Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Event 18 Recap

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH
Laura Camuso knocked out virtually everyone at the final table, including Minho Choe heads up, to take down the Borgata Spring Poker Open $450 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo No Limit Hold'em event, Borgata winner's trophy, and $17,110 cash.  The final hand of the night had Minho's 5-5 calling Camuso's A-K shove.  An ace in the window was all that was needed for Camuso to take the title.

Camuso was winning races, making moves, and hitting rivers almost at will. The biggest hand of Camuso's tournament came early on when her 7-7 all in was at-risk, and she four flushed against 10-10 and J-J. That triple scoop gave her a monster stack that she continued to build upon and protect.

Many players (including Camuso) busted out of the 2012 Borgata Spring Poker Open Championship event and jumped into the $450 event today, looking for some deepstack semi-turbo action.  Familiar Borgata faces in the field included Ken 'Teach" Aldridge, Jimmy Wong, Joe Liberta, Ta Wey, Brian Ali, Mickael Morgousky, Jared Jaffee, and Adam Lippert.

The day began at 11AM with 147 players taking the felt looking for a piece of the $58,800 prize pool.  After dinner break, the top 18 were in the money.  The final table was controlled by Camuso and Choe, who together felted the others quickly. In the end Minho Choe, who hadn't won a race all day, lost the final flip for the top spot.

That left former RN Nurse, Laura Camuso, as a Borgata Champion.  She decided to back herself three weeks ago and has been cashing ever since (taking 9th place for $3,274 in event 14, made it to Day 3 of the Championship event, and first place prize of $17,110).  The win for Laura Camuso marks the first woman champion of the 2012 Borgata Spring Poker Open.

Final Table Results1. Laura Camuso (Worburne, MA) - $17,110
2. Minho Choe (Fulton, MD) - $9,411
3. Len Vizirov (Chalfont, PA) - $5,418
4. Paul Stewart (Egg Harbor Twp, NJ) - $3,422
5. Matt Gunter (Bel Air, MD) - $3,422
6. Vichien Siprajim (Pasadena, MD) - $2,852
7. David Kim (Flushing, NY) - $2,281
8. Paul Vacchio (Long Island, NY) - $1,711
9. Eric VanAuken (Ridgewood, NJ) - $1,283
10. Andrew Interdonato (Washington, DC) - $1,141

Event 18: 1st Place - Camuso

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

Laura Camuso (Boston, MA)
$17,110

Former RN Nurse and Social Worker Laura Camuso wins Event 18 and $17,110.

A very excited Laura gave out hugs and kisses after the win.

This is her first time at Borgata and the first time she's taken down a Major casino tournament.

Laura wasn't even gonna play in this Event but after busing Day 3 in the Championship decided to take a shot.

Three weeks ago she took the leap of faith to back herself and hasn't looked back. She's been cashing 3 out of 5 tournaments and has built up a bankroll to enter the WSOP Main Event.

Laura wanted to thank Alex Rocha, Manh Nuguyen, and Morgan. She was excited to play with 5 WSOP winners at the 1K final table and was more than willing to learn from their expertise.

Also thanks to her Granddaughter Taylor for sharing her tiny light-up shoe that Laura used as a card protector.

Son Jeffery drove down from Boston to show his support and just missed watching Mom beat out all the boys. Other Women were proud and happy to see one of the girls win 1st in a 2012 Spring Poker Open Event.

Shout out to her kids - Liz, Leeann, and friend Gary. Would most like to thank her husband Arthur for holding down the fort so she could play.

"I wanted the 1st Place trophy so bad" said a very very excited Laura Camuso. "This is better than Christmas as a kid" exclaimed Camuso.

Congratulations!

Champ: Bubble Time

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH

Dave Stefanski (pocket 4s) knocks out Phong VIP Nguyen (pocket 3s) and we're now at 55 players, one spot from the money.  Hand-for-hand play is underway and once the bubble breaks players will bag and tag for the night.

Champ: Borovetz Beats Lin-sanity

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH

Wooyang Lin is all-in and at risk with 8 8 against Mike Borovetz's J J.  The board brings three queens and Borovetz wins with the higher full house.

"What are you going to do," laments Lin who was down to 80k, "you hate to lose when you're so close."

Lin's elimination along with the departure of Orson Young and two other players sets the field at 59, five spots from the money.

Event 18: 2nd Place - Choe

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

Minho Choe (Fulton, MD)
$9,411

Minho Choe plays ten hands heads up with Laura Camuso. The two were the dominate chip leaders at the final table and you just knew it was gonna come down to these two players.

Choe said he couldn't win a flip all day. The final hand of the night came down to another flip and sure enough Choe lost it.

Choe 55 vs. Camuso A-K

Board: A-8-3-6-6

Choe really wanted the trophy but will have to try again next time.

