Thursday, November 21, 2013

Event 9: 12th Place - Zekus

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 18: Blinds 4k/8k/1k ante

Brian Zekus (Washington, D.C.) is all in with A9 against Rocco Luciano's A5 for 150k.

Luciano hits a four flush on the river and gets the knockout to take the chip lead with 690k.

Zekus finishes in 12th place for $785.

Event 9: Dirty Dozen Chip Counts

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 18: Blinds 4k/8k/1k ante

The final 12 playes have average stack of 324k (41 bb)

Table 1
(Clockwise left of dealer)
Ari Engel 357k
Pete Corda 343k
Michael Bonita 154k
Norm Michalek 439k
Joe Liberta 87k
Andrew Zhu 360k


Table 2
(Clockwise left of dealer)

Arthur Zaikansky 380k
Mikhail Mironenko 300k
Kyle Bowker 250k
Matt Gunter 558k
Brian Zekus150k
Rocco Luciano 520k

Event 9: 13th Place - Dombrowski

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 17: Blinds 3k/6k/500 ante

Chris Dombrowski (Tampa, FL) puts the last of chips all in with pocket 5s against Norm Michalek's pocket 8s. 

The snowmen hold for Michalek and Dombroski heads to the cage to collect $628 for his 13th place finish.

Event 9: 14th Place - Haggerty

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 17: Blinds 3k/6k/500 ante

Patti Haggerty (Scranton, PA) has AK against chip leader Matt Gunter's pocket 4s. 

Big slick doesn't improve and Haggerty is out in 14th place for a $628 payday.

Gunter extends his chip lead past 500k (83 bb).

Event 9: 15th Place - Hwang

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 17: Blinds 3k/6k/500 ante


"Action" Bob Hwang is all in with QT against the AT of Rocco Luciano.

Hwang doesn't improve and is out in 15th place, taking home $628.

Event 9: Gunter Leads, Approaching 500k

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 17: Blinds 3k/6k/500 ante


Matt Gunter (Baltimore, MD) is the chip leader with 475k.

The 15 remaining players have an average stack of 259k (43 bb) as blinds are up.

Event 9: 16th Place - Bowman

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 16: Blinds 2.5k/5k/500 ante

On a two spade flop Peter Bowman (Phoenix, AZ) has the best hand and better flush draw, K♠ 9♠ against Pete Corda's 6♠ 4♠ , but when a 4 hits the river, Corda wins the hand.

Bowman is out in 16th place, earning $628.

Event 9: 17th Place - Deeter

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 16: Blinds 2.5k/5k/500 ante

Trevor Deeter (Langhorne, PA) doesn't improve with T9 against the AJ of Arthur Zaikansky.

Deeter is out in 17th place for $628.

Event 9: 18th Place - Rotches

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 16: Blinds 2.5k/5k/500 ante

On the flop of 10 2♠ 6, David Rotches (Ventnor, NJ) is all in and at risk against Rocco Luciano & Brian Zekus.

Rotches: 8♣ 9♣ (gutshot straight draw)
Luciano: A♣ 10(top pair, top kicker)
Zekus: K 7(flush draw)

Turn: 2 (Zekus, winning flush)

River: 5♠

Zekus' flush gets him a double-up through Luciano and knocks out Rotches.

Rotches earns $628 for his 18th place finish.

Event 9: 19th-24th Places ($471)

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

19th Attilio Bitondo (Great Neck, NY)
20th Miguel Borrero (Jersey City, NJ)
21st David Heck (Colts Neck, NJ)
22nd Eddie Blumenthal (Madison, WI)
23rd Charles Ignacio (Woodbridge, NJ)
24th Joe McKeehen (North Wales, PA)
25th Greg Whiting (Philadelphia, PA)

Event 9: Final Three Tables

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 16: Blinds 2.5k/5k/500 ante

