Level 3 (Blinds 75/150)
Total Day 1B Entries: 370
Patti Haggerty (Brigantine, NJ)
The live streaming of this Event 1 final table is added incentive for players to make a deep run, as the experience of playing in front of the cameras is once in a lifetime for many in the field. When you’ve reached that point already though, it likely fuels the fire to capture that moment once again.
Patti Haggerty (Brigantine, NJ) was one of the players to grab a lot of attention during the inaugural live streamed final table last September, being the lone female of the group. Haggerty scored a few knockouts to start the afternoon, and seemed to be one of the favorites at the number of players lessened. Things began to shift though as day turned into night, and Patti would find herself exiting in fourth place, earning the largest score of her tournament career ($118,981).
Patti is off to a slow start this flight, sitting under the starting stack as players head into the third level of the evening. Haggerty is just one of the numerous notables that make up this Day 1B field, joining the likes of Antonio Payne, Jane Hitchcock, Eric Rivkin, Roman Valerstein, Tony Sinishtaj, Tyler Patterson, Mohammad Farah, Sam Taylor, Brian O’Donoghue, Justin Liberto, Chris Csik, and Dean Chen.
Level 15 (1,500/3,000/400)
Total Entries: 693
Players Remaining: 170
Mike Ackrish (Staten Island, NY)
The action was picked up on an outer table with two players limping in early position, including Mike Ackrish (Staten Island, NY).
The rest of the table would fold to an unknown player on the button who would move all-in for just over 25,000.
The player next to act in the small blind, another unknown, would then re-shove for just over 65,000.
The big blind would fold and Ackrish, who was the first limper in to the pot, would then call the all-in bet for slightly less, as he only had 55,000 chips remaining.
The other limper would fold and the table then found out how strong Ackrish was as he turned over {As}{Ad} with the unknown players needed help as they held {Kc}{Qs} and {Ah}{Qh} respectfully.
The board would run out {5h}{Js}{9d}{Kh}{4c} and Ackrish would be completing a near triple up, after crippling one player and eliminating another and is now sitting with just over 125,000 with less than two levels remaining in Day 1A.
Level 15 (1,500/3,000/400)
Total Entries: 693
Players Remaining: 180
Jim Orosz Leads the Field
As blinds escalate we are noticing more players crossing the 100,000 chip mark, however hiding out on table 2 is Jim Orosz who is currently sitting on a mountain of chips worth well over 340,000. Here is a look at how some of his competition stacks up:
Matthew Wantman – 190,000
Ralph Massey – 145,000
Norm Michalek – 100,000
Chris Tryba – 85,000
Jamie Kerstetter – 80,000
Kevin Calenzo – 75,000
Mark Sykes – 60,000
Dan Wach – 55,000
Mike Nye – 50,000
Alex Rocha – 35,000
Level 14 (1,200/2,400/300)
Total Entries: 693
Players Remaining: 220
Abraham Korotki (Bethany Bch, DE)
As we moved through the tournament area, the tournament clock was moving the field into Level 14 and we noticed something we’ve become very accustomed to in massive Borgata events, Abraham Korotki (Bethany Beach, DE) leading the field with a massive chip stack in front of him.
Korotki is currently sitting near the 250,000 chip mark and looks to be one of, if not the biggest stack in the room with just under three levels left to play in Day 1A of the Winter Poker Open $2,000,000 GTD Event 1.
Even when Korotki isn’t sitting with a big stack, he’s still leading any Borgata tournament field though, as Korotki recently won his 6th Borgata Poker title at last month’s Deep Stacks Challenge, solidifying himself as the “winningest” Borgata tournament player ever.
Add on just over $1,300,000 in live tournament earnings and Korotki might have one of the best poker resumes we will see throughout this entire series, as he also has a WSOP Circuit Championship title to his name, as well as numerous Final Tables, including a 6th place finish in the 2014 WPT World Championship.
Korotki will look to win a Borgata title in his third straight Borgata series after winning his 5th trophy during the Fall Poker Open and seems poised to bag up a top stack in this starting flight, which will put himself in a good position to do so here at the Winter Poker Open.
Level 13 (1,000/2,000/300)
Total Entries: 693
Players Remaining: 230
Jasper Chan (New York, NY)
The action was picked up on an outer table with Jasper Chan (New York, NY) leading out for an over pot sized bet of 45,000 on a board of {9c}{5d}{Ac}.
Jasper’s opponent, who had just over 70,000 left in front of him, would then pile, literally, in his entire chip stack, with the majority of his chips cascading to the felt in an uncountable pile.
Jasper had the unknown player well covered and would throw in a handful of blue chips to signify a call and there was a slight moment of awkwardness as neither player wanted to reveal their hand.
Jasper would show first, tabling {Ks}{Kd} and would be poised to take down the massive pot as his opponent would turn over {3c}{3s}.
The entire table gasped, as the unknown player, who was one of the bigger stacks in the room, was now down to just two outs to save his tournament life after his “bluff” went wrong.
The turn and river would brick out and Jasper would be completing the knockout and would begin stacking up his massive new chip stack after a gift from the unknown player.
Jasper is now sitting with well over 200,000 with just over an hour and a half remaining in Day 1A.
Level 13 (1,000/2,000/300)
Total Entries: 693
Players Remaining: 280
Kevin Grabel (Southampton, PA)
Over the last year or so, there has been a movement across the local live tournament scene and that movement has been @TeamKittenPoker.
Who or what the heck is Team Kitten Poker? A group of a dozen young grinders from both Pennsylvania and New Jersey who have taken a liking to making deep runs in some of the biggest events the local tournament scene has to offer with close to $500,000 in total team earnings over the last calendar year.
