2014 Borgata Spring Poker Open

Event 14: $15,400 $5 Million Guaranteed WPT World Championship
Day: 2
Event Info

2014 Borgata Spring Poker Open

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a8
Prize
$1,350,000
Event Info
Buy-in
$15,000
Prize Pool
$4,852,400
Entries
328
Level Info
Level
31
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
25

She Lok Wong Nervous and Excited

Level 13 : 1,500/3,000, 500 ante
She Lok Wong
She Lok Wong

At the beginning of the day, we talked about She Lok Wong, a player who is as much a fan of the players he is playing against as anyone in the room. We also mentioned that looks could be deceiving as Wong is an excellent player, and he's proven that much by moving to the top of the chip counts by the time dinner break arrived.

Imagine Wong's surprise when he came back from dinner and found none other than Phil Hellmuth being moved to his table. Wong raced over to the PokerNews Live Reporting team, a glazed look on his face as he told us of this. The excitement and nervousness on his face was obvious.

We walked over to Wong's table. It's not an easy one. In addition to Hellmuth there is Justin Young, Amit Makhija, Christina Lindley, Byron Kaverman, and Kevin Choe. "He's a professional. He's a professional," Wong said to us, nodding at the players at the table. "This is very exciting. My heart is beating so fast."

Wong stood, unable to remain still, as a hand went down where Justin Young five-bet shoved with {K-}{J-}. He'll have to calm down if he's going to contend with these sharks, but he's already been proving that he could do that for over 12 levels. It could be Wong teaching the pros a thing or two before all is said and done.

Tags: Phil HellmuthShe Lok Wong

The End of the World

Level 13 : 1,500/3,000, 500 ante

We're not sure when the money got in the middle, but when we arrived at the table, Johnny "World" Hennigan was all in and at risk with {a-Hearts}{k-Hearts}. His opponent, Season XII WPT Champions Club member Jared Jaffee, had {a-Diamonds}{10-Hearts}, and the board read {4-Clubs}{q-Diamonds}{10-Spades}.

The turn was a {5-Clubs}, changing nothing, and the river didn't complete Hennigan's Broadway draw or give him a superior pair. He was eliminated, while Jaffee chipped up to 375,000.

Over on Table 2, Tony Gregg, also a member of the WPT Champions Club, eliminated Tom Marchese with unknown action.

Player Chips Progress
Tony Gregg us
Tony Gregg
456,000
203,000
203,000
Jared Jaffee us
Jared Jaffee
375,000
78,000
78,000
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 2X Winner
Tom Marchese us
Tom Marchese
Busted
WSOP 1X Winner
John Hennigan us
John Hennigan
Busted
WSOP 6X Winner
Poker Hall of Famer
WPT 1X Winner

Tags: Tony GreggJared JaffeeJohn HenniganTom Marchese

Level: 13

Blinds: 1,500/3,000

Ante: 500

A Few Dinner Counts

Level 12 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Player Chips Progress
She Lok Wong us
She Lok Wong
465,000
85,000
85,000
Hans Winzeler us
Hans Winzeler
375,000
60,000
60,000
Harrison Gimbel us
Harrison Gimbel
362,000
17,000
17,000
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
EPT 1X Winner
Michael Lavoie
Michael Lavoie
346,000
183,300
183,300
Corey Hochman (Cory Hochman)
Corey Hochman (Cory Hochman)
335,000
-10,000
-10,000
Byron Kaverman us
Byron Kaverman
335,000
-30,000
-30,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Jason Koon us
Jason Koon
302,000
72,000
72,000
Jared Jaffee us
Jared Jaffee
297,000
117,000
117,000
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 2X Winner
Garrett Greer us
Garrett Greer
295,000
120,000
120,000
Brian Yoon us
Brian Yoon
284,000
17,000
17,000
WSOP 5X Winner
Athanasios Polychronopoulos us
Athanasios Polychronopoulos
280,000
-40,000
-40,000
WSOP 2X Winner
Abraham Korotki us
Abraham Korotki
275,000
-55,000
-55,000

Ring the Dinner Bell

Level 12 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante

The players are streaming toward the exits for the 90-minute dinner break. Check back in at 8:20 local time to continue following PokerNews' live coverage of the WPT World Championship.

Mo-mentum

Level 12 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Maurice Hawkins
Maurice Hawkins

Maurice "Mo" Hawkins is one of the more entertaining players in the room today - and that's saying a lot, what with the brash and boisterous Will "The Thrill" Failia and Phil Hellmuth holding court in their inimitable way.

Hawkins is known for his active play and aggressive style, and with the trio of table-talkers all sitting together, the scene resembles a home game more than the WPT World Championship.

"This is a $300 tournament to me," said Hawkins during a recent pass by the table. "This isn't serious... it's fun."

While that bit of boasting may or may not be true (he is playing for more than million dollars after all), Hawkins is showing his serious side on the felt. He doubled through two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner John "World" Hennigan recently, making eights full over sixes full to push his stack up over 250,000. A few blind steals later have propelled Hawkins over 280,000 just before dinner break, giving him one of the largest stacks in play midway through the evening.

Player Chips Progress
Maurice Hawkins us
Maurice Hawkins
280,000
18,000
18,000

Tags: John HenniganMaurice HawkinsPhil Hellmuth

Sylvia Cripples Waxman

Level 12 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Jesse Sylvia
Jesse Sylvia

We get to the table with approximately 45,000 in the pot and a 28,500 bet in front of Jesse Sylvia. Matt Waxman is studying the board of {J-Hearts}{10-Diamonds}{4-Diamonds}{A-Hearts}{8-Spades}. He spent minutes going back and forth between looking at Sylvia, looking at his cards, and at the tournament clock.

"Sorry," he said at one point.

He eventually made the call and Sylvia turned over {K-Spades}{Q-Diamonds} for the nut straight. Waxman looked pissed at himself, and tossed his cards into the muck, down to just 34,000 in chips after the hand. Sylvia in the meantime is sitting much more comfortably at 160,000.

Player Chips Progress
Jesse Sylvia us
Jesse Sylvia
160,000
100,000
100,000
WPT 1X Winner
Matt Waxman us
Matt Waxman
34,000
-40,000
-40,000
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 1X Winner

Tags: Jesse SylviaMatt Waxman

Zaki Zapped, Klodnicki Klimbing

Level 12 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante

Justin Zaki opened to 5,000 from the cutoff, only to see Chris Klodnicki three-bet to 12,500 from the button.

After thinking things through for a long minute, Zaki four-bet shoved for 56,600 more.

Klodnicki thought about his spot for a while before calling and tabling {a-Spades}{9-Diamonds}, which was way behind Zaki's {10-Spades}{10-Hearts}.

The dealer fanned the {4-Diamonds}{8-Diamonds}{6-Diamonds} to make things interesting though, as Klodnicki added a flush draw to his previously depleted arsenal of outs. The turn missed his draws, coming {q-Clubs}, but when the {5-Diamonds} fell on the river Zaki stood to make his exit.

The rest of the table enjoyed a bit of banter after the hand, commenting on Klodnicki's play, with Matt Waxman telling his tablemate "you can never say anything about me playing badly, not after that one." The needle was only a joke of course, and Klodnicki just sat and flashed a sinner's smile, knowing he had just stolen a stack with a fortuitous find on fifth street.

Player Chips Progress
Chris Klodnicki us
Chris Klodnicki
234,000
124,000
124,000
WSOP 2X Winner
Justin Zaki us
Justin Zaki
Busted

Tags: Chris KlodnickiJustin Zaki