Event 18 (Day 1B)
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH
$3,000,000 Guaranteed
Structure
Returning to Level 9: 500/1,000/1,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 917
Players Remaining: ~515
Gene Quinn
Day 1B of the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship drew a total of 657 entries brining the combined WPT BPO Championship NLH to 917 entries and counting.
There are approximately 390 players from this flight that will be advancing to Day 2 and it’s Gene Quinn bagging the overall chip lead with 328,000.
BorgataPoker.com sponsored pro Vinny Pahuja put one of the biggest stacks in the bag and will be returning to Day 2 with 225,000.
Vinny Pahuja
Approximately 515 combined Day 1A-B survivors will return on Tuesday September 18 at 11 A.M. to resume Day 2 play.
Below is a look at some of the big stacks and players from the first flight that will be moving on. A full list of Day 2 chip counts and seating assignments will be posted as soon as they’re available.
We have already hit the $3,000,000 guarantee and there’s still plenty of time to get in on the action. Tournament registration and re-entry will remain open until the first hand is dealt on Day 2.
Gene Quinn- 328,000
Vinny Pahuja- 225,000
Aaron Schaff- 222,800
Marc Sandy- 178,300
Chris Leong- 140,000
Stephen Song- 139,200
David Mock- 137,600
Stanley Lee- 137,500
Vittorio Faricelli- 93,500
Dan DiZenzo- 82,400
Kane Kalas- 70,000
Matt Iles- 54,000
Paul Volpe- 33,800
Maurice Hawkins- 18,900
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH
$3,000,000 Guaranteed
Structure
Level 8: 400/800/800 BB Ante
Day 1B Entries: 655
Richard Seymour
Joey Couden raised to 2,000 from middle position and it folded to Richard Seymour in the cutoff. Seymour moved all in for his last 10,700 and it folded back to Couden who called.
Joey Couden: 
Richard Seymour: 
The dealer fanned the 
pairing Couden’s jack and Seymour picked up a gutshot straight draw to go with his over cards. The turn 
and river 
were no help to Seymour and he was eliminated just before the end of Day 1B play.
Joey Couden- 100,000
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH
$3,000,000 Guaranteed
Structure
Level 8: 400/800/800 BB Ante
Day 1B Entries: 648
Paul Volpe
We just featured Ali Imsirovic here on the Borgata Poker Blog and he is surrounded by some tough competition on Table 13. Three time WSOP bracelet winner Paul Volpe is seated to his direct left.
Just one seat to his immediate right sit’s 11 time WSOP Circuit ring Maurice Hawkins. A few seats over is young wizard Stephen Song.
There is now less than one level of play left in the night and they can all look forward to a new table draw on Day 2.
Maurice Hawkins
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH
$3,000,000 Guaranteed
Structure
Level 8: 400/800/800 BB Ante
Day 1B Entries: 646
Ali Imsirovic
Ali Imsirovic is among the latest wave of players to take their seats here in the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship. Imsirovic is just days removed from the run of a lifetime during the Las Vegas Poker Masters.
He started it off by winning the stacked $25,000 NLH event defeating Ben Yu heads up. He earned $462,000 for the win which was his largest career tournament score at the time.
Imsirovic then hopped into the $100,000 NLH event the very next day. Once again he was the last man standing defeating Koray Aldemir heads up to earn $799,000 and the purple Poker Masters jacket.
He has now earned more than $2,400,000 throughout his young poker career and will look to add his first WPT title to his growing poker resume here in the WPT BPO Championship NLH event.
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH
$3,000,000 Guaranteed
Structure
Level 7: 300/600/600 BB Ante
Day 1B Entries: 630
Aaron Massey (left) Luke Vrabel (right)
The WPT BPO Championship players continue to fill the Signature Room and the tournament area. There is plenty of action both on and off the felt.
As Luke Vrabel walked by one of the outer table he was summoned by Aaron Massey. “Can I please have your autograph on a $1 bill” asked Massey. Vrabel was happy to oblige and even called Massey “a fine young gentlemen.”
They aren’t the only ones in the field having some fun as table mates Dave Stefanski and “The General” are all smiles as well on Table 37.
Dave Stefanski (left) “The General” (right)
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH
$3,000,000 Guaranteed
Structure
Level 7: 300/600/600 BB Ante
Day 1B Entries: 623
Stanley Lee
There are now more than 600 entries here in the second flight of the $3,500 WPT Borgata Poker Open NLH Championship. The field is still growing fast and many of the players are still hovering around the 40,000 chip starting stack.
