WPT WPO Championship (Day 1B)
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata WPO Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed
Level 8: (300/600/75)
Total Day 1B: Entries: 741
Total Day 1A+B Entries: 1,120
Day 1B Players Remaining: 450
Jean “Prince” Gaspard (Evanston, IL)
Day 1B of the BWPO WPT Championship Event is in books and it’s Jean “Prince” Gaspard leading the way with 216,900. We spoke to Gaspard and asked him what he did to prepare for this event. “I’ve been here for a week and did not play poker, just rested and prepared mentally” he says.
“I didn’t let anything get to me today, even when a player in the one seat told me my cologne was bothering him.” Instead he ran to his room with chips still on the felt to take a shower change clothes and get right back to stacking chips. He tells us the rest of the day was smooth sailing besides one minor bad beat that he was able to shake off.
There were plenty of players who bagged over the century chip mark this flight including Ryan Smith, Asher Conniff and Sean Winter just to name a few. Olivier Busquet bagged the Day 1A chip lead with 185,000 but it’s Gaspard who is the only returning player over 200,000. Approximately 450 players survived Day 1B and 181 players from Day 1A made the cut.
The players will be returning Tuesday January 31 at 12 P.M noon to resume Day 2 play. Tournament registration and re-entry will remain open until the start of level 11 so there will still be just over two more hours to register when Day 2 begins.
Below is a look at some of the big stacks from our second flight. A full list of chip counts and Day 2 seating assignments will be posted as soon as they’re available.
Jean Gaspard- 216,900
Ryan Smith- 185,400
Asher Conniff- 184,400
Mike Liang- 136,100
Joe Cappello- 134,200
Sean Winter- 133,700
Ming Oei- 132,100
Joseph Chaplin- 104,600
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata WPO Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed
Level 8: (300/600/75)
Total Day 1B: Entries: 741
Total Day 1A+B Entries: 1,120
Day 1B Players Remaining: 450
Steve Hemsworth (Saratoga, NY)
Aaron Massey (Chicago, IL)
Aaron Massey raises to 1,600 from late position and the player on the button makes the call. Steve Hemsworth calls from the small blind and the big blind defends. They go four handed to the {9d}{6d}{3h} flop.
It checks to Massey who bets 3,000 and Hemsworth makes the call. They go heads up to the {qc} turn and Hemsworth checks to Massey who moves his last 10,000 into the pot. Hemsworth nearly beats him into the pot turning over {3d}{3s} for a flopped set of threes.
Massey sees the bad news rolling over his {td}{ts} and will need a ten on the river to survive. The {4c} completes the board and Hemsworth scoops the pot eliminating Massey in the process.
Steve Hemsworth- 75,000
Aaron Massey- Eliminated
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata WPO Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed
Level 8: (300/600/75)
Total Day 1B: Entries: 722
Total Day 1A+B Entries: 1,101
We are approaching the last level of play here on Day 1B and it’s WPTDS Season 1 Player of the Year Ryan Smith leading the way. Smith is playing a stack of 175,000 but it’s a close race at the top of the leaderboard with Abe Aboukhalil and Josh Miller right on his heels.
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata WPO Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed
Level 8: (300/600/75)
Total Day 1B: Entries: 720
Total Day 1A+B Entries: 1,099
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata WPO Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed
Level 7: (250/500/75)
Total Day 1B: Entries: 708
Total Day 1A+B Entries: 1,087
Asher Conniff (Brooklyn, NY)
We get to the table just in time to see Asher Conniff pushing a four bet of 8,900 forward. The player on the button who had three bet Conniff makes the call and they go heads up to the flop. The dealer fans the {8s}{6d}{qc} flop and Conniff bets 4,800.
His opponent calls and both players check the {8c} turn card. The river is the {2s} and Conniff slides out a stack of blue chips covering his opponent who has 18,000 behind. The player releases his hand into the muck and Conniff rakes in the pot without a showdown.
He is looking relaxed and continues to rake in pot after pot at his table and now finds himself playing close to 150,000. Conniff’s largest career score came here at the Borgata in April 2105 in the $15,000 BSPO WPT Championship Event. He bested a field of 239 total entries to take home his first WPT title and over $973,000.
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata WPO Championship
$3 Million Guaranteed
Level 7: Blinds 250/500/75 ante
Entries: 691
With levels, hours, and days away from the final table, there are many ways to handle the slow early rounds.
For table 23, it’s all business. Over the course of a half dozen hands this level, not a single word was heard from anyone. Well, anyone playing, that is.
We started with the inevitable small blind versus big blind, and even wordless, it was interesting to think about what the players were trying to accomplish.
Low and Ghiai during the blind on blind action. Plyamen the dealer breaks the quiet between hands.
Tyng Low started by completing the small, while Schahin Ghiai checked in position.
Low didn’t take much time in firing the straightening board, the {6s} {tc} {7h}. It should be a concerning bet for Ghiai, as some of the hand Low wants to play without facing a three bet have now connected, and his ace-high slow plays don’t need to bet – no pairs or gutters are folding.
