$3 Million Guaranteed WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship Day 1b | 2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open

01-27-2014 20:01 UTC-4

Rappaport Picks Off Bluffer with Ace-High

mnuwwarah

Level 6 : 150/300, 50 ante

Eric Rappaport in the Final 18 of Event #8 at the Borgata Winter Poker Open

Eric Rappaport, in the small blind, checked and called a player in the cutoff who fired 2,100 on a board of . The river brought an , and Rappaport checked once more. His opponent dropped his whole stack in for 7,850. Rappaport tanked for a couple of minutes before tossing out calling chips. The cutoff immediately tossed his cards to the dealer face down and exited his seat. Rappaport flipped over and took the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Eric Rappaport	64,000 34,000	34,000

Tags: Eric Rappaport

01-27-2014 19:31 UTC-4

The Best and Brightest

[user253757]

Level 6 : 150/300, 50 ante

Amanda Musumeci is Continuing a Strong Performance at the Borgata Winter Poker Open

The most current chip counts for the field's notables.

Player	Chips	Progress
John Gordon	120,000
John D'Agostino	70,000 40,000	40,000
DJ Mackinnon	68,000 11,000	11,000
Amanda Musumeci	56,000 26,000	26,000
Matt Waxman	50,000 36,100	36,100

Kevin Calenzo	48,000 18,000	18,000
Amnon Filippi	46,000 16,000	16,000

Cliff Josephy	45,000 15,000	15,000

Isaac Baron	42,000 15,200	15,200

Kevin Eyster	40,000 18,000	18,000

Paul Volpe	37,000 7,000	7,000

Mohsin Charania	33,000

Ari Engel	29,000 -3,000	-3,000

Will Failla	28,000 -2,000	-2,000

Eddy Sabat	24,000
Mark Herm	24,000
Guillaume Darcourt	20,000

Ebony Kenney	14,000 -62,000	-62,000
Victor Ramdin	13,000 -17,000	-17,000

01-27-2014 19:27 UTC-4

Klodhopper

[user253757]

Level 6 : 150/300, 50 ante

Ryan Eriquezzo is Only One-Third of the Way There With Two Levels Left

Ryan Eriquezzo believed he would bag 100,000 by the end of the day after witnessing some suboptimal play early on, but after a recent collision with fellow pro Chris Klodnicki, he has plenty of work left.

According to Eriquezzo's always active Twitter account, he flopped a king with but Klodnicki had the real top pair with in the hole. Here's how Eriquezzo described the situation:

Ryan Eriquezzo @RyanEriquezzo

36k after getting semi coolered by klod ak<aa on a kqxx10 runoutJanuary 27, 2014

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Follow @RyanEriquezzo

Player	Chips	Progress
Ryan Eriquezzo	36,000 -24,000	-24,000

Tags: Chris Klodnicki Ryan Eriquezzo

01-27-2014 19:18 UTC-4

No Más

[user253757]

Level 6 : 150/300, 50 ante

Tony Ruberto Has Already Held the Prize Being Played for Today

Four players - including one of the top earners in this series Cotton Snuffer and 2011 WPT Jacksonville Main Event champion Tony Ruberto - and after the flop came it was this pair that played the pot down.

After the flop it was checked over to Snuffer, who fired away with a 2,025 bet and watched the blinds fold quickly over to Ruberto. He was not fazed by the Heisenberg-like glare Snuffer sports at the table, and after a flat the turn came . Ruberto checked it over to Snuffer, but the aggressive player tapped the table to check behind and the river came .

Ruberto checked a third time and Snuffer did the same, saying no more after originally trying to play the aggressor. Ruberto immediately tabled his and said "I have a ten," to which Snuffer could offer no other response but a muck.

Player	Chips	Progress
Tony Ruberto	47,000
Cotton Snuffer	42,000 12,000	12,000

Tags: Cotton Snuffer Tony Ruberto

01-27-2014 18:52 UTC-4

Broadway Over Bullets

[user253757]

Level 5 : 100/200, 25 ante

Chino Rheem Busted at Least One Bullet on Day 1a, and Bullets Just Cost Him Another Here Today

A pot with 12,000 was up for grabs with the board reading , but really it was much more after Chino Rheem bet 8,200 into Ian Searing.

The pot got even bigger when Searing pushed a raising stack forward to force Rheem to a decision for his last 15,000 or so.

"I have aces..." Rheem told the table, agonizing over the decision while standing up with his stack in hand. "I guess I gotta fold though."

Rheem continued the process of trying to figure things out, working the hand through in his head while talking softly out loud.

"Just trying to figure out what I can beat here."

Eventually though, Rheem couldn't resist the pull of pocket aces, and he threw his stack into the middle to call off. His also went sailing through the air, but that was only after Searing revealed the for a rivered Broadway straight right in the gut.

"Nice hand..." said Rheem before storming away - likely toward the registration desk to fire another $3,500 bullet after his own bullets missed their mark.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ian Searing	56,500 56,500	56,500
Chino Rheem	Busted

Tags: Chino Rheem Ian Searing

01-27-2014 18:45 UTC-4

Scaife Takes it All

mnuwwarah

Level 5 : 100/200, 25 ante

John Scaife on Day 1b of the 2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event

John Scaife just busted an opponent over two straight hands. First he checked from the hijack with the board reading , and his opponent on the button bet 5,150 into a 9,000 pot. Scaife thought for a bit before making the call, then both players checked the . Scaife showed for top pair, and his opponent mucked.

