2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open

$3 Million Guaranteed WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship
Day: 3
Event Info

2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
q3
Prize
$842,379
Event Info
Buy-in
$3,300
Entries
1,229
Level Info
Level
39
Blinds
300,000 / 600,000
Ante
75,000

Elimination Autopsy

Level 23 : 8,000/16,000, 2,000 ante
Harrison Gimbel Just Exited the Premisis Late on Day 3 of the 2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open WPT Main Event Championship
Harrison Gimbel Just Exited the Premisis Late on Day 3 of the 2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open WPT Main Event Championship

Harrison Gimbel was the latest casualty as the field continues to pare down, and although we missed his path to the rail, he was kind of enough to relay the grisly details via Twitter:

Harrison GimbelGg 44th. Utg 113k makes it 38k, mp big stack calls, I jam 88 bb for 400k, utg calls, mp folds. I lose to 96ss. Few hands later utg2 40k,

Harrison GimbelI jam button 208k KKs lose to AQdd. Back to Florida when I can
Player Chips Progress
Harrison Gimbel us
Harrison Gimbel
Busted
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
EPT 1X Winner

Tags: Harrison Gimbel

Kunal Calls Down

Level 23 : 8,000/16,000, 2,000 ante
Kunal Patel is the New Chip Leader Late on Day 3, After Making a Hero Call With Just Ace-High
Kunal Patel is the New Chip Leader Late on Day 3, After Making a Hero Call With Just Ace-High

The final board showed {7-Clubs}{8-Hearts}{8-Spades}{2-Clubs}{8-Clubs} and a large pot chock full of baby blue T5000 chips was up for grabs.

Justin Luninpack fired out a bet of 95,000 to try and take it down, and Kunal Patel went into the tank to figure things out. Eventually, after a lengthy period of deliberation, Patel looked Luninpack up and tabled {a-Hearts}{j-Spades} for ace-high and the winner.

Luninpack could only offer a sincere "nice call" to Patel, who just moved into the chip lead by making an excellent lead.

Player Chips Progress
Kunal Patel us
Kunal Patel
2,430,000
-70,000
-70,000
Justin Luninpack
Justin Luninpack
745,000
497,500
497,500

Tags: Kunal PatelJustin Luninpack

King Kicker Plays for Katayon Khaterzai

Level 23 : 8,000/16,000, 2,000 ante
Katayon Khaterzai on Day 3 of the 2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event
Katayon Khaterzai on Day 3 of the 2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event

Wade Woelful needed to make a move riding his short stack and {a-Diamonds}{j-Clubs} seemed like a decent shot to score the double. He moved all in over the top of Anthony Maio's 33,000 open, only to see Katayon Khaterzai reshove to isolate.

Maio obliged and folded away, leaving Khaterzai to show down her {a-Hearts}{k-Hearts}. She had Weolful dominated and the lead held up through the {7-Diamonds}{3-Diamonds}{4-Spades}{q-Clubs}{7-Clubs} board. Woelful hit the rail in 49th place and pocketed $11,323 for a deep WPT Main Event run.

Player Chips Progress
Katayon Khaterzai us
Katayon Khaterzai
810,000
475,000
475,000
Wade Woelful
Wade Woelful
Busted

Tags: Anthony MaioKatayon KhaterzaiWade Woelful

Merulla Doubles With Pocket Jacks

Level 23 : 8,000/16,000, 2,000 ante
Robert Merulla on Day 3 of the 2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship
Robert Merulla on Day 3 of the 2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship

After Matthew Mendez opened for 34,000 and Ronit Chamani called from the hijack, Robert Merulla moved all in for his last 466,000.

Mendez reshoved for his last 575,000 or so and Chamani got out of the way.

Showdown:

Merulla: {j-Clubs}{j-Spades}
Mendez: {a-Hearts}{k-Diamonds}

The two were flipping for what amounted to the entire tournament for both players, as Merulla would be eliminated with a loss, while Mendez would be crippled if his big cards failed to come.

The final board ran out clean for Merulla, coming {9-Diamonds}{5-Clubs}{5-Diamonds}{7-Spades}{4-Hearts} to keep the fishhooks out in front, and he pushed to nearly 1 million in chips. Mendez failed to mount the comeback and he hit the rail shortly after this huge hand.

