Event 1 (Day 1A)
$540+$60 Deep Stack NLH
$2 Million Guaranteed
End of Level 17: Blinds 2500/5000/ ante
Entries: 340
Players remaining: 50
Average Chips: 170,000
From start to finish, Daniel Buzgon has been the leader or near, so it’s no surprise he finishes flight A on top.
First flight’s leader, Daniel Buzgon: 444,500
A little sugar before bagging: Dever picked off Quintin Trammell’s last chips, AQ vs. A3 on a clean run out. She has 237,500
Cohen and his sets add up to a strong finish as well: 275,500.
More notable stacks:
Gary Knightly – 291,000
Philip Black – 306,500
Guo Liang Chen – 232,000
Michael Kemeter – 113,000
Sunny Patel – 339,000
Carlos Charon – 331,000
Day 2 begins Friday, January 19th at 12 p.m. in the Event Center.
Meanwhile, flight B continues and registration is still available.
Good luck in the $2 million GTD!
$540+$60 Deep Stack NLH
$2 Million Guaranteed
Level 15: Blinds 2000/4000/400 ante
Entries: 340
Players remaining: 80
Average Chips: 106,250
On table 2, a cooler went down to vault Carlos Charon among the chip leaders.
His now vanquished opponent got all the money in with the nut flush draw against Charon’s two pair. Carlos’ 
filled up on the turn, but he was not yet out of the woods.
A 
[ would bring a royal to 
, but a lesser flush was all the now felted player picked up, as a 
. They spoke shook hands agreeably- “it happens.”
Charon “organizes” his new columns and piles of chips – does he have 400,000 now?
Joseph Rodriguez still in and above average on 6.
In a few minutes, another short break, then resume at 8:05.
$540+$60 Deep Stack NLH
$2 Million Guaranteed
Level 15: Blinds 1500/3000/400 ante
Entries: 340
Players remaining: 80
Average Chips: 85,859
Brandon Vescio doesn’t always go all in, but when he does, he prefers aces.
Down to 22,000, he woke up with the right end of poker’s nastiest cooler, kings against aces, doubling through Ali G. who had been otherwise patient at an action table.
Unhappy camper: Ali pays off Brandon, right.
A few hands later, former big stack Christian Holden opened from EP, and Vescio jammed from the button. After a short reflection, Holden found a call, but then a grimace as Vescio again turned up the Birds.
Hello, aces… again. Holden doesn’t look happy, either.
No help on a middling flop, and Holden had gone from among the chip leaders to less than ten blinds. Vescio is comfy at 170,000.
$540+$60 Deep Stack NLH
$2 Million Guaranteed
Level 14: Blinds 1200/2400/300 ante
Entries: 340
Players remaining: 99
Average Chips: 85,859
Early leader and tournament crusher Daniel Buzgon on 4 continues to accumulate, but Nelson Latra won’t be stopped.
Easy to be in a good mood with 125 bigs: Buzgon has over 250,000.
On 9, a table full of turnover and big pots, Latra just stuck out a hefty river bet of 30,000 into seat one Michael Chang, who immediately threw up his hands and leaned backwards.
Holding on an ugly 
, Chang new a poor outcome was likely. He rubbed his face and head with his right hand, clearly frustrated.
Latra has over 375,000 now.
With no right answer coming to mind, he dropped in the one chip call and was shown the effective nuts by Latra – 
for the high straight.
However, within minutes, he got his chips back from an equivalent stack. On 
, Change bet and was raised for a small all in which was just about all his remaining chips. This time Chang made the call more quickly, turning over the open ended 
to save his tournament life.
The other average stack flipped up a surprising 
for an unlikely top pair. The turn brought an ace for Chang, and it was over. Chang goes from frustrated and just under average to 170,000 and healthy again, the kings debacle well in the past.
The dealer counts down Chang’s win.
“You deserved it!” assured a table mate.
Meanwhile on 3, Jesse Cohen just boosted a subpar stack to 120,000 thanks to a turned set and a not entirely desired shove on a straightening board from his opponent. Cohen looked at the tournament clock and made the call.
Instead of the five he feared in his opponent’s hand, that’s what he had to dodge from 
.
Cohen holds.
The board will run out clean for Cohen, despite the scary one liner.
$540+$60 Deep Stack NLH
$2 Million Guaranteed
Level 13: Blinds 1,000/2,000/300 ante
Entries: 340
Players Remaining: 110
Average Stack: 77,300
Play has resumed up front with the registration period closed for Flight A. There were (unofficially) 340 entrants. Of those, only ~110 remain, putting the average stack close to 77,000.