Nevertheless, Ghiai finds a call. On the {qc} Low bets 1500, and Ghiai calls. After all, the queen doesn’t improve many hands- a queen jack, having two overs, a backdoor draw and needing a fold from king high? A stretch.
The river pairs the ten, and now Low has left himself in a predicament. Ghiai clearly has a ten in his range, in fact, it’s a very likely holding.
Can Low find another bet? Did he really flop huge?
It seems a check is more likely in order, and he makes it. Now Ghiai bets and Low can do nothing. He mucks.
Silence. Only the dealer speaks: “Antes!”
More players fill the empty seats, including Dejaunte Alexander, who’s had a big last twelve months including a win over Aaron Mermelstein at the Hollywood Poker Open.
Alexander, left, getting settled in for an unwild ride.
Maybe he’ll liven up the table.
Then the table’s big stack, Shankar Pillai, gets involved. He’s got well over 100,000 and looking like he will bag. Nevertheless, it’s just more raise and take it.
The dealer cuts in: “Antes, antes gentlemen.”
Then, an interesting pot finally develops. Low opens and gets Ghiai to flat right behind, dragging in three others to create a five way pot.
The flop has to bring trouble, as the paired ace four way means someone, very likely, has hit: {ac} {ah} {js}. The callers can have jacks and continue, too.
Big stack: Pillai comfortably up over 120,000.
Low bravely bets into the field on the flop, for 1050, repping the ace hard. Ghiai calls, and Pillai, who covers everyone, flats as well. That’s two aces left, and three players.
The turn is a near total blank, the {4c}, bringing in only some unlikely draws. Now Low knows he is beat and gives up. Ghiai bets 2500 and Pillai calls.
Patience – and smashing the flop – makes Ghiai smile.
The action on the river could be big, but at this sedate table, it does not arise. Check, check, and it’s Ghiai, flipping over {as} {8s} – the big stack had likely been bluffcatching, and let off the hook on the river. An 11,750 pot goes to Ghiai.
Only the dealer, again, tackles the quiet: “Antes, gentlemen. Antes!”
Pillai has heaps – over 120,000. Alexander has 22,000, Low over 50,000, and Ghiai just over the starting stack of 30,000.
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata WPO Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed
Level 7: (250/500/75)
Total Day 1B: Entries: 682
Total Day 1A+B Entries: 1,061
Booooooooooooom! Sammy whammy! pic.twitter.com/26SeWuCA9F
— Sam De Silva (@SamDeSilvaPoker) January 30, 2017
The last hand before the players went on break was a good one for Sam DeSilva. A player raised to 3,000 and Sam DeSilva made the call. A player in late position moved all in for 11,875. With the action back on the original raiser he re-shoved all in for 23,375 which was music to DeSilva’s ears.
DeSilva made the call turning over {ac}{as} and his opponents were holding {kh}{kd} and {qd}{qh}. The board ran out clean for DeSilva sending both players to the rail. He is now playing a stack of 105,000 and finds himself near the top of the leaderboard.
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata WPO Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed
Level 6: (200/400/50)
Total Day 1B: Entries: 677
Total Day 1A+B Entries: 1,056
The players are now on a 15 minute break and tournament registration and re-entry will remain open until the start of level 11. When the players return they will play two more levels before bagging and tagging. We will pick back up on all the BWPO WPT Championship action as soon as play resumes.
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata WPO Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed
Level 6: (200/400/50)
Total Day 1B: Entries: 658
Total Day 1A+B Entries: 1,051
Chino Rheem (Los Angeles, CA)
Bart Dowling (New York, NY)
Some big stacks are starting to emerge here on Day 1B of the BWPO WPT Championship Event. Chino Rheem and Bart Dowling are both off to fast starts. Rheem is no stranger to WPT Championship events as he already holds 3 WPT titles.
Dowling is also familiar with Championship events here at the Borgata. His largest career cash came in April’s Borgata Spring Poker Open when he finished 4th in the $2,700 Championship for over $100,000. Both Rheem and Dowling are now playing nearly identical stacks of about 125,000 and look to be leading the Day 1B field.
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata WPO Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed
Level 6: (200/400/50)
Total Day 1B: Entries: 658
Total Day 1A+B Entries: 1,037
Aaron Overton (Philadelphia, PA)
The action folds to Aaron Overton in the cutoff position and he raises to 1,025. The button folds and the player in the small blind reraises to 2,700. Overton calls and they go heads up to the {jh}{9h}{9d} flop.
The small blind leads out with a bet of 3,000 and Overton calls. The turn is the {7c} and both players quickly check. The river is the {2s} and the small checks. Overton fires out a bet of 9,000 and after about 30 seconds his opponent tosses in the calling chips.
Overton turns over {jd}{js} for a flopped full house and his opponent fires his hand into the muck. Overton is now playing a stack of about 75,000 and is one of the larger stacks in the room.