He took 14th in the 2012 Winter Open Deepstack and 2nd in that same series.

Minho played great but it was Laura's night.

Champ: Break Time Chip Tweets

 $2500 + $200 Championship NLH

Larry Sharp 440k
Cliff Josephy 438k
Danny Rohde 160k
Tony Sinishtaj 121k
Brock Parker 15ish BB (75k)

63 Players remain with an average stack of 248k (50 BB) as blinds are 2,000/5k, 400 ante.

Champ: 7 Tables - 9 From the $$$

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH

The 63 remaining players are on a 15 minute break and just nine spots from the money.  On the final hand of the level Mike Borovetz (Pittsburgh, PA) and Cameron Cornell (Burlington, VT) see a flop of Q♣ 8 5.

Cornell checks, Borovetz c-bets 17k, Cornell check-raises to 35k.

Borovetz mini-tanks and asks if Cornell will show his hand which he agrees to do.  Borovetz folds and says he had pocket jacks and glad to see Cornell show pocket 8s for a set.

Bortovetz and Cornell are both hanging on as the bubble looms.

Event 18: 3rd Place - Vizirov

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

Len Vizirov (Chalfont, PA)
$5,418

Len Vizirov put his last 350,000 in with pocket KK's. He was happy to be called by Laura Camuso who was dominated holding 6-6.

Len was looking great until the river when a 6 hit the felt.

Board: 3-J-9-A-6.

Len is mostly a weekend warrior poker player who was happy with his game today.

Champ: 10 Minute Tank

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH

Dever, Ali Tabatabai & Dentale

Event 8 Champion Mike Dentale (Brooklyn, NY) goes deep in the tank when faced with his tournament life.  The board is 6 8♣ 9 J when Dentale bets 20k into a 30k pot and sees Cathy Dever (Lancaster, PA) move all-in.

Dentale is at risk and shows the table 8♠ 9♠ for two pairs.  After a few minutes Dever agrees to show her hand if Dentale folds, leaving himself with 111k.

After a few more minutes Dentale folds and Dever shows Q♠ 10♣ for a turned straight.

"Unbelievable," says Dentale, who took home $31,716 for his win, "I don't play a hand for 19 hours and she has the nuts."

We're still 10 spots from the money and nobody has busted in the last 20 minutes.

Event 18: 4th Place - Stewart

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

Paul Stewart (Egg Harbor Twp, NJ)
$4,563

Paul Stewart gets his last 250,000 in good with Q♣ Q but is called by monster stack of Laura Camuso who already had 150,000 in.

Laura's A6 picked up a nut flush draw on the turn then spiked an ace on the river for the knock-out blow.

Paul took it like a champ and is happy with his finish.

He says hi to the gang at RIRA'S a local casino bar/restaurant where he is a partner.

Board: 7♣ 5 57A♣

Champ: Women's Final Four

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH

With the recent elimination of Nancy Martin, four woman are still alive with 65 players remaining.

Stephanie Hubbard & Cathy Dever are on table 6, while Grace Sun and Joanne Monteavaro are still in the mix.

Martin says she was never above 58k in the tournament and was grinding a short stack all day.

Event 18: 5th Place - Gunter

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

Matt Gunter (Bel Air, MD)
$3,422

Matt Gunter is one for one in 2012 Borgata Spring Poker Open cashes with $3,422 tonight.

In fact he has cashed the last four times he played tournament poker. Only thing is his cashes are weeks apart.

Guess we'll see Gunter in a few weeks where he'll probably come back for another hit and run.

His last hand - Matt stufffed with A-6 UTG and ran into Minho Choe's A-K on the button.

Board: J-7-7-2-8

Event 18: 6th Place - Siprajim

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

Vichien Siprajim (Pasadena, MD)
$2,852

Vichien got the last of his chips in at risk against Minho Choe (Fulton, MD).

Classic race that ended in defeat for Vichien.

Vichien 66 vs Choe's A-K

Board: 10-K-J-4-3

Champ: Two Steves Hit the Mat

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH 
 
 Steve Saklad (left) and Elan Branas (right) 
Take Out Dannenmann

Steve Ryan, Steve Dannenmann and Matt Glantz are the latest casualties as 68 players remain with an average stack of 229k (58 BB).

Blinds are now 2k/4k, 400 ante.

Event 18: 7th Place - Kim

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

David Kim (Flushing, NY)
$2,281

David Kim had 130,000 or four big blinds and shipped with Q-8. He failed to connect and fell to A-6 of Opponent.

Champ: Chou Chou Train Derails Hoover

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH

Chou-ing Up the Competition

Ben Chou (Astoria, NY) arrives at table 2 with 600k+ and the table says he gets a gift of 250k from Willie Hoover (Williamsport, PA).