Michael Kemeter
On determined player still in the hunt is Michael Kemeter. Michael won the $1,000 SixMax NLH event in the Summer Poker Open of back-to-back years, 2015 and 2016. He came very close to winning a third SixMax title during the November Fall Poker Open, but had to settle for 3rd place.
Michael knows these events are a marathon, not a sprint, so he’s settled in with his tablet for the long haul. First step, get chips in a bag at the end of level 17!
$540+$60 Deep Stack NLH
$2 Million Guaranteed
End of Level 12: Blinds 800/1600/200 ante
Entries: 340
We are about to go on a fifteen minute break and will return at 5:48 pm.
The ever present poker predator, Pokermantis, has an average stack on 11.
Another Borgata super reg, Cathy Dever, is on 16 with just under 50,000.
$540+$60 Deep Stack NLH
$2 Million Guaranteed
Level 12: Blinds 800/1600/200 ante
Entries: 337
Just behind Holden on 9 and trailing the tournament chip leader, Nelson Latra was last seen eyeing Christian’s stack.
Now he doesn’t have to be jealous, with over 300,000 and the likely tournament lead at this moment. In just a few orbits, Nelson felted two opponents and took a hefty chunk from an anonymous player in two.
“They gave me the chips,” Latra reported while looking at the empty seats.
The table quietly agreed.
“I gave him mine, too.” seat two admittedly amiably.
Soon after, a curious four way pot developed. On 
, the flop aggressor in the small gave up, and Holden led out for 10,000. Everyone somehow folded, and Christian showed an ugly monster – the 
.
Holden trails Latra with just under 200,000.
A buy-in’s life, if not tournament life, exactly: Braden quietly ponders the shove from Dubik, foreground.
Meanwhile, on adjacent 14, Bill Braden was facing a decision for stacks on the turn. On a draw heavy, clubbing board, Chad Dubik shoved into the active Braden for the plastic disks.
Braden took a long time for his decision while Dubik sat silently. Then, a decision:
Fold. Saving the chips.
Dubik decided to show one, however: the unrelated 
.
Braden took it to mean a flush draw, and the two briefly discussed the hand, with Dubik claiming a pair.
Immediately afterward, Braden tried recover the chips in a raised pot, but had a river bluff picked off by 
.
With half the average, he’s got work to do. Dubik is more healthy, and now has over 100,000.
$540+$60 Deep Stack NLH
$2 Million Guaranteed
Level 11: Blinds 600/1,200/200 ante
Entries: 334
Joe Reddick
Mike McGuinness has also vacated the seat at Table 2 originally belonging to Kathy Liebert. Now sitting there is the late-arriving Joe Reddick, aka Chip Bully. Perhaps he will do better in that chair than its previous two occupants.
Joe pushed his career earnings past $800,000 late last year. It was just two year ago during the 2016 WPO that he claimed 1st in the Borgata Million and booked $217,792 for the win. That remains his best live cash.
Guo Liang Chen
Another famous face has turned up in the crowd. 2017 World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open Championship winner Guo Liang Chen is back, looking to add to the $789,000 he won last September.
$540+$60 Deep Stack NLH
$2 Million Guaranteed
Level 11: Blinds 600/1200/200 ante
Entries: 332
Just behind chip leader Buzgon are many stacks pushing 160,000.
One is Worcester’s Christian Holden. He leapt up the standings in a big pot at his now broken table 18.
At 100/400/800, the lojack raised to 2100, and Holden flatted 
from the hijack. This created a chain of three callers behind.
On 
, the aggressor checked and Christian found a natural bet of 5,000.
However, after two folds, the BB now raised to 15,000, which Holden called.
On the 
, the BB shoved for 45,000 – a huge bet at this stage. Holden was consoled by the five, which reduced the sets, and held against 
.
Holden settling in with 150,000 on his new table, nine. Nelson Latra, eyes the big pile on his right and has a hefty 140,000 as well.
On 13, another rising stack celebrates after felting his villain: Mark Defelice has over 150,000.
Meanwhile, tournament legend Liebert, now on four, was explaining some of her play.
“They don’t know what I am doing, which confuses them, and that’s a good thing. I wasn’t thinking about what I was doing.”
That is indeed hard to deal with.
$540+$60 Deep Stack NLH
$2 Million Guaranteed
Level 10: Blinds 500/1,000/100 ante
Entries: 326
Joseph Rodriguez
Joseph Rodriguez (cutoff) fired 6,000 on the river with the board showing T T 5 5 J. The player on the button surrendered and Joseph took the pot. He’s up to about 150,000, six times the starting stack as they approach the half-way point of level 10.
Flight A will play through the end of level 17 before bagging up for the night. Registration remains open until the start of level 13.