Event 17
There were a few tournaments that awarded WPO trophies yesterday that we’re going to recap before we start to bring you updates from the early arriving WPT WPO Championship Day 1A flight, including the “live streamed” $1,000,000 GTD Event 15 Final Table, which saw a Borgata “regular” claim his first major live tournament title.
Daniel Buzgon (Marlton, NJ) entered the Event 15 Final Table with a slightly below average stack and managed to keep himself afloat throughout the early levels of play, then battled three handed for close to two hours before finally gaining complete control heads up against Ben Beahm, claiming the title a few hands later, his first Borgata title.
Buzgon had come close before, Final Tabling a WPT event at the Borgata a few years ago and notching back-to-back runner up finishes during last month’s WSOP Circuit stop at Harrah’s AC, but wouldn’t let this opportunity slip away, claiming the WPO trophy and the $195,000 for first.
The next trophy awarded would be the $150,000 GTD $1,000 Event 16 Six Max title, which would be claimed by Brandon Setzer (Concord, NC) who would outlast an extremely stacked Final Table to claim his first outright poker title since 2011 and make one of the biggest scores of his tournament career, making just over $60,000 for the victory.
The last trophy won yesterday was actually awarded early this morning as Tim Rausenberger (Haskell, NJ) took down his first title and outdid his career earnings in the process, winning the $100,000 GTD Event 17 ‘Saturday Series’ for just under $50,000.
One more trophy will be awarded today, with the Final Table of the $1,500 + $500 Purple Chip Bounty coming back to crown a champion at 1 PM.
Live updates of that event will start when the Final Table begins and we will be posting the chip counts and remaining payouts for that event shortly.
For a complete list of results from the respective events, click the links above and for a complete recap of the action from each event, click the categorical tabs under the title.
Level 32 (Blinds 80,000/160,000/20,000)
Total Entries: 591
Players Remaining: 1
Chip Average: 11,820,000
Tim Rausenberger (Haskell, NJ) Event 17 Winner
As slow as this final table was moving at one point, is as quick as the tournament ended. When the dust settled, it would be New Jersey native Tim Rausenberger (Haskell, NJ) taking home the trophy and the $49,956 first place. The score eclipses Tim’s lifetime earnings, which were $40,154 coming into the day. To say Rausenberger is a loyal Borgata player would be an understatement, as every single one of his (11) recorded cashes came in this establishment.
It was a stacked final table that Rausenberger had to best, included two WSOP bracelet winners (Sean Drake and Tyler Bonkowski), a beast from the Midwest (Kau Vang), and a seasoned Borgata veteran (Joseph Galazzo). Here is how the final table broke down:
- Tim Rausenberger ($49,956)
- Michael Ciccarelli ($28,090)
- Kau Vang ($18,058)
- John Iannucci ($14,346)
- Tyler Bonkowski ($11,236)
- Sean Drake ($9,230)
- Kyle Haberman ($7,234)
- Jake Vo ($5,718)
- Mike Rutkowski ($4,013)
- Joseph Galazzo ($2,608)
Level 32 (Blinds 80,000/160,000/20,000)
Total Entries: 591
Players Remaining: 4
Chip Average: 3,500,000
Tyler Bonkowski (Regina, SK)
Another WSOP bracelet holder has just exited the field, as Tyler Bonkowski (Regina, SK) just experienced the “turbo-ish” style of this event. He was one of the bigger stacks when play was six-handed, but he lost most all of his chips when he doubled up Michael Ciccarelli. The two players got the chips in on a flop of {9d} {ad} {3c}, with Tyler holding {ac} {4h} against Michael’s {as} {8d}. The turn would all but end things after the {8s} hit the felt, and Tyler would be eliminated just a few hands later.
Bonkowski came into today with over $616,000 in career tournament earnings, highlighted by the bracelet win mentioned earlier. Bonkokwski was a $3,000 Limit Hold’em event during the 2011 WSOP, earning $220,817 along with the bracelet. Tyler traveled here for the BWPO Championship Event starting tomorrow, but started his series with a nice little score, taking home $11,236.
Level 32 (Blinds 80,000/160,000/20,000)
Total Entries: 591
Players Remaining: 5
Chip Average: 2,800,000
Sean Drake (Folsom, CA)
It’s no WSOP bracelet, or deep run in the inaugural “Monster Stack” event, but the tournament professional from Folsom, CA just earned his first ever Borgata cash. Sean couldn’t find much traction at the final table, and he ended up shoving {ks} {js} into the {as} {ad} of Erik Ronenberger. The runout brought no help for Drake, who would exit the table after a long day of poker, earning himself $9,230.
The highlight score of Drake’s career wasn’t his bracelet in the Employees Event in 2011, yet his third place finish in this past year’s inaugural Monster Stack event at the WSOP. He earned just under $620,000 for the finish, and has since reached nine final tables, in spots across the country.
