Event 5 (Day 1)
Level 18 (Limits 6,000/12,000)
Total Entries: 80
Players Remaining: 9
It was originally reported both last night and this morning that the Event 5 HORSE Final Table would return to play down to a champion at 12 PM, but we are now learning that players and staff decided to come back later today.
The new start time is 2 PM giving players a few additional hours to relax before they return to play.
A list of the remaining players and their chip counts, as well as the payouts for the Final Table are listed below:
- Behrooz Shahrzad – 300,000
- Jean Gaspard – 390,000
- Greg Weyer – 30,000
- Helen Ellis – 80,000
- Bob Camano – 73,000
- Kenneth Aldridge – 290,000
- Jeff Jerome – 73,000
- William Munley – 130,000
- Mark Wiliczek – 180,000
Final Table payouts:
- $12,222
- $6,635
- $4,190
- $3,143
- $2,444
- $2,095
- $1,746
- $1,397
- $1,048
Again, these nine players will reconvene at 2 PM in the Event Center to player down to an Event 5 Champion.
Weekends are always busy here at the Borgata, but during Poker Opens, weekends are even busier as many “weekend” warriors come to the preeminent East Coast poker destination for a chance to make a big score, while playing around their busy work or family schedules.
The first weekend of the Winter Poker Open is no different, as there is a huge slate of tournaments, offering a little bit of everything for players, with the Event 6 $100,000 GTD “Saturday Series” taking center stage.
This guaranteed one day tournament usually lasts into the early morning hours of Sunday, but for players making it that deep, it’s well worth the lack of sleep as a simple $400 buy-in can be turned into a massive score.
This is always one of the most well attended tournaments regardless of whether it’s a Borgata Poker Open month or not, with the $100,000 Guaranteed prize pool rarely lasting longer than a few levels and usually doubling in size.
The other tournament starting today in the Event Center is the third “mix” event of the series as the Event 7 $560 PLO/ NLH Six Max tournament will kick off at 4 PM.
This is another tournament that always draws well, as it gives players a chance to play two of the most high action games in poker over the course of a two-day structure.
Rounding out an already busy day are the two tournaments resuming play at 12 PM.
As both the remaining Event 4 Big Stack NLH field and the Event 5 HORSE field are coming back to crown a champion here today.
Event 4 will return with ten eliminations separating that field from the money and the HORSE event will return with a Final Table of nine players, all of which have already locked up a score.
We will be awarding three Winter Poker Open trophies here today, so don’t miss a second of the action by following along with the WPO blog as we will bring you live updates from every event from start to finish.
Level 18 (Limits 6,000/12,000)
Total Entries: 80
Players Remaining: 9
The bubble didn’t last long in Event 5, with Bruce Rosen departing just moments after Chris Reslock. Those remaining are now in the money, with everyone guaranteed at least $1,048. There is only ten minutes left in this level, which will also be the end of the day for these players. The bagging process will begin once the final hand is dealt, and action will resume tomorrow at 12:00pm. There will not be a re-draw going into Day 2, so here is the lineup (with chip counts):
- Behrooz Shahrzad – 300,000
- Jean Gaspard – 390,000
- Greg Weyer – 30,000
- Helen Ellis – 80,000
- Bob Camano – 73,000
- Kenneth Aldridge – 290,000
- Jeff Jerome – 73,000
- William Munley – 130,000
- Mark Wiliczek – 180,000
Level 18 (Limit 6,000/12,000)
Total Entries: 80
Players Remaining: 10
The rapid paced H.O.R.S.E. field is already on the bubble, as Chris Reslock leaves the field in 11th place, which unofrtunately for him doesn’t collect any prize money. The money doesn’t start until the final table is reached, which is nine handed in this event (because of the stud games). Here are the seating assignments for the two tables that remain, with chip counts to follow once the final table is set:
Table 1:
- Mark Wiliczek
- Bruce Rosen
- Helen Ellis
- Bob Camano
- Behrooz Shahrzad
Table 2:
- Greg Weyer
- Jean Gaspard
- Jeff Jerome
- William Munley
- Kenneth Aldridge
Level 15 (Limits 4,000/8,000)
Total Entries: 80
Players Remaining: 19
Roland Israelashvili (Forest Hills, NY)
The Event 5 field knows that the tournament will not be ending today (it’s scheduled for two days), but you wouldn’t know that with the way the players are busting. Just like we mentioned last night, these limit events don’t see many eliminations early, but they begin to drop at a rapid pace once the limits grow large. We are down to three tables in the “entrance” portion of the Event Center, with a handful of notables still alive. Leading the way is well known professional Roland Israelashvili (Forest Hills, NY), but Event 3 winner David Thurston (Fort Wayne, IN) is still alive, and sitting with a healthy stack.
