Gone in 60 Minutes

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Gotti Gotta Double

With less than one hour to play for the night, tables continue to break.  Table 16 is down and players are keeping an eye on the clock.

"I'm not baggin' up 60k," says Irv "Gotti" Lorenzo (New Rochelle, NY), who's looking for a spot to either double-up or go home.

135 players remain on 15 tables with an average stack 163k (55 BB) as blinds are 1.5k/3k/300 ante.

Breakin' Down the Tournament

Event 25: Final Table of Ten

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH

Who Wants $20,271?

Position - Name - Chips

1. John Dibella (New Rochelle, NY)............630,000
2. Craig Stern (Garrison, NY)......................376,000
3. Boris Genkin (Staten Is. NY)...................400,000
4. Chuck Ulrich (Cedar Grove, NJ)................53,000
5. Rocco Ferraro (Brick, NJ) ..........................92,000
6. Kardon "Wolf" Chatman (D.C.)................540,000
7. Josh Supsak (New York, NY) ..................300,000
8. Yorlan Millan (Venezuela) ........................156,000
9. Robert Boyko (Yonkers, NY) ...................180,000
10. Barbara Rogers (Lock Haven, PA) ........310,000

Congratulations to our final table of ten players.

Seat - 1 sits John Dibella who two weeks ago won the 2012 PCA championship for $1,775,000.

John says the reality of the win still hasn't fully sunk in. He wishes he could have taken down the Championship Event but will settle for Event 25.

Perhaps Barbara Rogers in S-10 will want to interview John. Barbara works for Poker Player Newspaper.

Blinds are 5000 / 1000.

Twitter Points to Zaki

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

Just-in Time for a Set

Justin Zaki is keeping media row posted on big pots and files this Twitter report:

Justin_Zaki Justin Zaki 

Just won monster pot. 5 way action to flop (lol). I have 88 flop 853r get it in for 175k off the flop against 53. 380k #borgata

Translation

Zaki is laughing out loud that 5 players saw a rainbow flop of 8 5 3.  He was holding pocket 8s and had a set against a player who hit bottom two pairs.  Zachki doubles 175k and now is up to 380k.

As reporters it's our job to confirm the tweet and Zaki does in fact have a lot of chips!

Royal Re-Draw

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
Avdo Djokovic (Staten Island) after winning the Australian Open comes to Borgata to try his hand at... Actually, that's another Djokovic.

Avdo found a great spot to get his short stack of 23,000 in.

He had K♦Q♦ in the hole and saw a tasty flop of 7♦ 6♠ 10♦ .

Awesome turn card for Djokovic who hit his flush and picked up a royal re-draw.

Turncard J♦ - What?

His stack goes in the middle and one Opponent quickly calls.

"You have the ace of diamonds" said Djokovic.
Sure enough A♦J♠ was tabled and Avdo managed to sweat out the river diamond.

"I got lucky" said Avdo who then Djoked, "I'm the best player in the tournament".

As the level winds down, 16 tables remain with 144 players.

Ave. stack = 153,916

Bring on the final level of the night!

Frienemies

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Jamie Kerstetter has been milking a short stack and has been all in three out of four hands.

The results: Double, cut in half, double again, but she doesn't feel great taking chips from friend Alex Queen.

Kerstetter is in for 27k and behind with pocket 4s against Queen's pocket 7s.  The two outer hits the river and she stays alive with a set of 4s, while Queen drops to 60k.

Kerstetter likes to call the relationship "frienemies," and they were in the same situation when they squared off in the 2011 Borgata Fall Poker Open heads up tournament.  Queen won the quarterfinal match on his way to the title, but at least Kerstetter picked up a consolation prize as she still cashed in the event.

No such luck on Day 2, if you bust, you go home empty handed.

Event 25: Bounty Bro's

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH

Yorlan Millan (6) & Josh Supsak (5)

Yorlan Millan traveled all the way from Venezuela to play in the 2012 Borgata Winter Poker Open. Already a profit as Yorlan has made the cash and has banked 6 bounties.

Josh Supsak (New York, NY) was down to 3600 chips early on and was this close to throwing in the towel. Instead he regrouped and battled back scoring 5 knock-out blows under his belt and over 200,000 in chips.

Kardan "Wolf" Chatmon (Washington, D.C.) had the honor of knocking out the bubble and thrusting the remaining 18 players into the money. He's still in the lead with 220,000.

Bubble hand had Wolf flop a set of sevens against a short-stack A-9 shove.

16 players remain. Final table of ten coming soon...

Papola Doubles

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
As we're well into the penultimate level of the night, more players seem to be busting out.

WSOP bracelet holder Jeff Papola (White Plains, NY) is not one of them.

With four players raising the action pre, it folded down to two going heads-up.

Jeff's A-Q was behind against Kevin Saul's Q-Q.

Board ran: J-4-5-A-10.

If the ace doesn't hit Papola is toast. Instead he doubles up and has some breathing room with 175,000, while Saul is left with 30k.

154 players remain on 18 tables in The Borgata Event Center.

Average stack is 142,987

Range of Emotions

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

The ups and downs of poker are summed up nicely on Twitter as a couple of tweets illustrate the wide range of emotions. Kevin Saul is relieved and thankful to still be playing, while Mike Dentale isn't too happy with the game:


*******Tweets*********

KevinSauLivePro Kevin Saul

Last hand b4 break, utg limp, new player jams 27k, I flat bb w QQ, utg jams I tank 5min and fold, would be out, instead have 114k last break

Mikunbelievable Michael Dentale

Official done with poker. Played perfect all day only to struggle with 60k. While the usuals get 75k gifts and the rest get hit with the dec

**********************

Shortly after Saul's tweet he feels some of Dentale's pain:

KevinSauLivePro Kevin Saul

Can't possibly play better, flat an open w QQ, 1more flat papola 17k I pile he calls off 65.5k more w AQ, turn A, back to 30k #shrug

To which Jamie Kerstetter tweets:

JamieKerstetter Jamie Kerstetter

 @KevinSauLivePro welcome to 30k club #pitts

Event 25: Bubble Looming

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH

Arkadiy & Olga

WSOP bracelet winner Arkadiy Tsinis (Las Vegas) is two away from the bubble. 20 players left and top 18 get the cake.