The next hand, the two got it all in preflop.

Scaife:
Opponent:

The community offered no help to Scaife's opponent, and he quickly exited the tournament area.

Player	Chips	Progress
John Scaife	60,000

Tags: John Scaife

01-27-2014 18:30 UTC-4

The Littlest Pair

[user253757]

Level 5 : 100/200, 25 ante

Jonathan Little Just Dropped a Bit Trying to Bust a Shorty

We saw Jonathan Little with in front of him and a short-stacked player all-in with the tabled. The player at risk only held about 9,000 or so, and with Little nearing the 100,000 mark he could easily afford to flip a coin.

The flop rolled out , adding each of the deck's tens to Little's array of outs, but the turn () and river () failed to improve his hand. Despite the small loss in doubling up a shorty, Little is still in strong position midway through this second starting flight.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jonathan Little	85,000 -13,000	-13,000

Tags: Jonathan Little

01-27-2014 18:16 UTC-4

Lost in the Woods

[user253757]

Level 5 : 100/200, 25 ante

James Woods and Dan O'Brien Discussing the Intricacies of Raising and Calling

On the last hand before the recent break, we watched Dan O'Brien get schooled by actor James Woods for a decent pot, before teaching Woods a thing or two about the rules of the game.

The exchange between Woods and O'Brien was cordial and professional of course, and it concerned the last action O'Brien took in the hand.

We caught the action with the board reading , and more than 15,000 in the middle already. Woods had led into O'Brien on the river, making it 6,500, and O'Brien was contemplating his decision as the rest of the field departed for break.

"The problem is you're a professional actor..." O'Brien told Woods, after the man who tormented Robert De Niro in the classic Scorsese flick Casino began a bit of table talk. Woods told O'Brien to fold, saying something about not wanting the young pro to make a bad call and lose chips he could easily keep by folding.

The misdirection worked wonders and O'Brien tossed in the crying call - throwing two of the baby blue T5000 chips forward in doing so - only to muck with a grin on his face as Woods tabled with confidence.

"Nice hand..." said O'Brien, knowing now he had been hoodwinked by a man paid very well to pretend. "I didn't see that coming."

"Thanks," offered Woods, before beginning what would become an extended discussion. "But you know, you did put 10,000 in there, and that's really a raise. I don't really care, but... it was more than half my bet, so it really was a raise."

O'Brien then went on to patiently explain why his action did not constitute a raise - correctly noting that if one chip was pulled back the amount left over would not exceed half of Woods' original bet - and Woods accepted his explanation accordingly. A tournament official overheard the discussion though, and with O'Brien already outside gone to enjoy the break, he told Woods and the dealer that the two-chip call should have been ruled a raise after all. Woods appeared quite willing to accept that ruling and earn an additional 6,500 chips without trying, but eventually the Borgata's head honcho in the tournament department Tab Duchateau ended the impending drama by ruling the action to be a call, citing the reasoning O'Brien originally offered as the correct ruling.

O'Brien soon confirmed that Woods had pulled the wool over his eyes, issuing the following tweet:

Dan O'Brien @DanOBrienPoker

Playing with @JamesWoodsPoker and he's torching me. Professional actors shouldn't be allowed to use their talents at the poker table.January 27, 2014

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Follow @DanOBrienPoker

Player	Chips	Progress
James Woods	67,600 -2,475	-2,475
Dan O'Brien	19,400 19,400	19,400

01-27-2014 16:57 UTC-4

Jaka Already Chipping Up

mnuwwarah

Level 4 : 100/200, 0 ante

Faraz Jaka on Day 1b of the 2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event

Faraz "The-Toilet 0" Jaka just sat down about 15 minutes ago, but he's already building his stack up. We caught the tail end of a recent hand in which he fired 4,300 on the river after an opponent checked to him. The board read . Jaka's opponent made the call, but he couldn't beat Jaka's .

We'll certainly be keeping an eye on Jaka, who has live tournament winnings in excess of $4 million.

Player	Chips	Progress
Faraz Jaka	40,000

Tags: Faraz Jaka

01-27-2014 16:55 UTC-4

Well Travell(ed)

[user253757]

Level 4 : 100/200, 0 ante

Travell Thomas on Day 1b of the 2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open

Sitting to the left of Dennis Phillips - who is best known for a 3rd-place finish at the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event - Travell Thomas may have been intimidated, but he's no slouch on the felt either.

Thomas is an experienced circuit grinder who scored a WSOP Circuit ring in 2011, so he was not cowed when Phillps led into him for 2,525 on the flop.

The pot contained about 6,500 at that time, and Phillips was nursing a short-stack so he figured to be getting his money in with a real holding. Thomas didn't care though, and he happily raised the action up to 5,575 while telling Phillps where he stood.

"You only have two options here man..." Thomas told him. "Call or fold. But either way, you're gonna lose."

"Those aren't my only options though, now are they?" Phillips responded, his hands reaching for the small stack of chips he still had left.

"I didn't say what happens if you raise now..." Thomas carried on. "Just that you got two options. Fold or call... but you're losing either way."

Phillips declined to exercise that third option though, and he folded his hand with a laugh while Thomas continued the conversation.

Player	Chips	Progress
Travell Thomas	43,500
Dennis Phillips	14,600 -15,400	-15,400

Tags: Dennis Phillips Travell Thomas