The bottom line is that Hoover flopped a set of kings and when a third club hits the turn gets into a betting war with Chou.  The chips are all in on the river and Chou tables A 2 for the nut flush.

"He punted 250," says one player as Chou now has the chip lead with 875k.

Also arriving at the table is Larry Abrams (Mahwah, NJ) who was the dinner break chip leader with 580k and he's holding steady.  Chou is on Abrams' immediate left so it should be interesting poker between the big stacks.

Event 18: 8th Place - Vacchio

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

Paul Vacchio (Long Island, NY)
$1,711

End of the road for Paul Vacchio who got it in with A-2 but ran into Opponent's A-Q.

Board ran dry and knocked out Paul.

Laura Camuso is still the chip leader with over 1 million.

Champ: Richey Removed

 $2500 + $200 Championship NLH

Brett Richey (New York, NY) puts his last 22k (7 BB) in the middle with Q♠ 8♠ and doesn't improve against the A Q of Wooyang Lin (Morristown, NJ).

Lin won his Championship Event seat with a $300 qualifier and is looking to turn it into a $5,020 min cash pay day.

Event 18: Chop It Up

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

Paul Stewart & Laura Camuso mix it up. Paul 4-bet Laura with red A-J. While Laura was thinking he says, "Don't you ever fold". She got a count and called.

Laura showed a black A-Q and was looking to grow her tournament chip lead.

Stewart was thrilled to see the board double pair giving him half the pot for a life saving chop.

Board: 6-4-7-7-6.

Laura said, "Nice hand - for you at least".

Blinds 15,000 / 30,000 with 4,000 antes.

Event 18: 9th Place - VanAuken

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

Eric VanAuken (Ridgewood, NJ)
$1,283

Eric lost a big hand then was forced to shove with K-6 off. Unfortunately he ran into Opponent's K-Q which held up.

Eric finished in 9th Place and earned $1,283.

Champ: Back in Action

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH

The 82 returning players have their eyes on the money bubble as we're less than 30 players from the money.  The plan is to finish the 1.5k/3k, 300 level (49 minutes remain) and then play two more levels before bag and tag at ~12:15 am. 

Getting into the money will be tough as play will tighten up as the field closes in on 54th place and the $5,020 min. cash.

Event 18: 10th Place - Interdonato

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

Andrew Interdonato (Washington, D.C.)
$1,141

Borgata regular Andrew Interdonato makes another final table. Tried to double his short stack and things didn't work out this time.

Event 18: Final Table Set

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

Seat Pos......Name................Chip Count

1. Paul Vacchio ......................................240,000
2. Minho Choe .......................................560,000
3. Eric VanAuken ...................................170,000
4. Andrew Interdonato .............................95,000
5. Len Vizirov ..........................................125,000
6. Paul Stewart ..........................................70,000
7. David Kim............................................410,000
8. Matt Gunter..........................................370,000
9. Vichien Siprajim ...................................570,000
10. Laura Camuso ...................................1,100,000

Boys and Laura are back from dinner ready to play until conclusion here in Borgata Poker Room.

Blinds are 12,000 / 24,000 with 3,000 antes.

Total Buy-In $58,800

Champ: Tweet Counts

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH

As the field thins we only have three tweeters checking in:

John Lakatosh 400k
Larry Sharp 307k
Steve Scales 210k

JL's assesment:


Dinner break 240k playing a little passive or would have 400!

Event 18: Turbo Dinner Break

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

Number of Entries:  147
Players Remaining: 10
Chips in Play: 3.675 million

Big Stack: 1.1 million (55 BB)
Average Stack: 368k (18 BB)

Blinds: 10k/20k, 3k ante

Total Buy-In: $58,800
First Prize: $17,110
Places Paid: 18

Play Resumes: 8:30 pm

Event 18: In The Money

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

Bust-outs for Event 18

11th - Irving McKenzie (Salisbury, MD) - $1,141
12th - Gennaro Cammarota (Hawthorne, NJ) - $1,141
13th - Shane Labounty (Waterford, NY) - $998
14th - Jonathan Reinhardt (Danbury, CT) - $998
15th - Leonard Cortellino (Lewiston, ME) - $998
16th - David Elyazyan (Brooklyn, NY) $856
17th - Nissim Benjamin (Brooklyn, NY) - $856
18th - Robby Devries (Paterson, NJ) - $856

Champ: Dinner Break

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH

Number of Entries: 520
Players Remaining: 82
Chips in Play: 15. 6 million

Average Stack: 190k
Big Stack: 680k

Blinds: 1.5k/3k, 300 ante

Total Buy-In: $1,300,000
First Prize: $312,483
Places Paid: 54

Play Resumes: 8:45 pm

Event 18: Final Table Triple-Up

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

Blinds 10k/20k/3k ante

Len Vizirov raises to 85k
Paul Stewart calls
Vichien Siprajim (SB) moves all in for 174k total
Laura Camuso (BB) tank folds
Vizirov calls
Stewart calls

Vizirov and Stewart check down the board of 8 7 4 9 6.  The player in seat 9 confidently turns over
pocket 6s for a set of 6s and triples up and with the blinds and antes is up to 550k.