Play has definitely tightened up as the cash bubble looms.

Here's proof: Four-fifth's of a straight flush hit the turn and everybody was checking it down.

More checks on the river with a straight on the board.

Turns out nobody had clubs, nobody was betting, and a bigger straight than on the board took down a small pot.

Apparently nobody wants to bust right before $1,013 min-cash.

Everyone is playing for the $69,650 total buy-in.

Sending Chips To Townsend

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Townsend, Wolak and Dannenmann 

The Blogger Jinx is in effect!

Moments after Gorilla posts there are four women left, Marsha Wolak busts out in a huge hand.

The table likes Steve Danneenmann's version of the hand with "creative embellishment" that was very funny but I think we'll just stick to the facts so I can keep my job.

When the dust settled three players were all-in. Marsah Wolak had AA, Charlie Townsend had KK, and a third Opponent had AK. All the chips were in pre-flop. When the dust settled, Charlie used one of his Kings to connect with a flush for a 500,000 scoop, walloping Wolak out the door.

Charlie Townsend is the chip leader with just South of 600,000.


"I'm just not good enough to fold Kings" laughed Charlie.

And there's irony in Wolak posing for a picture with Townsend and Dannenmann before the dinner break, perhaps that's the real jinx.

Scott Niebling, also at the same table, did successfully fold Cowboys pre-flop to Steve Dannenmann's A-A earlier in the day.

15 minute break.

When players return they'll be two more level until we call it a night.

Ladies Final Four

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

With less than 200 players remaining, it looks like only four women remain.

Marsha Wolak 210k
Amanda Musumeci 135k
Jamie Kerstetter 65k
Sheree Bykofsky 25k

Table Hopping

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Greg Marcus (Miami, FL)

Table hopping is good for Greg Marcus who on one table before dinner hit runner-runner for a straight with his tournament life at risk then after being moved just hit a set of nines against A-K.

Gotta love when you see your card in the window.
Board ran: 3-6-9-2-4.

That double up gives Greg 115,000 which is 85,000 short of the table chip-leader David Paredes who has 200,000.

David told me he spotted a couple professional high-stakes cash players at the table who nobody else has outted.

Also at the table is Steve "Cuz" Buckner who always has an unlit cigar in his mouth when playing at Borgata.

"Cuz" Lights Up The Table

Deja Vu All Over Again

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

Paul Staying Put

Paul Leon (Virginia Beach, VA) did a double take when he saw his seat for Day 2, Table 15-Seat 7, the exact same seat he had on Day 1A. "When I told my wife, she said, 'are you sure you're looking at the right day," he says.

Leon was the chip leader on the dinner break Sunday night and finished 8th overall with 130k.  So far he's only picked up a few chips and has 160k.

"It's not as good, but it hasn't been bad either," says Leon, "I'm up a little, so that's good."

Red appears to be Leon's favorite color as he's worn a red shirt both days. 

Event 25: Poker Continues

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH

Bounty hunters have returned from dinner break ready to play Event 25 out until conclusion tonight. Action on four tables in the back of Borgata Event Center.

31 players remain.

Average stack: 96,290

Chip leader: 250,000

Blinds are 2500 / 5000 with 400 antes.

Elizabeth Waits For Her Table To Return

Play Resumes

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

Three more levels scheduled for tonight and play will wrap up at ~12;15 pm

Number of Entries:  743
Players Remaining: 192
Chips In Play: 22 million

Average Stack: 116k (58 BB)
Big Stack: 445k (223 BB)

Blinds: 1k/2k/200 ante

Total Buy-In: $2,422,200
First Prize: $542,771
Places Paid: 72

Dinner Break Shout:  Greg Koutelidakis (Buffalo Grove, IL) to his peeps, "I have 210,000."

Event 25: Payouts

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH

Place - Amount

1.............$20,271
2.............$11,148
3.............$ 6,418
4.............$ 5,405
5.............$ 4,045
6.............$ 3,378
7.............$ 2,702
8.............$ 2,027
9.............$ 1,528
10-12.......$ 1,351
13-15.......$ 1,182
16-18.......$ 1,013

Number of Entries: 199

Total Buy-In: $69,650

Event 25: Wolf Howls

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH

Kardan "Wolf" Chatmon - 250,000

Kardan Chatmon is the tournament chip leader.

A couple hands before dinner break, Wolf's A-J takes down Opponent's A-10 once an ace nailed the flop and the board bricked out.

Board ran out: A-4-5-5-9

Kardan has been playing poker for three years.
His last cash came at the 2011 WSOP.

"I have one knock-out chip today but three damaging hands that set up a KO for someone else" explained Chatmon.

He says hi to the Hampton poker club.

Twitters: @Kardan Wolf
@ Hampton

Trying to shoot a silver bullet into Wolf's stack are Nick Panini (Bronx, NY) with 160,000 and Josh Supsak (New York, NY) with 200,000.

One hour dinner break then play will resume.

Big Hand Before Break

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

 Fredrick Standing in the Tank as 
Wolak & Buchman (r) Wait

Table 5 has a lot to chew on over the dinner break after watching Marsha Wolak (Sarasota, FL) scoop a big pot against November Niner Eric Buchman (4th place 2009 WSOP Main Event) and Dennis Fredrick (Drexel Hill, PA).

And Wolak is no slouch herself with $225,000 in career earnings, including a 2011 WSOP Ladies Championship Bracelet.

Buchman rasies to 4100 UTG, Fredrick calls, Wolak calls 4k and then is reminded it's 100 more. "No ladies discount," she jokes.

