Event 1 (Day 1A)
Level 10 (500/1,000/100)
Total Entries: 693
Players Remaining: 365
Al Borges (Taunton, MA)
The action was picked up at a central table on a board of {4c}{9c}{Qs}{Qh} with Al Borges (Taunton, MA) and Samuel Taylor checking to an unknown player who would fire out a bet of 1,600.
Borges would then raise to 4,500 before Taylor would three-bet to 9,000 even.
The unknown player would get out of the way and Borges would immediately push his remaining stack forward and Taylor would almost just as quickly call.
Taylor would have Borges slightly covered and seemed poised to complete the knockout and take in a massive 100,000 chip pot, as he held {4s}{4d} besting Borges’ {Qd}{Jd}.
Taylor sat nervously as the river card was dealt and Borges’ massage that he was enjoying was momentarily stopped, until the {9d} came on the river, giving Borges a superior full house and the pot.
Taylor could only shake his head as he cut out the necessary chips to make the call and was crippled, left with a little under 5,000 chips.
On the other hand, Borges is now sitting near the 100,000 chip mark and can really enjoy his massage as he is now one of the bigger chip stacks in the room mid-way through Level 10 of Event 1 of the Winter Poker Open.
Level 10 (500/1,000/100)
Total Entries: 693
Players Remaining: 370
The Day 1A field is now back from break and this starting flight’s player count has been frozen at 693 players, as the late registration and re-entry period has officially closed.
As it stands now, there are just over 350 players remaining and with seven levels remaining in this Day 1A session, we expect to see the majority of those players get sent to the rail before we reach the end of play, after the completion of Level 16.
Since we have a finalized player count, we are ready to bring you a list of the big stacks in the room, which will be posted shortly.
Level 9 (400/800/75)
Total Entries: 680
As the tournament clock winds down, bringing the Day 1A field to the end of Level 9, we are just moments away from the third break of the day and the end of the late registration/re-entry period.
When players return, the Day 1A field will be frozen and a finalized number of entrants for the first starting flight of the $2,000,000 Event 1 will be posted and reported.
When play resumes we will also be highlighting some big stacks in the room and continue to bring you information about notable players in the field.
Level 9 (400/800/75)
Total Entries: 640
The tournament field is now moving to Level 9, meaning there is only one level left to late register or re-enter into Day 1A of Event 1.
Don’t worry if you aren’t able to make it before this late registration period ends, as there are still three more starting flights for the $2,000,000 GTD Event 1.
Notable players continue to show their faces, some buying in for the first time over the last few levels and those players will continue to be showcased on the blog throughout Day 1A.
Level 8 (300/600/75)
Total Entries: 620
Amanda Musumeci Triples Back Over Starting Stack
With large field tournaments such as Event 1, there is never a shortage of action. If you look around the room you are almost always guaranteed to see a player packing their belongings and heading out of the door. Such seemed to be the fate for poker pro Amanda Musumeci, but the cards seemed to have other ideas.
Three players found all of their chips into the middle as Amanda Musumeci slid her last 6,200 into the middle from under the gun. The player under the gun +2 made the call, only to see the player on his immediate left push all in for an additional 8,075. He made the call and the three hands were tabled.
Musumeci: {8c}{8s}
UTG+1: {Kc}{Qh}
UTG+2: {Qc}{Qs}
The dealer spread the {2h}{As}{Kd} flop and things seemed bleak for the two ladies that were all in. The {Js} would provide the 2nd all in player with a few outs to a chop but Musumeci would need to catch one of two remaining {8x} in the deck to survive.
Sure enough the dealer peeled off the {8h} on the river and Musumeci would more than triple up, as she now sits with over 20,000 in chips.
Level 8 (300/600/75)
Total Entries: 620
Je Wook Oh (Fresh Meadows, NY)
So often during these massive guaranteed events, we see relative “newcomers” make their first big tournament score at the Borgata, after notching previous “smaller” scores at various local casinos.
Je Wook Oh (Fresh Meadows, NY) is one of those players here today, but his “smaller” scores aren’t that small as he has close to $300,000 in live tournament earnings, thanks to a recent 2nd place finish at the Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge in December, where he made just over $60,000.
