Event 1 (Day 1C)

Level 17 (2,500/5,000/500)
Total Day 1C Entries: 1,351
Remaining Day 1C Players: 220
Average Stack: 123,000 (25 big blinds)

Jora Beit (Mesa, AZ) finishes Day 1C with the (current) overall chip lead

It was a long process getting more than 200 players through the accounting process, coloring off the black chips, and getting them in the bag. Once it was all done, we found a new leader for Event 1. Jora Beit found himself sitting at the same table with Coleem Chestnut, the late leader, and took advantage.

Beit bagged up more chips then any players in the first two flights and his 461,000 is the number to catch in 1D. Chestnut still bagged a top stack of 389,000 while Ioannis Parastatidis was the only other player over 400,000 at the end of the flight.

Everyone who survived today will return tomorrow at noon and aim to finish with a champ.

Jora Beit – 461,000 (92 bb)
Ioannis Parastatidis – 425,500 (85 bb)
Coleem Chestnut – 389,000 (78 bb)
Ken Gupta – 381,500 (76 bb)
Eric VanAuken – 344,000 (69 bb)
Daniel Drozdov – 312,500 (63 bb)
Michael Nye – 304,000 (61 bb)

Ioannis Parastatidis (Atlanta, GA)

Read More

Below is a list of all the players playing in Day 2, in chip count order. To find an alphabetized list of these players, along with table and seat number for each player, click HERE.

Read More

Day 1C leader: Andrew Badecker

2nd – Derek Marmen

3rd – Zach Daly

51 of the 508 entrants to Flight 1C bagged for Day 2.

The average stack for players who advanced from tonight’s flight was almost exactly 200,000 but a handful of players have well over that amount:

Andrew Badecker – 517,000
Derek Marmen – 404,000
Zach Daly – 403,000
Vesel Haxhillary – 392,000
Kevin Grabel – 390,000
Byron Washington – 389,000

Badecker was the chip leader entering Level 17 and ended up well ahead of the rest of this flight. He currently has biggest stack among all players who have made it to Day 2.

But he almost lost a big chunk of it with just minutes remaining in the night. Holding {Ah}{Kc}, he called the all-in bet of another player who had a little over 100,000 chips remaining. The other player flipped up {Ac}{As} and Badecker simply walked 30 feet across the room. Had he stayed, he would have seen that he made a broadway straight on the turn and added to an already overwhelming stack.

These 51 players will return for Day 2 on Friday with play beginning at 11am.

That’s 3 flights in the books and the final 2 coming tomorrow. Flight 1D will begin at 10am on Thursday while the fifth and final flight will begin at 4pm on Thursday. Keep it right here for real-time updates on the end of Day 1 and the rest of the events taking place during the 2014 Borgata Poker Open.

Read More

Level 18 (Blinds 3,000/6,000/300)
Total Entries: 508
Players Remaining: 60
Chip Average: 170,000

Denise Remick

For at least two hours, Denise Remick has been the only female left in the field.

Thanks to some lucky ladies, she survived an all-in bet in which she was way behind.

Denise: {As}{Qd}    Player X: {Ah}{Kd}

Flop: {Qh}{5h}{4d}
Turn: {2d}
River: {Jc}

Remick doubled up to about 130,000 with a pair of {Qx}’s. She’s still a little below the chip average in the room, but still alive.

Read More

Level 18 (Blinds 3,000/6,000/300)
Total Entries: 508
Players Remaining: 62
Chip Average: >160,000

Just 40 minutes stand between the final 62 players of flight 1C and Day 2 of Event 1.

The first two flights saw approximately 11% of entrants bag chips, but this field is already down to 12.2%. Should another 12 (or more) players hit the rail before the end of the level, the players who survive the night will be entering Day 2 with an average chip stack of at least 200,000.

Read More

Level 17 (Blinds 2,500/5,000/500)
Total Entries: 508
Players Remaining: 70
Chip Average: 145,000

Roberto Ilagan: Rocky Fan

While it’s nice to be able to stare at your iPad for the entirety of the tournament, you need to remember to pay attention to what’s going on at the table.

