Event 3
It’s been an exciting first few days of the Borgata Winter Poker Open, with three titles already being awarded.
The first was on Thursday, when David Thurston (Fort Wayne, IN) won his first non-Hold’em event of his career, taking down the Event 3 Omaha H/L event for just under $15,000.
Next up was the $2,000,000 GTD Event 1, which was “live streamed” yesterday and saw David Hom (Brooklyn, NY) make the biggest tournament score of his life and take home just under $340,000 for the victory.
The third and final trophy awarded so far, was for the Event 2 $100 Black Chip Bounty, which was won by Thai Ha (Factoryville, PA), taking home $43,359.
The complete results from all three completed events can be found by clicking the above links.
Level 25 (Limit 25,000/50,000)
Total Entries: 138
Players Remaining: 1
David Thurston (Fort Wayne, IN) Event 3 Champion ($14,054)
The players sitting at the Event 3 final table had a lot of competition in terms of attention as Event 1 played down to the live streamed final table, but all of the focus has now shifted to the “non-hold’em” event. The tournament attracted 138 total entries, which is a very impressive number, considering this format event hasn’t been offered many times in the past. We saw all of the “Omaha-lics” that are loyal to the game, including Barry Levy, Glen Engelbert, and Pete Ippolito. Any fixed limit event is going to move slowly when the blinds are manageable, but once the forced bets grew larger and larger, the field shrunk at a very rapid pace. The field reached the money around 11:00pm, with notables such as the aforementioned Pete Ippolito (16th place), Glen Engelbert (14th place), and James Bucci ($820) seeing a return on their investment.
The final table assembled just after 3:45am, and included some players that have seen a lot of success in these “mixed event.” Jermaine Reid (Bronx, NY) has a Borgata Poker Trophy to his name in a PLO8 event, while Sal Pipitone has a Omaha title to his name from Delaware Park. Those players, along with the others at the final table, would end up taking a back seat to David Thurston (Fort Wayne, IN). When play reached three-handed, Thurston held over 85% of the chips in front of him, and it was only a matter of time before the full time poker player earned himself the win. This may not be Thurston’s largest cash of his career ($38,550 from 2008 Mid American Poker Classic $2,000 Main Event), but it’s his first in a non-no limit hold’em event. A pretty impressive score for a player who seemingly devotes most of his time and effort to NLH. Zack Spicer (Georgetown, DE) had a serious task during heads up play, sitting down to a 15:1 chip deficit, but he left with his head held high (earning the largest score of his tournament career). Here is the final table breakdown, including what each player earned for their finish:
- David Thurston (Fort Wayne, IN) $14,504
- Zack Spicer (Georgetown, DE) $7,730
- Joel Gumbiner (Staten Island, NY) $4,451
- Tim Dalessandro (Boothwyn, PA) $3,748
- Salah Levy (Boca Raton, FL) $2,811
- Andrew Chapman (Groton, CT) $2,343
- Behrooz Shahrzad (Hollywood, MD) $1,874
- Jermain Reid (Bronx, NY) $1,404
- Sal Pipitone (Elmwood Park, NY) $1,054
Level 24 (Limits 20,000/40,000)
Total Entries: 138
Players Remaining: 3
While watching the live streamed final table bubble, a watchful eye is also on the final table of Event 3. Players are now three handed, and only a few hours away from the first awarded trophy of the series. Here are the up to the minute chip counts:
- Joel Gumbiner – 420,000
- David Thurston – 980,000
- Zack Spicer – 700,000
Level 22 (Limits 10,000/20,000)
Total Entries: 138
Players Remaining: 6
The railbirds may be over by Event 1, but the Event 3 final table is moving along towards a winner. The blinds are growing higher, but the stacks are super deep in this fixed limit event. It’s anyone’s guess whether this tournament will end first, or the live stream final table will be reached, with players at all the tables beginning to feel the effects of a long day. Here are the updated chip counts from the final table:
- Joel Gumbiner – 220,000
