Event 17: Early Casualty

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH Double Play (Re-Entry)  

Blinds: 50/100

In a multi-way raised pot, Matt Woodward (Waterboro, ME) and Al Grimes (Miller Place, NY) both flopped diamond flushes.  All their chips went in on the river.

Al's J9 of diamonds was beat by Matt's K7 of diamonds.  Al was busted and Matt chipped up to about 65k.

Table 12: Mike Dentale, unsub, Brock Parker, & Orson Young 

Al has re-entered and landed at table 12 with Mike Dentale,  Brock Parker, Orson Young, and Maruti Yarlapati.

Event 16: Dannenmann Has Arrived

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NL (Re-Entry)

Blinds 1,500/3,000, 400 ante

Better late than never, Steve Dannenmann has arrived and taken his seat.

Still 17 players.  Average is 183.5k.

Event 17: Tough Table - Six

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH Double Play (Re-Entry) 

Blinds: 50/100

Table Six has filled in with some tough players:

Jerry Payne
Randy Pfeifer
Al Grimes
Mike Lydon
Miguel Borrero

Event 16: 18th Place - Greenawalt

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NL (Re-Entry)

 Travis Greenawalt (Landisville, PA) 

$1,513

Blinds 1,500/3,000, 400 ante 

Brian Schmidt raised utg (Steve Dannenmann's big blind was undefended since he has not yet arrived) and Travis Greenawalt shipped over the top.  Brian called, showing AT.  Travis held A8.

The best hand held up and Brian took the pot.

Travis Greenawalt will take $1,513 for 18th place.

Event 16: Day Two Underway

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NL (Re-Entry)

Level 15: Blinds 1,500/3,000, 400 ante

Cards are flying as day two of the $1k Six Max is back in action here in the Signature Room.

18 Players survived day one play and have returned (well, most of them -- Steve Dannenmann and Ted Geier have yet to turn up).

All players are in the money and guaranteed to take home at least $1,513.

Event 17: More Tough Tables

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH Double Play (Re-Entry) 

Blinds: 25/50

More tough tables:

Table Five
Len Vizirov
Jesse Cohen
Vinny Teutonico
Cornel Cimpan

Table 7: Gordon Eng, Mike Sica, Alex Queen, & Wade Woelfel

Table Seven
Ray Shackelford
William Dugan
Gordon Eng
Mike 'Little Man' Sica
Alex Queen
Wade Woelfel

Event 17: Tough Tables

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH Double Play (Re-Entry) 

Tough tables are forming early today.   Here's a sampling:

Table One
Jeffrey McAlister
Tony Cousineau
Matt Matros

Table Two
Darren Elias
Dave Stefanski
Michael Borovetz
Roman Valerstein
Matt Glantz

Table Three
Dwyte Pilgrim
Vyacheslav "Alphabet Soup" Eyzerovich
'Action' Bob Hwang

Table Four
Peter Ippolito
Tony Sinishtaj

Event 17: Champions Arrive Early

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH Double Play (Re-Entry)

These early birds are already in action in the Signature Room:

Dwyte Pilgrim - 2010 Borgata Poker Open Champion
Alex Queen - 2010 Borgata Spring Poker Open Champion
Cornel Cimpan - 2-time WPT winner

Players are still arriving and finding their seats.  

Event 17: Championship Underway

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH Double Play (Re-Entry)
$1 Million Guaranteed Prize Pool

Level 1:  Blinds 25/50

Day 1A of the Borgata Spring Poker Open Championship Event is underway!

Players began with 30,000 chips and 60-minute levels.

Players can register through level 4.  Players who bust out can re-enter through level 4.

Players who bust out any time on day 1A can register again on day 1B.

Cards are in the air!  They'll play ten levels today, then call it a night.

There is also a $3,000 bonus for the chip leaders at the end of days 1A and 1B.

Leaderboard Update (4/15)

Borgata Spring Poker Open Leaderboard
By participating in any Borgata Spring Poker Open event (April 4-20, 2012), players earn points based upon the Borgata Poker Tournament Leaderboard Formula.

