Event 18 - 5th place Vizirov

$350 + $50 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 40K/80K Ante 10K

After losing a big pot with pocket 7's to Eric Rivkin and his K♠Q♠, Len Vizirov moved all in on the next hand for 250K with the Doyle, T-2 and was called by Sean with K-7. The flop came with a deuce but it also came with a 7 and Len was unable to improve and we are now four handed.

Len Vizirov (Philadelphia, PA) - $7,552

Event 18 - 6th place Zaikansky

$350 + $50 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 40K/80K Ante 10K

A short stacked Artur Zaikansky moved all in for a little over four big blinds with A♥7♥ and was called by Len Vizirov with Q♠J♠. The flop came with a queen and that was all Len would need to win the hand and eliminate Artur.

Artur Zaikansky (New York, NY) - $6,208

Event 18 - 7th place Zappulla

$350 + $50 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 40K/80K Ante 10K

After a miscommunication caused Pete Zappulla to take a non-existent hour long dinner break at three in the morning that resulted in half his stack blinding off, he moved all in with his remaining chips with K-5 and was called by Sean Wallace with A-J. Pete hit a king on the flop but Sean would hit an ace to send Pete off for an even longer dinner break.

Pete Zappulla (Brooklyn, NY) - $4,992

Event 18 - 8th place Stevens

$350 + $50 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 30K/60K Ante 5K

Paul Stevens had battled a short stack the entire final table. Pedro Rios raised to 120K and Paul looked at his cards and said "they are singing my song, Boyz II Men, End of the Road" and then started to sing before moving all in for about 250K. "Easy call," he said to Rios. Rios didn't get a chance to call though because Len Vizirov moved all in prompting Rios to fold. Paul had A♥K♥ and was ahead of Len's A-J. A jack on the flop would change that, however, and Paul was unable to catch back up.

Paul Stevens (Marlton, NJ) - $3,776

Event 18 - 9th place Palermo

$350 + $50 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 30K/60K Ante 5K

Leonardo Palermo came into the final table as the 2nd biggest stack but after losing a big pot to Eric Rivkin with A-Q to A-K moved all in for his last 400K from the small blind with Q♦9♦ and was called by Pedro Rios from the big blind with A♦3♠. The board ran out 6♠6♣2♣7♠K♥ and Pedro's ace high was good enough to win the pot.

Leonardo Palermo (Toms River, NJ) - $2,560

Event 18 - 10th place Shergill

$350 + $50 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 25K/50K Ante 5K

There have been five all in's and double ups but finally we have lost a player. Gurvinder Shergill moved all in for 455K and Sean Wallace moved all in as well, having him covered. Shergill had 8♠8♣ and Wallace had K♠J♥. The flop came with a king and no miracle arrived for Shergill and he was our first player eliminated from the final table.

Gurvinder Shergill (London, UK) - $1,664

Event 18 - 11th thru 36th place

$350 + $50 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

11th: Ray Shackelford, Fredericksburg, VA
12th: George Kazarian, Quebec, CAN
13th: Brian Kruyd, Boonton, NJ
14th: Norman Michalek, Westfield, NJ
15th: Angelo Sorrentino, Collegeville, PA
16th: Aditya Prasetyo, Cambridge, MA
17th: Heather Everson, Atlantic City, NJ
18th: David Labriola, Oxford, CT
19th: Tanios Abi-Yaghi, Toms River, NJ
20th: David Gordon, Brooklyn, NY
21st: John Pillitteri, Robbinsville, NJ
22nd: Justin Grandin, Rochester, NY
23rd: Samuel Carioti, New York, NY
24th: Pascal Nabet, Elizabeth City, NJ
25th: Gene Mazza, Elizabeth, NJ
26th: Gaetano Buda, Woodbridge, CAN
27th: Thomas Martucci, Jamesburg, NJ
28th: Bryan Mayer, Central Islip, NY
29th: Peter Vitantonio, Wickliffe, OH
30th: Michael Stanley, Salisbury, MD
31st: Donald Matusow, Bryn Mawr, PA
32nd: Brian McKane, Holmtel, NJ
33rd: Timothy Pirraglia, Penfield, PA
34th: Jack Long Jr., Abingdon, MD
35th: Anthony Inguaggiato, Alpine, NJ
36th: Armando Then, New York, NY

Payouts:

11th-12th: $1,664
13th-15th: $1,376
16th-18th: $1,094
19th-27th: $896
28th-36th: $794

Event 18 Update

$350 + $50 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 15K/30K Ante 4K

One away from the final table with 11 players remaining. Average stack is 685K (23 big blinds). Full final table coverage coming when we get down to ten.

Event 17 - In the money and done for the day

$1,000 + $90 Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

With 26 players left, two players were busted on the same hand meaning we did not have to go hand for hand. There was one minute left in the level so one more hand was dealt and play ended for the day with 24 players, all in the money, remaining. 236 players started the day and by the time play stopped, Brian O'Donoghue was our chip leader with 480K. O'Donoghue is a two time Borgata Poker Open winner looking to get his third title. Not far behind him was someone who has built a big stack a few times in the past week, John DiBella with 430K. Rounding out the top five was Alex Rocha with 365K, Russell Crane with 343K and Ronnie Bardah with 314K. The next player out will earn $1,717 and first place will take home $60,663. Full end of day chip counts are listed below. Table redraw information will be posted on the blog in the morning. Play will resume at noon.

