GTD Winter Poker Open event. A redraw will take place overnight and the new seating and chip counts will be posted before play resumes.
Dave Banerjee leads the field with nearly 6.5 million (65 big blinds). Here are some of the other players returning for Day 3.
Michael Wojcieszek (S Windsor, CT) – 4th in chips
Wayne Lewis (Galloway, NJ) – 5th in chips
WSOP bracelet holder Justin Liberto (Fallston, MD) – 7th in chips
Keon Sample (Laurel, MD) – 10th in chips
Rohit Hukmani (Hicksville, NY) – 12th in chips
Cindy ‘Poker Peach’ Albert (Germantown, MD) is one of only two women remaining in this event.
End of Level 14: Blinds 1,200/2,400/300 ante
Total Entries: 640
Players Remaining: 105
Average Stack: 152,000
At the conclusion of level 14, the 105 remaining bounty hunters bagged their chips for the night. They will return at 12 noon Saturday for Day 2.
Finian Anuforo (Brockton, MA) leads Event 2 with 531,300. He’s chasing his 4th cash and 3rd final table here at Borgata.
Paul Spitzberg (Tenafly, NJ) already has 3 Borgata titles and more than $715,000 in earnings. He bagged 516,300, good for second in chips.
Chip Leaders:
Finian Anuforo – 531,300
Paul Spitzberg – 516,300
Kevin Grabel – 470,000
Lucio Procopio 448,500
Mickey Woll – 405,700
Hassan Jamil – 354,000
Ryan Slanicka – 342,300
Keith Morrow – 334,000
Andrew Kerby – 310,600
Jacob Ferro – 298,700
A redraw will take place overnight and the new table and seat assignments, along with chip counts, will be posted before play resumes. The list will be posted here in the blog and in the event center.
Event 1 – $2,000,000 GTD
Level 29: Blinds 40,000/80,000/10,000 ante
Total Entries: 5,101
Players Remaining: 50
Average Stack: 2,550,000
As the end of Day 2 approaches, the remaining Event 1 players are making their desperation shoves.
Chin Du (Belleville NJ) did just that, getting his last chips in holding pocket 8s. He ran smack into the pocket 9s of Michael Marder.
The board came K 5 Q 2 A and was not what Chin needed to survive. He hit the rail in 51st place, earning $5,566. He’s got a couple of prior small cashes here at Borgata, but this is his largest.
Only 50 players remain with about 15 minutes left in the final level of the night.
Level 13: Blinds 1,000/2,000/300 ante
Total Entries: 640
Players Remaining: 170
Average Stack: 94,000
The remaining bounty hunters are set to play for about another hour before the end of the night bagging process.
Meanwhile, here are the official payouts.
Event 2 $350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em
Total Prize Pool: $217,280
- $52,168
- $29,333
- $18,469
- $14,992
- $11,950
- $9,886
- $7,931
- $5,975
- $4,128
10-12. $2,825
13-15. $2,064
16-18. $1,521
19-27. $1,195
28-36. $1,065
37-45. $956
46-54. $847
55-63. $739
Event 1 – $2,000,000 GTD
End of Level 24: 12,000/24,000/3,000 ante
Total Entries: 5,101
Players Remaining: 168
Average Stack: 759,000
Duane Wallace (Reading, PA)
Shortly before the dinner break, Duane Wallace hit the rail due to a weak kicker.
He opened from the button to 65,000 and got a call from Carlos Alvarado in the small blind. On the flop of A Q x, Duane c-bet 110,000 and again got called.
Turn was a 9 and Duane fired 185,000, getting yet another call from Carlos. When a 2 came on the river, Duane jammed his last ~650,000 and after some think-time, Carlos called.
Duane tabled 95 offsuit for a pair of 9s. Carlos tabled 98 for the same pair with higher kicker, which played.
Duane finished in 171st place, earning $1,905. He was one of the early chip leaders in his starting flight and came into Day 2 119th in chips out of 691 returning players.
Event 1 – $2,000,000 GTD
Level 24: 12,000/24,000/3,000 ante
Total Entries: 5,101
Players Remaining: 180
Average Stack: 708,000
The clock is ticking away toward the end of level 24 and the dinner break, which will come at about 7:20pm.
On a quick pass through the field, found these familiar faces still in the action:
Jenny So
Dimas Martinez
Dante Scattolini
John Moe
Kal Alwan
Vincent Basilicata
Steven Rodriguez
Asher Conniff
Michael Marder
Satish Surapaneni
Cindy Albert
Brian Moon
Duane Wallace
Anna Antimony
Michael Bonita
Dan Wach
Bill Johnson
Jeffrey Gross
Vinny Pahuja
Roman Valerstein
James Gilbert
Bart Dowling