Below are the top scores for the 2012 Borgata Spring Poker Open Leaderboard*

(Final Results from events 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)

481.273:  MARK WAHBA

435.143:  MANH NGUYEN

366.430:  SUNGWOO TAE

333.420:  YUEBIN GUO

327.275:  PAUL DARDEN  JR

325.900:  BRIAN LEMKE

320.575:  RANDALL PFEIFER

314.463:  H MICHAEL BOROVETZ

293.150:  MICHAEL DENTALE

293.150:  TRAVELL THOMAS

280.425:  DARYL BLACK

278.483:  JEREMIAH MCKENNA

266.635:  ALEXANDER ROCHA

262.300:  VINEET PAHUJA

260.563:  VYACHESLAV EYZEROVICH

245.025:  ROBERT SANTILLI

235.713:  ERIC DOERR

233.188:  ELLIOTT ZAYDMAN

232.898:  JEREMIAH CALLAHAN

230.740:  ERIK GORMAN

229.200:  SEAN PERRY

222.198:  DWYTE PILGRIM

221.643:  QING GUO

220.485:  ERIC SUAREZ

219.913:  JUSTIN LIBERTO

219.550:  DEAN CHEN

215.100:  BRIAN BALLENTINE

212.255:  ZE CHEN

208.025:  WAZIR BAKSH

207.400:  WILLIAM DUGAN

205.050:  DANIEL BUZGON

204.463:  PATRICK BROWN

204.175:  RATHE MILLER

201.795:  THOMAS HOGLUND

201.250:  JOSEPH DADDARIO

200.500:  JUSTIN SOUSA

Event 16 - Day 2 Chip Counts

Borgata Spring Poker Open
Event 16 - $1000 + $90 Six-Max No Limit Hold'em
April 14 - 15, 2012

Entries:  156
Total Buy-In:  $156,000

START OF DAY 2 TABLE ASSIGNMENTS & CHIP COUNTS:
T1 | S1 - KENNETH ALDRIDGE (PLEASANT GARDEN, NC):  117,500

T1 | S2 - ANTHONY MAIO (JAMISON, PA):  412,800

T1 | S3 - LEONID LERNER (BROOKLYN, NY):  95,000

T1 | S4 - RICHARD CORLEY (BROOKLYN, NY):  231,300

T1 | S5 - PELHAM STRAUGHN (WASHINGTON, DC):  121,600

T1 | S6 - JOEL FRANK (KINGSTON, NJ):  287,200

T2 | S1 - MICHAEL WOLL (MANAHAWKIN, NJ):  83,000

T2 | S2 - DAVID KIM (FLUSHING, NY):  201,300

T2 | S3 - TRAVIS GREENAWALT (LANDISVILLE, PA):  103,000

T2 | S4 - CHARLES GEIER (SUNNYSIDE, NY):  80,400

T2 | S5 - STEVEN DANNENMANN (SEVERN, MD):  230,000

T2 | S6 - BRIAN SCHMIDT (PHILADELPHIA, PA):  132,700

T3 | S1 - JAMIE KERSTETTER (MONROE TWP, NJ):  51,600

T3 | S2 - SUNG KIM (NEW YORK, NY):  187,600

T3 | S3 - BRANDON HALL (LITTLESTOWN, PA):  166,800

T3 | S4 - JOSEPH CAPPUCCIO (HAMMONTON, NJ):  204,100

T3 | S5 - HARRY KOROTKI (OWINGS MILLS, MD):  182,400

T3 | S6 - MICHAEL LEAH (INNISFIL, CAN):  231,300

Sunday, April 15

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


11AM: Event 17A - $2500 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em
                                                             Double Play (Re-Entry)
$1 Million Guaranteed Prize Pool