That is, unless you’re Roberto Ilagan and you’re just plain lucky.

While engrossed in Rocky III, Ilagan was unaware that a player at the opposite end of the table had moved all-in. Sitting in the small blind, Ilagan put out chips to match the big blind, but the motion technically resulted in a call of the all-in bet. The big blind got out of the hand and the initial raiser was the one at risk, but well ahead.

All-in: {Ad}{8d}     Ilagan: {Js}{9d}

“I’m going to lose this hand. Story of my life,” said the all-in player. Pessimistic as it was, he was right.

Flop: {10h}{6d}{2s}
Turn: {7c}
River: {8s}

The river gave the all-in player a pair of {8x}’s, but it also gave Ilagan a straight and a chip stack of around 135,000.

Read More

Level 16 (Blinds 2,500/5,000/500)
Total Entries: 508
Players Remaining: 95
Chip Average: >105,000

Chip Leader: Andrew Badecker

With 10 tables remaining and two levels left to be played before players bag their chips for Day 2, here are the chip leaders in the room:

Andrew Badecker – 345,000
Inon Hovav – 335,000
Duane Goodison – 310,000
Vesel Haxhillary – 280,000
Mircea Ionescu – 270,000
Jamie Armstrong – 265,000

The average stack at the end of the first two flights was just a shade under 200,000 with just a shade over 10% of each flight advancing to Day 2.

Read More

Level 16 (Blinds 2,000/4,000/400)
Total Entries: 508
Players Remaining: 95
Chip Average: >105,000

Sonny Chau

Players are currently on a 15-minute color up break with the black 100 chips becoming obsolete, but Sonny Chau scored a huge win just 2 hands before the break.

With the short stack at the table pushing all-in for 24,800 UTG+2 and the player in cutoff position making the call, Chau came over the top for 60,000 from the button and got a call. After the flop, cutoff pushed his final 20,000 chips into the middle and Chau immediately called.

Chau: {As}{Ad}    Cutoff: {Jc}{10s}    UTG+2: {6c}{4c}

Flop: {9d}{7h}{3h}
Turn: {2s}
River: {Ks}

Both of the smaller stacks had a gutshot straight draw after the flop, but neither of them hit, and Chau chipped up to about 200,000.

Read More

Level 16 (Blinds 2,000/4,000/400)
Total Entries: 508
Players Remaining: 110
Chip Average: >92,000

Daryl Boatwright

About 20 minutes after staying alive with a {Kx} on the river, Daryl Boatwright had all his chips in the middle of the table again. Only this time, he was well ahead from the getgo.

Boatwright: {Ac}{As}     Travis Greenawalt {9x}{9x}

Flop: {Ah}{5d}{2h}
Turn: {2c}
River: {Qs}

Before the flop, Greenawalt said he felt good about his hand. After the {Ah} in the window, not so much.

Boatwright began the hand with 63,000 chips and more than doubled up to 130,000.

Read More

Level 15 (Blinds 1,500/3,000/400)
Total Entries: 508
Players Remaining: 120
Chip Average: 85,000

Mircea Ionescu

With the big blind still at a modest 3,000 and the chip average less than 30 big blinds, there haven’t been very many gigantic pots to this point in the 3rd flight of Event 1, but Mircea Ionescu benefited nicely from one over on Table 2.

Ionescu raised to 7,000 pre-flop before another player re-raised to 18,500. Mircea pushed all-in and got a call.

Ionescu: {Js}{Jc}    Player X: {As}{Kc}

Flop: {Qs}{8h}{7s}
Turn: {Jh}
River: {3d}

“Clean up on Aisle 2,” said another player at the table, as Ionescu accidentally spilled some of his Red Bull on the felt after winning the hand. He started the hand with a little over the chip average, but he now has almost 200,000, putting him easily within the top 10 percent of stacks in the room.

Read More