Table 1

Ari Engel
Pete Corda
Michael Bonita
Peter Bowman
Joe Liberta
Andrew Zhu

Table 2

Arthur Zaikansky
David Rotches
Trevor Deeter
Action Bob Hwang
Brian Zekus
Rocco Luciano

Table 3

Matt Gunter
Chris Dombrowski
Kyle Bowker
Mikhail Mironenko 
Norm Michalek
Patti Haggerty

Event 9: Bitondo Bows Out in 19th Place

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 15: Blinds 2k/4k/400 ante

On the last hand of the level Attilio Bitondo (Great Neck, NY) is all in on a board of J 6 5 7 with two pairs (J7) against a set of 6s for Michael Bonito (New City, NY).

Bitondo doesn't improve on the river and is out in 19th place for $471.

The remaining 18 players are on a color-up break and when they return will do a redraw for the final three tables.

Event 9: Table 4, Seat 5 - Open, Again

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 15: Blinds 2k/4k/400 ante

David Heck's (Colts Neck, NJ) elimination creates room for Miguel Borrero (Jersey City, NJ) who proceeds to bust on his first hand on Table 4.

Heck is crippled when he hits the under boat against Matt Gunter (Baltimore, MD) to ship a 120k double-up.  Heck is down to 33k, gets a triple-up, but then ships 100k+ to Patti Haggerty who hits a set of 10s against Heck's AQ.

Heck (21st) and Borrero (20th) each earn $471.

Event 9: Luciano Takes out Two

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 15: Blinds 2k/4k/400 ante

Rocco Luciano takes out two players on Table 1 and is now up to 300k.

First, Charles Ignacio (Woodbridge, NJ) runs AQ into Luciano's AK for 50k and then Luciano adds 60k with JJ against the 33 of Eddie Blumenthal (Madison, WI). Both Ignacio (23rd) and Blumenthal (22nd) earn $471.

This is Blumenthal's third cash of the series.

Blumenthal Balling at Borgata:

Event 3 ($400 entry) - 9th place, $4224
Event 8 ($230 entry) - 14th place, $1,536
Event 9: ($280 entry) - 22nd place, $471

Event 9: Table 2, Seat 6 - Open, Again

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 14: Blinds 1,500/3,000/400 ante


Greg Whiting (Philadelphia, PA) puts his last 125k all in with a King-high flush draw against the AQ of Ari Engel who flops a pair of Aces.  Whiting bricks out and sends Whiting home in 25th place.

The elimination means we're down to four tables and as Joe McKeehen (North Wales, PA) replaces Whiting in seat 6 on Table 2, Engel is quick to tell him that he knocked out, "the last person there."

A few hands later McKeehen is gone as Kyle Bowker picks up the $100 bounty.

McKeehen is out in 24th place, this on the heels of yesterday's Event 7 win for $30,963. Today, he and Whiting both earn $471.

Event 9: Play Resumes

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 14: Blinds 1,500/3,000/400 ante

In addition to Andrew Zhu (440k) and Ari Engel (380k) a third player in the 350k-375k range is
Mikhail Mironenko (Brooklyn, NY).

And another 40 minute level is underway.

Event 9: Photo Slideshow

 
May not work on mobile devices. Click here for direct link.

Event 9: Dinner Time Numbers

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Play resumes at 8:30 with Level 14: Blinds 1,500/3,000/400 ante.

Total Players:  259
Total Buy-In: 64,750
Places Paid:  30

Total Chips In Play:  3,885,000
Players Remaining:  25
Average Stack:  155,400


Andrew Zhu

Andrew Zhu is the chip leader with ~440k.

Looks like Ari Engel is second with 380k.

Event 9: 30th - 26th Places

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

End of Level 13: Blinds 1,200/2,400/300 ante

End of level 13 and time for dinner.  Play will resume at 8:30 pm with level 14 (1,500/3,000/400 ante).

