Event 5
Level 19 (Limits 8,000/16,000)
Total Entries: 80
Players Remaining: 7
Jeff Jerome (Philadelphia, PA)
The action was picked up with Jeff Jerome (Philadelphia, PA) saying, “Just what I wanted to do, put all my chips in the middle against the best player at the table in Razz.”
The sarcasm was evident, but it wouldn’t stop Jerome from calling enough bets to put himself all-in on fifth street, with Gaspard, making the final bet blind before turning over {6d}{7s}{As}{8s} and getting dealt the {2h} and the {4d}.
Jerome would then be drawing dead, as he held {6s}{Qd}{8d}{Ah}{5c}{10h} with the final card unable to save his tournament life.
Jerome would must just under $1,400 and it was no surprise to see him at this HORSE Final Table as he has made close to two dozen limit and mix event Final Tables throughout his career, including multiple victories and has just under $50,000 in live tournament earnings to boot.
Jean Gaspard doesn’t look like he’s going to be taking it easy on this extremely friendly Final Table, as he’s already increased his chip stack to over the 600,000 mark and has notched two eliminations already today.
Level 19 (Limits 8,000/16,000)
Total Entries: 80
Players Remaining: 8
Greg Weyer
We’ve lost our first player and it was the shortest stacked player returning from yesterday as Greg Weyer was just sent to the rail in 9th place when he lost a flip during the Hold’em portion of player to big stack Jean Gaspard.
Gaspard would open the action with a raise and Weyer would then three-bet leaving himself with less than a full bet behind.
Gaspard would pile it in and Weyer would call, turning over {Kc}{Js}, an even race against Gaspard’s {7h}{7s}.
The board would brick out and Gaspard would increase his dominate chip lead on this Final Table as Weyer would graciously exit the Event Center, with a $1,048 score to boot.
The remaining players are all now guaranteed at least triple their initial investment, as the next player eliminated will make just under $1,500.
Gaspard is now sitting with just under 450,000.
Level 18 (Limits 6,000/12,000)
Total Entries: 80
Players Remaining: 9
There are going to be three Borgata Winter Poker Open trophies awarded today and the first will very likely be the Event 5 HORSE title, as we are down to our final nine players and are about to start Day 2 of play.
We have plenty of interesting story lines to follow, with Helen Ellis being first female player to make a WPO Final Table this series and WPT regular Jean Gaspard sitting with the biggest stack coming into Day 2.
All of those players have locked up a cash in this event and below are the Final Table seating assignments as well as the remaining payouts:
- 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
The Event 5 Final Table payouts:
- $12,222
- $6,635
- $4,190
- $3,143
- $2,444
- $2,095
- $1,746
- $1,397
- $1,048
Live updates will cover every elimination until an Event 5 HORSE Champion is crowned.
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.