Player Chips Progress
Anthony Merulla us
Anthony Merulla
992,000
697,000
697,000
Matthew Mendez us
Matthew Mendez
Busted

Tags: Matthew MendezRobert MerullaRonit Chamani

Dog Bites Man

Level 22 : 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante
Laz Hernandez Just Made a Hero Call but Mike "Mad Dog" Arrington Held the Goods
Laz Hernandez Just Made a Hero Call but Mike "Mad Dog" Arrington Held the Goods

A flop of {q-Hearts}{9-Spades}{3-Hearts} hit the board and with a huge pot already developed Laz Hernandez heaped a stack forward for a bet of 108,000.

Mike "Mad Dog" Arrington didn't waste much time before announcing himself all in, and the bet turned out to for 366,000 total.

The camera crews on hand to record this World Poker Tour Main Event Championship readied themselves to capture the clash, and Laz went into the tank to figure out where he stood. Soon enough, Laz actually did stand up and he stared his man down while taking a sip of water a comically undersized water bottle. Eventually, despite appearing ready to fold a few times during his tank, Hernandez suddenly announced the call, and Arrington tabled his {q-Diamonds}{j-Spades} with confidence after Hernandez' hesitated for so long.

"Gimme a king..." said Hernandez as he rolled over the {k-Clubs}{j-Clubs}. "Or a ten."

Hernandez had went for the kill but he brought a blunted blade to battle, and with no pair to speak of he was far behind heading to the turn. Fourth street came {8-Diamonds} to leave Hernandez with one shot to spike a seven-outter, but the {5-Hearts} came on the river to keep Arrington out in front with top pair.

"Tell 'em he doubled through Laz..." said Hernandez with a smile, seemingly unfazed by the turn of events. Perhaps his unshaken confidence was merely a front after shipping a few stacks across the table, but after watching Laz endure the swings common to big stack bully poker, we expect him to keep shooting from the hip and going with his gut.

Player Chips Progress
Laz Hernandez us
Laz Hernandez
1,425,000
-95,000
-95,000
Michael Arrington
Michael Arrington
855,000
611,500
611,500

Tags: Laz Hernandez

Baron Busto

Level 22 : 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante
Isaac Baron on Day 3 of the 2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event
Isaac Baron on Day 3 of the 2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event

Isaac Baron pushed all in before the flop, but Frank Toscano shoved behind him with {q-}{q-}. Baron held only {8-}{8-}, and he was unable to catch up. As Toscano had him covered, he's now out of the tournament.

Player Chips Progress
Isaac Baron us
Isaac Baron
Busted
WSOP 1X Winner

Tags: Isaac Baron

Dan and the Dusted

Level 22 : 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante
Dan Heimiller Finished in 57th Place to Add $9,795 to an Already Impressive Career Record
Dan Heimiller Finished in 57th Place to Add $9,795 to an Already Impressive Career Record

These are the latest eliminations we've recorded, closing out the $9,795 payout tier. You can check the payouts tab to see where each one placed, and from now on busted players will take home at least $11,323.

Player Chips Progress
Alexander Kuzmin ru
Alexander Kuzmin
Busted
WPT 1X Winner
Douglas Stewart
Douglas Stewart
Busted
Dan Heimiller us
Dan Heimiller
Busted
WSOP 2X Winner
Issac Schachtel
Issac Schachtel
Busted
Suk Lee us
Suk Lee
Busted

Mezheritsky Shows Down The Nuts vs. Merulla

Level 22 : 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante
Robert Merulla Went With His Instinct, but the Call Proved to Be Ill-Timed
Robert Merulla Went With His Instinct, but the Call Proved to Be Ill-Timed

A pot of 200,000 or more was piled in the middle of the table when Vladislav Mezheritsky slid a single stack of twenty baby blue T5000 chips forward for a half-pot sized bet.

The 100,000 wager was a sizable one for Mezheritsky, as he only had about 155,000 left to his name, but Merulla could afford to make the call with about 400,000 to work with.

Merulla tanked for more than three minutes before making his decision, but when he tossed a single baby blue forward for the call, Mezheritsky immediately table the nuts with {a-Diamonds}{4-Clubs}. He had turned the wheel straight and Merulla's read proved to be off base, so he slowly cut out the chips he lost and pushed them to the dealer.

Player Chips Progress
Vladislav Mezheritsky us
Vladislav Mezheritsky
555,000
242,500
242,500
Anthony Merulla us
Anthony Merulla
295,000
-210,000
-210,000

Tags: Robert MerullaVladislav Mezheritsky