Event 18: Final Table Bubble

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

Irving McKenzie (Salisbury, MD) is on the rail when his pocket 6s are outflopped by his opponents K Q.  The remaining 10 players are drawing for final table seats.

McKenzie earns $1,141 for his 11th place finish.

Champ: Dinner Getting Close

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH

82 players remain with an average stack of 190k (63 BB) as blinds are moving up to 1.5/3k, 300 ante.  Dinner break is at 7:30 pm sharp!

One of Borgata's best tweeters reports:


<90 players remain but field has some great players still alive. About 90k still at 2400... Gonna be an important level before dinner!

Champ: Richey Doubles Through Pearlman

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH

Brett Richey (New York, NY) doubles 43k through Akiva Pearlman (Providence, RI).  Richey has AQ against pocket 4s and wins the race when an ace hits the turn.

With blinds and antes Richey is close to 100k, while Pearlman has an average stack of 200k.

Event 18: Payouts

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

Place..........Amount

1.....................$17,110
2....................$9,411
3....................$5,418
4....................$4,563
5....................$3,422
6....................$2,852
7....................$2,281
8....................$1,711
9....................$1,283
10-12..............$1,141
13-15................$ 998
16-18.................$ 856

Total Buy-In - $58,800

Number of Entries: 147

Event 18: First to Cash

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

 Robby Rides Short Stack into the Money

Robby DeVries (Paterson, NJ) is the first to cash after squeaking into the money with only 28k. He's out when his pocket 10s are beaten by the K 3 of Laura Camuso (Woburne, MA) who flops two pairs.

Camuso is the last woman standing again. She finished in 9th place in Event 14 ($1k) for $3,274.

DeVries gets the min cash of $856 and recaps the bubble on Twitter.



Lol I made the with 2 big blinds !!!!28k blinds are 6/12k

Champ: Zhu MIA

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH    

Blinds 1,200/2,400, 300 ante

Yue Zhu (Flushing, NY) started the day with 105,800 chips.  He had never appeared and has been blinding/anteing off all day long.  The stack is now down to about 45k (about 19 big blinds).

 Yue Zhu's stack and the man himself!

Yue has just appeared and played his first hand of the day.  He had a family emergency (a fire at his girlfriend's apartment building) and he had to drive there and back (six hours!).

Now he's back in the game and looking for a double-up.

Event 18: Bubbling Over

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

Lee Left Out of the Money

After surviving his first all in when a diamond flush hit the board for a chopped pot, the second time is not the charm for Paul Lee (Bethesda, MD). He's all in with K J against the pocket 7s of Gennaro Cammarota (Hawthorne, NJ).

Lee picks up a straight draw on the turn, but doesn't win the race and is the bubble boy. The final 18 players are in the money and drawing for new seats.

 Lee and Rail Birds Waiting for the Flop

Champ: Break Time Tweets

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH    

Some Tweets from the break:

Steve Ryan ‏ @SteveRyanPoker
Break. Treading water at 90k. Comin back to 2400 bb. Approx 90 remaining. 54 paid. Gonna be a long stressful way to the bubble hungry!

Cliff Josephy ‏ @JohnnyBaxPoker
They are all playing crazy, and I haven't picked up a hand. Bad combo. 78k, the smallest stack at my tbl by far. Avg is 170k. 1200-2400/300

John Lakatosh ‏ @johnlak
Finally a few good levels even rivered quads for a minute I thought my name was @Mikunbelievable

Larry Sharp ‏ @BBOY3110
335k going into 1200/2400 300

Champ: Back From Break

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH    

Players are back from break for Level 15, blinds 1,200/2,400, 300 ante.

Before the break, with Blinds: 1k/2k, 200 ante

Matt Woodward (cutoff) and Vinny Pahuja (button) got into a pre-flop raising war, until Vinny was all-in and Matt was in the tank.

Matt eventually surrendered and Vinny chipped up to~260k.

Matt still leads the field with 645k.

Danny Currie (Clifton, VA) who finished 2nd in chips on day 1A, has busted out.

92 players remain.  Average stack is ~170k.

Only 54 get paid.

Champ: Woodward Back In The Lead

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH    

Blinds: 1k/2k, 200 ante

Larry Sharp (North Whales, PA) got all-in with pocket Queens against Ben Chou's AK. 

This time the Queens hold up.