Drake’s exit coincided with the end of Level 31, with players taking a (10) minute break and returning to Level 32 and blinds 80,000/160,000/20,000.
Level 31 (Blinds 60,000/120,000/20,000)
Total Entries: 591
Players Remaining: 6
Chip Average: 2,500,000
Kyle Haberman
Going back to a trend we saw at the beginning of this series, Kyle Haberman just walked away from the final table earning the largest score of his career. He shoved the shortest stack at the table over an open from Tyler Bomkowski, and would be racing for his tournament life:
Haberman: {ad} {9c}
Bomkowski: {6c} {6h}
Flop: {5s} {10h} {ks}
Turn: {2c}
River: {5d}
Haberman couldn’t be too unhappy with his spot, as he was racing rather than being dominated by a bigger ace. Unfortunately for him, the runout was less than stellar for his hand, and Kyle would wish the players luck before exiting the final table.
Level 31 (Blinds 60,000/120,000/20,000)
Total Entries: 591
Players Remaining: 7
Chip Average: 2,110,000
Jake Vo (Quincy, MA)
Jake Vo (Quincy, MA) just came onto the tournament scene last year, but he compiled earnings over that time of $38,000. Vo knocked out Borgata regular Joseph Galazzo on one of the first hands at this final table, but he trended steadily downward since that point.
The $5,718 that he earned for third place will go down as the third largest score on his resume, and will push him across the $40,000 mark. Considering that he last score before this came during the Borgata Poker Open $3,300 Championship Event last September, it’s likely that we will see Jake again over the next few days.
As Shane Drake just said, “It’s all going to be shoving pre now,” referencing the lack of ability to open pots (or three-bet) at this time.
Level 31 (Blinds 60,000/120,000/20,000)
Total Entries: 591
Players Remaining: 7
Chip Average: 2,110,000
Mike Rutkowski
After the length of time the final table had gone without losing a player, it was pretty hard for all of the players to stay consistent with their stack. Mike Rukowski was victim to a cold deck once play got to the final table, and he found himself in “push/shove” mode. The short stack didn’t help with the range he’d be pushing, and he’d fall in ninth place.
Research doesn’t yield much about Rutkowski, with no recorded cashes listed on Hendon Mob. If that holds to be true, it’s a nice score to start off a resume, besting a field that had 591 total entries. The $4,013 that he earns for ninth place will be his largest (and only) score to date.
Players have just entered Level 31, with blinds going up to 60,000/120,000/20,000. The chip average of 2,110,000 is less than (20) big blinds.
Level 29 (Blinds 40,000/80,000/10,000)
Total Entries: 591
Players Remaining: 9
Chip Average: 1,641,000
Don’t tell these players they’re supposed to be sleeping…nobody wants to bust this tournament, as they’ve gone close to an hour without losing a player. That might not sound like a long time, but we need to consider that a lot of these stacks are in the (20) big blind or below range. Blinds went up moments ago, with Level 29 starting a players now posting 40,000/80,000/10,000. A handful of players at the table have brought up the BWPO Championship event tomorrow, and how they planned on playing the Day 1A flight. Looks like there may be a change of plans for some of them, unless they are content playing on little to no sleep.
Level 15 (1,500/3,000/400)
Total Entries: 91
Players Remaining: 9
Chip Average: 195,000
Joe Kuether (Elm Grove, WI) Chip Leader Heading Into Day 2
After over two hours on the money bubble, it would be Chad Wassmuth (Lewiston, ID) who would walk away from the table with only the $500 bounties he collected over the day. The “official” Event 18 final table is now set, with players returning tomorrow for Day 2 action. Here is how they will return when play resume:
- Joe Liberta – 108,200
- Vladamir Dobrovolskii – 83,500
- Joseph Stiers – 167,000
- Bernie Liberati – 248,800
- Sean Jazayeri – 63,000
- Joe Kuether – 673,300
- Brian Grachik – 136,800
- Alex Rocha – 197,000
- Mark Sandy – 149,700
Level 28 (Blinds 30,000/60,000/5,000)
Total Entries: 591
Players Remaining: 9
Chip Average: 1,641,000
Joseph Galazzo (Union, NJ)
As Joseph Galazzo (Union, NJ) was taking his seat at the final table, he was saying how shallow the stacks were, and bringing up the point of the tournament becoming a shove-fest. On a flop of {as} {qd} {10h}, Joseph check raised all-in against Jake Vo, and would get called pretty quickly:
Galazzo: {ad} {9d}
Vo: {ac} {qs}
Turn: {jd}
River: {4c}
The two-time Borgata Poker trophy winner is the first to exit this Event 17 final table, earning himself $2,608. The remaining players thanked Jake Vo, as that elimination brings us to our next pay jump, with the ninth place finisher taking home $4,013.