Pre-Event

Members of the Borgata Poker Team pose with WPT World Champion Asher Conniff.

On behalf of fellow bloggers jamesk, Kaelaine and AlCantHang, that wraps up our coverage of the 2015 Borgata Spring Poker Open.

Read More

As the $50,000 GTD Event 17 field continues to grow, the slow play through the early levels allows us to take a look ahead to what the Borgata Poker Room has in store over the next few months.

While today’s event marks the end of the Spring Poker Open, it doesn’t mark the end to the spring tournament schedule, as there are plenty of series running, including some player favorites throughout the next month.

The schedule starts next weekend with another edition of the ‘Super Survivor’ tournament, where one in every ten entrants will take home $10,000.

That survivor event is then followed by two $100,000 GTD events, with a weeklong mini-series running from May 18-22, with another one day ‘Saturday Series’ event firing off on May 23.

Add in a few mixed game events at the beginning and end of the month and May is packed with action, although it may just be setting the stage for the next major Borgata tournament series, as the Deep Stacks Challenge returns in June.

That DSC series will be the biggest in it’s history, as it boasts 13 live events, with guarantees ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 and buy-ins ranging from $120 to $400, giving every type of player a shot at making a big DSC score.

BorgataPoker.com wil also be running online qualifiers for those DSC events over the next month and after Asher Conniff turned his two online satellite wins into SPO and WPT World Championship titles, we wouldn’t be surprised to see dozens of players win their way into those events and potentially even raise DSC trophies.

So, while we’re sad to see the Spring Poker Open go, the rest of the Borgata Poker schedule is anything but empty over the next two months and we look forward to seeing you here.

Read More

While the WPT final table set, cameras, lights and fanfare have since left the Borgata after Asher Conniff won the WPT World Championship last night, turning a $1,650 BorgataPoker.com online qualifier into a near $1,000,000 score that put him atop the poker world, the Spring Poker Open continues to rolls on with two final post-lim events.

That gives players two final chances to win SPO titles starting with the Event 16 ‘Deeper Stack’ Black Chip Bounty that is set to begin at 11 AM.

While this event doesn’t boast a guarantee, like yesterday’s $100,000 GTD Event 15 or tomorrow’s $50,000 GTD Event 16 ‘Deepest Stack’ tournament, this field should be one of the biggest we’ve seen this week, as bounty events always draw well, especially when paired with the fan favorite deep stack structures that the Borgata regularly ends their month long series with.

Blog updates will start when cards are in the air.

Read More

Level 24 (20,000/40,000/5,000)
Total Entries: 239
Players Remaining:  6
Average Stack: 1,992,000

While we are still a half hour away from the start of the WPT World Championship final table, the excitement and energy around the Signature Room is definitely palpable, as the players have been seen taking their seats for some pre-final table pictures and the fans have already begun taking their seats in the cheering area.

Easily the biggest contingent present is that of Borgata’s own Asher Conniff, as his friends and family have come out in droves to see if the BorgataPoker.com online qualifier can continue his dream Spring Poker Open run towards a WPT World Championship title.

He’ll face a tough final table, one that was previewed earlier today and it will be interesting to see how Asher reacts to this big stage, as even though he is as serious professional player coming off the biggest tournament score of his career, he’s somehow the least experienced at this final table, that is full of former WPT and WSOP winners and has multiple players with multiple millions of dollars in career earnings.

Updates will continue until we are ready to begin play, which will occur after the player introductions and pre-WPT final table extravaganza finishes up.

Read More

Level 24 (20,000/40,000/5,000)
Total Entries: 239
Players Remaining:  6
Average Stack: 1,992,000

Ray Qartomy, Tony Dunst, Asher Conniff, Alexander Lakhov, Carlos Mortensen and Brian Yoon will play down to a WPT World Champion today at 4 PM, with the final table being live streamed on YouTube and Twitch. 

So far through this Spring Poker Open, we as bloggers have been blessed with some amazing storylines to follow throughout every event, with the biggest of those storylines showing themselves prior to the two live streamed $1,000,000 GTD events that preceded the WPT World Championship.

Well, that WPT final table is no different, as it boasts some of the world’s best players, former WPT Champions, a WPT analyst and, home town bias here, potentially the hottest player poker who will be looking to make Borgata Poker history here today.

But, despite all the storylines and potential headlines that can come out of this WPT World Championship, we have to start with potentially the most important figure of them all, the chip counts, and when play resumes at 4 PM, Alexander Lakhov will control close to a third of the chips in play.

The Russian won two WPT events in 2014, the first coming this past summer when he took down the WPT National Cyprus Main Event and he’d add a second win at that same location just a few months later, notching the biggest tournament score of his career for winning the WPT Merit North Cyprus Championship.

That second win would earn him his seat into this WPT World Championship event and while he returns as a massive chip leader, the Borgata fan favorite is close behind him, looking to pull his own double victory in the same series.

That fan favorite is none other than Spring Poker Open Event 1 Champion Asher Conniff, who is looking to parlay a BorgataPoker.com online qualifier into his first ever WPT title and will likely make the biggest tournament score of his career winning just over $200,000 just a few weeks ago.