Larry doubled up to nearly 300k.  Ben dropped down to ~510k.

Matt Woodward is up to almost 700k and back in the chip lead.

End of level 14 and time for a break.

Champ: Abrams Again

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH 

 Abrams Aiming for Chip Lead

Just a few hands after winning the 400k pot, Larry Abrams (Mahwah, NJ) flops a straight with AK and knocks out a player.  The opponent ships 100k and Abrams is now one of the chip leaders with 580k.

Champ: The Chou Crushes Two

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH    

Ben Chou

Blinds: 1k/2k, 200 ante

First, Ben Chou (Astoria, NY) was racing with AK against pocket Queens.  A King on the turn gave him the pot, sending his opponent to the rail.  He was up to ~525k.

Then, a short-stack was all-in with pocket Jacks.  Ben called him down with K5 suited and made a flush, sending another player to the rail.

With that pot, Ben chipped up to ~630k, taking the chip lead.

Matt Woodward has about 600k.

Also gone:
Vladimir Peck
Scott Wardell
Rep Porter

96 players remain on 11 tables.  Average stack is ~162k.

Champ: Gola Gone, Abrams Up

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH

Joe "the Jeweler" Gola (Cherry Hill, NJ) opens the pot from middle position and gets three callers, the button and both blinds.

Flop: 2♣ J 10

The blinds check
Gola bets 15k
button folds
SB moves all in for 35k
Larry Abrams (Mahwah, NJ) raises to 90k from the BB
Gola moves all in for 145k total
Abrams calls

SB: 9♠ 10♠ (OE straight draw)
Abrams: J10♣ (two pairs)
Gola: Q♣ Q♠ (pair of queens)

Turn: 6♠

River: A

Blanks on the turn and river knock two players and gives Abrams the 400k pot.

Champ: Darden Dispatches Two

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH    

 Paul Darden

Blinds: 1k/2k, 200 ante

On a flop of 5♠4♠3♣, three players got all-in

Seat 1 (bb): 6♣2-- six-high straight
Michael Shasho (mp): 5♣4♣  -- top two pair
Paul Darden (utg): 7♠6♠ -- nut straight, open-ended straight-flush redraw

The T♠ came on the turn, improving Paul's hand to a flush.  River was a Jack and Paul 'The Truth' Darden collected the pot, chipping up to ~260k.

The big blind and Mike 'Mad Dog' Shasho were both busted.

Champ: Melikian Cracks Aces

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH    

Blinds: 1k/2k, 200 ante

With Q J T on the board, Ara Melikian had a short-stacked Jonathan Dimmig all-in.

Jonathan's pocket Aces were ahead, but Ara's T9 had a lot of outs.  One of them, a 9, landed on the river, giving Ara two pair and the pot.  He chipped up to 200k while Jonathan headed for the door.

Also gone:
Vyacheslav 'Steve' Eyzerovich
Abe Korotki
Roz Quarto

Champ: Strategy Session

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH

Bill Campbell & Jeff McAlister Talking on Break


Champ: Woodward Reclaims Lead

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH    

Players are back for break for level 14, blinds 1k/2k, 200 ante.

 Eric Ladny

Eric Ladny (Mercerville, NJ) is up to 350k over on table two, where he sits between Cliff Josephy (Muttontown, NY) and Andrew Klein (Ocean, NJ).

Matt Woodward

It is Matt Woodward, however, who has retaken the chip lead.  He's now up to ~450k.

When his last table broke, Matt landed on table 13 with Phong 'VIP' Nguyen, William Dugan, Rep Porter, Vladimir Peck, and Andrew St. Hilaire.

Champ: Hubbard Boots One

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH   

End of level 13 and players are shuffling out for a break.

Before the break, with blinds of 800/1,600, 200 ante: 

On the turn with a board of A J 9 5, Stephanie Hubbard (Hazlet, NJ) was facing a bet of 30,600 from the player on her left.  He only had about 5k behind his bet.

After giving it some thought, Stephanie moved in and he called all-in, showing pocket 3s.

Stephanie was way ahead with pocket Kings.  River was a 9 and he was busted.  Stephanie chipped up to ~120k.

Approximately 117 players remain on 13 tables.  Average is about 133k.

Champ: More Goners

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH   

Blinds 800/1,600, 200 ante 

Amarender Puri (Flushing, NY) got his last chips in and got action from Ali Tabatabai (Cockeysville, MD) who is the big stack on table 10.

Amarender had A9 and was ahead of Ali's 76.  Then the board ran out Q 7 6 T 6 and Ali took the pot with a full house, sending  Amarender to the rail.

Also gone:
Alex Torres
Jay Nair
Athanasios Diakos
Mark Borges
Dan Fischer
Gordon Eng
Alex Smith
Paul Spitzberg

Down to 125 players players, meaning 100 players have busted out since play began at noon today.