1. Brian O'Donoghue 480,000
2. John DiBella 430,100
3. Alex Rocha 365,500
4. Russell Crane 343,000
5. Ronnie Bardah 314,200
6. Abe Faroni 304,100
7. Jeffrey Harwitz 272,300
8. Jack Duong 264,500
9. Daniel Gilmer 258,000
10. Mike Linster 242,700
11. Ryan Deroc 197,100
12. Jack Schanbacher 187,500
13. Tyler Patterson 174,600
14. David Jones 168,100
15. Kevin Calenzo 129,000
16. David Randall 114,900
17. Kevin Diamond 100,000
18. Jonathan Little 88,000
19. Robert Hwang 81,500
20. Michael Sneideman 59,800
21. Stephen Scales 56,100
22. John Phillips 33,300
23. Ian Searing 31,300
24. Amarender Puri 4,700

Brian O'Donoghue (New York, NY) - End of Day 1 Chip Leader

Event 18 - Down to three tables

$350 + $50 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 8K/16K Ante 2K

There are 26 players remaining, average stack is 290K (18 big blinds). Sean Wallace (Horsham, PA) has extended his chip lead - he has over 1.1 million now. "I'm running hot right now," he told me.

Event 17 Update

$1,000 + $90 Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 1K/2K Ante 300

There are 32 players remaining with an average stack of 147K (73 big blinds). They are eight players away from making the money and will at a minimum keep playing until they have done so. Jonathan Little and Alex Rocha are among the notables still fighting it out.

Event 18 - In the money!

$350 + $50 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 6K/12K Ante 2K

The bubble burst when a player moved all in with Q-9 on a J-T-9 flop and was called by someone holding Q♥8♥ for the second nut straight. The turn and river came 4-9 and the all in short stack flung his chips into the middle in disgust and stormed out of the tournament area.

The hand before that, Sean Wallace (Horsham, PA) risked bubbling himself... well not really... when he moved all in for 198K on a Q♦J♣4♥5♥6♦ into a roughly 200K pot. His big stack opponent ultimately made the call and mucked when Sean turned over the nuts with 8♠7♠. That pot put Sean's stack at 600K, which is good for the chip lead at the present time.

Sean Wallace (Horsham, PA)

Event 18 Update

$350 + $50 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 5K/10K Ante 1K

There are 39 players remaining and the average chip stack is 193K (19 big blinds). Only three from the money. Former chip leader Pedro Rios has lost half his stack and is down to under 125K but should be able to make the money.

Event 17 Update

$1,000 + $90 Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 1K/2K Ante 300

We are almost at the end of this level and have lost another full table of six players leaving us with 8 full tables of six for a total of 48 players. The average chip stack is 98K (61 big blinds). Jonathan Little is still in the event and recently tweeted about how he is doing:

At 135k. I got lucky to win AJ vs 55 then successfully got a bit wild. At 1000/2000-300. pic.twitter.com/fpUquyI0qM
— Jonathan Little (@JonathanLittle) September 14, 2013

Event 16 Recap

$1500 + $150 + $500 Purple Chip Bounty Heads Up NLH

A quality field of 64 players at the Borgata Poker Open came down to an evenly matched final between Kevin Saul (Chicago, IL) and David Paredes (New York, NY). The two played their heads up, best of three, final for nearly four hours and on the last hand, Saul hit a King on the river while holding K♦ Q♦ against Paredes' pocket 9s to win his second Borgata trophy.

"He was a tough player," said Saul who earned $37,248 for the win and rallied from a 1-0 deficit to take the title.  And both players agreed that a Saul bluff in Game 2 was the pivotal hand in the match.

"It was a tough spot, I was very close to calling," said Paredes who would have doubled-up and severely crippled Saul, "but I didn't want to call off the second match."

"I had to bluff you one time," said Saul after Paredes folded and Saul tabled Jack high on a 10♠ 5♠ 3♠ K♥ 9♥ board. "You're the most unbluffable person, now I don't care what happens."

Saul maintained his chip lead in Game 2 and rode the momentum to the win.

"It was a close call between jamming, check-calling and check-folding," said Paredes who mucked his cards. "I'll replay that one and I'm still not sure what the right option was."

Paredes made an impressive run through the field with five straight 2-0 series wins, and with a 1-nothing lead in the finals, won 11 straight games before losing the final two.

The day began with four quarterfinal matches and the remaining eight players all in the money. The field of 64, in the NCAA basketball style bracket, put up $96,000 in total buy-ins and played three rounds on Day 1.

Four former Borgata Heads Up champions were in the field, but none of them cashed.

Chalie Hook (2009 Summer Open), Jesse Yaginuma (2009 Poker Open) and Jeremy McLaughlin (2010 Poker Open) all lost in the first round, while Christian Harder (2011 Poker Open) was one win away from the money, but lost to lost to Jeffrey Coon in the third round.