- David Thurston – 400,000
- Tim Dalessandro – 480,000
- “Poppa” Levy – 260,000
- Zack Spicer – 450,000
- Andrew Chapman – 220,000
Level 21 (Limits 15,000/30,000)
Total Entries: 138
Players Remaining: 9
The following players have cashed in Event 3 for the respective amounts listed:
10. James Konsky (Bellmore, NY) $937
11. Daniel Hofer (Ossining, NY) $937
12. Gerald Pinsker (Staten Island, NY) $937
13. James Bucci (Hollywood, MD) $820
14. Glenn Engelbert (Erial, NJ) $820
15. Jeffrey Bento (Elkridge, MD) $820
16. Peter Ippolito (East Meadow, NY) $703
17. Juan Mendoza (Wilmington, NC) $703
18. Joseph Villella (Oceanside, NY) $703
We have our first final table of the 2015 Borgata Winter Poker Open, as Event 3 is down to the official final table of nine. There are some notable names still remaining, including Jermaine Reid (Bronx, NY), who won the $350 PLO Hi/Lo event during the 2014 Borgata Summer Poker Open. Here are how the players stand as they battle for the first trophy of the series:
- Joel Gumbiner – 250,000
- David Thurston – 106,000
- Sal Pippitone – 53,000
- Tim Dalessandro – 280,000
- Jermaine Reid – 260,000
- “Poppa” Levy – 210,000
- Zack Spicer – 310,000
- Behrooz Shahrzad – 160,000
- Andrew Chapman – 310,000
The first trophy of the series will be awarded at some point this evening (morning), as Event 3 ($350 + 50 Omaha/Stud 8B) is already down to it’s final three tables. The first mixed event of the series attracted 138 entries and boasts a prize pool of over $46,000. The trophy will come along with $14,054 in first place money, a very solid number for this event. Here are the official Event 3 payouts:
Borgata Winter Poker Open
Event 3 ($350 + 50 Omaha/Stud 8B)
January 15, 2015
Number Of Entries: 138
Prize Fund: $46,851
Payouts:
- $14,054
- $7,730
- $4,451
- $3,748
- $2,811
- $2,343
- $1,874
- $1,406
- $1,054
10-12. $937
13-15. $820
16-18. $703
Play is back underway in both Event 1 and Event 2, with play getting back underway in the 3rd event momentarily.
There are three “main” events running in both the Poker Room and Event Center and all of them are currently on dinner break, meaning for the first time today, there will be an extended break in the action.
Chip counts and leaders from the $2,000,000 GTD Event 1 will be posted shortly, but there were a few players from the Poker Room who posted their chip counts from Event 2, they are listed below:
75k on dinner coming back to bb 1200
— Chris Leong (@ChrisLeongPoker) January 16, 2015
$93K at dinner in the bounty #bwpo
— Michael Melkersen (@melkersen) January 16, 2015
Bled down to about 150k at dinner. Going back to my room to get some gauze #BWPO
— Chris Kusha (@TooBusyWINNING) January 16, 2015
Both Event 1 and 2 will not be concluding tonight, but the Omaha/Stud 8B Event 3 will be playing down to a victor, meaning the first piece of Winter Poker Open hardware will be handed out over the next few hours.
Joe Palma (Philadelphia, PA)
After checking in on Event 2 in the Poker Room, we stopped in to see how the Event 3 Omaha/Stud 8B field is looking and there are close to 20 tables running, with just under 150 total entrants, with a level or so left in the late registration period.
There are a few notables in the field, including Mike Linster and Omaha specialist and @TeamKittenPoker team member Mike Bees, but our focus so far in this event is on Joe Palma (Philadelphia, PA) who is coming off back-to-back local series with deep runs in “mix game” events.
In November, Palma Final Tabled the Pot Limit Omaha event, finishin 7th for just over $1,000 and during the Parx Big Stax VIII series just a month earlier, Palma won the NLH/PLO mix event for just over $6,500.
Parx would be considered Palma’s “home casino”, where the majority of his $250,000 career live earnings have been won.
Palma will certainly have the NLH/PLO event on the Winter Poker Open schedule circled, but as of now, he’s looking to get back to the Final Table here at the Borgata and claim the first piece of WPO hardware of the series.
Updates of Event 3 will continue throughout the night, with in-depth coverage starting when the field nears the money.