These folks have already cashed out:

Earning $377
30th - Jeff Einseidler (Bedford, NY)
29th - Kevin Buro (N. Plainfield, NJ)
28th - Dan Gilmer (Ashland, OH)
27th - Michael Tauman (Metuchen, NJ)
26th - Stephen Helfeld (New York, NY)

Event 9: Bubble Burst

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 13: Blinds 1,200/2,400/300 ante

The bubble burst after a couple of hands, so play has returned to normal.  Alex Rocha was the bubble-boy for this event:

Some celebratory Tweets:





Event 9: Payouts

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Total Entries: 259
Total Buy-In: $64,750



Place Payout
1  $16,017
2  $9,515
3  $7,223
4  $5,810
5  $4,554
6  $3,297
7  $2,512
8  $1,727
9  $942
10 - 12  $785
13 -18  $628
19 -24  $471
25 -30  $377

Event 9: Tweet Outs

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 13: Blinds 1,200/2,400/300 ante

Play resumed after the break.  This is the last level before dinner.

It is also bubble-time with 31 players remaining.  They've playing hand-for-hand until one more is eliminated.

Keep those Tweets coming!  #BFPO

Departure Tweets:

Event 9: Set Over Set

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

End of Level 12: Blinds 1k/2k/300 ante

End of level and time for a ten minute break. 

Charlie Townsend's Ducks No Good
Before the Break:

On a flop of 8 3 2, Charlie Townsend got all his chips in the middle against Andrew Zhu.

Both players had flopped sets.  Charlie held pockets 2s and Andrew held pocket 8s.

The last two fell K Q and changed nothing.  Charlie was busted.  Andrew chipped up to ~230k.

Event 9: Kramer Doubles Thru Rotches

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 12: Blinds 1k/2k/300 ante 

David Rotches v. Jim Kramer

Jim Kramer was all-in for 12,800 and David Rotches looked him up.

Jim:  AK off
David:  A7 suited

Board: K 3 3 7 A

Jim doubled up to ~30k with two pair.  David was still in good shape with over 100k.

Event 9: More Goners

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 11: Blinds 800/1,200/200 ante  

And they're Out Of Here:

Nick Palma
Peter Ippolito
Paul Vacchio
James McKeon
Jordan Ludwick
Joe Mosca
Philip Rinaldi
Tim Little
Robert DeStefano
Dan Heimiller
Alan Vrooman
Bob Haavind
Steven Rodriguez


Event 9: Engel Leads

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 11: Blinds 8k/16k/200 ante  

Players are back from their break.

Ari Engel

Ari Engel (Las Vegas, NV) is up to ~275k and leads the field.  Ari won the $500 Deep Stack NLH here at Borgata during the 2013 Borgata Spring Poker Open for over $26,000.

Down to ten tables as of the break with exactly 59 players remaining.  

There were 259 entries, so the average stack is 66k.

Event 9: Down To A Dozen (Tables)

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 10: Blinds 800/1,600/200 ante  

Once registration closed, tables started breaking down rapidly.  Only 12 tables remain, which means fewer than 72 players are still in the hunt.

Goners:

Neville Darrell
Matt Burnitz
Tony Sinishtaj
Joanna Leban
Mark Rose
Grace Sun
Brian O'Donoghue
Sheree Bykofsky
Cotton Snuffer
Sardor Gaziev
Michael Marder

Event 9: Rocha Rivers One

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 9: Blinds 500/1,000/100 ante 

Alex Rocha

Before the break: 

Three-way all-in.

Alex Rocha (sb): J♣T♣  (all in for 11,750)
Gregg Miller (bb): 53  (all in for 11,650)
Brian O'Donoghue: K♠Q♠  (has both covered)

Flop: Q6♣4♣  - Brian picks up top pair.  Gregg gets an open-ended straight-draw.  Alex gets a flush draw.

Turn: T  - Alex picks up a pair, but needs more.

River: K♣  - Two pair for Brian, but Alex makes his flush to scoop, tripling up.

Gregg busted out.