• Players start with 30,000 in tournament chips 
• Day 1 Levels: will last 60 minutes each | Day 2, 3, 4 Levels: will last 75 minutes each 
• Players may register for Day 1A or Day 1B. Players may Re-Enter tournament on Day 1A and/or Day 1B if they bust out prior to the end of Level 4 of that starting day.
• If player entered into Day 1A and has been eliminated from tournament or forfeits his/her chips, player may register for Day 1B.
• $3,000 will be subtracted from the prize pool and awarded to the chip leader at the end of Day 1A; and $3,000 will be subtracted from the prize pool and awarded to the chip leader at the end of Day 1B
• 4-Day event with two starting days

12PM:  Event 39 - $270 + $30 Championship Qualifier NLH

• Players start with 12,000 in tournament chips
• Levels will last 25 minutes each
• Approximately 1 in 10 will win entry into $1 Million Guaranteed Borgata Spring Poker Open Championship (April 15-19, 2012)
• 1-Day event

3 PM:  Event 40 - $540 + $60 Championship Qualifier NLH

• Players start with 15,000 in tournament chips 
• Levels 1-10: will last 30 minutes each | Levels 11+: will last 40 minutes each
• Approximately 1 in 5 will win entry into $1 Million Guaranteed Borgata Spring Poker Open Championship (April 15-19, 2012)
• 1-Day event

7 PM:  Event 41 - $270 + $30 Championship Qualifier NLH

• Players start with 12,000 in tournament chips
• Levels will last 25 minutes each
• Approximately 1 in 10 will win entry into $1 Million Guaranteed Borgata Spring Poker Open Championship (April 15-19, 2012)
• 1-Day event

Event 14 Recap

$1000 + $90 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
The best birthday ever for Vinny Pahuja who outlasted Alex Rocha in a four-hour heads-up duel for the $43,648 top spot. Alex stuffed pocket Aces on the river and Vinny snapped having hit two pair with J-9.

The two-day journey/celebration would have been cut short if on Day-1 Vinny failed to smash a 9 on the river after 4-betting all-in at-risk with A-9 vs. A-Q. Another key hand was when Vinny flopped two clubs and his opponent flopped the wheel. Again he was all-in at-risk and received an early birthday present on the river with the life-saving flush.

Vinny acknowledged how stiff his competition was and complimented the play of Alex Rocha. Alex was the 2011 Borgata Winter Poker Open, $500 NL, 1st place winner for $150k. He adds another $24,008 to his career earnings.

Vinny Pahuja has captured over $1 million in lifetime earnings but had never won any Borgata Open titles. He really wanted this win and was very happy to take it down in front of his supportive rail, and on his actual birthday.

Dan Buzgon is getting more and more recognized after his 2011 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship TV table where he finished 3rd for $335,433. Dan has two cashes in this series in addition to his third place finish tonight ($13,823).

Manh Nguyen (Munhall, PA) is also having a magnificent 2012 Borgata Spring Poker Open, having won event 2 ($350 Black Chip Bounty for $30k) and finishing 4th in event 5 ($700 NL for $8,800) and now making his third final table of the series today, finishing 5th for $8,730.

Mark Wahba, (Cleveland, OH) who finished 16th ($2,183) currently sits atop the Borgata Leaderboard with over 460 points. He already has a win and a second place finish in this series.

Yesterday 150 entered generating a total prize pool of $150,000.  Some heavy hitters who played but failed to cash include Matt Matros (2 WSOP bracelets); Brock Parker (2 WSOP bracelets); Bill Gazes ($2.3 million lifetime); Dwyte Pilgrim (2010 Borgata Poker Open Champion); and Mike Leah ($1.4 million lifetime).

But once again, congratulations and Borgata birthday wishes go out to Vinny Pahuja who played some terrific poker and now can cut into $43,648 worth of b-day cake.

