Level 11 (600/1,200/200)
Total Entries: 693
Players Remaining: 340
Michael Melkerson (New Market, VA)
We mentioned Dan DiZenzo and his run at September’s WPT BPO as a potential leader of our “fictional” BPO leader board and if we were to apply that same exercise to November’s Fall Poker Open, Michael Melkerson (New Market, VA) would certainly have claim to that spot through the FPO.
In the span of a week, Melkerson cashed in four events, making Day 2 in both the $560 Deep Stack Event 4 and the $100,000 GTD Event 8.
He missed out on the Final Table of the Deep Stack event, bowing out in 11th, but he wouldn’t let that opportunity slip in his next two deep runs, going back-to-back in both Omaha events, winning the PLO/NLH Mix Event 10 and then finishing in 4th place in the PLO Deep Stacked Event 12.
Those four scores combined for just over $10,000 in winnings for Melkerson, not a bad haul for a week of play, but it’s been a while since Melkerson had a “big” score at the Borgata.
His biggest came in 2013, during a $1,000 Deep Stack Double Play event, which he won for just over $86,000 and that to 2012 Summer Poker Open runner up finish and another Summer Poker Open 4th place finish in the Championship Event and Melkerson has just under $300,000 in career lifetime earnings.
Melkerson who is coming off his best finish, in terms of prize money, in over a year and a half, as he just Final Tabled and finished 6th for just over $11,300 at the Sands Deep Stack Extravaganza Main Event looks poised for another good Borgata series and will certainly be a player to watch in every event he plays.
Stairway to Heaven
As the 11:00am field in Day 1A continues to shrink, tournament staff has now started to prep the Event Center for the second flight of the day.
Day 1B will be kicking off here within the hour and with just shy of 700 players in Day 1A, we are expecting another big turn out for 1B. If you cannot make it here tonight, you will still have two shots to play with both Day 1C and 1D taking place tomorrow.
Be sure to continue to follow along with all of the updates here at https://winterpokeropen.blog.theborgata.com/ and if you’re playing Use #BorgataPoker or #WinterPokerOpen in your tweets and you could see your updates on the big screen in the Event Center. Good luck to all of our players!
Level 10 (500/1,000/100)
Total Entries: 693
Players Remaining: 362
Vincent Roazzi
As the Day 1A flight of Event 1 continues down the stretch, tournament staff is breaking tables left and right. The field is shrinking at a rapid pace, and leading the remaining 362 players is Vincent Roazzi.
Roazzi is no stranger to Borgata as he has cashed in 4 events here, with his biggest score being a 6th place finish in a mini series event for over $10,000. Roazzi continues to find success off the felt as he is an author to “The Spirituality of Success”.
Roazzi appears to be one of the only players in the room to have cracked the 100,000 chip mark as he now sits with well over 150,000.
Level 10 (500/1,000/100)
Total Entries: 693
Players Remaining: 365
Al Borges (Taunton, MA)
The action was picked up at a central table on a board of {4c}{9c}{Qs}{Qh} with Al Borges (Taunton, MA) and Samuel Taylor checking to an unknown player who would fire out a bet of 1,600.
Borges would then raise to 4,500 before Taylor would three-bet to 9,000 even.
The unknown player would get out of the way and Borges would immediately push his remaining stack forward and Taylor would almost just as quickly call.
Taylor would have Borges slightly covered and seemed poised to complete the knockout and take in a massive 100,000 chip pot, as he held {4s}{4d} besting Borges’ {Qd}{Jd}.
Taylor sat nervously as the river card was dealt and Borges’ massage that he was enjoying was momentarily stopped, until the {9d} came on the river, giving Borges a superior full house and the pot.
Taylor could only shake his head as he cut out the necessary chips to make the call and was crippled, left with a little under 5,000 chips.
On the other hand, Borges is now sitting near the 100,000 chip mark and can really enjoy his massage as he is now one of the bigger chip stacks in the room mid-way through Level 10 of Event 1 of the Winter Poker Open.
Level 10 (500/1,000/100)
Total Entries: 693
Players Remaining: 370
The Day 1A field is now back from break and this starting flight’s player count has been frozen at 693 players, as the late registration and re-entry period has officially closed.