It should be noted that there are three Borgata Open champions on this table.  Joe McKeehen just won his first title last night.  Alex Rocha won his Borgata Open trophy in 2011.  Brian O'Donoghue has three and won two of them in back-to-back events in September 2012.

Event 9: Sansone Whiffs Big Time

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 9: Blinds 500/1,000/100 ante 

Players are back from the break.  The green 25 chips have been colored up and removed from play.

James Sansone's All-In Moment

On a previous level, James Sansone (Fayetteville, NY) was all-in pre-flop for his bounty life.  Roman Valerstein gave it some thought, then called.

James: KQ
Roman: 5♠5

This was as close to a coin flip as you can get, according to the odds calculator on CardPlayer.com, James was 49.39% to win.

Flop:  T♠98  - James picks up flush draw, gutshot, and with two overs, has 18 outs twice.  Now James was the favorite, 64.75%.

Turn:  7♣  - no change.  James was still almost 41% to win.

River:  A

James was busted while Roman chipped up to ~45k. 

Roman Valerstein Fades The World

Event 9: Still More Faces

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 8: Blinds 400/800/75 ante

More late arrivals or earlier misses:

Shawn Busse
Miguel Borrero
Joe Mosca
Norm Michalek
Richard DeVivo
Harry Korotki
Joe Liberta
Steven Rodriguez
Sardor Gaziev
James Sansone
Kyle Bowker
Russell Crane

The entries and re-entries keep coming here in The Signature Room.  This is the last level, however.  Registration will close at the end of the break coming up after this level.

Event 9: Half The Man He Once Was

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)


Level 7: Blinds 300/600/75

Robert DeStafano (Franklin Square, NY) isn't the man he used to be.

Two years ago, Robert tipped the scales at 528 pounds:

 Robert DeStefano - Borgata Blog File Photo, April 2012

Today, he's half the man he used to be after losing 220 pounds following gastric bypass surgery:

Robert DeStefano Today

Event 9: Late Arrivals

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 6: Blinds 200/400/50 ante

Joe McKeehen arrived late, but he earned it.  He won event 7 (Deepest Stack NLH) late yesterday after a long Day 2 playing down from 27 players to the win ($30,963).

Also among the late arrivals:

Dan Heimiller
Roman Valerstein
Chris Leon
'Action' Bob Hwang
John Del Rossi
Jonas Wexler
Kori Hunter
Alex Rocha
Asher Conniff

Event 9: Phung Doubles Thru Zhou

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 5: Blinds 150/300/25 ante

Play has resumed following the break.

Cuong Phung & Harry Zhou

During an earlier level, Cuong Phung (Atlantic City, NJ) was all-in holding pocket Queens against the AK offsuit of Hayong 'Harry' Zhou (Baltimore, MD). 

The flop fell A 8 5 giving Harry a pair of Aces.  Then a Queen on the turn gave Cuong a set and when the river blanked, the double-up.  Harry still had chips left, so no bounty for Cuong.

Harry busted out later, however.  No word yet on if he plans to re-enter.

Event 9: Bullet #3

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

End of Level 4: Blinds 100/200

End of level 4 and time for the first break of the day.

Philip Rinaldi

Philip Rinaldi (Silver Spring, MD) is not having a good day.

He started out on table 15.  Busted out.

He re-entered, landing on table 18.  Busted out.

As he was leaving, he said he was going to fire bullet #3.  This time he landed at table 12.

Event 9: More Players Playing

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 4: Blinds 100/200
More Familiar Faces and Table Lineups:
Matt Burnitz
Adam Lippert
Neville Darrell
Cuong Phung
Jordan Ludwick
Justin Liberto 

Table 12
Larry O'Halloran
Sherree Bykofsky
Table 14
Cotton Snuffer
Robert DeStefano
Table 18
Philip Rinaldi (re-entry)
John DelRossi
Table 21
Rocco Luciano
Nick Palma
Peter Ippolito

Event 9: Seat Open

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 3: Blinds 75/150
 
During the first level of play, Ari Engel and Kevin McColgan got to the river with a board of K K 9 Q 3.  Ari was all-in and Kevin gave it some thought, then called, putting his stack of chips directly in front of Ari as if he knew he was losing them.