Stanley Lee however is not one of those players as Lee got off to a lightning fast start here in the Signature Room.
Lee is already sitting behind a mountain of close to 200,000 and if he keeps amassing chips at this pace he should have no problem surpassing Day 1A chip leader Josh Gordon who put 250,000 in the bag.
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH
$3,000,000 Guaranteed
Structure
Level 7: Blinds 300/600/600 BB Ante
Entries: 621
Meanwhile, in the reportedly “freezing” Signature Room, table 44 features some players who know how to keep warm.
Vittorio Faricelli’s big 140,000 stack helps keep Mike Meskin, right, warm.
Ali Alawadhi stays warm with thin value bets – here a little too thin against Vittorio, right, who turns top and bottom into a bluffcatcher for healthy pot right before break.
Dan DiZenzo, left, prefers to fold KK pre to keep warm.
Of course, this is how you actually do it: Chun Li has the gear, as well as a flop check raise in the last orbit before break to keep his stack heated.
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH
$3,000,000 Guaranteed
Structure
End of Level 6: 300/500/500 BB Ante
Day 1B Entries: 608
The Day 1B Championship players are now on a 15-minute break. The field is filling up fast and there are already more than 600 entries this flight and counting.
With 260 Day 1 entries there are now over 860 combined Championship entries and there’s already over $2,800,000 in the prize pool.
Tournament registration and re-entry will remain open until the start of Day 2 tomorrow at 11 A.M. so there’s still plenty of time to get in on the action.
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH
$3,000,000 Guaranteed
Structure
Level 6: Blinds 300/500/500 BB Ante
Entries: 583
The action on 26 goes through Christos Kampanakis, who is clearly a threat to everyone at the table – including himself.
Kampanakis gets it in good on the river…
Christos doubled up easy against Mike Liang, who was forced to pay off the turned nuts getting great odds with a strong hand. Kampanakis raised turn small on 
, then got in his last 11,000 on a blank holding 
.
…but Mike Liang doesn’t take paying him off too hard with TPTK. Mehrdad Yousefzadeh, left, takes some from Christos in the next hand.
Christos then raised the next several hands, having to fold on the river twice, redistributing Mike’s chips to different seats.
Christos tosses in a turn call against Amarender Puri, center. Taylor Wilson, right, awaits his chance.
In the second, Amarender was a little lucky to hold on to his healthy stack, as Christos promised him he would not have guessed what he held if he got there.
“Some weird gutshot?” Amarender guessed. Kampanakis smiled.
Bait Tai Li gets caught in the crossfire and loses a bet.
Seat 9 Bounty killer Bai Tai Li got into the action in another of Kampanakis’ pots, leading turn on 
when Christos declined to continuation bet multiway.
However, he gave up the river to seat 1 on a troublesome river card, another 
he found hard to represent.
As promised, Taylor Wilson gets action from Christos as well, here studying his opponent before firing. Mehrdad looks on.
Unfortunately, Christos is soon gone, and Long Tran takes his seat – big shoes to to fill.
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship NLH
$3,000,000 Guaranteed
Structure
Level 5: Blinds 200/400/400 BB Ante
Entries: 554
Before the break, Justin Carey on 6 had opened to 800 (we’ve seen a variety of sizings at 200/300, from 700 to 1200), had picked up Illian Li, yet another overcaller, when action settled on Paul Lambrakis. He took some time and raised to 3200, an ambitious play right into the EP range of a player that covered him.
Carey considers Lambrakis, foreground, and the three bet squeeze. Illian Li at his left.
Everyone called but Illian, leaving Lambrakis with a bit pot to manage. Bad news: the flop came 
, which likely helped anyone but him – would be a good time to have the 
. Both players checked to Paul, who downbet 3500.
Almost predictably, he faced immediate resistance. Carey now check-raised to 11,400, threatening stacks on the next street. The overcaller passed, and Lambrakis had to let it go.
Well done by Carey, who maintains around starting stack.
Ilian struck next in his turn under the gun, raising a little more to 1000, then getting a cbet through Carey and Yan Wang on 
.
Ilian Li opens the pot, starting the folds, while Carey awaits in the big.
With the level winding down, Omar Taveras took his turn as the opener, using 700. He appropriately enough picked up more callers than average, including Carey and the two blinds.
Jan Wang and Omar Taveras in action.
The dry 
checked through, then Ilian led the , which brought some new draws. Taveras now called in position, and then paid off another lead on the turn 2500.
Illian Li flipped up 
for top and bottom, while Omar had turned 
into a bluff catcher, taking a small hit but getting Li back to 30,000 at a relatively short stacked table.