The stacked field also featured 5-time Borgata trophy winner Will "The Thrill" Failla, 2005 WSOP runner-up Steve Dannenmann and the only woman to enter the tournament, Amanda Musumeci.

In addition to the standard prize pool, $500 bounties were paid out after each match.

Saul now has bookend trophies after he won an event during the 2012 Borgata Winter Open.

Money Matches

Finals

Kevin Saul def. David Paredes

Semifinals 

Saul def. Jeffrey Coon
Paredes def. Jeff Gross

Quarterfinals

Saul def. Orson Young
Paredes def. Aaron Massey
Gross def. Mike Linster
Coon def. Matt Rock


Final Results
Entries: 64
Total Buy-In: $96,000

Event 16 Winner - Saul

$1,000 + $90 Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Saul Wins Series 2-1

Kevin Saul (Chicago, IL)

 $37,248

Kevin Saul opens to 600, David Paredes bets 1,700, Saul moves all in, Paredes calls and is at risk for 14k.

Saul: K♦ Q♦
Paredes: 9♦ 9♥

Flop: J♦ 8♥ J♥ (Paredes still leads)
Turn: 4♥ (Paredes adds flush draw, Saul 4 outs)

River: K♠

The pair of Kings gives Saul the hand, the game, the match and the title. He earns $37,248 for the win, while Paredes settles for second place and $18,624.

"I love heads up," says Saul who earns his second Borgata trophy. "I normally don't 3-bet that deep, but I thought he would 3-bet fold often enough that it was the correct play. And even if I lose, I still have chips to fight with. He was a tough player."

Saul rallies from a 1-0 deficit to win the final two games to win the heads up tournament and tweets back to Paredes:

“@gaucho2121: Sigh. 2nd in the HU for 23k including bounties. Gg @BeL0WaB0Ve very well played.” You played great bro, never saw ur hands
— Kevin Saul (@BeL0WaB0Ve) September 14, 2013

Road to the Title

DEF. David Paredes 2-1 in Finals
DEF. Jeffrey Coon 2-1 in Semis
DEF. Orson Young 2-0 in Qtrs.
DEF. Val Yakovchik 2-0 in 3rd Rd.
DEF. Alex Rocha in 2-1 2nd Rd.
DEF. Scott Baumstein 2-1 1st Rd.

Event 16: 2nd Place - Paredes

$1500 + $150 + $500 Purple Chip Bounty Heads Up NLH

 David Paredes (New York, NY) 

$18,624

David Paredes loses a flip with pocket 9s to Kevin Saul's K♦Q♦ on the final hand when Saul hit a four outer on the river. Paredes loses the best of three series 2 games to 1 and finishes in second place for $18,624.

"It was a great tournament, a good structure and very well run," says Paredes. "Kevin's a very tough player and we were even, it could have gone either way."

Paredes made an impressive run through the field with five straight 2-0 series wins, and with a 1-nothing lead in the finals, won 11 straight games before losing the final two.

Sigh. 2nd in the HU for 23k including bounties. Gg @BeL0WaB0Ve very well played.
— David Paredes (@gaucho2121) September 14, 2013

Road to Runner-up:

Loses to Kevin Saul 2-1 in Finals
DEF. Jeff Gross 2-0 in Semis
DEF. Aaron Massey 2-0 in Qtrs.
DEF. Bernard Liberati 2-0 Jr. in 3rd Rd.
DEF. Thomas Gleason 2-0  in 2nd Rd.
DEF. Stephen Friedella 2-0 in 1st Rd.

Event 18 Update

$350 + $50 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 4K/8K Ante 1K

A few double ups keep short stacks alive when 9's are able to fade the ace high flush draw on a 8 high flop and kings hold up against a suited weak ace. We're still down to 50 players though which means we are only 14 from the money. The average stack is 151K (19 big blinds).

Event 17 Update

$1,000 + $90 Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Blinds 800/1600 Ante 200

There are nine tables left, all of them are full meaning we have 54 players remaining. Still a long ways until they make the money (24 are paid). David Jones (York, PA) is the current chip leader with just about 450K (an amazing 281 big blinds). The average stack is 87K (54 big blinds). David is a regular in Bortaga tournaments with 3 final table cashes including a 3rd place finish in a 2012 Borgata Summer Poker Open event. He looks to be well on his way to a 4th final table and if he keeps it up could get his first trophy.

David Jones (York, PA) - Current Chip Leader

Event 16: Saul Evens the Score

$1500 + $150 + $500 Purple Chip Bounty Heads Up NLH

Series Tied at 1 (Best of 3)

Saul with his Rail (l-r) Ralph & Aaron Massey

After getting a 5k double-up David Paredes is at risk again against Kevin Saul.

Saul moves all in on a board of K♠-9♠-5♠-9♣-7♦ and Paredes calls.

Saul: K♣ Q♣
Paredes: 10♥10♣

Saul's pair of Kings takes Game 2 to even the best of three series.

They'll play a rubber match for the $37,248 top prize, with the runner-up earning $18,624.

Really tough match. We are tied
— Kevin Saul (@BeL0WaB0Ve) September 14, 2013