WPT BPO Championship - Event 15 (Day 2)
‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 11 (600/1,200/200)
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 486
Chip Average: 73,000
There is still a long way to go before the money bubble even starts to be in reach for the 486 remaining players. That said, a nice pile of chips is always nice to have at this point. A few players in the field have started that build early on Day 2 and will only look to add more.
Josh Miller is nearing the top of the chip counts and hasn’t let a tough table deter his ascent. Miller is currently seated with Barry Hutter, Eddie Ochana, and Scott Baumstein but has climbing near the 275,000 mark after starting the day with less than a fifth of that total.
There may not be a more familiar sight in recent years around Borgata during championship time than Aaron Mermelstein sitting behind a mountain of chips. Mermelstein is well over 200,000 and after two straight deep runs in the WPT Winter Poker Open Championship, it just might be Mermelstein’s turn to run deep in the Borgata Poker Open Championship. Mermelstein finished second in the 2016 Spring Poker Open Championship and while we don’t have the official figures in front of us, we can’t imagine there are too many players with three BPO Main Event final tables to their name.
Michael Ruane is gradually becoming a more familiar face to those who watch poker on TV as Ruane’s run to this year’s WSOP Main Event final table will be chronicled over the next two months on ESPN. Ruane utilized his Day 2 buy-in option and is already over 115,000. The New Jersey native is mostly an online player but as exampled by his status as a “November Niner,” Ruana is doing quite well on the live felt as of late.
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH
Level 11: Blinds 600/1,200/200 ante
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 486
Average Stack: 73,000
Two more poker pros we rarely see here at Borgata are grinding away here on Day 2.
Blair Hinkle (Kansas City, MO)
Blair Hinkle has a WSOP bracelet (2008) and make poker history when he won three WSOP Circuit Championships, all at the same venue: Council Bluffs, Iowa. He won the WSOPC Championship there in 2010, 2013, and 2014. Total career earnings? More than $3.7 million.
His brother Grant Hinkle also has a WSOP bracelet, also won in 2008, so poker must be in their blood. Grant’s got more than $1.2 million in tournament earnings.
Nick Binger (Las Vegas, NV)
Nick Binger has more than $2.3 million in tournament earnings. Nearly $400,000 of that was from his WSOP bracelet win in 2011 (Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo). Nick also has a poker-playing brother, Mike Binger, but Mike has yet to win a bracelet. He does have one WSOP Circuit ring though — and more than $7 million in earnings.
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH
Level 11: Blinds 600/1,200/200 ante
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 513
Average Stack: 69,000
We have two players in the field today who have traveled all the way from Norway for this event. Norway began allowing legal poker tournaments again in 2014. The Norwegian Poker Championships, which had been held on foreign soil since 2008, returned home.
Leif Arne Hetland (Skudeneshavn) has more than $28,000 in earnings, all on home soil.
Liev Kare Johannessen (Kaperuk) has more than $48,000 in accumulated earnings including a single cash in the US, right here at Borgata.
‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 11 (600/1,200/200)
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 547
Chip Average: 64,000
The Borgata Poker Open WPT Championship field has been officially frozen at 1,179 entrants as Level 11 gets started. The payouts for this event will be released shortly but with over 500 players still in the tournament, we likely will not hit the money until Day 3. It should be noted that levels will be 75 minutes for the remainder of Day 2 until the levels go up to 90 minutes at the start of Day 3.
In the meantime, the BPO blog will return with a look at some of the early gainers at the start of Day 2.
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH
End of Level 10: Blinds 500/1,000/100 ante
Total Entries: 1,163
Players Remaining: 522
End of level 10 and time for the first break of the day.
Kassem ‘Freddie’ Deeb (Irvine, CA)
Another player who’s gotten a lot of TV coverage playing poker is Freddie Deeb. Being from California, he’s not usually seen here at Borgata, but turned up for this event. Freddie’s got more than $8.5 million in lifetime earnings. Two WSOP bracelets, two WPT titles, and one WSOP Circuit ring are just some of his numerous titles. When he won the WSOP $50,000 HORSE event in 2007, he collected $2,276,832, which remains his single largest score. He’s currently ranked 61st in the world in total earnings.
This ‘old school’ player is staring down the felt at a bunch of young-guns of poker, including Eric Rappaport, Ryan van Sanford, Justin Zaki, Tim Bishop, and Dan Buzgon, but looks perfectly comfortable with his earbuds and RedBull.
‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 10 (500/1,000/100)
Total Entries: 1,134
While we covered most of the chip leaders and big stacks from the first two Day 1 flights, a few players who bagged over 140,000 coming into Day 2 were missed. That situation is being rectified now as all three of these players are more than capable of turning their current big stack into a WPT title.
Since making first appearing on the live poker scene in 2011, Brian Yoon has been among the most consistent no-limit tournament players in the game. Yoon has won two World Series of Poker bracelets and finished in the top-60 of the Main Event twice during that time. Yoon took home third in the 2015 WPT Championship held at the Borgata and is in search of his first World Poker Tour title.
Matt Matros completed one of the most difficult feats in poker when he won a WSOP bracelet in three straight years between 2010 and 2012. All of three of Matros’ bracelets came in a different discipline of hold ’em, showing how truly elite the 39-year-old is at the game. The poker professional and author has over $2,500,000 in career earnings and has come close to WPT glory before, finishing third in the 2004 $25,000 WPT Championship.
Zach Gruneberg has $840,000 in live earnings but it’s his online game that usually gets people’s attention. The player known as “HustlerGrune” has nearly $3,000,000 in virtual earnings, placing him in sterling company. Gruneberg has two WSOP final tables to his name and is looking for his WPT breakthrough after cashing for the first time in the 2015 Five-Diamond Poker Classic.
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH
Level 10: Blinds 500/1,000/100 ante
Total Entries: 1,142
Players Remaining: 540
Steve Dannenmann – 2nd Place 2005 WSOP Main Event
It’s been 11 years since Steve Dannenmann appeared at the final table of the WSOP Main Event and appeared on televisions all over the world on ESPN’s coverage of the event. His runner-up finish that year was broadcast around the globe.
He’s not the only poker player in his house, however. His wife, Dawn Lucarelli, also knows her way around the felt. She’s taken home more than $38,000 in tournament winnings over the last four years. They’re both in action in today’s Day 2 field. Wonder if they have a last longer bet?
Dawn Lucarelli – Married to That Guy
‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 9 (400/800/100)
Total Entries: 1,111
One of the neat quirks of the Borgata Poker Open WPT Championship the ability for players to buy-in for the first two levels of Day 2. With a 30,000 start bank and roughly 38 big blinds to work with, there are many players more than capable of putting that stack to work and start building for the latter stages of this tournament. Over a 100 players have utilized that option so far with the intention of spinning it up.
Chris Csik is nearly at the 100,000 mark after starting his Day 2 session first thing today. Csik has had a quality 2016 Borgata Poker Open, finishing ninth in Event 1 for a $23,000 score. Csik finished fourth in the 2016 Summer Poker Open Championship for $96,000 and will look to regain that form in this event.
Jerry Wong is quite familiar with outlasting tough fields as Wong is one of the members of the 2016 World Series of Poker Main Event November Nine. Wong already has at least $1,000,000 locked up for that run and is in the hunt for the over $700,000 that lies up top for the winner of this event.
Peering from behind that hood is Chris Horter. After not being able to make it through the flooding that affected many in the New Jersey area, Horter is here ready to get his WPT BPO Championship underway. Horter has over $400,000 in live earnings and is ready to get earn his first WPT Main Event cash.
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH
Level 10: Blinds 500/1,000/100 ante
Total Entries: 1,114
Joe McKeehen, 2015 WSOP Main Event winner is about six weeks away from passing the torch to a new World Champion. Joe’s victory last year was good for more than $7.6 million.
Joe McKeehen – 2015 WSOP Main Event Champion
His most-likely successor is also in today’s field. Cliff Josephy is currently the chip leader in the 2016 WSOP Main Event November Nine, a position that Joe held last year from wire-to-wire. If Cliff can do the same, the title will remain on the East Coast for the second straight year. The top prize this year is an even $8 million.
Cliff ‘JohnnyBax’ Josephy – 2016 WSOP Main Event November Nine Chip Leader
‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 9 (400/800/100)
Total Entries: 1,084
The story of Asher Conniff’s from online satellite to WPT Champion has been recited numerous times in the year since he made his run. Since that time, BorgataPoker.com has turned into a satellite behemoth with many players earning their way into Borgata Poker Open events through an online discount.
One of the players who qualified for the WPT BPO Championship through BorgataPoker,com is Jason Lawhun. After a day spent battling with Michael Wang and Jared Hamby, among others, Lawhun will be bringing in 84,500 to Day 2. We caught up with Lawhun before the start of play to discuss his Day 1, how he’s learned to adjust to live play and his strategy for Day 2.