Event 18 (Day 1)
Level 15 (1,500/3,000/400)
Total Entries: 91
Players Remaining: 10
Chip Average: 182,000
Play was supposed to end at 2:00am, but everyone agreed that they don’t want to have to return tomorrow afternoon on the stone bubble, so the night continued. It’s now been (90) minutes since this bubble started, and it doesn’t look like anyone is looking to go home anytime soon. The smallest stack at the moment still has over (25) big blinds, so it’s no rush to get those chips in. Here are the updated chip counts:
- Joe Liberta – 95,000
- Vladamir Dobrovolskii – 84,000
- Joseph Stiers – 180,000
- Chad Wassmuth – 118,000
- Bernie Liberati – 192,000
- Sean Jazayeri – 78,000
- Joe Kuether – 495,000
- Brian Grachik – 144,000
- Alex Rocha – 231,000
- Mark Sandy – 152,000
Level 14 (Blinds 1,200/2,400/300)
Total Entries: 91
Players Remaining: 10
Chip Average: 182,000
With the elimination of John Dibella by Joseph Stiers ({10c} {10s} > {6d} {6c}), the Event 18 field has reached a ten-handed final table. Only nine spots get paid in this event, so play (which was scheduled to end at 2:00am) will continue until the money bubble is burst. Players remaining will then begin the bagging process, and those left will return to Day 2 tomorrow afternoon. Here is your Event 18 final table, including updated chip counts:
- Joe Liberta – 117,000
- Vladamir Dobrovolskii – 180,000
- Joseph Stiers – 330,000
- Chad Wassmuth – 165,000
- Bernie Liberati – 174,000
- Sean Jazayeri – 195,000
- Joe Kuether – 380,000
- Brian Grachik – 148,000
- Alex Rocha – 235,000
- Mark Sandy – 28,000
Level 11 (Blinds 600/1,200/200)
Total Entries: 91
Players Remaining: 24
Chip Average: 79,000
Joe Kuether (Elm Grove, WI)
The last time we checked in on chip counts, Joe Kuether (Elm Grove, WI) was sitting below average with 46,000. He’s trended steadily upward since that moment, and with his most recent won pot, is now over 120,000. Kuether opened the pot for a raise to 2,600 from UTG+2, with Dan Bentley three-betting to 6,000 next to act. Action folded back around to Kuether, who made the call before the two saw a flop.
The dealer fanned out a flop of {8s} {7h} {qc}, with Kuether check-calling Bentley’s 9,000 bet. The action would follow check-check after the {kh} on the turn, as the two headed to the river with a pot already over 35,000. After the {8h} on the river both paired the board and brought hearts, Kuether led for 26,000. It didn’t take long for Bentley to fold, and Joe would pick up the pot and chip up to 123,000.
Bentley still sits with a pretty healthy stack, but not longer sits as the chip leader with 145,000.
Level 11 (Blinds 600/1,200/200)
Total Entries: 91
Players Remaining: 24
Chip Average: 79,000
The Event 18 field is already down to three tables, with the following updated lineups:
Table 1:
- Anthony Derasmo
- P.J. Cha
- Steve Gurney-Goldman
- Ernie Liberati
- Joe Liberta
- John Dibella
- Ido Ashkenazi
- Aditya Prasetyo
Table 2:
- Joel Gola
- A. Nonymous
- Ben Grise
- Mark Sandy
- Vladimir Dobrovolskii
- Sean Jazayeri
- Joe Kuether
- Dan Bentley
Table 3:
- A. Nonymous
- Chad Wassmuth
- Brian Grachik
- Derek Dempsey
- Alex Rocha
- Joby Houck
- Josh Brikis
- Joseph Stiers
Level 10 (Blinds 500/1,000/100)
Total Entries: 91
Players Remaining: 29
Chip Average: 63,000
Much of the focus on the blog today was on the Event 15 final table, but with that now over and Event 17 checked in on, the last thing to do was see what was going on with Event 18. The field is already down to four tables, with a bunch of big names still alive…yet again. Dan Bentley still leads the field with 130,000, but there are a bunch of players that are creeping up towards that number:
Dan Bentley – 130,000
Joseph Stiers – 100,000
Alex Rocha – 98,000
Aditya Prasetyo – 80,000
Joel Gola – 66,000
John Dibella – 58,000
Joe Liberta – 56,000
Joe Kuether – 46,000
Josh Brikis – 32,000
Level 11 (Blinds 600/1,200/200)
Total Entries: 91
Players Remaining: 45
Chip Average: 52,000
The following are the official payouts for Event 18 of the 2015 Borgata Winter Poker Open:
Event 18 – $1,500 + 150 + 500 Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em
January 24, 2015
Total Entries: 91
Total Prize Fund: $132,405
Payouts:
- $46,343
- $25,157
- $15,889
- $11,916
- $9,268
- $7,944
- $6,620
- $5,296
- $3,972
Level 6 (Blinds 200/400/50)
Total Registered: 87
Players Remaining: 54
Dan Bentley
Action started when a player limped from under the gun, inducing a raise from a player in late position to 1,200. Dan Bentley called out of the big blind and the player who limped also tagged along. The two players would check the {Ad}{5d}{7c} flop and the original raiser would fire out a continuation bet of 2,000. Both players would call and check for a second time on the {8c} turn, as the player in late position fired a big bet of 9,000. Bentley opted to check raise all in, as the player from under the gun would fold and the aggressor would call.
