Event 1: $560 $1 Million Guaranteed Deep-Stack NLHE Reentry
Day 1b Completed
2014 Borgata Spring Poker Open
Event 1: $560 $1 Million Guaranteed Deep-Stack NLHE Reentry
Day: 1b
Kevin Grabel Grabs the Chip Lead After Day 1b
![[user253757]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 400 ante
Today another exciting day of poker punctuated the seaside ambience of Atlantic City, as the Borgata Spring Poker Open’s first event rolled onward. The second starting flight of Event 1 ($560 No-Limit Hold’em Reentry, $1 Million Guaranteed) consisted of 15 levels spanning 30 minutes each, and when it was all said and done 469 entries and reentries were recorded, topping the 359 which were tallied yesterday.
Topping the chip counts when it was all said and done was Kevin Grabel, who managed to accumulate a huge stack of 353,500 to put himself well clear of his closest competitor in Bill Kontaratos (281,500).
One of the more interesting stories to emerge from Day 1b involved the perseverance of Cecilia Doyle, who managed to bag up 40,000 despite playing through nausea and other symptoms of pregnancy. Doyle was recently engaged to poker player Rob Voigt, and while Rob will have to wait until tomorrow after falling short midway through the day, Cecilia will be returning for Day 2 on Friday.
Other players who survived the gauntlet to secure a stack for Day 2 include Danko Campese (211,000), Luke Edwards (188,500), Tony Sinishtaj (128,000), James Woods (103,000) and Amnon Filippi (80,000).
Woods was especially active today, misfiring on his first bullet before ultimately finding a rhythm, and although he dropped a sizable pot with a curious call, he will be returning for a Day 2 appearance.
On the other side of the coin, players like Micah Raskin, John D’Agostino, Cherish Andrews, Megan Milburn, Joseph Stiers, Kenneth Lind, Ben Soltz, Natale Kuey and Timothy Little all fell short of the finish line. We expect to see most of them back tomorrow to fire another bullet or three.
Day 1c begins at 11 a.m. on Thursday, with players who bagged and tagged at the end of Day 1a or Day 1b still eligible to take another crack at building a big stack. As always, the expectation is that turnout will increase tomorrow – as it did today – with players trying to avoid a lengthy delay should they reach Day 2.
The PokerNews Live Reporting team will be on hand from start to finish, proudly providing live continuous coverage from the floor of the Borgata Spring Poker Open, so keep it here throughout the day to follow all of the action.
Official End-of-Day Counts (full)
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 400 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
353,500 | 23,500 |
|
281,500 | 126,500 |
|
|
279,500 | 69,500 |
|
260,000 | 260,000 |
|
|
250,000 | 250,000 |
|
233,000 | 178,500 |
|
227,000 | 32,000 |
|
|
216,000 | 216,000 |
|
201,000 | |
|
200,000 | 200,000 |
|
194,500 | |
|
|
192,000 | |
|
191,500 | 191,500 |
|
188,500 | 134,800 |
|
|
181,000 | 129,500 |
|
|
177,000 | |
|
|
176,000 | |
|
175,000 | |
|
|
167,500 | |
|
164,500 | -25,500 |
|
|
158,000 | |
|
157,500 | 157,500 |
|
|
157,500 | |
|
155,000 | |
|
|
154,500 | 154,500 |
Three More Hands
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 400 ante
The players will play three more hands then bag and tag for the evening.
PokerNews Podcast Episode #210: Laying Down the Law feat. Matthew Kredell
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 400 ante
PokerNews contributor Matthew Kredell, who focuses on poker law and legislation, joins the podcast to talk about Sheldon Adelson, California, and much more. Also, Chad and Rich break down all of the latest news, talk about Chad's awful travel day, and give you the Weekly Winners.
You can subscribe to all three of the podcasts produced by PokerNews on iTunes here, or you can access the RSS feed here.
Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook today!
Grabel Grabbing 'em All
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 400 ante
Raymond Morgan opened to 11,000 in late position, Kevin Grabel defended his big blind, and the dealer fanned 
. The pair checked.
The turn was the 
, Grabel led out for 18,000, and Morgan grinned before mucking. Grabel shrugged, then revealed 
for a wired pair of tens. He continues to dominate, and is now well above 300,000 chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
330,000 | 50,000 |
|
|
195,000 | -30,000 |
Worst to First
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 400 ante
Mike Czopek started the fireworks at Table 3 with a raise to 10,000. He was called by the player to his immediate left. A player in late position moved all in for just shy of 60,000. After thinking for a while, Czopek decided to make the call for most of his stack. The player to his left moved all in - and with Czopek only having about 10,000 left after calling the all in, he made the easy call. The hands were turned over and Mike was in last place with his 
. The shortest stack who moved all in first had 
while the biggest stack of the three had 
.
The flop came 
giving Czopek a miracle top two. He wasn't feeling confident though as he stood up as if he expected to be eliminated. The turn was the 
and Czopek had more outs to fade. The river was the 
and a dazed Mike seemed to not believe he had won the pot. "I'm so paranoid. I was worried about the ten coming," he admitted. Czopek moves near the top of the leader board with the massive pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
190,000 |
Quads Are Good
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 400 ante
When we arrived at the table, Bill Kontaratos was all in for 48,200 on a completed board of 
. There was about 60,000 in the middle prior to the shove, and Kontaratos' opponent tanked for a considerable amount of time before eventually calling.
Kontaratos tabled 
for quad nines, surprising the entire table, and the Canadian raked in the big pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
155,000 | 30,000 |
A Few Last Snaps
Level: 15
Blinds: 2,000/4,000
Ante: 400