Ari rolled over JT for the straight and Kevin mucked.  Ari took the pot and Kevin's bounty.  Kevin took a re-entry ticket, so he'll be back.

Event 8: Players Playing

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 2: Blinds 50/100

Table 2
Alan Vrooman
Mark Rose
Greg Whiting

Table 4
Tony Sinishtaj
David Heck

Table 5
Charlie Townsend
Joanna Leban
Patti Haggerty
Bob Haavind

Table 8
Grace Sun
Michael Marder
She Lok Wong
Michael Tauman
Ralph Massey

Table 10
Ari Engel
Kevin McColgan
Mike Holm

Table 13
Tim Little
Gregg Miller
Brian O'Donoghue

Table 20
James McKeon
Paul Vacchio
Dan Buzgon

Event 9: Dealers Dealing

$250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Level 1: Blinds 25/50

Today's only main event combines two of the more popular formats:  Six-Max and Bounties.  Six handed play gives players more time in the action and less time waiting for others to play out hands.  Bounties give players a way to cash even if they don't make the money.  They get a $100 bounty for every player they bust.

Four bounties = a freeroll in this event, unless you take advantage of the re-entry feature.  Late registration and re-entry are available through level 8.

Players started with 15,000 chips and levels 1 - 8 are 30 minutes long.  Once registration closes, levels will be 40 minutes long.

This is a two-day event, so they'll play until about 2 am, then bag up for the night.

Thursday, November 21st

TODAY'S EVENTS (Poker Room/The Signature Room )

11AM: Event 9 - $250 + $30 + $100 Black Chip Bounty Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

  • Players start with 15,000 in tournament chips 
  • Levels 1-8: will last 30 minutes each | Levels 9+: will last 40 minutes each
  • Players that bust within the first 8 Levels may Re-Enter (unlimited re-entries)
  • 2-Day event

3PM: Event 32 - $200 + $30 Survivor No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) (~1 in 10 wins $2,000)
  • Players start with 15,000 in tournament chips 
  • Levels 1-10: will last 20 minutes each | Levels 11+: will last 25 minutes each
  • Players that bust within the first 6 Levels may Re-Enter (unlimited re-entries)
  • 1-Day event

7PM: Event 33 - $100 + $20 + $100 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
  • Players start with 12,000 in tournament chips 
  • This is a Bounty tournament.  Players must have their Bounty chips clearly displayed on table in order to remain active in tournament
  • Levels 1-15: will last 20 minutes each | Levels 16+: will last 25 minutes each
  • Players that bust within the first 6 Levels may Re-Enter (unlimited re-entries) 
  • 1-Day event

Event 8: Photo Slideshow

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

May not work on mobile devices. Click here for direct link.

Event 8 Recap

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Matt Weiss (Valley Cottage, NY) had the winning recipe against three other players and earned his second Borgata trophy.  Weiss, a New York City pizza shop owner, had nearly half the chips in play before getting the rest from Jeff Epstein (2nd), Michael Drabot (3rd) and Ilya Brodetskiy (4th) on the final hand.

"It's my first big cash in years," said Weiss, who earned $39,266 for the win. "I'm pretty stoked about it."

Weiss came to the final table with the big stack and continued to chip up and move in position for the win.  On the flip side, Drabot was the short stack of the final ten and worked his way up the ladder to third place.

"Not too bad," said the retired hospital CFO and Borgata regular, "I moved up seven spots," as he earned his largest career cash and 10th at Borgata.  And runner-up Jeff Epstein was just as pleased, as his annual pilgrimage to Atlantic City produced a $22,876 payday.

"I always come to Borgata and plan it (the trip) around one of these series'," said the business owner, who almost didn't make the top four.  In a key hand against Ray Ross, Epstein hit a miracle straight with pocket 9s to crack pocket Aces.