Below the two leaders are a logjam of players all hovering near the chip average, headed by two time WSOP Bracelet winner Brian Yoon, who will be looking to add to his impressive tournament resume that boasts just under $2,000,000 in career earnings.

The next two players are both repeat Borgata WPT offenders, as Ray Qartomy final tabled September’s WPT BPO Championship, finishing 6th, after making a deep run in last year’s WPT World Championship where he made the final two tables and finished 13th.

The other repeat offender made an even deeper run in last year’s World Championship, as Tony Dunst, who works as an analyst for the WPT’s ‘Raw Deal’ television broadcast, notched the biggest result of his career with his 3rd place finish for a $450,000 score. He’ll look to best that finish today as he looks to claim his second WPT title.

While the “dark horse” in a field is usually not a player with over $10,000,000 in career tournament earnings, former WPT World Champion Carlos Mortensen is just that, as he returns with just over 20 big blinds and while he’ll need to pick up chips early to be a contender, if he’s able to find a quick double the rest of the field better be on high alert, as he’s easily the most experienced player at this final table, with two WSOP Bracelets and three WPT titles to his name.

Regardless of how this WPT World Championship final table plays out, it should be an exciting day here at the Borgata, with the doors to the Signature Room opening around 3 PM with play slated to start at 4 PM.

The final table will be filmed as part of the WPT Season XIII television broadcast and will also be live streamed on YouTube and Twitch, with that link being provided here.

Read More

Today may be one of the more meaningful days of the Spring Poker Open, as not only will six players play their way to a WPT World Championship final table and set themselves up for a chance at a nearly $1,000,000 first place prize, but potentially two more SPO trophies will be awarded today, including the Event 14 title that is about to start up in the Poker Room.

This event has a one day format but due to the hard stop we’ve seen throughout this Spring Poker Open, it could stretch to two days, depending on the field size, which we will track on the blog through the early levels.

The Event 13 $2,500 title could also be awarded today, as 26 players return for Day 2 and although we could see that event stretch to it’s originally scheduled three day structure, we more than likely will see it end today, with plenty of big names still in the hunt, looking to end their SPO  series with a championship.

While we’re unsure if those two tournaments will play down to a winner, we do know that there are plenty of headlines to follow through this WPT World Championship Day 4 session, including the current chip leader, Asher Conniff.

Conniff is fresh of his $1,000,000 GTD Event 1 SPO victory and now looks poised to make the best WPT finish of his career, leading the way while WPT legend Ray Qartomy and defending World Champion Keven Stammen are both just behind the young Borgata regular.

That event will resume at 12 PM, with SPO blog bringing you coverage of that event as it plays down to a six handed final table, with those six players coming back to play down to a WPT World Champion tomorrow.

Read More

Level 13 (1,000/2,000/300)
Total Entries: 131
Players Remaining: 40
Average Stack: 98,300

40 players will return at 12 PM for Day 2 of the Event 12 ‘Player’s Series’ and although the main focus of the SPO blog will be that World Championship event, as the field plays down to the money, updates from that event will track the field into the money, as 18 players will notch a SPO score in Event 12.

More information will be posted about that event shortly but for now, here are the Day 2 Event 12 ‘Player’s Series’ chip counts and seating assignments.

Read More

Level 13 (1,500/3,000/500)
Total Entries: 239
Players Remaining:  68
Average Stack: 175,700 

68 players will return at 12 PM for Day 3 of the WPT World Championship and although the main focus of the SPO blog will be that World Championship event, as the field plays down to the money, the final week of the series will be kicking off at 11 AM, with the $2,500 Event 13.

More information will be posted about that event shortly but for now, here are the Day 3 WPT World Championship chip counts and seating assignments.

1-1  BRIAN YOON  –  309,500
1-2  TIM REILLY  –  233,000
1-3  IAN O’HARA  –  285,500
1-4  BRIAN MURPHY  –  380,500
1-5  JOEY WEISSMAN  –  109,000
1-6  MARK DUBE  –  43,500
1-7  HARRY ARUTYUNYAN  –  220,500
1-8  COREY HOCHMAN  –  398,000

2-1  KONSTANTINOS NANOS  –  326,500
2-2  MICHAEL KATZ  –  109,000
2-3  LEONARD BENITEZ  –  99,500
2-4  KYLE BOWKER  –  264,500
2-5  EDWARD OCHANA  –  90,000
2-6  DAVID STEFANSKI  –  223,000
2-7  RAVI RAGHAVAN  –  71,500
2-8  ADITYA PRASETYO  –  52,500
2-9  MATT BERKEY  –  104,500

3-1  SAMUEL PHILLIPS  –  98,500
3-2  CHRISTOPH CSIK  –  35,000
3-3  ALEXANDER LAKHOV  –  221,000
3-4  JESS YAWITZ  –  165,500
3-5  DEAN BARANOWSKI  –  161,500
3-6  SETH BERGER  –  100,500
3-7  ZO KARIM  –  154,000
3-8  MATT SALSBERG  –  209,500