Four of five of Oh’s biggest scores are from Foxwoods, but he also has a 7th place finish in the Borgata Spring Poker Open Championship event from 2014, good for just under $40,000.
But, aside from that result, nearly all of his 40 live rated cashes have come outside the Borgata Poker Room, meaning he is still waiting for his “breakthrough” Borgata score.
Oh nearly had it, as he made a deep run in Event 3 of the Deep Stacks Challenge series at Borgata right before the New Year, only to be denied, falling just short of the Final Table.
Oh will look to make another big score at the Borgata this series to improve on an already impressive primarily Foxwoods poker resume.
He is currently seated at a central table working an average stack as Day 1A of Event 1 moves into Level 8.
Level 7 (250/500/50)
Total Entries: 580
Kevin Calenzo Looking For Another Deep Run Here at Borgata
Kevin Calenzo is no stranger to success here at the Borgata as he has numerous cashes, including a 1st place finish in the 2010 Borgata $1,090 NLH Tournament for $80,000. Calenzo has amassed nearly $1,000,000 in lifetime earns and is looking to add to that number with a deep run here in Event 1.
As we walked by his table we noticed him involved in a pretty big hand. With over 10,000 in the pot already his opponent checked to him on a board reading {5c}{5s}{8c}{10s}{4s}.
Calenzo thought about things for a brief moment and eventually tossed a bet of 6,500 into the middle. His opponent wasted little time in calling and mucked even faster when he saw Calenzo table {Js}{8s} for a flush.
With this pot Calenzo now appears to be one of the biggest stacks in the room as he sits with well over 50,000.
Level 7 (250/500/50)
Total Entries: 580
Since we are on the topic, here are some updates from around the room as players took to twitter to post their updates during the last break.
First hand back dealt AA on button open to 1100 sb flats bb misclick 3 bets to 12500 with 15k back effective. #TeamRunGood #preciatecha
— Joseph Hebda (@joeyhebs) January 13, 2015
25k at 2nd break. Not a ton to play at a pretty aggressive table. Heading back to 500bb I believe.
— Jake Perry (@JakePerry12) January 13, 2015
27.7k going on 2nd break. #BWPO
— Mike (@JDramaNJ) January 13, 2015
@BorgataPoker not a bad start at #borgatapoker #winterpokeropen level 7 50k
— Kyle Carey KaHmA (@KaHmA3) January 13, 2015
Continue to tweet using the hashtags #WinterPokerOpen and #WPO to not only get posted on the blog, but also the @BorgataPoker WPO Twitter Wall here in the Event Center.
Level 7 (250/500/50)
Total Entries: 580
The uses for twitter are almost endless and the poker community has certainly embraced the social media application as players take to the twitterverse to post chip counts, results, and various serious and “nonsensical” hashtags.
Use #BorgataPoker or #WinterPokerOpen in your tweets and you could see your updates on the big screen in the Event Center!
— BorgataPoker (@BorgataPoker) January 13, 2015
In terms of “serious” hashtags, use the ones listed in the tweet above to get mentioned on the Borgata WPO Twitter Wall and join in on the Winter Poker Open conversation.
In terms of “nonsensical” hashtags, we also enjoy the #blessed, #prayforme, #due tags we see throughout tournament updates from players, so keep those coming as well, but if nothing else, remember to tag @BorgataPoker in all your WPO tweets.
Level 7 (250/500/50)
Total Entries: 580
Players are now back from their second break of the day and will return to Level 7.
This leaves just over an hour and a half remaining to late register or re-enter into Day 1A of the $2,000,000 GTD Event 1.
Players buying in at this stage of the tournament will still have close to 40 big blinds to work with, as all players will be sold a full starting stack.
Players are reminded that if they do not choose to play Day 1A or want to wait to re-enter into another flight, Day 1B will be starting tonight at 6 PM.
Day 1C and 1D will also be running tomorrow, starting at 10 AM and 6 PM respectfully.
Players are also reminded that this is NOT a best stack forward event, meaning that if you bag chips in any starting flight, playing in a subsequent starting flight will forfeit those already bagged chips.