The hand hurt Ross who eventually finished in fifth place.

"To get his far in any tournament you need a little luck," said Epstein, "it all evens itself out."

The field of 880 entries produced total buy-ins of $176,000 and lots of recognizable names made the money.  The list included Joe Opie (8th), Asher Conniff (11th), Joe DiBello (12th) and Mike Marder (20th).

For Wiess, his first Borgata trophy came in the 2012 Borgata Winter Poker Open when he won the heads up tournament.  "That meant a lot because that was my thing on-line," said Weiss," who only had a few hours to get to the shop after the tournament's 7 am finish.

Weiss said he used internet earnings to start his business and has less time to play cards. But for one day taking a break from work delivered a tasty win.

Final Table Results

Entries: 880
Total Buy-In: $176,000

Place-Name-Amount

1st Matt Weiss (Valley Cottage, NY) $39,266
2nd Jeff Epstein (Omaha, NE) $22,876
3rd Michael Drabot (Riverside, NY) $13,999
4th Ilya Brodetskiy (Staten Island, NY) $11,524
5th Ray Ross (Philadelphia, PA) $9,390
6th Anthony Merculla (New York, NY) $7,682
7th Mike Bonney (Mays Landing, NJ) $6,146
8th Joe Opie (Fair Haven, NJ) $4,609
9th Scott Love (Philadelphia, PA) $3,244
10th Hang Liao (Pleasantville, NJ) $2,134

Final Results

Event 8 Winner - Weiss

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

 Matt Weiss (Valley Cottage, NY) 
$39,266

Matt Weiss has nearly half the chips in play when he successfully vanquished the remaining three players.  Weiss defeats Jeff Epstein (2nd), Michael Drabot (3rd) and Ilya Brodetskiy (4th), who were all even in chips, in one fell swoop.

Weiss takes home $39,266 for the win and after collecting his money hustled back to New York where he had to work at Pakula's Pizza, the shop he owns in NYC.

"I'm pretty stoked about it," says Weiss after picking up his second Borgata trophy. Weiss won the Heads Up tournament in the 2012 Borgata Winter Poker Open,

Weiss will work the rest of the week and then head back to Borgata to play in the Championship Event.

Event 8: 2nd Place - Epstein

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Jeff Epstein (Omaha, NE) 
$22,876

Jeff Epstein loves Borgata poker so much, he plans a trip here once a year to play in one of the series'. Now he'll love it even more as he finishes in second place. 

Epstein is a distant second place to winner Matt Weiss who had 1/2 the chips in play before the final hand. Epstein just nipped Michael Drabot (3rd) and Ilya Brodetskiy (4th) on the pay sheet.

Epstein, who owns youth basketball training center in Nebraska, earns $22,876 for finishing runner-up.

Event 8: 3rd Place - Drabot

 $200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

 Michael Drabot (Riverside, NY) 
$13,999 

Michael Drabot is a Borgata regular who earns the largest payday of his career with a third place finish.  Drabot was neck and neck in chips with runner-up Jeff Epstein and 4th place finisher Ilya Brodetski, but the trio was well behind winner Matt Weiss.

Drabot is a retired hospital CFO and thrilled with his performance, "this is the most I've ever won playing tournament poker," he said about his winnings of $13,999.

Drabot has 12 career cashes, with 10 of them coming at Borgata.

Event 8: 4th Place - Brodetskiy

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Ilya Brodetskiy (Staten Island, NY) 
$11,524

Ilya Brodetskiy finishes just behind Jeff Epstein (2nd) and Michael Drabot (3rd) for fourth place finish, but is well behind winner Matt Weiss.

Brodetskiy is an accountant who says it's "always tax season," which is one reason why he won't be parlaying his winnings into a buy-in for the Championship Event.

