Anton Saich Leads Opening Day of $400 Atlantic City Championship
The opening day of the Bar Poker Open $400 Atlantic City Championship produced more than 11 hours of exciting action, as Day 1a welcomed a total of 302 entries to the tables at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.
The remaining 31 players bagged up in the money, with Anton Saich of New York Free Poker riding a string of knockouts to the chip lead with 775,000.
Saich holds a sizeable chip lead after the first flight, sitting ahead of fellow league member Phillip Hoff (610,000). From there, the leaderboard shows another jump to find Dan Levy (530,000) of the Eastern Poker Tour in third position.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | League | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anton Saich | New York Free Poker | 775,000 |
| 2 | Phillip Hoff | New York Free Poker | 610,000 |
| 3 | Dan Levy | Eastern Poker Tour | 530,000 |
| 4 | Albert Croteau | Eastern Poker Tour | 522,000 |
| 5 | Peter Evans | No Limit New York | 499,000 |
| 6 | Patrick George | Eastern Poker Tour | 481,000 |
| 7 | Jewell McCann | BarPokerOpen.com | 477,000 |
| 8 | Ryan Keiser | Riverchasers | 437,000 |
| 9 | Lauris Murnieks | No Limit New York | 334,000 |
| 10 | Anthony LoBue | New York Free Poker | 334,000 |
Sitting just outside the top 10 after the opening day is Joseph Sheehan (307,000), who has earned a spot in the money for the third straight event this week. Sheehan took down the opening BPO trophy event on November 13, and followed that up with a third-place finish the very next night.
Also earning a bag for Monday’s finale was Miguel Medrano (127,000), who took down the 2024 Bar Poker Open Vegas World Championship for $100,000. Medrano doubled up with kings before the final break of the night, and held on from there to earn another BPO cash.
The survivor of the day was Peter Uschin (124,000) of No Limit New York, who faded at least nine all-in situations to earn a bag at the end of the night. Among those hands was a fortunate chop against Mathew McGuire (255,000), getting an inferior ace in before seeing the board produce a wheel.
The opening day came to an end when Alex Bungener flipped out Paul Cassella on the direct bubble, leaving the final 31 players to bag up for the night.
Another flight begins on Sunday, November 16, as players who participated in Day 1a are eligible to return for Day 1b. Players will once again start with 30,000 chips, playing 30-minute levels with breaks after every two hours of action.
The single reentry rule will be in effect again, and the top 10 percent of field will join tonight’s survivors on Day 2. Any players that find a bag on both opening flights will receive a $1,000 double bag bonus, with only the largest stack carrying forward to Monday’s final day.
The PokerNews team will continue live coverage in Atlantic City, so don’t miss any of the action on the way to crowning the newest Bar Poker Open champion.