Kevin Grabel (Southampton, PA) was the latest Team Kitten pro to make a deep run at the Borgata, when he made the “live streamed” Final Table of the opening Event of the Borgata Poker Open in September, bowing out in 7th place for just over $50,000.
The rest of the team has been pulling their weight though, as Ray Ross (Philadelphia, PA), who is still alive in the Day 1A field, Final Tabled a massive Parx Big Stax 300 event, finishing in 8th place for just under $10,000 while Mike Bees (Medford, NJ), who busted earlier today and is primarily a non-Hold’em player, finished on the podium of a Omaha H/L event at the WSOP last summer, for just under $120,000.
The remaining members have yet to be spotted here at the Winter Poker Open and we are assuming that most of them are grinding the online GSSS II schedule, as they have taken their kitten powers online over the last few months to just increase their local poker marketshare.
Grabel is carrying the live torch here today though, as he is currently sitting near the 125,000 chip mark, looking like one of the bigger stacks in the room as players return from the post-Level 12 break.
Level 11 (600/1,200/200)
Total Entries: 693
Players Remaining: 318
Kerstetter Doubles
More action has unfolded at the table of Michael Dermer, but this time it is Party Poker’s Jamie Kerstetter who is reaping the benefits. Kerstetter opened the action from late position and Dermer once again tagged along from the blinds.
The dealer spread the {9h}{2c}{8c} flop and Dermer would check call a bet of 4,200 from Kerstetter. The turn was the {10s} and Dermer would again check call a bet from Kerstetter, this time to the tune of 9,500.
The river was the {3s} and Dermer quickly announced he was all in. Kerstetter would think about it briefly before calling all in.
“You have it” said Dermer as he tabled {Ks}{9s}.
Kerstetter quickly flipped over {Ah}{Ac} and doubled up to over 85,000 in chips.
The players are also now on their final break of the night, as Borgata’s Tab Datcheau announced they will be returning to play the final 4 levels of the night.
Level 1 (25/50)
With Day 1A continuing to play in front the Event Center, the attention now turns back to the vacant portion of the room, as players have begun to repopulate the back tournament area, with the Day 1B flight ready to kick off in just a few minutes.
This starting flight will again start players with 20,000 in chips and players will play 16 levels in this session, as is the case with all Day 1’s, before bagging chips for Day 2.
Levels in Day 1 will last 30 minutes in length.
Late registration and re-entry will again be allowed through the completion of Level 9 or after the third break of the day.
This is just the second of four starting flights, as Day 1C and 1D will begin tomorrow at 10 AM and 6 PM respectfully.
This event is also one of the “live streamed” events in the Winter Poker Open, as the Final Table of Event 1 will be live streamed on YouTube, much like the opening event of the WPT BPO was in September.
Players are also reminded, that while there are four starting flights for this event, this is NOT a best stack forward event. Meaning that if you bag chips and then play a subsequent Day 1 session, those previously bagged chips will be forfeited.
As the Day 1B tournament tables continue to fill up, we will bring you updates on notable players in the field with our main focus being on the last few levels of the Day 1A flight.
Level 12 (800/1,600/200)
Total Entries: 693
Players Remaining: 320
Alex Muscarella (Bronx, NY) is leading the way in Day 1A of the $2,000,000 GTD Event 1.
As the tournament field heads in to Level 12, the Day 1A field has finally been cut down to less than half of the total entrants that started the day, meaning we are finally ready for our first list of big and notable chip stacks.
One player that stood out among the still massive crowd was Alex Muscarella (Bronx, NY) who looks to be the chip leader of Day 1A, as he is sitting just under the 200,000 chip mark.
Muscarella, who hasn’t had a live rated tournament score since the 2013 World Series of Poker and hasn’t recorded a Borgata cash since 2009 has over $110,000 in live tournament earnings to his name and if this is a “return” to poker for the young New Yorker, he is certainly coming back with vengeance.
The only other players we saw close to Muscarella were Mauricio DaSilva (Long Branch, NJ) who is sitting with close to 180,000 and the aforementioned Michael Dermer, who has close to 170,000.
There are plenty of players near the 100,000 chip mark including Andrew Klein, Norm Michalek, Abraham Korotki and Kevin Grabel.
Muscarella will look to continue to pace this massive Event 1 field, with just over two hours of play remaining in this Day 1A flight.
Level 11 (600/1,200/200)
Total Entries: 693
Players Remaining: 328
Michael Dermer is All Smiles
If you are walking through the Event Center and hear a loud burst of laughter there is a very good chance it is coming from Michael Dermer’s table which also happens to be the same table as Jamie Kerstetter, Kevin Calenzo, and Mark Sykes. The group has been full of laughs with each player needling each other to no avail.
It would appear as if Dermer is getting the best of the bunch though as he currently sits with well over 175,000 and very well may be the biggest stack in the room.
In the latest hand Kerstetter opened from the hi-jack to 2,500 and would be called by the cut-off, the small blind, and of course, Michael Dermer in the big blind.
The flop brought the {8c}{5c}{2d} and the small blind quickly checked. Dermer grabbed a handful of chips and tossed in a bet of 5,200. The action folded all the way around and Dermer would rake in the pot.
“You see, you have to believe me sometimes that I have a big hand. Sometimes I HAVE to have a big hand,” Dermer said as he raised his cards up off the table.
“I didn’t have a big hand so I guess it makes sense that you have one” Kerstetter said with a smile.
Dermer tabled the {Kh}{6d} showing the table that he was bluffing and they all burst into laughter as he quickly turned around to us with a huge smile.