Flop: K♣ 10♠ 4♠

Wolak checks
Buchman bets 8,200
Fredrick raises to 21k
Wolak calls
Buchman calls

Turn: A♥

Wolak bets 55k
Buchman folds
Fredrick goes in the tank as he only as 70k total

After several excruciating minutes, he flashes a set of 4s and says the blocker bet has him confused.  Wolak tells him it's a good fold saying she had a set of 10s, while Buchman (~115k) says he folded a big king.

Wolak is now up to 160k and enjoying every second of her experience.  "This is great," and proud to be one of the few woman remaining.  Steve Dannenmann and Charlie Townsend are also at the table and Wolak soaks in the moment by grabbing a picture.

Townsend, Wolak and Dannenmann

Dinner Break Tweet Counts

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

Twitter Stacks

Daniel Buzgon		225,000
Chalie Hook		210,000
Jacob Bazeley		195,000
Matt Matros		185,000
Brock Parker		160,000
Matt Brady		136,000
Edward Pham		135,000
Russell Crane		115,000
Trevor Savage		114,700
John Sorscher		111,000
Bob Hwang		105,000
Larry Sharp		99,000
Aaron Steury		98,700
Matthew Ezrol		69,000
Jamie Kerstetter		65,000
Mike Dentale		60,000
Roman Valerstein		55,000
Kevin Saul		33,600
Vinny Pahuja		29,000

Dinner Time Big Stacks

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)   

As players break for dinner, Tony Ruberto (Boston, MA) is in the same position he had when the day began,  on top. The chip leader goes on a tear just before dinner break and has 445k, up from his 235k to start the day.

One of Ruberto's big scores is a 180k chip pot with pocket kings. "It's always nice when kings hold," he says.

Second in chips is Michael Morton who's sitting with 345k and a whole host of players in the 250k-300k range.

Players are breaking for 75 minutes and play resumes at 8:10 pm.

Lots of Action Before Dinner

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)   

As the last few minutes tick away to the dinner break, there is a lot of action around the room.

Jason Deutsch ran into Edward Pham's pocket Aces and was felted.

Orson Young's AJ ran into pocket Jacks.  He's also out the door.

Elliott Zaydman was all-in with pocket Tens, getting action from Amnon Filippe who held A3 suited.  The board ran clean and Elliott doubled up to ~30k.

Matros Takes Out Ryan

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

After a middle position player raised, Matt Matros three-bet to 9,300 from the cutoff.

 Alan Sternberg watches; Matt Matros waits; David Fox hides his face; 

Steve Ryan considers the all-in call.

Steve Ryan (bb) four-bet to 21,500.

The opener folded.  Matt gave it some thought, then moved in, having Steve covered.

Steve then tanked for about a minute, deciding to call all-in.

Steve's pocket Queens were crushed by Matt's pocket Aces.

The board came J 6 2 6 K and changed nothing.  Steve hit the rail.  Matt chipped up to ~170k.

More Bustage

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

Will Failla
Thomas Hoglund
James Boyle
Cherish Andrews
Steven Karp
Wazir Baksh
Mitchell Martin
Ray Shackelford

Leaderboard Update

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)   

The top two players in the point standings of the Borgata Leaderboard challenge have busted on Day 2 of the Championship Event.  Two hands before the, break points leader Thomas Hoglund (New Bedford, MA) busts when his last 12k goes to Steve Dannenmann who's holding aces against pocket 7s; Dannenmann is up to 100k.

On the last hand before break, Will "The Thrill" Failla (Smithtown, NY), second in the standings, is in a hand with Luis Urioste (Flushing, NY).

After they check the board of Q J J, the turn brings a 6.

Urioste: check
Failla: bets 4k
Urioste: raises to 15k
Failla: calls

River: 6

Urioste moves all in and Failla reluctantly folds.  Urioste shows Failla the J♦ for a full house.  Urioste now has 66k, while Failla drops to 27k and then busts two hands after the break.

Break Time Tweet-Counts

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)    

Level 12 concluded and players took off for a 15 minute break.

Play has now resumed with level 13, blinds 800/1,600 with 200 antes.

25 tables remain with 225 players.  Average stack is 98k (61 big blinds).

Here are the latest chip counts via Twitter:

Dan Buzgon - 250k   (156 big blinds)
Andy Frankenberger - 170k
Matt Stout - 160k
Anthony Gregg - 125k
Edward Pham - 125k
Jon Sorscher - 118k
Matt Mattros - 107k
Larry Gold - 90k
Bob Hwang - 90k
Justin Zaki - 87k
Trevor Savage - 85k
Matt Brady - 80k
Aaron Steury - 57k
Matt Ezrol - 57k
Kevin Saul - 50k
Larry Sharp - 35k
Orson Young - 27k   (almost 17 big blinds)

Borgata Leaderboard Update (1/31)

Borgata Winter Poker Open Leaderboard
By participating in any Borgata Winter Poker Open event (January 18 - February 3, 2012), players earn points based upon the Borgata Poker Tournament Leaderboard Formula.

Below are the top scores for the 2012 Borgata Winter Poker Open Leaderboard*

(Final Results from events 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)

