April 18

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


11AM:  Event 19 - $170 + $30 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
                                 $75,000 GUARANTEED PRIZE POOL

• Players start with 25,000 in tournament chips
• Levels 1-10: will last 25 minutes each | Levels 11+: will last 30 minutes each
• Players that "bust" within the first 8 Levels may Re-Enter (unlimited re-entries)
• 1-Day event
  

12PM:  $2500 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em - Day 3

• Day starts at 12PM
• Day 3, 4 Levels: will last 75 minutes each 
• 4-Day event
  

6 PM:  Event 44 - $100 + $20 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH (Re-Entry)

• 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
• Players that "bust" within the first 8 Levels may Re-Enter (unlimited re-entries)
• 1-Day event

Champ: End of Day 2 Chip Counts

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH

Matt Woodward (Waterboro, ME)

Chip Leader - 841,400

The 54 remaining players return with an average stack of 288k (58 BB). Blinds resume with 29 minutes left on the 2.5k/5k, 400 ante level.

Check back after 9 am for Day 3 seat assignments.

Name-Chip Count

Matt	Woodward	841,400
Larry	Abrams	738,000
Ben	Chou	686,800
Chad	Batista	680,600
Mike	Meskin	570,200
Ian	Palomo	546,100
Larry	Sharp	534,700
Nick	Petrangelo	494,000
Mike	Borovetz	485,000
Brian	England	461,500
Morgan	Litwin	425,500
Eric	Ladny	420,600
Ara	Melikian	410,700
Billy	Campbell	384,700
Joe	Neiman	371,170
Jia	Liu	345,300
David	Stefanski	322,000
Shiraz	Hasan	318,200
Ruslan	Dykshetyn	317,700
Cliff	Josephy	309,100
John	Lakatosh	295,300
Dan	Wach	289,100
Vinny	Pahuja	285,600
Steve	Saklad	283,400
Grace	Sun	281,100
Ofir	Mor	268,500
Thomas	McGarry	264,600
Ali	Tabatabai	263,800
Edward	Pham	245,500
Cathy	Dever	242,300
Andrew	Sardella	229,300
Cameron	Cornell	228,800
Elan	Branas	214,000
Stephanie	Hubbard	210,300
Rocco	Luciano	204,600
Robert	Pardo	202,600
Jeff	McAlister	198,600
Tony	Sinishtaj	176,500
Francis	Cipriano	164,000
Angel	Gonzalez	143,300
Robert	Aaronson	143,200
Danny	Rohde	142,700
Paul	Darden	140,600
Ronnie	Bardah	123,400
Steve	Scales	119,400
Maurice	Paradis	102,700
Mike	Dentale	102,500
William	Dugan	90,400
David	Inselberg	88,600
Joanne	Monteavaro	74,300
Joseph	Primavera	67,800
Johnny	Escobalez	60,700
Gintautai	Putinas	37,000
Rich	Milo	10,700

Champ: Hanging by a Thread

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH

Milo (left) Crippled by Milo's Full House

Rich Milo (Franklin Square, NY) can thank Mike Meskin (Belmont, MA) for helping him squeaking into the money with only 10,700 chips (2 big blinds).

A few hands before the bubble broke, Milo and Meskin are in big pot and Meskin warns Milo to be careful.

On a board of 5♦ Q♠ 9♦ Milo checks, Meskin bets 40k, Milo calls.

Turn: 5♠

Milo checks
Meskin bets 25k
Milo calls

River: A♥

Milo checks

Meskin reaches for a stack of chips and says, "what will you do now," as he reaches towards the pot and has a stack of blue (5k) chips dangling above the pot.

Milo says, "call," and gets confirmation that the forward motion means the chips are committed.

Milo shows A♣ Q♣ for two pairs.

Meskin says, "I told you to be careful," and turns over 9♠ 9♥ for a full house.

Milo is visibly distraught, but catches a break because the stack Meskin bet was only 85k. The bet leaves Milo with a handful of chips to limp his way through the bubble.

Champ: Bubble Breaks

$2500 + $200 Championship NLH

Ricardo Franco is the unfortunate bubble boy when his AQ is dominated by the AK of Elan Branas.  Franco doesn't get any help from the board and he's out in 55th place, one spot of the money.

The remaining 54 players are in the money for a guaranteed payday of $5,020 and are bagging and tagging for the night.

Play resumes at noon Wednesday as the field chases the $312,483 top prize.

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 A♦6♦ 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♥ 5♦ 7♦ A♣

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.