Event 8: 5th Place - Ross

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 100k/200k/30k ante

 Ray Ross (Philadelphia, PA) 
$9,390

Ray Ross is crippled when his AA is cracked by Jeff Epstein earlier at the final table, builds it back up only to be knocked out by Michael Drabot's JJ.

Against Epstein, the board runs out 8 2 J 7 10 and Ross ships 1.6 million in a double-up when Epstein hits a straight with pocket 9s.  On his final hand Ross doesn't improve with A8 against the Jacks.

Ross takes home $9,390 for finishing in 5th place.

Event 8: 6th Place - Merculla

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 100k/200k/30k ante


Anthony Merculla (New York, NY)
$7,682

Anthony Meruclla has 500k (5 bb) when he ships it from the SB with T9, Jeff Epstein looks him up with AK, which holds.

Merculla finishes in 6th place, earning $7,682.

Event 8: 7th Place - Bonney

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 80k/160k/20k ante

Mike Bonney (Mays Landing, NJ)
$6,146

Mike Bonney is down to 400k (< 3 bb) and has J3 against the AK of Jeff Epstein. 

Big slick holds for Epstein and Bonney takes home $6,146 for his 7th place finish.

Event 8: 8th Place - Opie

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 80k/160k/20k ante
 Joe Opie (Fair Haven, NJ)
$4,609

Joe Opie is all in for 620k and at risk againt Matt Weiss and Jeff Epstein.

Weiss and Epstein check down the side pot until the river when Weiss bets and Epstein folds.

Weiss has a pair of Queens with Q9, while Opie's T8 for a pair 10s is no good as Weiss extends his chip lead to 6 million.

Opie is out in 8th place for $4,609.

Event 8: 9th Place - Love

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 60k/120k/20k ante

 Scott Love (Philadelphia, PA) 
$3,244 

On the last hand of the level, Scott Love is all in for 1.5 million with A9 against the JJ of Michael Drabot.  The flop of JJ6 ends all the suspense as Drabot hits quad Jacks.

Love finishes in 9th place for $3,244.

Event 8: Stuck at 9

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 60k/120k/10k ante


Play is grinding along with only one called all in at this level.  Joe Opie doubles 600k with K2 against the AQ of Michael Drabot when he flops a deuce.

Matt Wiess has chipped up to 4.5 million and is the chip leader 1/4 of the chips in play.

Event 8: 10th Place - Liao

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 50k/100k/10k ante

Hang Liao (Pleasantville, NJ);
$2,134 

Hang Liao runs 99 into the AA of Scott Love who gets a 1.5 million double-up. The hand leaves Liao with only 100k and is taken out by the QQ of Michael Drabot

Liao finishes in 10th place for $2,134.

Event 8: Final Table

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

1 in 10 shot at $39,266

Blinds 40k/80k/10k ante

Seat-Name-Chip Count (in millions)

1 Scott Love (Philadelphia, PA) 1.9
2 Joe Opie (Fair Haven, NJ) 1.4
3 Ray Ross (Philadelphia, PA) 1.8
4 Michael Drabot (Riverside, NY) .7
5 Ilya Brodetskiy (Staten Island, NY) 1.7
6 Matt Weiss (Valley Cottage, NY) 2.8
7 Anthony Merculla (New York, NY) 1.5
8 Hang Liao (Pleasantville, NJ) .85
9 Jeff Epstein (Omaha, NE) 2.6
10 Mike Bonney (Mays Landing, NJ) 2.0

Remaining Prize Pool

Place - Amount

1st $39,266
2nd $22,876
3rd $13,999
4th $11,524
5th $9,390
6th $7,682
7th $6,146
8th $4,609
9th $3,244
10th $2,134

Event 8: 11th & 12th Places ($2,134)

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 40k/80k/10k ante

  11th Place -  Asher Conniff (Brooklyn, NY)

12th Place - Joseph DiBello (Cherry Hill, NJ)

Event 8: 13-15th Places ($1,536)

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 40k/80k/10k ante

13th Angelo Oddo (Brooklyn, NY)
14th Eddie Blumenthal (Madison, WI)
15th Aristides Santana (Yonkers, NY)