583.605 PTS:  THOMAS HOGLUND (NEW BEDFORD, MA)

569.668 PTS:  EMANUEL FAILLA (SMITHTOWN, NY)

427.393 PTS:  JOSEPH OPIE (FAIR HAVEN, NJ)

410.643 PTS:  MICHAEL LINSTER (ISLAND PARK, NY)

388.175 PTS:  DARYL BOATWRIGHT (SICKLERVILLE, NJ)

363.750 PTS:  BEN GELLER (FAR ROCKAWAY, NY)

362.063 PTS:  KEVIN SAUL (OAK PARK, IL)

356.650 PTS:  DARYL BLACK (VOORHEES, NJ)

355.350 PTS:  GONZALO VILLARREAL (E HANOVER, NJ)

348.040 PTS:  SRIDHAR CHEBROLU (ELLICOTT CITY, MD)

344.525 PTS:  JONATHAN SORSCHER (LYNBROOK, NY)

333.443 PTS:  MATTHEW MAZZEO (EAST WILLISTON, NY)

331.425 PTS:  SCOTT SCHWALICH (MIAMISBURG, OH)

325.963 PTS:  MANH NGUYEN (MUNHALL, PA)

318.625 PTS:  HARRY KOROTKI (OWINGS MILLS, MD)

318.588 PTS:  JOSEPH MOSCA (BRONX, NY)

305.555 PTS:  WADE WOELFEL (MANKATO, MN)

295.625 PTS:  JOSEPH STUCKEY (HICKSVILLE, NY)

291.520 PTS:  ALEXANDER PETERSON (RIVERSIDE, CT)

283.160 PTS:  ALEX NEPOMNYASCHIY (STATEN ISLAND, NY)

281.650 PTS:  LEONID VIZIROV (CHALFONT, PA)

281.013 PTS:  MICHAEL FORCA (BABYLON, NY)

275.538 PTS:  JOSHUA BRIKIS (MURRYSVILLE, PA)

273.488 PTS:  LINHKHOUNE VIRATH (NOKESVILLE, VA)

268.948 PTS:  AUSTEN JOHNSON (GREENSBORO, NC)

263.038 PTS:  ELLIOTT ZAYDMAN (GLEN ROCK, NJ)

262.050 PTS:  JACOB FAFARD (NEW IPSWICH, NH)

258.678 PTS:  PETER IPPOLITO (E MEADOW, NY)

258.600 PTS:  ANDREW KLEIN (OCEAN, NJ)

257.975 PTS:  JOHN HINDS (WINTERVILLE, NC)

257.338 PTS:  ADAM FAHERTY (LOWELL, MA)

252.915 PTS:  ELI LOEWENTHAL (CARMEL, IN)

252.400 PTS:  DAVID LAUFER (BROOKLYN, NY)

250.380 PTS:  NEEL MAZUMDAR (WALLINGFORD, CT)

Event 25: Big Stacks

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH

Raio Racking Chips, Not Bounties

The chip leaders have a little more than 100k, but they don't have a lot of $100 bounties.  Nick Raio (Poughkeepsie, NY) only has one bounty, while Thomas Balla (Queens, NY) has two as they fight for the chip lead.

Sixty players remain with an average stack of 60k (30 BB) as blinds are up to 1k/2k/300 ante.  The final 18 players cash as they chase the $20,271 top prize.

Bell Collects With Queens

 $3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)    

On the turn with a board of 7 6 4 J, Chris Bell (cutoff) bet and his opponent check-called.

River was a 6 (no flush possible) and again his opponent checked.  Chris gave it some thought, then checked behind, showing pocket Queens.

 Chris Bell

His opponent showed AJ for a pair of Jacks.  Chris took the pot, chipping up to ~180k.

Shortly after this hand, their table broke and Chris, Olivier Busquet, and Kevin Saul were moved to empty seats elsewhere.

26 tables remain with 234 players.  Average stack is now 94k.

Chip Leader's New Table

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)     

Chip leader Michael Morton got moved to table 5 when his table broke.

He's now sharing the felt with
Steve Dannenmann
John Zoldak
Thomas Hoglund
Steven Karp
Eric Buchman
Charlie Townsend

Charlie has a fan out there reading the blog.  Fawn Leiborwitz wanted me to send Charlie a shout-out.  Consider it done!

Event 25: Sticking Around

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH

Leah Looking for Bounties

Despite busting in the Championship Event a couple of poker pros are still alive in the black chip bounty tournament.  Mike Leah and Arkadiy Tsinis are in the field as 70 of 199 players remain.

As the Championship works its way to Friday's final table where someone will walk away with $542,771,  tournaments continue at Borgata and more trophies are up for grabs.  Take a look at the remaining schedule.

More Departures

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)     

More players out the door:

Phil Collins 
Mukul Pahuja
Alex 'Jedi' Nepomnyaschiy
Aaron Overton
Pasquale Boffice
Cathy Dever
Feming Chan
Adam Agaev
Mickey Woll
Steve Tabb

252 Players Remain

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)    

Steven Rodriguez was all-in holding AK off against a player holding A4 suited.  The board came J 7 3 A J and Steven doubled up to about 60k.

Table 29 has broken, so 28 tables remain.  That leaves 252 players in the mix.

Only 72 will get paid, but that's still a long way off.

Average stack is about 87k (more than 70 big blinds).

New Chip Leader

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)   

Blinds are up to 600/1,200 with 100 antes (level 12).

Michael Morton has taken the chip lead.  He up to just over 300k.  He's currently seated at table 29 along with Tony Cousineau, Tim Vance, Steve Brecher, Christian Iacobellis, Mike Sica, and Paul Volpe.

 Michael Morton

Table 29 will also be the next one to break, which will make Michael's table-mates happy.

Alex Queen is building slowly.  He's up to about 270k.

Andrew Klein has fallen back into the middle of the pack.

Gonzo

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)   

Joseph Sidoti shoved with AT and got called by Mohamed Hammoud, who held AK.

The flop came Q J J, which gave Joseph some hope with a gutshot.  Turn was the King that he needed, giving him the Broadway straight.  But then another Jack hit the river, giving Mohamed Jacks-full-of-Kings for the win and the pot.  Joseph was busted.

Jason Young has also busted out.

Lee Childs got involved in a pot with Abe Korotki and Abe ended up with all the chips.  Lee's pocket Kings were cracked by QT on a flop of QTx and Lee was busted.

New Chip Leader

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

Andrew Klein is up to ~310k and probably the chip leader.  He built a big stack early on day 1B, but finished second in chips behind Anthony Ruberto.

Start of day two chip leader (day 1B $5,000 bonus winner) Anthony Ruberto has fallen below 200k in chips.

Alex Queen, second in chips at the start of day two (day 1A $5,000 bonus winner) is up to ~240k.