Event 18: Flying Fast, Just the Facts

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

Chip Leader Mike Laufer (Upper Saddle River, NJ) 
flashes the A♣ to Tony C.

45 players remain including the all star table of:

David Kim
Bill Blanda (2nd in chips 150k)
Joe Liberta
Christine Brewer
Jesse Cohen

Others Still Playing

Mike Laufer (Chip Leader with 190k)
Andrew Interdonato
Adam Lippert
Ken Aldridge
Leonardo Palermo
Jerry Callahan
Laura Camuso

Semi-turbo portion of the tournament is over as blind levels increase from 15 minutes to 30 minutes.

The average stack is 82k (16 BB) as blind are 2.5k/5k, 500 ante.

Champ: New Chip Leader

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH  

Blinds 800/1,600, 200 ante

William 'The Reaper' Parker

Looks like William 'The Reaper' Parker (Princeton, NJ) is the new chip leader.  He's up to ~385k.  William says "Hello" to the home-game gang at the Chesterfield back at Princeton.





Champ: Matt on Matt Action

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH   

Blinds 800/1,600, 200 ante 

On a flop of T 9 8 with two spades, Matt Glantz got all-in against big stack Matt Woodward.

Glantz had pocket 8s for bottom set.  Woodward had pocket Jack for the open ender.

The last two came T 4 and Glantz doubled up to ~145k.

Woodward was left with ~300k and is no longer the chip leader.

Champ: Tweet-Counts

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH  

Chip counts Tweeted over the break:

Brock Parker - 160k
Edward Pham - 150k
Larry Sharp - 130k
Rep Porter - 122k
Cliff Josephy - 106k
Orson Young - 105k
Steve Ryan - 90k
Danny Rohde - 80k
Steve Scales - 60k
Roman Valerstein - 47k

Champ: More Big Names Depart

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH  

Also reporting to the rail:

Chris Bell - 1 WSOP Bracelet
Gavin Smith - 1 WPT title, 1 WSOP bracelet
Cornel Cimpan - 2 WPT titles
Andrew Barta - 2007 Borgata Summer Open Champion ($513,925)
Mark Sykes - 2-time Borgata Open winner

Champ: Tough Table 15

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH   

Level 13:  Blinds 800/1,600, 200 ante

Players are back from break.

When his table broke, Matt Woodward landed at table 15, to the right of Matt Glantz.  Also sharing this patch of green is Mike Dentale, Joe Pitti, John Lakatosh, and Andrew St. Hilaire.

Matt's got about 320k and I believe he is still the chip leader.

Champ: Scales Triples, Busts Zaydman

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH  

Before the break:

Three-way pre-flop all-in.

Elliott Zaydman:  AJ offsuit
Alex Torres:  AK suited
Steve Scales:  99

The board came 5 4 4 9 A.  Elliott was busted, Alex got the side pot, and Steve tripled to about 60k.

Steve won almost $33k when he took down the $350 Big Stack No Limit event during the 2012 Winter Open.

Champ: Former Spring Champions Depart

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH  

Russell Crane, (Howell, NJ) winner of the 2011 Borgata Spring Poker Open Championship ($276,949) has busted out, so there will be to repeat for him.

Alex Queen, (Bethlehem, PA) winner of the 2010 Borgata Spring Poker Open Championship ($355,535) has also departed.  Alex also won the 2011 Borgata Fall Open Heads-Up Championship ($29k).

End of level 12 and time for another break!

Champ: Borovetz v. Woodward

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH  

Blinds 600/1,200, 100 ante

Back on table 19, Michael Borovetz (Pittsburgh, PA) and start-of-day-two-chip-leader Matt Woodward (Waterboro, ME) tangled in a pot.

On the turn, the board showed J43T.  Matt (sb) was facing a 25k bet from Michael (there was a short-stack already all-in).

Matt called and the river was the 3♣.  Matt checked, Michael bet 30k, and Matt folded.

Michael showed two black Queens and the all-in player mucked.  He chipped up to ~225k.

Matt is up to 380k and probably still the chip leader.

Table 19 will be the next one to break, so these players will be moving to new tables soon.

Event 18: Tweet-Time

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

Tweets from the field:


Jerry Callahan ‏ @callahanja911
119k at 1k/2k. Just won a 60k pot all in after flop qxx 2h with q10 against flush draw and gut shot on turn. Avg is 45k

Robby Devries♠ ‏ @X18robbase
On break level 13! 1200/2400 really short stacked! 19k, 147 entrants about 75 left!

larry goldstein ‏ @tworedducks
20bbs goin to 1200/2400 in thr turbo. 75 of 150 left

adam lippert ‏ @lippypoker
95k super fast structure avg stack under 20bb

Champ: Goners

 $2500 + $200 Championship NLH 

Table One was tough to start the day with this crew:

David Inselberg
Daniel Currie
Brandon Hall
Anthony Caruso
Alex Smith
Ofir Mor
Mike Wolf

Then it got a little easier when Anthony Caruso and Mike Wolf busted out.