Angelo Oddo 

Eddie Blumenthal

 Aristides Santana

Event 8: 16-18th Places ($1,007)

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 30k/60k/5k ante

Place-Name

16th Mike Sandler (New York, NY)
17th Paras Lakdawala (Hoboken, NJ)
18th Jeff Cole (Manahawkin, NJ)

Mike Sandler

Paras Lakdawala

Jeff Cole

Event 8: Final Two Tables

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 25k/50k/5k ante

Mike Bonney (Mays Landing, NJ) is the chip leader with 18 players remaining. He has 1.9 million (38 bb), while the average stack is 978k (20 bb).

Table 1

Seat-Name

1 Jeff Epstein (Omaha, NE)
2 Aristides Santana (Yonkers, NY)
3 Joseph DiBello (Cherry Hill, NJ)
4 Angelo Oddo (Brooklyn, NY)
5 Matt Weiss (Valley Cottage, NY)
6 Asher Conniff (Brooklyn, NY)
7 Mike Bonney (Mays Landing, NJ)
8 Anthony Merculla (New York, NY)
9 Mike Sandler (New York, NY)

Table 2

Seat-Name

1 Joe Opie (Fair Haven, NJ)
2 Paras Lakdawala (Hoboken, NJ)
3 Eddie Blumenthal (Madison, WI)
4 Scott Love (Philadelphia, PA)
5 Ilya Brodetskiy (Staten Island, NY)
6 Ray Ross (Philadelphia, PA)
7 Michael Drabot (Riverside, NY)
8 Hang Liao (Pleasantville, NJ)
9 Jeff Cole (Manahawkin, NJ)

Event 8: 19-27th Places ($854)

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Place-Name

19th Jamal Ford (Secaucus, NJ)
20th Michael Marder (Sewell, NJ)
21st Carlos Jewett (Hoboken, NJ)
22nd Jesus Ortiz (Bronx, NY)
23rd David Filarski (Toms River, NJ)
24th Eric Rivkin (East Hampton, NY)
25th Daniel McCallan (Oyster Bay, NY)
26th William Gallagher (Flemington, NJ)
27th Gregory Henkel (Haddonfield, NJ)

Event 8: Back From Break, 23 Remain

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 20k/40k/4k ante

Weiss & Ross

Joe Opie and Eddie Blumenthal have company in the one million+ chip club.

Matt Weiss (Valley Cottage, NY), Ray Ross (Philadelphia, PA) and Paras Lakdawala (Hoboken, NJ) all have a milly and are all on the same table.  Players are jockeying for position and waiting for the two table redraw.

The average stack is 765 (19 bb)

Chip Counts

Joe Opie 1.5 million
Para Lakdawala 1.5 million
Eddie Blumenthal 1.4 million
Matt Wiess 1.4 million
Ray Ross 1.0 million

Event 8: Final Three Tables

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds: 15k/30k/4k ante

Blumenthal & Opie

880 entries are down to 27 players. The chip leaders are Eddie Blumethal (Madison, WI) and Joe Opie (Fair Haven, NJ) who are both in the 1.5 million chip range and side-by-side.

Blumenthal finished 9th in Event 3 ($400 entry) for $4,224.

The average chip stack is 652k (22 bb). This is a one day tournament and players are prepared for an overnight grind as they chase the $39,266 top prize.

Event 8: 28-36th Places ($734)

$200 + $30 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Place-Name

28th Steven Rosenberg (Bethesda, MD)
29th Carlo Francisco (Secaucus, NJ)
30th Brandon Mueller (Windsor Mill, MD)
31st Brian Balahadia (Jersey City, NJ)
32nd Peter Woodworth (Campbellford, Canada)
33rd William Damato (Folcroft, PA)
34th Jennifer So (Galloway, NJ)
35th Justin Kadet (New York, NY)
36th Anthony Maio (Jamison, PA)