Action On Table Six

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)   

Table 6 has quite a lineup in the 4 through 8 seats:

Scott Baumstein - 2011 PCA Heads-Up champion
Jeff Papola - 1 WSOP bracelet ($5k Six Max NL) and 2011 Borgata FPO $700 Six Max NL winner; over $1.8 million lifetime
Bobby Oboodi - 2011 Borgata Poker Open WPT Champion ($922k)
Andrew Klein - over $100,000 lifetime
Russell Crane - 2011 Borgata Spring Open Champion ($276k)

Scott Baumstein was short-stacked and shoved.  Then Russell Crane moved in from the small blind.  The the utg player, who had limped, called, having both covered.

Scott:  AJ
Russell: 99
utg: 44

The board came K K 3 J 2.  Scott took the main pot, tripling up.  Russell took the side pot and nearly doubled up.

288 Players Remain

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

Play resumed after the break with level 11, blinds 500/1,000 with 100 antes.

Shortly after play resumed, they broke table 34.

That means 32 tables remain (9-handed) leaving 288 players still in the hunt.

Josh Brikis is not one of them.  He busted out shortly after returning to play.

Break Time Tweet-Counts

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

Random collection of break-time chip counts collected from Twitter (rounded to nearest 'k'):

Dan Buzgon - 175k
Andy Frankenberger - 155k
Amanda Musumeci - 135k
Matt Stout - 134k
Trevor Savage - 88k
Matt Matros - 82k
Aaron Steury - 79k
Bob Hwang - 78k
Justin Zaki- 74k
Lee Childs - 69k
Orson Young - 68k
Larry Gold - 61k
Matt Ezrol - 53k
Cherish Andrews - 47k
Kevin Saul - 34k
Larry Sharp - 35k
Chris Tryba - 34k
Russell Crane - 28k
Josh Brikis - 5k

Ukraine not Weak

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Kramer: Ha ha, the Ukraine. Do you know what the Ukraine is? It's a sitting duck. A road apple, Newman. The Ukraine is weak. It's feeble. I think it's time to put the hurt on the Ukraine. 

Ukrainian: I come from Ukraine. You not say Ukraine weak.  

             -- Seinfeld, The Label Maker (1995)

Taya, Trading Dead Lifts for Dead Money

 
Taya Kuznetsova hasn't watched much Seinfeld since coming to the United States three years ago, but she'll attest that the Ukraine isn't weak. In fact pound for pound (or kilo for kilo) she's one of the strongest women to come out of the country.

Kuznetsova is a six time World Powerlifting Champion, but you wouldn't know it looking at the petite, attractive blonde who's taking her competitive nature to the poker table.  And while poker and powerlifting seem diametrically opposed there are similarities.

"Powerlifting isn't just physical, it's mental also," says the 105 lb (48 kilos) weight class champion,  "Before you go for an attempt you have to forget about everything. You go inside yourself and go and lift."

Kuznetsova is relatively new to poker and this is her first time playing in a big series like the Borgata Winter Poker Open.  "I've been playing great," she says before Day 2 of the Championship event, "but, I've been getting such bad beats," she says about her other tournaments in the series.

Kuznetsova, who earned her seat through a satellite qualifier, made it through Day 1 with her initial starting stack of 30k, but it's a cooler, not a bad beat, that sends her home.  She's crippled early in the day when her QQ runs into KK and is out a short time later.

"I love this game," she says, "it reminds me of life. There's lots of psychology and reading people. You also have to be able to overcome adversity."

Kuznetsova is now living in New York City and outside of her poker hobby, she's pursuing a career in modeling and acting and powerlifting is on the back burner.

While there's a limited future in the sport, which is different than Olympic weightlifting, Kuznetsova's stats are impressive. In addition to her World Powerlifting Federation (WPF) titles, she holds several world records including these personal bests:

Squats: 407 lbs

Bench Press: 240 lbs  

Dead Lift: 396 lbs 

So the next time you play against her in a tournament, be careful check-raising Kuznetsova, she's probably stronger than you are.

Kuzentsova, Ukraine Strong

Tough Table Four

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

Table Four was no cake-walk to start the day, but it has gotten a little tougher.  Matt 'Muffins' Mazzeo busted out and his seat was filled by another Matt.

Matt Matros, two-time WSOP bracelet winner, is now in seat 6. 

Also at table 4:

Smiley Chin
Alan Sternberg - WPT Shooting Stars winner
David Fox
Steve Ryan

Harder's Departure & More Goners

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)   

Christian Harder got his last chips in holding AK and was dominating his opponent's KT.

The board changed nothing...until the river when a Ten fell.

Christian hit the rail.  He's in good company.  Also reported to the rail:

Mike Marder
Matt 'Muffins' Mazzeo
Michael Buttacavoli
Brian Lemke
Tyng Low
Eric Ladny
Blake Purvis
John Buglion
Ben Geller
Ebony Kenney
Justin Schwartz
Bill Pilossoph
Scott Lazewski
Paul Spitzberg
Wade Woelfel
Ken Smaron
Ari Albilla
Joe Loguidice

Departure Tweets

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)  

These folks were kind enough to Tweet their departues, so we're sharing.

Farewell Main Event Tweets

jack schanbacher @jackschanbacher
Just busted. Gl 2 all still In.

Brent Roberts @Astrolux85
Ako<qq aipf out

Jerry Payne @sandler1860
gg. aq<jj aipf.

Glenn McCaffrey @GlennMcCaffrey
Out of borgata main, lost 3 way AI with AKhh vs AJ and QQ for about a 75bb stack. Need to begin producing results in these main events.

stealthmunk @stealthmunk
Busto 3 barreled missed my fd got Herod by standard borgata reg fish prob should ck fold riv but over it

Scott Schwalich @ScottSchwalich
Table hero 3bs my open from the co when I had 24 bbs to start, I cram AJdd he decides he has to call off w the Q10o. No chance, I'm out

Table 36 Got Tougher

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

Blinds are up to 400/800 with 100 antes.

Table 36 just can't catch a break.

John Dibella (winner of 2012 PCA main event and $1.775 million) busted out.  His seat was filled by Joanne Monteavaro.

 Steven Levy, Cornel Cimpan, & Jacob Bazeley

Cornel Cimpan (2-time WPT winner) filled Gordon Eng's empty seat between Steven Levy and Jacob Bazeley.

