Event 1 (Day 1E)
Level 5 (150/300/25)
Total Day 1E Entries: 1,111
Total Event 1 Entries: 3,313
Making it to a final table through a 4,000 player field once is difficult enough but doing it twice might be nearly impossible. A few players have notched deep runs in back to back ‘Borgata Millions’, most recently Chris Limo, and two others are trying to start their 2016 just like they started 2015.
Kenny Levine finished 6th in last year’s opening $2,000,000 GTD event and he’s hoping that a new addition to his wardrobe leads him on another run this year. Yes, that is ‘Will OC’ on his t-shirt and we’ll get more information on that later but blogger shirts aside, Levine has followed his final table run with more big field success, pushing his career earnings up and over the $100,000 mark over the last few months.
Byung Yoo finished 2nd in that opening ‘Borgata Million’ during the last WPO, with that runner-up finish good for an over $220,000 score. That’s the biggest result of his tournament career and since, he’s played sporadically but hasn’t been able to regain that form just yet. He’ll hope lightening strikes twice this weekend and that this time around, he can take home the title that eluded him in 2015.
Level 4 (100/200/25)
Total Day 1E Entries: 1,038
Total Event 1 Entries: 3,240
Chris Limo final tabled both the $2,000,000 and $1,000,000 GTD events, winning the latter of the two, during September’s BPO series and he’ll hope to regain that form this weekend.
During the last WPT Borgata Poker Open series in September, there was one player that seemed to headline every massive guaranteed event. That player was Chris Limo, who recorded one of the best runs that we’ve seen in Borgata Poker history.
Limo finished 9th in the opening $2,000,000 GTD event and then, a week later, claimed his first ever BPO title in the $1,000,000 GTD event. Those two scores and runs saw him outlast over 6,000 players through the first half of the series and he nearly repeated with another title in the Fall Poker Open, finishing 7th in November’s opening ‘Borgata Million’.
The New Yorker is coming off a trip to PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas but he’s now back, looking to pick up where he left off during the last WPT series. We’re a long way from the final table of this event but with the recent experience through these massive fields, Limo has to be considered a serious threat to make another deep run this weekend.
Level 3 (100/200)
Total Day 1E Entries: 972
Total Event 1 Entries: 3,174
We opened today saying that we’d need just under 1,800 players to hit this events lofty $2,000,000 guarantee and through the first two and a half levels, we’re over half way there. This Day 1E flight is trending towards the 1,000 player mark and with the Event Center at full capacity, we imagine that the tournament area will stay that way throughout the rest of this fifth starting flight.
Updates throughout the course of this already massive Day 1E flight will continue through the next few hours, as we continue to work towards the guarantee and Day 2.
Level 2 (75/150)
Total Day 1E Entries: 952
Total Event 1 Entries: 3,154
Whenever the World Poker Tour comes to the Borgata, the big names make their appearances and those players are also usually drawn to massive opening Borgata Poker Open events as well. Two players have had immense success in recent Borgata WPT events and they’re hoping to regain that form in this weekend’s $2,000,000 GTD event.
Randy Pfeifer enjoyed a very fruitful 2015 season, as he made multiple major tournament final tables and amassed just over $1,000,000 in earnings. That run started in the WPT WPO Championship, where Pfeifer finished 3rd for an over $250,000 score. He followed that up with a near podium finish at the WSOP this summer and he’ll hope to jumpstart his 2016 with a deep run in this opening event.
While Pfeifer started his 2015 with a WPT final table run, Maurice Hawkins ended the year with a televised Borgata appearance. ‘The Hawk’ finished 4th in the WPT BPO Championship in September and that run was good for a $220,000 result, which was the best finish of his lengthy tournament career. The Floridian has nearly $2,000,000 in earnings to his name and he’s going to try to add to that number throughout this WPO series.
Level 2 (75/150)
Total Day 1E Entries: 853
Total Event 1 Entries: 3,055
With the Event Center at full capacity as we head into Level 2, we elected to go a different route in updating this early Day 1E flight. We hit the twitterverse to see who is getting in the action and, judging by the overall attitude of the tweets, we’re getting the feeling that some players might be on their last nerve, or bullet, in this opening $2,000,000 GTD event.
My Borgata adventure starts now.
— Greg Candido (@uglytuna) January 21, 2016
Gotta put chips in a bag, gotta put chips in a bag, gotta put chips in a bag…take 2
— Geno Raman (@GRaman3210) January 21, 2016
Woke myself up at 10am to reg this bird on time. Already hate my life. Bullet #5. Planning on firing up to 3 or 4more today if need
— Jason Bral (@jasbral) January 21, 2016
Original E1 goal was to 1 bullet bag. New goal is to ensure we spend less on E1 than we will on the main 😕. Bullet 5 upcoming this morning..
— Greg Himmelbrand (@GregHPoker) January 21, 2016
Let’s see if my strategy pays off. @BorgataPoker Event 1. $2 Million Gtd purse. Playing later on for first time. F Flight #TeamRested&Ready
— Antonio Payne (@Anthony_1Payne) January 21, 2016
So, while the rest of the twitterverse looks to get into the bag on bullets that aren’t their first, maybe Antonio Payne is up to something. He’ll take his shot later tonight and the WPO blog will be here to track all the action up to and through that night flight, which starts at 7 PM.
Level 1 (50/100)
Total Day 1E Entries: 612
Total Event 1 Entries: 2,614
Over the last two days, we’ve seen over 2,200 players take their seats in an attempt to make Day 2 of the $2,000,000 GTD opening Winter Poker Open event. Today, the final two starting flights for Event 1 will run, giving players one last chance to punch their ticket to tomorrow’s restart.
Today’s schedule will see Day 1E start at 10 AM, with the final flight, Day 1F, beginning at 7 PM. These flight’s structure will mimic the previous structures, with players starting with 25,000 chips and playing 16 half hour levels throughout each Day 1 session.
The WPO blog will be tracking these fields throughout the day, until the chips hit the bag later tonight or early tomorrow morning in the case of the Day 1F flight.
Four down, two to go, as the final two starting flights of the $2,000,000 GTD opening Winter Poker Open event are set to begin early this morning. The first of those flights, Day 1E, begins at 10 AM and the final flight will begin at 7 PM and with over 2,200 players coming together over the last two days, we imagine the Event Center, again, will be at full capacity.
Of those 2,200 players, just under 400 have already advanced to tomorrow’s Day 2 session and with another 2,000 or so players needed to hit the guarantee on this event, we imagine that those numbers will more or less double before tomorrow’s 12 PM restart.
A complete list of the surviving Day 1C and 1D players from yesterday’s two starting flights will be posted shortly, once cards get in the air.