Final Table Results
1. Vinny Pahuja (Hicksville, NY) $43,648
2. Alex Rocha (S. Setauket, NY) $24,008
3. Dan Buzgon (Marlton, NJ) $13,823
4. Jay Nair (Redmond, WA) $11,640
5. Manh Nguyen (Munhall, PA) $8,730
6. Alex Smith (Highland Park, NJ) $7,275
7. Mohamed Elkerdawy (Brigantine, NJ) $5,820
8. 'Action' Bob Hwang (Barnegat, NJ) $4,365
9.  Laura Camuso (Woburne, MA) $2,910
10. James Boyle (Havre de Grace, MD) $3,274

Event 14; 1st Place - Pahuja

$1000 + $90 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Vinny Pahuja (Hicksville, NY)
$43,648

At midnight, after playing Alex Rocha heads up for an hour, it officially became Vinny Pahuja's birthday. And wouldn't you know it, he just unwrapped a $43,648 birthday present and a pretty cool trophy.

"I actually won a tournament. To be heads up so many times, it feels great to take one down" exclaimed Vinny. Event 14 represents the first tournament Vinny has ever won at Borgata.
Of course it felt that much sweeter having won on his actual birthday.

Vinny gave props to his opponent Alex as they played side by side for over 30 hours. "He gave me fits" laughed Vinny. Vinny and Alex play a ton of Borgata tournaments but this was the first time the two ever played heads up.

Vinny thanked his rail for their support and for being there the entire heads up.

What's next? Vinny says he's gonna crash tonight, then probably jump in the Championship tomorrow.

Congratulations to our 2012 Borgata Spring Poker Open Event 14 champ, Vinny Pahuja.

Event 14: 2nd Place - Rocha

$1000 + $90 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Alex Rocha (S. Setauket, NY)
$24,008

Congratulations to Alex Rocha for his 2nd Place finish after a grueling four hour heads-up session against Vinny Pahuja.

Alex definitely wanted to be called winner and take home the trophy.
Although Alex is a winner, tonight he just fell a little short.

The final hand of the night went down as follows.

Both players checked the rainbow flop of J-6-2.

Alex fired out 265,000 on the turn card 5 and Vinny called.

Alex announced all-in after a 9 hit the river - Vinny quickly called.

Alex flipped over AA and Vinny caught two pair on the river with J-9.

Event 14: Take Ten

$1000 + $90 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

When Alex and Vinny return from a ten minute break, blinds will 20,000 / 40,000.

The last hand worth mentioning where we saw a showdown ended up going to Alex.

Vinny's 10-10 vs. Alex 10-7.

Vinny bets 65,000 on a flop of 7-2-9.

Both check the turn which is another 7. Two diamonds and two clubs on the board.

River brick is a 6.

Alex bets and Vinny snaps.

With that pot Alex has 1.4 million vs. Vinny's 1.6.

The difference between first and second place is $19,640.

1st - $43,648
2nd - $24,008

Definitely worth playing for. Alex commented that fatigue is starting to set in - looks like the break came at the perfect time.

Event 14: Chopped Pot

$1000 + $90 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Mono Y Mono for the Money

Vinny Pahuja gets the rest of his 1.2 million in on the river and Alex Rocha calls.

Alex tables K-5 and Vinny tables K-4.

Both gentlemen flopped two Kings - their weak kickers did not play.

Board: 9-K-K-3-8.

"I have never been so happy to see a 4 in my life" says Alex who thought he was outkicked but still had to call.

Chip counts: Alex - 1.8 million vs. Vinny - 1.2

Event 14: Rail Birds

$1000 + $90 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

 Pahjua & Rocha Heads Up with

 Hinds, Sykes, Buzgon, Leah & Kerstetter on the Rail

The late night rail birds are buckling in for a long night of heads up play between Vinny Pahuja and Alex Rocha.

Those in attendance feature players who have just increased their bank rolls. Dan Buzgon and Gene Fouksman, the third and eleventh place finishers in this event respectively are joined by Mike Leah and Jamie Kerstetter who just bagged and tagged and are in the money in the $1k 6-max.

Also hanging around to watch are Dave Stefanski, Mark Sykes, John Allan Hinds, Mickael Morgousky, Tony Abiyaghi and Solito Reyes.