Steven and Jacob tangled in a pot and got to the river with a board of 7♠6♣4♠J♣3♣.

Jacob (bb) bet 12k.  Steven (button) gave it some thought, then raised to 38k. 

Jacob took a few moments before calling, showing T♣8♣ for the back-door flush (apparently he feared Steven had a better flush). 

Steven mucked and Jacob collected the pot.

Table 29 Tough Too

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

Allen 'Chainsaw' Kessler's table broke and he was moved to table 29, along with

Tony Cousineau
Paul Spitzberg
Christian Iacobellis
Mike 'Little Man' Sica
Paul Volpe

Paul Spitzberg, Christian Iacobellis, Mike Sica, & Paul Volpe

 
 Unfortunately for Chainsaw, he ran his pocket Kings into Paul Volpe's pocket Aces.  The Aces held and  Chainsaw was massacred.

Big Stacks Collide

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)   

Childs & Inselberg

Abe Korotki (125k), Dave "Cold Stone" Inselberg (124k) and Darryl Boatwright (91k) all start the day in the top 15% in chips.  The three see a flop for 6600 and the board comes down 9 high with two hearts. 

Inselberg checks
Korotki checks
Boatwright 20k
Inselberg moves all in for 100k on top
Korotki folds
Boatwright tanks, calls and is at risk

Inselberg: A♥ J♥ (nut flush draw)
Boatwright: K♥ K♠

The turn is brings a third heart to give Inselberg the flush and to add insult, the river is a meaningless king. Boatwright quietly leaves the table as Inselberg takes his stack to stack to 225k.

This table (21) is one of the featured tables right in front of media row, it also includes Lee Childs, Ilya Vasserman & new to the scene Taya Kuznetsova.

Another Championship Table

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

Table 36 is another table loaded with poker talent:

Darren Elias  - over $1.1 million lifetime
John Dibella - just won over $1.775 million in PokerStars Caribbean Adventure
Justin Schwartz - over $300k lifetime
Steven Levy - over $518k lifetime
Gordon Eng - over $720k lifetime
Jacob Bazely - over $415k lifetime
Marsha Wolak - won 2011 WSOP Ladies event

 Marsha Wolak

Unfortunately, Gordon Eng ran his pocket Jacks in to Marsha Wolak's pocket Aces.  The Aces held up and Gordon was felted.

Championship Talent on Table 31

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

There are no easy tables in this event.  All the players have worked hard to make it to day two and must have some skill and some luck to get here.

 Sirous Jamshidi, Anthony Hill, Paul Darden, & Wade Woelfel

There are some tables, however, that seem tougher than most, just based on the poker talent seated there.  Table 31 is one of those tables.  Seated there are:

Sirous Jamshidi - $1.7 million lifetime
Anthony Hill - over $360k lifetime
Paul Darden - 1 WSOP bracelet, 1 WPT title, over $2 million lifetime
Wade Woelfel  - over $300k lifetime
Brett Richey - over $860k lifetime
Jason Young - 1 WSOP bracelet, over $750k lifetime

Tables like this don't usually create fireworks -- more like a long slow burn.

 Brett Richey & Jason Young

Jason Young (mp) and Paul Darden (button) were just in a hand.  On the flop of 7 5 2 with two hearts, Jason bet 1,200 and Paul called. 

Turn was a 6 and put two diamonds on the board.  Jason checked out Paul's remaining stack, then fired 2,125.  Paul gave it some thought, then let it go.

Beins Busts

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Table 44 broke within 10 minutes of starting, which means that four players had already busted out.

Vasilios Hrisafinis moved in, then Terrence Beins called all-in for less.  After everyone else folded, Terrence said "You got a pair?" and Vasilios answered by tabling his pocket 7s.

Terrence held pocket 8s and was looking forward to a double up.  The flop changed nothing, but then a 7 on the turn gave Vasilios the set and the lead.  Terrence was left looking for a 2-outer on the river.

Then the case 7 hit the river, adding salt to the wound.  Vasilios took the pot with quads and Terrence took the long walk to the rail.

Championship Day Two Begins

$3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Cards are in the air for day two!

391 players, out of 734 total entries, have survived day one action and are returning today.

Play resumed with level 9.   Blinds are 300/600 with 75 antes.

The average stack is about 56k, representing over 93 big blinds. 

Shortest stack starting today had 5,100 or 8.5 big blinds.

Tony Cousineau and Mike 'Little Man' Sica both bagged exactly 30,000 chips -- the same amount they began the tournament with.  They've got 50 big blinds, so there's plenty of deep play in this event.

Event 25: More Familiar Faces

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH

More familiar faces among the Bounty Hunters today:

Vincent Basilicata
Daniel DaConti
Barbara Rogers
James 'Suits' Salters
Dao Bui
Leo G

This is not a re-entry event, so once a player loses his bounty, that's it.  Their next tournament opportunity will be the 6pm $150 + $30 No Limit tournament (event 52).

Event 25: Familiar Bounty Hunters

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH

Today's bounty tournament has drawn some players who have already made their exit from the main event, but have not yet had their fill of tournament poker.

Among those are:

Joe Boatright
Anthony Caruso
Brian Ali
Arkadiy Tsinis
Brian O'Donoghue
Lee Kirsch
Mike Leah
Gene Castro
William Perry
Ryan Eriquezzo

Ryan tweeted his feelings about this situation:

Ever notice that sitting in these borgata postlims w the dregs of society really makes busting the main event sting more? #imnoticing

Event 25: Bounty Hunters Abound

$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH

Today's other event has just started in the back of the event center.

Bounty Hunters are back for the next-to-last Bounty main event of the Borgata Winter Poker Open.  Bounties add excitement to the tournament as players can make money, even if they don't make the money.

They began with 15,000 chips each and levels are 30 minutes long.  Level 1 blinds are 25/50.

This is a one-day event, so they will play all night until a winner is determined.