Now it's gotten a little tougher.  Paul Spitzberg and Wade Woelfel have filled those empty seats.

More Goners:
Laura Camuso
Mark Vanderloo
Miguel Borrero
Dominic Colonna
James Magee
Jay Sharon
Carless 'Joe' Boatwright
Wazir Baksh

Champ: More Tweet-Outs

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH 

More bust-outs reported via Twitter:

Robert Hwang ‏ @ActionBobNJ
Busto. Raised limper with QJs. Triple barreled KT4-4-2 including river bomb assuming top pair folds. He called :)

Mike Wolf ‏ @MikeWolf7
Out of Borg main. Had AQo on J1098 board. Fish cold called my 3b oop with KQ


Keep those Tweets coming!  #BSO2012

Twitter Decoder:
3B = three-bet (re-raise)
OOP = Out Of Position

Champ: Doublin', Doublin'

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH  

Level 12:  Blinds 600/1,200, 100 ante

Players are back from break.

During the previous level, Michael 'Mad Dog' Shasho was all-in with A8 against the pocket Jacks of Jay Sharon.  The board came 9 5 2 A A and Mad Dog doubled up.

Cornel Cimpan's A8 did not fare as well.  He had a shorter-stack all-in holding AQ.  The board came J 7 3 9 7 and Cornel shipped the double across the felt.

Mad Dog Shasho doubled up again when all-in with KQ against Mark Sykes' pocket Jacks.  Mark's pocket pair did not hold and and Mad Dog doubled up again.

Event 18: Time to Check the Tweets

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

Tweets from today's other main event, over in the Poker Room:

adam lippert ‏ @lippypoker
145 people no reentries actually nice sized field

Mark Scellato ‏ @mscell 
Busto semi turbo. 3bet squeeze KQ from CO vs raiser and caller but SB finds AK and holds.

Jerry Callahan ‏ @callahanja911
46k at 500/1000 w 100


Keep those Tweets coming!  #BSO2012

 Twitter Decoder:
CO = CutOff (one spot right of the button)

Champ: Killer/Comedy Corner

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH  

End of level 11 and time for a break!


Table Three:  Steve Dannenmann, Mike Sica, & Orson Young

Table three was a tough draw from the beginning, but the far end of the table is a Killer Corner of players:

Steve Dannenmann
Mike 'Little Man' Sica
Orson Young

They're fairly quiet so far today, but Steve and Mike are usually fairly entertaining, liking to joke it up at the table.

Champ: Tweet-Outs

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH 

Bust-outs reported via Twitter:

Adam Cook ‏ @AdamNCook
Annnnd out, AK=AK<JJ AIPF. I open UTG, 17k stack shoves, next player thinks n flats, I ISO 58k, he thinks for a few secs n calls. GG.

Lee Childs ‏ @leechilds
KK<53. GG me. GG Borgata. GL to all my awesome friends. You all help make this grind worth it.

Rob Lederer ‏ @KramerTM
Not sure I could have done much differently 2day. Last hand I get QdTd all in on JK6 flop, 2 diamonds. Guy limped KK UTG, filled up on river


Twitter Decoder:
AIPF = All In Pre Flop
UTG = Under The Gun
ISO = ISOlate
GL = Good Luck
GG = Good Game

Champ: More Departures

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH 
 
On a flop of K 8 2 with two hearts, Anthony Forte was all-in against Mike Dentale. 

Anthony had AK suited in hearts for top pair with flush draw. 

Mike had pocket Aces and had to sweat the last two, which came offsuit 3 9.  Forte was busted.

Matt Matros called all-in holding A8 off and was up against the pocket Kings of Rocco Luciano.

The board ran J T 4 2 7 and Rocco's Kings were good.  Matt headed for the door.

Also gone: 
Scott Blackman
Chien Huu Vo
Rohan Long
Richard Marshall Jr.
Robert Albert
Bryan Bindert

Champ: Early Departures

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH 

These folks have taken an early exit:

Matthew Cohen
Christopher Walker
Akim Akimov
William Bariban
Ronald Lee
John Gulino
Greg Fishberg
Daniel Klodowski

David Zeitlin was busted by Joseph Primavera.

Champ: Underway

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH 

Play has resumed on day two of the Championship Event.

Levels are now 75 minutes long and they will play eight levels today with breaks after each.

Not all players have yet claimed their seats here in the Signature Room, but the action has begun.

