With two "all-in" disks already on the table, a third player elected to ship his stack forward as well, creating a three-way pot with more than 35,000 up for grabs.
Josh Albright had the biggest of the three stacks at risk, and he had the biggest hand as well:
His opponents rolled over and respectively, and a massive cooler was set in motion.
The final board rolled out to give Albright the huge win, while the other two players were eliminated from contention.
We found Chris Tryba buying a fresh stack of chips from the tournament director. The director wished him good luck, to which Tryba replied, "Thanks, I need it."
[user253757]
Men "The Master" Nguyen Here on Day 1A
The face of tournament veteran Men "The Master" Nguyen is familiar for tournament reporters and opponents alike, which is why eight of his nine opponents folded quickly on Nguyen's big blind.
Matt Shafman, on the other hand, decided to tame the beast, raising to 1,200 from the small blind. Nguyen peered down at Shafman's stack, and after assessing the possibilities, "The Master" made the call.
Flop:
Shafman led out with a bet of 1,600 and Nguyen quickly plunked a stack of orange T1000 chips forward to put his short-stacked opponent to the test. Just as quickly, Shafman made the call, and when he rolled over it was clear why.
Nguyen, for his part, appeared to be quite surprised, showing Shafman his and saying "Wow... I thought I had the best hand here!"
Needing to catch one of two remaining jacks to notch the knockout, Nguyen watched as the turn () and river () missed him entirely. Still smiling at his admitted misread, Nguyen cut off a stack from his own chip castle, and Shafman scored a well-timed double up through one of poker's original superstars.
Well-known poker player Men "The Master" Nguyen has been spotted sitting behind a couple of towering stacks at Table 17. He's already making his presence felt, and we'll surely be hearing more from him soon.
Meanwhile, the tournament director just announced another level increase, and the new blinds are 250 and 500 with an ante of 50.
[user253757]
Andy Hwang, Winner of the 2013 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event, Here on Day 1A
Four players, including Andy Hwang and a short stacked Eric Riley, committed 2,100 before the flop, which fell .
All fur players checked around to bring the to the table on the turn. Another check to Riley prompted an all-in shove of 2,400, and with the action back on him after another player flatted, Hwang took some tome to ponder his options.
On the river, both Hwang and the other player involved tapped the table, with Hwang slowly revealing just the in hoped his pair was good. It was enough to force a muck from the unidentified player, but Riley triumphantly revealed his for a better pair on the river.
Even with the hit, Hwang is still sitting comfortably with an above average chip stack, while Riley bought himself some much needed breathing room with the drop of a card.
James Woods beat a hasty retreat out of the poker room, quietly losing the last of his chips in a hand we didn't catch shortly after losing the majority of his chips with a set against a flopped flush.
Tournament organizers slapped a lofty guaranteed prize pool of $2 million on to this event, an eye-catching number for a mere $500 buy in. Why were they able to guarantee such a number? It may have something to do with the fact that this event last year drew the largest field in Borgata poker tournament history, with 3,871 entrants. With the addition of online qualifiers and word of mouth spreading about last year's big prize pool, this year's event is expected to be even bigger and better.
Joe Stiers topped the massive field last year, pocketing $318,104 in the process. This year's champ figures to make a good chunk more than that, so keep an eye out for updates to the field size and prize pool as the three heats build it up over the next two days.
We only caught the tail end of a hand involving actor and poker enthusiast James Woods, but that end was enough to see Woods drop a chunk of change to an opponent on his immediate left.
The board contained the along with two unidentified cards, and facing a large bet of 7,500 from Anthony Gamiz, Woods announced his intention to call.
"Call?" asked Gamiz in excitement, signalling he had received the response he was looking for. Sure enough, Gamiz rolled over for the second nut flush, and Woods was unable to produce a superior holding.
With the loss, Woods is riding a short stack, but that problem can be quickly remedied in this re-entry event.
![[user253757]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
and 
respectively, and a massive cooler was set in motion.
to give Albright the huge win, while the other two players were eliminated from contention.
) and river (
) missed him entirely. Still smiling at his admitted misread, Nguyen cut off a stack from his own chip castle, and Shafman scored a well-timed double up through one of poker's original superstars.
to the table on the turn. Another check to Riley prompted an all-in shove of 2,400, and with the action back on him after another player flatted, Hwang took some tome to ponder his options.
river, both Hwang and the other player involved tapped the table, with Hwang slowly revealing just the 
for a better pair on the river.
along with two unidentified cards, and facing a large bet of 7,500 from Anthony Gamiz, Woods announced his intention to call.
for the second nut flush, and Woods was unable to produce a superior holding.