BPO Video Series
$540+$60 Deep Stack NLH
$2,000,000 Guaranteed
End Of Level 25: Blinds 15,000/30,000/4,000 ante
Total Entries: 3,570
Players Remaining: 85
Average Stack: 1,050,000
The Event 1 players are now on a 60-minute dinner break. There are just 85 players remaining and we will pick back up on all the action when play resumes.
*If watching on mobile, please use headphones for optimal audio quality
‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 17 (2,500/5,000/500)
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 159
Average Stack: 222,500
Matthew Wantman knows a thing or two about how to run deep in Borgata WPT Main Events having finished sixth in the 2016 Winter Poker Open Championship for a $166,000 score. Wantman comes into today with an above average stack and is looking to go back-to-back in consecutive WPT Championship events at Borgata.
‘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.
‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 5 (150/300/50)
Day 1B Entries: 595
Total Entries: 892
The big names have received their fair share of shine so far over the first two days but there a few other players making waves early in the Borgata Poker Open finale. One of those players is Nancy Martin who earned her seat in this $3,000,000 GTD event this past weekend.
We caught up with Martin on the first break of the day to talk about the secret to her satellite success and her Day 1 strategy.
‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 7 (250/500/75)
Total Entries: 296
Mike Dentale has long been one of the most successful players at Borgata dozens of cashes and titles to his name. The one title that continues to evade Dentale is a Borgata World Poker Tour Championship victory. Dentale is in search of his WPT breakthrough on Day 1A and we caught up with him on break to discuss what this title would mean to him.
Event 9 – ‘Almighty Million’
Level 41 (2,500,000/5,000,000/500,000)
Total Entries: 2,369
Players Remaining: 1
Chip Average: 236,900,000
Borgata Poker Open “Almighty Million” Champion – Steve Madara
There’s something to be said for all of the hours spent grinding tournaments online and having those hours pay off. For Steve Madara, he has spent much of the last few years honing his craft on New Jersey’s websites gradually preparing for moments such as today. Madara took full advantage of the moment today and as a result is the “Almighty Million” champion.
Nothing was easy today for Madara as he came into Day 3 below average in chips and had to grind his way through just to make it to the final table. Once at the final table, Madara continued to employ his patient strategy before picking up pocket kings at the perfect time to send two opponents to the rail and put himself into the chip lead.
Madara faced some adversity during heads-up play but persevered through it and came out unscathed as a result. Given how well he played today, there is little doubt that we will see Madara excel once again in the Borgata Poker Open.
Almighty Stack ($1,000,000 Guaranteed)
Level 23 (25,000/50,000/5,000)
Total Event 9 Entries: 2,369
Players Remaining: 190
Chip Average: 1,245,000
Social media has become a great way for poker players to promote themselves over the last few years and a recent example of that belongs to Adnan Mohammad. After starting as a cash game player a few years ago, the “@nypokerking”, as he is known on Instagram, has gained a large following of fans on the app in a relatively short time period.
Mohammad is still alive on Day 2 of the Almighty Stack and is keeping his fans abreast of his status every step of the way. We caught up with Mohammad on the first break after the bursting of the money bubble.
Almighty Stack ($1,000,000 Guaranteed)
Level 20 (12,000/24,000/4,000)
Total Event 9 Entries: 2,369
Players Remaining: 261
Chip Average: 908,000
Andy Spears was the chip leader coming into Day 2 of the “Almighty Million” and despite hitting a few early bumps in the roads, is still well-stacked with over 1,700,000 on the first break of the day. We caught up with Spears on break to discuss his day so far along with a few fun “would you rathers” regarding his Buffalo Bills.
Almighty Stack ($1,000,000 Guaranteed)
Level 8 (800/1,600/200)
Day 1E Entries: 630
Total Event 9 Entries: 2,261
CJ Welch had his tournament breakthrough earlier in 2016 when he won the WSOP circuit High Roller in Baltimore for a $56,000 score. Since then, Welch has joined the professional ranks and is playing his first full BPO series.
Almighty Stack ($1,000,000 Guaranteed)
Level 17 (6,000/12,000/2,000)
Day 1D Entries: 700
Total Event 9 Entries: 1,631
Ramona Paladino found a late rush late on Day 1D and brought her stack up from 100,000 all the way up to the chip lead of 1,490,000.
The second-to-last of flight is the “Almighty Million” is in the books and over 100 players bagged chips in anticipation of tomorrow’s Day 2. Leading the charge from this session is Ramona Paladino, who bagged 1,490,000 after catching some heat toward the latter levels of the night.
While we don’t have the full number of survivors just yet, a full list of chip counts will be posted before play kicks off tomorrow at 12:00 PM. Some of the other players who bagged piles from this flight include Chip Reed (1,250,000), Mordehay Kalimi (952,000) and Ryan Phan (948,000).
Another player who will be bringing quite a few chips for Day 2 is Greg Weber (928,000). We caught up with Weber right after play wrapped for the night.