Bentley: {Ac}{4c}
Opponent: {As}{5c}
Bentley anxiously stood out of his chair awaiting the river. He was behind but could catch any {6x} or club to win and a {7x},{8x} to chop. The dealer burned one card and peeled off the {6h} and Bentley would improve to a straight, securing the double up as he now sits with over 50,000.
Went crazy. Shoved with A4s on turn. Flop was A57. Turn brought 8, giving me nut flush draw and inside straight. He showed A5.
— Dan Bentley Poker (@dtbpoker) January 24, 2015
Binked the straight. Whew. Back up to 50k, but no bounty. Blinds are 200/400 with 50 ante. 21 minutes.
— Dan Bentley Poker (@dtbpoker) January 24, 2015
Level 1 (50/100)
Total Entries: 45
One of the things that players traveling for the WPT Championships held at the Borgata asked about after the last September WPT series was the addition of “bigger” tournaments near the Championship, giving players a better “value” for making the trip.
The Borgata’s answered the call, putting a $1,500 event on the schedule.
That would have been good enough, but the Borgata did one better, adding a $500 Purple Chip bounty to the structure, awarding every player who scores a knockout a pretty nice reward.
This tournament will see players start with 20,000 in tournament chips, with levels 1-10 lasting 50 minutes and increasing to an hour in length moving forward.
This tournament will also see the late registration period remain open through Level 6, giving players plenty of time to get into the action.
Players won’t have the option of unlimited re-entry, as only one re-entry is allowed per player.
We expect to see some big names in the Event Center for this $500 Purple Chip bounty, so we will post some “notable” names when the tournament tables start to fill up.
While last weekend was technically “championship weekend” in the NFL as the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots punched their tickets to the Super Bowl, this is championship weekend here at the Borgata, as the $3,000,000 GTD WPT WPO Championship starts tomorrow.
But, before the excitement and bright lights of the World Poker Tour takes center stage, one of the biggest days on the WPO schedule is going to see three players take home WPO titles and a “live streamed” Final Table play down to a $1,000,000 GTD Event 15 champion.
That “live stream” will begin at 3 PM and the build up to that Final Table will follow the same structure that we did for the $2,000,000 GTD Event 1 earlier in the series, as we’ll introduce the players, the commentators and set the stage with everything you need to know to get you prepared for another tremendous broadcast.
But, there is even more action on the WPO docket today, as the $100,000 GTD ‘Saturday Series’ makes it’s weekend return and will begin play at 11 AM.
Following that will be the Day 2 restart of the $150,000 GTD $1,000 Six Max Event 16, which will start at 12 PM, with player chip counts and table redraws being posted to the blog shortly.
Lastly, we have one of the newest additions to the WPO schedule, as the $1,500 + $500 Purple Chip Bounty Event 18 will also begin at 12 PM.
“Bounty” events always draw a big crowd and even bigger action, so a $500 reward for every knockout could make this one of the more exciting events of the series in terms of pure “gamble”.
There are also two WPT WPO Championship qualifiers running throughout the day, with those starting at 4 PM and 7 PM, boasting $750 (1 in 5) and $400 (1 in 10) buy-ins respectfully.
Information about all the events will be posted throughout the early afternoon, with the main focus of the early blog coverage on the build up to the $1,000,000 GTD Event 15 “live streaming” Final Table, which will headline this busy Winter Poker Open Saturday.