Seat Assignments (Alpha)

Borgata Winter Poker Open
Event 23 - $3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em
January 29 - February 3, 2012

Entries: 734
Total Buy-In: $2,422,200

START OF DAY 2 TABLE ASSIGNMENTS (ALPHA)

T 02  |  S 05:  ABEL, GRIFFIN:  126,000

T 30  |  S 05:  ABRAMS, LAWRENCE:  6,025

T 26  |  S 01:  ADAM, CEDRIC:  54,650

T 27  |  S 08:  AFRIAT, ERIC:  95,900

T 13  |  S 05:  AGAEV, ADAM:  16,425

T 44  |  S 04:  AHMADIAN, ELIA:  19,350

T 24  |  S 07:  ALBERRO, ROBERTO:  75,000

T 33  |  S 09:  ALBILIA, ARIEL:  58,075

T 31  |  S 09:  ALJANEDI, SAMEER:  10,700

T 01  |  S 03:  ALLEN, BRIAN:  76,350

T 06  |  S 08:  ALWAN, KHALED:  62,300

T 17  |  S 02:  ANDERSON, SCOTT:  121,500

T 18  |  S 06:  ANDRESS, JOHN:  82,875

T 01  |  S 09:  ANDREWS, CHERISH:  60,125

T 38  |  S 06:  ANTONIOUS, NASHAAT:  100,100

T 24  |  S 03:  AUERBACHER, SIMON:  31,750

T 38  |  S 08:  BAKSH, WAZIR:  63,350

T 21  |  S 04:  BANWARI, NARENDRA:  24,100

T 27  |  S 04:  BARLETTA, MICHAEL:  28,100

T 36  |  S 05:  BARLOW, SCOTT:  16,525

T 11  |  S 01:  BARTA, BALINT:  23,600

T 06  |  S 04:  BAUMSTEIN, SCOTT:  16,175

T 36  |  S 08:  BAZELEY, JACOB:  68,525

T 23  |  S 01:  BEATTY, ROBERT:  68,975

T 39  |  S 04:  BEINS, TERRANCE:  17,200

Championship Event Day 2 Chip Leaders

Borgata Winter Poker Open
Event 23 - $3300 + $200 Championship No Limit Hold'em
January 29 - February 3, 2012

Entries:  734
Total Buy-In:  $2,422,200

START OF DAY 2 CHIP LEADERS

1. ANTHONY RUBERTO (HALLANDALE BEACH, FL):  235,475

2. ALEXANDER QUEEN (BETHLEHEM, PA):  215,125

3. ANDREW KLEIN (OCEAN, NJ):  197,900

4. H MICHAEL BOROVETZ (STATEN ISLAND, NY):  169,255

5. DAVID ELYAZYAN (BROOKLYN, NY):  160,400

6. MICHAEL MCNEIL (WHEELING, WV):  153,925

7. JOSEPH VERRECCHIA (HADDONFIELD, NJ):  148,800

8. JOSEPH NEIMAN (HACKENSACK, NJ):  139,100

9. MITCHELL MARTIN (BRONX, NY):  138,300

10. SAMUEL BERNSTEIN (ENGLEWOOD, NJ):  136,850

11. ANTHONY GREGG (COLUMBIA, MD):  135,025

12. FARZAD ROUHANI (BRIGANTINE, NJ):  134,250

13. ANTHONY NEWMAN (BROOKLYN, NY):  133,800

14. BRIAN ENGLAND (HAZLET, NJ):  132,075

15. MATTHEW GLANTZ (LAFAYETTE HILL, PA):  131,200

16. MATTHEW LEON (VIRGINIA BCH, VA):  130,550

17. MICHAEL MORTON (DAVIE, FL):  128,000

18. MANH NGUYEN (MUNHALL, PA):  127,850

19. PAUL SPITZBERG (TENAFLY, NJ):  126,850

20. GRIFFIN ABEL (PITTSBURGH, PA):  126,000

Event 24 Recap

$400 + $50 No Limit Hold'em

An Epic win for Robert Romanowski (Lanoka Harbor, NJ) who knocked out Robert Israeli (Short Hills, NJ) heads up for a $16,994 first place prize and Borgata Event 24 trophy.

"I needed this win badly after I was off to the worst start of the year" said Romanowski who was determined not to settle for anything short of the top spot.

He entered the final table as the chip leader then took a painful hit against Eugene Fouksman. Robert raised big with A-K and still got called by Eugene holding Q-9. Bob flopped the nut flush draw only to watch Fouksman hit runner, runner Q-Q for the crippling blow. So just like that in one hand he went from chip leader to short stack where he sat stuck for two hours.

He battled back with two key double-ups where in both cases he flopped straights, once with Q-J and once with J-9.

This event was going on simultaneously next to the 2012 Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship Event. 146 players bought in at high-noon and were given 15,000 chips to play with.

Rick Austin, James "Suits" Salters, Fritz Stoner, Frank Rasile, and Vincent Basilicata each made an appearance trying to take down some of the $58,400 Total Buy-In.

Cameron Cornell flopped a straight flush with J-9 of diamonds but it was too much too late as he only had 3000 chips left three-handed. Cornell was gone a couple hands later.

That lead to a quick heads up where the last Robert standing was Robert Romanowski who hit three eights on the turn to take home the Borgata trophy and $16,994 - money that his bank account really needed.

"The perfect way to end a rough month for me...it's ridiculous how I managed to win it" exclaimed Romanowski.

Final Table Results

Place-Name-Amount

1. Robert Romanowski (Lanoka Harbor, NJ) $16,994
2. Robert Israeli (Short Hills, NJ) $9,347
3. Cameron Cornell (Asbury Park, NJ) $5,382
4. Eugene Fouksman (New York, NY) $4,532
5. Wayne Pineault (Shrewsbury, NJ) $3,399
6. Adam Chavis (Baltimore, MD) $2,832
7. Michael Sherman (Arlington, VA) $2,266
8. Stuart William (Long Island, NY) $1,699
9. Stephen Donk (Brooklyn, NY) $1,275
10. Pramudya Rizal (Brooklyn, NY) $1,133

Event 24 Champion - Romanowski

$400 + $50 No Limit Hold'em

Robert Romanowski (Lanoka Harbor, NJ)

$16,994.