As it stands now, there are just over 350 players remaining and with seven levels remaining in this Day 1A session, we expect to see the majority of those players get sent to the rail before we reach the end of play, after the completion of Level 16.
Since we have a finalized player count, we are ready to bring you a list of the big stacks in the room, which will be posted shortly.
Level 9 (400/800/75)
Total Entries: 680
As the tournament clock winds down, bringing the Day 1A field to the end of Level 9, we are just moments away from the third break of the day and the end of the late registration/re-entry period.
When players return, the Day 1A field will be frozen and a finalized number of entrants for the first starting flight of the $2,000,000 Event 1 will be posted and reported.
When play resumes we will also be highlighting some big stacks in the room and continue to bring you information about notable players in the field.
Level 9 (400/800/75)
Total Entries: 640
The tournament field is now moving to Level 9, meaning there is only one level left to late register or re-enter into Day 1A of Event 1.
Don’t worry if you aren’t able to make it before this late registration period ends, as there are still three more starting flights for the $2,000,000 GTD Event 1.
Notable players continue to show their faces, some buying in for the first time over the last few levels and those players will continue to be showcased on the blog throughout Day 1A.
Level 8 (300/600/75)
Total Entries: 620
Amanda Musumeci Triples Back Over Starting Stack
With large field tournaments such as Event 1, there is never a shortage of action. If you look around the room you are almost always guaranteed to see a player packing their belongings and heading out of the door. Such seemed to be the fate for poker pro Amanda Musumeci, but the cards seemed to have other ideas.
Three players found all of their chips into the middle as Amanda Musumeci slid her last 6,200 into the middle from under the gun. The player under the gun +2 made the call, only to see the player on his immediate left push all in for an additional 8,075. He made the call and the three hands were tabled.
Musumeci: {8c}{8s}
UTG+1: {Kc}{Qh}
UTG+2: {Qc}{Qs}
The dealer spread the {2h}{As}{Kd} flop and things seemed bleak for the two ladies that were all in. The {Js} would provide the 2nd all in player with a few outs to a chop but Musumeci would need to catch one of two remaining {8x} in the deck to survive.
Sure enough the dealer peeled off the {8h} on the river and Musumeci would more than triple up, as she now sits with over 20,000 in chips.
Level 8 (300/600/75)
Total Entries: 620
Je Wook Oh (Fresh Meadows, NY)
So often during these massive guaranteed events, we see relative “newcomers” make their first big tournament score at the Borgata, after notching previous “smaller” scores at various local casinos.
Je Wook Oh (Fresh Meadows, NY) is one of those players here today, but his “smaller” scores aren’t that small as he has close to $300,000 in live tournament earnings, thanks to a recent 2nd place finish at the Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge in December, where he made just over $60,000.
Four of five of Oh’s biggest scores are from Foxwoods, but he also has a 7th place finish in the Borgata Spring Poker Open Championship event from 2014, good for just under $40,000.
But, aside from that result, nearly all of his 40 live rated cashes have come outside the Borgata Poker Room, meaning he is still waiting for his “breakthrough” Borgata score.
Oh nearly had it, as he made a deep run in Event 3 of the Deep Stacks Challenge series at Borgata right before the New Year, only to be denied, falling just short of the Final Table.
Oh will look to make another big score at the Borgata this series to improve on an already impressive primarily Foxwoods poker resume.
He is currently seated at a central table working an average stack as Day 1A of Event 1 moves into Level 8.
Level 7 (250/500/50)
Total Entries: 580
Kevin Calenzo Looking For Another Deep Run Here at Borgata
Kevin Calenzo is no stranger to success here at the Borgata as he has numerous cashes, including a 1st place finish in the 2010 Borgata $1,090 NLH Tournament for $80,000. Calenzo has amassed nearly $1,000,000 in lifetime earns and is looking to add to that number with a deep run here in Event 1.
As we walked by his table we noticed him involved in a pretty big hand. With over 10,000 in the pot already his opponent checked to him on a board reading {5c}{5s}{8c}{10s}{4s}.
Calenzo thought about things for a brief moment and eventually tossed a bet of 6,500 into the middle. His opponent wasted little time in calling and mucked even faster when he saw Calenzo table {Js}{8s} for a flush.
With this pot Calenzo now appears to be one of the biggest stacks in the room as he sits with well over 50,000.