4-1  JAKE SCHINDLER  –  292,500
4-2  ANTHONY MOSES  –  132,500
4-3  HARRISON GIMBEL  –  74,000
4-4  JONATHAN LITTLE  –  60,500
4-5  EDDY SABAT  –  107,000
4-6  ERIC PANAYIOTOU  –  139,000
4-7  SUNGWON LEE  –  216,500
4-8  STEVE GROSS  –  118,500
4-9  TONY DUNST  –  260,000

5-1  SIMON LAM  –  337,500
5-2  LARRY ORMSON  –  122,000
5-3  MICHAEL GAGLIANO  –  126,000
5-4  BEN KEELINE  –  104,000
5-5  GEORGE KELLY  –  101,500
5-6  JONATHAN JAFFE  –  428,000
5-7  JOHN ANDRESS  –  46,000
5-8  OLEG SHNAIDER  –  141,500

6-1  JOHN GORDON  –  238,500
6-2  ASHER CONNIFF  –  267,000
6-3  HANS WINZELER  –  191,000
6-4  NICK PETRANGELO  –  226,500
6-5  ORSON YOUNG  –  101,500
6-6  CARLOS MORTENSEN  –  88,500
6-7  ABE KOROTKI  –  254,000
6-8  JOSH SPIEGELMAN  –  154,000
6-9  KEVEN STAMMEN  –  303,000

7-1  RAY QARTOMY  –  165,000
7-2  NATHAN BJERNO  –  91,000
7-3  JASON MERCIER  –  55,000
7-4  OFIR MOR  –  179,000
7-5  SANG KIM  –  304,500
7-6  HYON KIM  –  126,500
7-7  SCOTT CLEMENTS  –  244,000
7-8  MICHAEL LAVOIE  –  184,000

8-1  MATTHEW GLANTZ  –  94,000
8-2  DAVID TUTHILL  –  292,000
8-3  BROCK PARKER  –  109,500
8-4  LEE MARKHOLT  –  129,000
8-5  ROBERT LOFASO  –  60,000
8-6  ABE ABOUKHALIL  –  193,000
8-7  FRED GOLDBERG  –  127,000
8-8  MICHAEL ROCCO  –  439,500
8-9  ESTHER TAYLOR-BRADY  –  71,500

Read More

After two weeks of exciting Spring Poker Open events, the WPT World Championship is finally here. Throughout the next few days some of the biggest names in poker will compete for the biggest title in poker, with the SPO blog following all the action.

While the action of this Spring Poker Open series has been in full swing for close to two weeks, the previous events have all been setting the stage for the crown jewel of this series, the WPT World Championship.

Well, wait now more, as championship weekend is upon us as the WPT World Championship is just a few minutes from it’s start, with the final preparations from not only the Borgata Poker staff but also the WPT live updates and production team take place before the start of play today.

You can feel the excitement here in the Borgata Signature Room, as the WPT Monster station has been set up, to give players and fans a “pure Monster” experience throughout the entire World Championship event and we can’t forget the ‘Royal Flush Girls’, who are here early this morning to greet the players as they take their seats.

It’s no surprise that this entire series has been building towards this WPT World Championship event and once the cards are in the air, the SPO blog will be bringing you all the action from the biggest event in poker.

Read More

Level 15 (1,500/3,000/400)
Total Entries: 200
Players Remaining:  28
Average Stack:  143,000

We apologize for the lateness of the $100,000 GTD Event 10 $1,000 Six Max Day 2 seating assignments and chip counts.

It should be noted that this field is not coming back in the money, as just 24 players will cash, with those payouts being posted before play begins at 12 PM.

Below are the 28 players that will return for Day 2, along with their table redraws and official chip counts.

Table 1

1. Allan Rabinovich – 134,900
2. Darren Rabinowitz – 234,100
3. Joshua Beckley – 137,500
4. Mukul Pahuja – 123,300
5. Mike Dentale – 35,000
6. Arutyun Arutyunyan – 75,400

Table 2

1. Shankar Pillai – 68,600
2. Barry Hutter – 408,500
3. Alek Givotovsky – 97,200
4. David Ward – 165,900
5. Seth Berger – 143,000
6. Alberto Sabogau – 49,800

Table 3

1. Joe McKeehen – 157,400
2. Orson Young – 102,700
3. Andrew Hawkins – 76,600
4. Kevin Campbell – 268,500
5. David Paredes – 109,000
6. Ray Qartomy – 121,100

Table 4

1. Jerry Payne – 174,700
2. Philip Raisor – 84,700
3. David Tuthill – 59,100
4. Michael Gagliano – 66,200
5. Vinny Pahuja – 210,400

Table 5

1. Michael Hering – 104,700
2. Aaron Mermelstein – 168,400
3. Zo Karim – 294,400
4. Kenneth Aldridge – 141,800
5. Nicholas Pupillo – 176,300

Again, play will restart at 12 PM in the Signature Room. 

Read More