Congratulations to our Champion Robert Romanowski who just earned his second cash of the 2012 Borgata Winter Poker Open.

It couldn't have come at a better time as Robert was off to a horrible 2012. After two crushing poker cash sessions on the drive home he crashed his car.

Feeling at the end of his rope Robert said to himself, "I need to win bad". Quite frankly it seemed like Robert just wanted to win more than the others.

He flopped two straights at the final table for two key huge double ups then finished off Robert Israeli heads-up after turning three eights.

Robert thanked friend Andrew for his support on the rail.

This is Roberts biggest Borgata cash and a ridiculous end to a rough month for the kid.

Great job!

Robert Romanowski finished in 1st Place earning $16,994.

Event 24: 2nd Place - Israeli

$400 + $50 No Limit Hold'em

Robert Israeli (Short Hills, NJ)
$9,347

Businessman Robert Israeli knocked out multiple players at the final table but in the end he was felted by Robert Romanowski.

Israeli was playing heads-up from behind and it only lasted a few hands.

All the chips tumble in after Israeli's K-9 hits a king and Romanowski turns trip eights.

Romanowski barreled out until the river. After a sneaky check, Israeli shoves all in and Romanowski quickly calls for the victory.

"This was a very exciting tournament with a lot of back and forth ...I love it and had a lot of fun" said Robert Israeli.

"I tried to break his spirit...he was dead a long time ago" commented Israeli toward Romanowski.

"My spirit can't be broken...Chips swing around real fast in this game" said Romanowski.

It was a great match to watch and remember, if Israeli rivers a diamond or a queen on the three-way all in hand he wins the entire tournament right there.

Robert Israeli finished in 2nd Place earning $9,347.

Event 24: 3rd Place - Cornell

$400 + $50 No Limit Hold'em

Cameron Cornell (Asbury Park, NJ)

$5,382.

Poker is a crazy game and that's why we all love it. Anything can happen and every hand is unique. Here's the hand that gave Cameron Cornell a glimmer of hope and some Borgata excitement when the players were down to three.

After antes, Cameron is down to his last three 1000 orange chips and must put them in as he's big blind. Robert Israeli and Robert Romanowski both call the full bb creating a side pot.

Cameron doesn't look at his cards and sees a flop of 8♦ Q♦ 10♦ .

Israeli bets 25,000 and Romanowski calls.

Turn: 5 .

Israeli bets 25,000 and Romanowski goes all in putting his tournament life at risk for 662,000.
Israeli snap calls and tables A♦K♥ for the nut-flush draw and a Broadway gutshot draw.

Romanowski announces, "straight" and rolls over J♥ 9♠ . He flopped a straight and still has to sweat a diamond and a Queen.

But wait, let's not forget about Cameron Cornell who finally looks at his cards and tables - wait for it - wait for it.....a straight flush.

He had J♦ 9♦ and flopped the joint - a straight flush.

So now if Israeli hits his man, Romanowski takes third and Cameron moves up to second after starting the hand with basically a chip and a chair.

Turn and river run clean: 2♠ 7♠.

Cameron triples his short stack winning the main and Romanowski takes a commanding chip lead scooping the monster side of 1.3 million.

Cameron hung in there for a couple more hands then couldn't hold on any longer.

Cornell runs a retail store and designs clothes when he's not playing poker. He's primarily an on-line player so this is his largest Borgata cash.

Wanted to say hello to buddies Jake and Alexis who also play poker.

Cameron Cornell finished in 3rd Place earning $5,382.

Event 24: 4th Place - Fouksman

$400 + $50 No Limit Hold'em

Eugene Fouksman (New York, NY)
$4,532.

Eugene was the tournament chip leader for a large percentage of the tournament. He was hitting cards at the right time and even knocked out the bubble putting everyone into the cash.

In his final hand a player raised 55,000 under the gun, Eugene shipped 400,000 and Robert Israeli (Short Hills, NJ) called. Original raiser folded.

Eugene's 55 vs. Robert Israeli's A-J.

Board ran: A-3-3-A-9

Full house for Israeli spells Fourth for Fouksman.

Eugene Fouksman finished in 4th Place earning $4,532.

Event 24: 5th Place - Pineault

$400 + $50 No Limit Hold'em

Wayne Pineault (Shrewsbury, N)
$3,399.

Rough exit for Wayne. After a misunderstanding at the table, Wayne was forced to call with only K-6 then hit a King winning a side pot. Wayne thought he lost and was actuall heading toward the exits before being brought back to continue his quest.

The hand that crippled him was when he had JJ and jammed a draw heavy 8-Q-6 flop.

His Opponent, Robert Israeli flopped the world with an open-ender and a flush draw.

Robert hit his flush on the turn but had to sweat out another spade as one of Wayne's Jacks were spades.

Congrats to Wayne who hung in there and had the table's respect.

Wayne Pineault finished in 5th Place earning $3,399.

Event 24: 6th Place - Chavis

$400 + $50 No Limit Hold'em

Adam Chavis (Baltimore, MD)
$2,832.

End of the road for Adam Chavis who got his short stack in with K-7 and in fairly decent shape against Cameron Cornell's 6-4 of spades.

Disastrous flop for Chavis as Cornell connects with a flush.

Adam Chavis finished in 6th Place earning $2,832.

Event 24: 7th Place - Sherman

$400 + $50 No Limit Hold'em

Michael Sherman (Arlington, VA)
$2,266.

Down to 9 big blinds, Michael Sherman shipped with Q-J and ran into A-K of Wayne Pineault (Shrewsbury, NJ).

Both men connected hard on a flop of Q-J-10.

No full house for Sherman as Peneault's Broadway held.

Michael will pocket his cash tonight and reload during tomorrow's Borgata Winter Poker Open action.

Michael Sherman finished in 7th Place earning $2,266.