Event 18: Familiar Faces

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH 

More familiar faces have turned up among the tables already in action:

Ken 'Teach" Aldridge
Jimmy Wong
Joe Liberta
Ta Wey
Brian Ali
Mickael Morgousky
Jared Jaffee
Adam Lippert

Event 18: Early Arrivals

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH 

These players have already taken their seats:

Barbara Rogers
John Zoldak
Leo G
Tony Anotnious
Jesse Cohen
Len Vizirov
Frank Richardone
Karthik (winner of event 5)
Mark Scellato
Sungwoo Tae (won event 11 and $47,160 --saw him at the registration window, but he hasn't taken his seat yet.)

Event 18: Underway

$400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH

Today's other main event is the $400 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo No Limit event.

Players began with 25,000 chips and 15 minute levels.

Starting with level 16, the duration increases to 30 minutes.

This is a one day event, so they'll play all night until a winner is determined.

Level 1 blinds are 25/50.  Shuffle Up & Deal!

Championship Event - Day 2 Seat Assignments

Borgata Spring Poker Open
$2500 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em
April 15 - 19, 2012

Entries: 520
Total Buy-In:  $1,300,000

START OF DAY 2 SEAT ASSIGNMENTS & CHIP COUNTS:
T01 | S01 - DAVID INSELBERG:  67,700
T01 | S02 - MARK VANDERLOO:  54,900
T01 | S03 - DANIEL CURRIE:  209,400
T01 | S04 - BRANDON HALL:  53,800
T01 | S05 - ANTHONY CARUSO:  45,200
T01 | S06 - JEFFREY WICKER:  41,800
T01 | S07 - ALEX SMITH:  89,200
T01 | S08 - OFIR MOR:  42,100
T01 | S09 - MICHAEL WOLF:  54,900

T02 | S01 - RAYMOND FERRETTI:  80,300
T02 | S02 - PETER IPPOLITO:  27,100
T02 | S03 - BRIAN BALLENTINE:  95,400
T02 | S04 - ANGEL GONZALEZ:  64,200
T02 | S05 - CLIFF JOSEPHY:  112,600
T02 | S06 - ROBERT HWANG:  54,800
T02 | S07 - ERIC LADNY:  158,600
T02 | S08 - ANDREW KLEIN:  73,500
T02 | S09 - LAWRENCE DIGIOVANNA:  28,700

T03 | S01 - JOSEPH OPIE:  33,500
T03 | S02 - MICHAEL MONTER:  31,900
T03 | S03 - CORY BATH:  25,000
T03 | S04 - STEVEN SAKLAD:  241,900
T03 | S05 - MORGAN LITWIN:  145,300
T03 | S06 - ELAN BRANAS:  91,300
T03 | S07 - STEVEN DANNENMANN:  69,000
T03 | S08 - MICHAEL SICA:  61,300
T03 | S09 - ORSON YOUNG:  135,900

T04 | S01 - JERRY PAYNE:  124,800
T04 | S02 - CHRISTOPHER WALKER:  23,000
T04 | S03 - BRETT RICHEY:  33,100
T04 | S04 - VINCENT RICCIARDI:  49,300
T04 | S05 - MATTHEW COHEN:  7,300
T04 | S06 - CAMERON CORNELL:  105,300
T04 | S07 - ERIC MILLER:  43,800
T04 | S08 - WOOYANG LIN:  92,900
T04 | S09 - ADAM AGAEV:  48,700

T05 | S01 - JOSEPH PRIMAVERA:  77,600
T05 | S02 - TONY SINISHTAJ:  108,300
T05 | S03 - RUSSELL CRANE:  48,700
T05 | S04 - VYACHESLAV EYZEROVICH:  92,300
T05 | S05 - DAVID ZEITLIN:  20,100
T05 | S06 - MIGUEL BORRERO:  22,200
T05 | S07 - DOMINIC COLONNA:  21,100
T05 | S08 - WAZIR BAKSH:  61,900
T05 | S09 - DANIEL WACH:  37,600

April 17

TODAY'S EVENTS (THE SIGNATURE ROOM & POKER ROOM)
REGISTER IN POKER ROOM


11AM:  Event 18 - $400 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH 
  • Players start with 25,000 in tournament chips
  • Levels 1-15: will last 15 minutes each | Levels 16+: will last 30 minutes each
  • 1-Day event

12PM:  $2500 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em - Day 2
  • Day 2 starts at 12PM in The Signature Room
  • Day 2, 3, 4 Levels: will last 75 minutes each 
  • 4-Day event
6 PM:  Event 43- $100 + $20 + $25 Green Chip Bounty NLH
  • Players start with 12,000 in tournament chips 
  • Levels will last 20 minutes each
  • This is a Bounty tournament. Players must have their Bounty Chip clearly displayed on the table in order to remain active in tournament
  • 1-Day event