Andy Lam limped in the pot, as did Shin Han, but Eric Natishvili decided to raise it up from the small blind and he made it 160,000 to go.
Both limpers flatted and the flop fell . Natishvili then led out for a bet of 215,000 and Lam folded, leaving Shin to move all in for 580,000 total.
Natishvili asked for a count and then went deep into the tank, thinking things through for at least two minutes before finally making the call.
Showdown:
Han:
Natishvili:
Natishvili went with his read and called with just a pair of tens, but he was badly behind Han's flopped set of eights.
The turn came to give Han a full house, and Natishvili was drawing to the deck's two remaining tens.
River:
Han's rail exploded in a raucous celebration at the sight of a brick on the river, and Han scored a huge double up through Natishvili to push above 1.5 million in chips.
Sunil Sebastian pushed all in for 148,000 from middle position. Andy Lam called from the cutoff, as did Tony Marchitelli from the small blind.
Marchitelli bet out 200,000 on the flop, and Lam mucked his cards.
Marchitelli:
Sebastian:
Sebastian had seen a good flop for his hand, but he was way behind Marchitelli's better kicker. The board finished out with and , and Sebastian busted to his opponent's straight.
After Wayne Pineault min-raised from the hijack to open the betting, Steven Edwards flatted from the cutoff, along with Andy Lam in the big blind.
The flop rolled out and Lam fired out a 70,000 bet, which was called in two spots.
The turn card came and Lam slowed down with a check, prompting Pineault to wager 150,000. With the action on him, Edwards raised it up to 435,000 and Lam got out of the way. Pineault quickly moved all in over the top for about 200,000 more and Edwards snapped it off.
Showdown:
Pineault:
Edwards:
The turn card hit both players hard, but despite holding top two pair Pineault was trailing badly against the Broadway straight held by Edwards. His supporters on the rail exploded when they saw Edwards' straight, and everyone in the room stood in anticipation to sweat the all important river card.
River:
With that, Edwards' straight held up and Pineault was sent to the rail as the first elimination of the day. Edwards added to his chip lead and now holds a huge stack in addition to his experience edge in live tournament play.
Even though the first player eliminated here today will be disappointed in the outcome, the Borgata has made sure they won't go home empty handed. Check out this tweet from Travis T. Williams touting the consolation prize awaiting our first bustout:
Steven Edwards is the Most Experienced Player at the Table Today, at Least in Terms of Live Tournament Play
Even for seasoned veterans of the tournament poker circuit, the chance to play for a $1 million payday is truly a novel experience. After all, even last night’s WPT Main Event Championship paid out less than $1 million, which makes today’s New Jersey’s Next Poker Millionaire sit-and-go a special event for all involved.
For six of the eight players at the table though, simply earning a live cash would be something to remember.
Myroslaw Woroch, Sunil Sebastian, Andy Lam, Shin Han, Tony Marchitelli, Eric Natishvili are all recreational players who have not yet recorded a live tournament cash, and while each one is obviously a skilled player on the virtual felt, it remains to be seen if the stage and spotlights affects their play.
Not all of the players here today are entering unfamiliar terrain, however, as Wayne Pineault and Steven Edwards both have a few live cashes to their credit.
Pineault – a resident of Wayne, NJ - has made two final tables here at the Borgata, finishing in third place at last year’s Winter Poker Open $450 No-Limit Hold’em event for a $3,339 score. He also finished in eight place in a $450 Omaha Hi-Lo event at the Borgata Fall Poker Open, taking home $1,315 for the effort.
Steven Edwards is perhaps the most experienced live tourney player in attendance today, as the resident of Atco, NJ has actually cashed in the biggest poker tournament in the world: the World Series of Poker Main Event. Edwards finished in 518th place at the 2006 ME, taking home $22,266 for surviving the weeklong gauntlet. Edwards also has a few other cashes to his credit, including a 59th place finish at the 2011 Borgata Summer Open’s $200 NLHE Re-Entry event.
It’s early yet and the play is still in the feeling out stage, but we’ll keep an eye on Pineault and Edwards today to see if their experience with live tournament play gives them any advantage over their six competitors.
Shin Han defended his big blind from a raise to 40,000 from Sunil Sebastian on the button. The flop came , and Han bet out 50,000. Sebastian made the call, and the turn was a . Sebastian called another bet, this time 30,000. On the river, Han fired 40,000, only to see Sebastian raise to 150,000. Han thought briefly before making the call, showing for the nut flush. His opponent mucked.
The first orbit of this Sit-and-Go tournament has been relatively uneventful - which is to be expected with everybody holding 100 big blinds to start play - and while a few pots have been played to the flop, the play has been conservative to say the least.
None of the eight players eligible for this $1 million payday wants to be the first sent home, so we expect things to stay friendly - until the cards create a collision of course.
To conclude our coverage of the Borgata Winter Poker Open, we're on hand to cover a special event run by the Borgata: New Jersey's Next Poker Millionaire (NJNPM).
NJNPM is a one-table sit-n-go contested by eight players who qualified online. As for the prize structure, let's just say it's slightly top-heavy. The champion will claim a gaudy prize package of a World Poker Tour Alpha 8 super high roller seat worth $10,000, a WPT World Championship seat worth $15,000, two WPT entries to Borgata events worth $3,500 each, 52 tournament entries to the Sunday 50k worth $10,400, a bundle of live tournament entries at the Borgata worth $8,000, and $859,600 in credit to the player's online account.
The rest of the runners will have to console themselves with the following prizes:
![[user253757]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. Natishvili then led out for a bet of 215,000 and Lam folded, leaving Shin to move all in for 580,000 total.
to give Han a full house, and Natishvili was drawing to the deck's two remaining tens.
flop, and Lam mucked his cards.
, and Sebastian busted to his opponent's straight.
and Lam fired out a 70,000 bet, which was called in two spots.
. Sebastian called another bet, this time 30,000. On the 
for the nut flush. His opponent mucked.