Event 14: Level Up

$1000 + $90 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

After Alex Rocha's double-up, he and Vinny Pahuja have been trading chips in this deep structure.  

Pahuja still leads 1.7 million to 1.3 million as blinds are now 15k/30k with a 4k ante. Each player has roughly 50 big blinds.

Event 16: End of Night Chip Counts

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NL (Re-Entry)

Anthony Maio - 412,800

All 18 players have bagged and tagged their chips.

Play resumes tomorrow at noon in Borgata Poker Room where we'll play to a winner.

Anthony Maio smoked the field and felt all night long as he maintained his tournament chip lead for over four hours. Can he keep it going? Stay tuned tomorrow.

Position......Player........Chip Stack

1. Anthony Maio................ 412,800
2. Joel Frank..................... 287,200
3. Steve Dannenmann....... 236,000
4. Mike Leah...................... 231,300
5. Richard Corley................ 231,000
6. Joseph Cappuccio............ 204,100
7. David Kim....................... 201,300
8. Sung Kim......................... 187,600
9. Harry Korotki.................. 182,400
10. Brandon Hall................. 166,800
11. Pelhan Straughn.............. 121,600
12. Brian Schmidt................. 132,700
13. Ken "Teach" Aldridge....... 117,500
14. Travis Greenawalt........... 103,000
15. Leonid Lerner..................... 95,000
16. Mickey Woll....................... 83,000
17. Ted Geier............................ 80,400
18. Jamie Kerstetter................. 51,600

Congratulations to the top eighteen.

Event 14: Rocha Doubles

$1000 + $90 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 12k/24k, 3k ante

Alex Rocha raises, Vinny Pahuja moves all in, Rocha calls.

Rocha: A 9
Pahuja: A 6

Flop: J 7 4

Turn: 7 (Pahuja picks up chop outs)

River: 8

And with that Rocha doubles to 1.3 million, while Pahuja drops to 1.7 million.

Event 16: Bubble Busted

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NL (Re-Entry)

Aaron Schaff from New Jersey is knocked out in 19th Place by Steve Dannenmann and becomes the tournament bubble-boy earning $0.

Aaron is still beating himself up for calling his nut flush vs. Pelham Straughn's quads.

Schaff tripled up the next hand then was getting hammered by the blinds and antes. In what would be the final hand of the night, Schaff called with K-7 of hearts and was up against Steve Dannenmann's K-9.

Kicker played on a board of K-J-9-5-K.

Congrats to the remaining 18 players all of whom will cash.

Time to bag and tag and call it a night.

Event 14: Rocha Rising

$1000 + $90 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds Up:  12k/24k, 3k ante

On a flop of K 9 6 rainbow, Alex Rocha checked, Vinny Pahuja bet 60k, and Alex called.

Turn was an Ace.  Alex checked, Vinny bet 125k, and Alex called.

River was a 9.  Both players checked.  Alex showed KT for a pair of Kings.  Vinny mucked.

With that pot, Alex was back up over 800k, leaving about 2.1+ million for Vinny.

Event 16: Double Bubble

$1000 + $90 Six-Max NL (Re-Entry)

Sung Kim (New York, NY) busts out Pierce who goes out as the double bubble.

Pierce had survived several times with the worst of it. He had one foot out the door before a chopped hand and an A-K vs AA match where he flopped two kings.

This time the better hand pre held up.

Sung A-8 vs. K-Q on a board of 6-3-A-2-6.

We're playing hand for hand as the next player out is the tournament bubble.

Top 18 go after the $156,000 Total Buy in with a first place prize of $42,373.

Remaining 19 are on a ten minute break.

Chip leader is still Anthony Maio (Bucks County, PA) with 390,000.

Event 14: Heads-Up Resumes

$1000 + $90 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds Up:  12k/24k, 3k ante  

Play has resumed after the break.  Chip Counts

Vinny Pahuja - 2.4 million
Alex Rocha - 600k