Here are some of the notable stacks still remaining:
Roland Israelashvili – 230,000
David Thurston – 130,000
Helen Ellis – 100,000
Kenneth Aldridge – 80,000
William Munley – 60,000
Chris Reslock – 50,000
Sara Wasch – 39,000
Mark Giannone – 26,000
Level 13 (Limits 1,500/3,000)
Total Entries: 80
Players Remaining: 53
With so many tournaments running simultaneously in the Event Center, an event may go a short while without reference or coverage…with the full blogging team in the room, that’s never going to happen. While the most recent thing to note about Event 5 ($450 H.O.R.S.E.) is that players are on dinner, there are other pieces of information we can catch you up on:
Total Entries: 80
Players Remaining: 51
Level Returning: 13 (Limits 1,500/3,000)
Total Prize Fund: $34,920
Payouts:
- $12,222
- $6,635
- $4,190
- $3,143
- $2,444
- $2,095
- $1,746
- $1,397
- $1,048
Level 1 (50/100)
Yesterday we saw not only the first “no-Hold’em” event of the series take place, but we also saw the Event 3 Omaha/Stud 8B tournament crown the first champion of the Borgata Winter Poker Open.
This “mix” event won’t be decided in one day, as the Event 5 $500 HORSE tournament will be played over two days.
This tournament, that does not allow for re-entries, will give players a 20,000 chip starting stack with late registrants able to join the action through Level 6.
Each level of player on Day 1 will last 30 minutes, with levels increasing to 40 minutes on Day 2.
Day 1 will play until 16 players remain or 2 AM which ever happens last.
Live updates will keep you posted on all on the necessary information pertaining to Event 5 through the early levels, with the main focus on the blog being on Event 2 and the upcoming $2,000,000 GTD live streaming Final Table.
Early this morning, the $2,000,000 GTD Event 1 field was finally narrowed down to it’s final ten players, making up a group that will be playing the biggest tournament of their careers on a “live stream” an addition to the Borgata Poker Open structure that was rolled out with much excitement and success during the last WPT stop in September.
That first live streamed Final Table had a few more familiar faces than this one, as nearly every player coming back in Event 1 will be making the biggest tournament scores of their career, regardless of hour they finish at the Final Table.
That’s the beauty of an event of this magnitude though and why the live stream was an ingenious idea put together by the not only the Borgata Poker team, but the marketing team as well.
It’s an amazing way to publicize the enormity of this event and also promote players that will be making a life changing score, with one player looking to put himself on the top of the poker world when it’s all said and done.
That live stream will start at 3 PM and we will be previewing the players and setting the stage for our “main main event” up until that time, but until then, it is going to be another busy day here in the Event Center, as three other “main” events will be running with the first starting in under an hour.
That is the two-day $560 Big Stack NLH Event 4, which will kick off at 11 AM.
Next on the docket, will be Day 2 of the $100 Black Chip Bounty event that ended last night in the Poker Room.
Updates from that event yesterday were few and far between, as the field was separated from the action in the Event Center, but with the field returning just a few spots from the money, live updates will be plentiful as we will be crowning a bounty champion here today.
Lastly, is the next “mix” event on the schedule, the first was won by David Thurston last night, is the $500 HORSE Event 5, starting at 1 PM.
This is also a two-day event, meaning that both Event 4 and 5 will not be crowning a champion today.
The Winter Poker Open blog will update you on all the action, so make sure you are following along so you don’t miss a beat of the action.