WPT BPO Championship - Event 15 (Day 2)
‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 16: (2,000/4,000/500)
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 159
Avg. Chips: 206,850
Ari Engel (Toronto, ON, Canada)
Taha Maruf started the day with just 38,000 and managed to spin it all the way up to the Day 2 chip lead. Taruf put 794,000 in the bag and is one of only three players to bag over 700,000. After being down to just 100,000 before the dinner break Ari Engel (pictured) was able to mount quite the comeback. He finished the day with a second place chip stack of 747,000.
Just behind him is Phong “VIP” Nguyen who scooped a massive pot in the last hand of the day eliminating Brian Altman. The players will return tomorrow Wednesday September 21 at 12 P.M. noon to resume Day 3 play.
Below is a list of some of the big stacks from Day 2. A full list of Day 3 seating assignments and chip counts will be posted as soon as they’re available.
Taha Maruf- 794,000
Ari Engel- 747,000
Phong Nguyen- 731,000
Mike Wang- 595,000
Blair Hinkle- 578,500
Simon Lam- 492,000
Alex Foxen- 483,000
Chris Limo- 425,000
Aaron Mermelstein- 423,500
Farid Jattin- 413,500
Paul Volpe- 387,500
‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 16: (2,000/4,000/500)
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 198
Avg. Chips: 176,000
Phong “VIP” Nguyen
Jeremy Meacham raises to 10,000 and Vip Nguyen makes the call. Brian Altman reraises to 35,000 and Meacham gets out of the way. Nguyen calls and they go heads up to the {4d}{9c}{8c} flop.
Nguyen leads out with a bet of 45,000 and Altman moves all in for 241,500 on top. “I have a really big hand Brian, I don’t know if I can fold this” Nguyen says. After thinking about it for a few more moments Nguyen calls and the hands are shown.
Altman: {6c}{7c}
Nguyen: {8s}{8h}
Altman is holding an open ended straight flush draw and Nguyen middle set in the biggest pot of the tournament. The turn brings the {7d} and the {2h} completes the board. Nguyen lets out a fist pump as he rakes in the massive pot eliminating Altman in the process.There are now just four hands left in the night and Nguyen is playing a chip leading stack of 720,000
‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 16: (2,000/4,000/500)
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 198
Avg. Chips: 176,000
Alex Foxen (Cold Spring Harbor, NY)
The action folds to Aaron Mermelstein on the button and he raises to 9,500. Alex Foxen reraises to 29,000 from the small blind and Kurt Jewell folds his big blind. With the action back on Mermelstein he three bets to 83,500.
Foxen takes him time to think it over before sliding out a stack of 175,000. Mermelstein releases his hand into the muck and Foxen wins the preflop raising war.
Alex Foxen- 470,000
Aaron Mermelstein- 480,000
‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 16: (2,000/4,000/500)
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 198
Avg. Chips: 176,000
David Jackson (Jacksonville, FL)
We arrive at the table on a flop of {3h}{kh}{10h} and after a series of raises David Jackson moves all in for 77,500. The player in the big blind makes the call and the hands are shown.
Jackson: {7h}{9h}
Big Blind: {6h}{2h}
Both players have flopped flushes but Jackson’s nine high flush is in the lead. The turn {6s} and river {2s} seal the deal for Jackson earning him the pot and the double up.
David Jackson- 175,000
‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 15: (1,500/3,000/500)
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 219
Avg. Chips: 161,500
Arthur Peters looks to have moved up to the top of the chip counts. He is now just over 500,000 and looks to have passed Aaron Mermelstein and John Pannucci for the chip lead. We are approaching the last level of play in Day 2 so it should be a battle for the lead as the night comes to an end.
‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 15: (1,500/3,000/500)
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 219
Avg. Chips: 161,500
Yesterday we featured a slew of Florida pros who had made the journey to The Borgata for The Main Event. Timothy Miles was not in the Day 1 flight but he made it in time to buy in on Day 2. Miles is just four days removed from the WSOP Circuit Main Event final table in Biloxi. This could explain the late Main Event entry as he was busy finishing 7th place collecting $18,943. He is currently playing a stack of about 80,000 with less than two levels of play left in the night.
‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 15: (1,500/3,000/500)
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 225
Avg. Chips: 157,000
Paul Volpe (Turnersville, NJ)
We catch up to the three handed action on a flop of {8h}{3s}{2h} and the action checks to Paul Volpe in the cutoff. Volpe bets 5,500 and Jeremy Meacham calls from the small blind. The player in middle postion comes along and the dealer burns and turns the {5h}.
Both players again knuckle the felt and Volpe slides out a bet of 15,000. Meacham folds and the middle position player check raises all in for 60,000. Volpe quickly calls turning over {4h}{7h} for a turned flush and his opponent shows {3c}{3h} for a set. The {6c} river seals the deal for Volpe earning him the pot and the elimination.
The very next hand the action folds to Volpe in the hijack position and he raises to 7,500. Jeremy Meacham reraises to 17,000 from the button and Volpe calls. They go heads up to the {6c}{10s}{4s} flop and Volpe checks. Meacham bets 6,000 and Volpe calls.
The {2d} hits the turn and both players quickly check. The river brings the {js} and Volpe leads out with a bet of 12,000. Meacham release his hand and Volpe earns the pot without a showdown. Volpe is now playing 370,000 and is now one of the largest stacks in the room.
‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 15: (1,500/3,000/500)
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 250
Avg. Chips: 135,000
WPT Champions Cup
The players have returned from their dinner break and cards are now back in the air. They will play two more 75 minute levels before bagging and tagging their chips. Returning players will come back tomorrow September 21 at 12 P.M. noon to resume Day 3 play.
‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 14 (1,200/2,400/400)
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 255
Chip Average: 135,500
John Pannucci looks to be the only player over 500,000 as the dinner break hits on Day 2. Pannucci has chipped all day and will look to close out the day strong before the bags come out.
The dinner break has hit for the over 250 players remaining on Day 2 of the Borgata Poker Open WPT Championship. There are over 140 players left to be eliminated before the money bubble bursts but there are plenty of big names at the top of the counts. One name that doesn’t quite ring out but is making some noise today is John Pannucci, who has climbed to over 500,000 and looks to be the only player to reach that number at this point.
Once players return from dinner, they will play two more 75-minute levels before bagging for the night. Play will resume at approximately 9:00 PM. A look at the top of the leaderboard is below.
John Pannucci- 520,000
Brian Altman – 435,000
Aaron Mermelstein – 400,000
David Eilers – 370,000
Michael Wang – 365,000
John Racener – 345,000
Vinny Pahuja – 305,000
Olivier Busquet – 300,000
‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 14 (1,200/2,400/400)
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 261
Chip Average: 135,500
We featured a few players earlier today who were looking to spin up a 30,000 stack after entering at the start of Day 2. There were a fair amount of players who started their day below that total and have since entered the spin cycle.
Dan Sewnig was under the 30,000 starting stack as recently as the last break but has caught heat over the last few levels and is now near 125,000 as a result. The New Jersey online pro earned his largest career cash earlier in the 2016 Borgata Poker Open when he finished fourth in the Six-Max event for a $27,000 score. Sewnig cashed in the Summer Poker Open Championship and is going for back-to-back BPO Main Event cashes.
Jesse Sylvia started the today below 25,000 and is now trending toward 220,000 in the last level before the dinner break. The 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event runner-up cashed in the 2014 WPT World Championship held at Borgata and is on his way to another cash here if he continues to chip up at this rate.