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

$3 Million Guaranteed WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship

Day 3 Completed

Farid Jattin Leads $3 Million Guaranteed WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship

Level 24 : 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
Farid Jattin bagged the chip lead.
Farid Jattin bagged the chip lead.

After nearly 15 hours of play here on Day 3 of the $3 Million Guaranteed WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship, Farid Jattin leads the final 36 players.

He bagged up 3,818,000 to notch a wide chip lead over second-place Jared Jaffee (2,340,000). Rounding out the top five are Robert Merulla (2,150,000), David Paredes (2,000,000), and Kunal Patel (1,975,000). Notable players bagging up include Matthew Parry (1,373,000), Faraz Jaka (1,348,000), Byron Kaverman (997,000), Chad Brown (896,000), and Ronit Chamani (807,000).

John Racener, Laz Hernandez, Harrison Gimbel, Isaac Baron, Dan Heimiller, Matt Affleck, Dan O'Brien, Amnon Filippi, Aaron Massey, Daniel Sindelar, and Andy Frankenberger were among the well-known players cashing but busting out today.

Play resumes at 12 p.m. tomorrow, and be sure to tune in to PokerNews for all of the live updates as the final table emerges.

Tags: Aaron MasseyAmnon FilippiAndy FrankenbergerByron KavermanChad BrownDan HeimillerDan O'BrienDavid ParedesFaraz JakaFarid JattinHarrison GimbelIsaac BaronJared JaffeeJohn RacenerKunal PatelLaz HernandezMatt AffleckMatthew ParryRobert MerullaRonit Chamani

End-of-Night Chip Counts Fresh Off the Bags (full)

Level 24 : 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
We're One Step Closer to Etching Another Name in the WPT Champions Cup
We're One Step Closer to Etching Another Name in the WPT Champions Cup

Here are the end of day chip counts for our final 36 players, after a grueling day of action on the felt pared the field down from 188 to the current roster you see below.

Farid Jattin built a massive chip lead with his 3.818 million surpassing Jared Jaffee by nearly 1.5 million.

Player Chips Progress
Farid Jattin co
Farid Jattin
3,818,000 2,668,000
Jared Jaffee us
Jared Jaffee
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 2X Winner
2,340,000 710,000
Anthony Merulla us
Anthony Merulla
2,150,000 -206,000
David Paredes us
David Paredes
WPT 1X Winner
2,000,000 420,000
Kunal Patel us
Kunal Patel
1,975,000 -455,000
Kalyan Gullapalli
Kalyan Gullapalli
1,738,000 338,000
Bryan Choi
Bryan Choi
1,635,000 485,000
Michael Arrington
Michael Arrington
1,380,000 525,000
Matthew Parry us
Matthew Parry
WSOP 1X Winner
1,373,000 173,000
Faraz Jaka us
Faraz Jaka
WSOP 1X Winner
1,348,000 -102,000
Eric Wasserson us
Eric Wasserson
1,210,000 210,000
Naveh Morris us
Naveh Morris
1,095,000 245,000
Justin Luninpack
Justin Luninpack
1,076,000 331,000
Peter Hong us
Peter Hong
1,000,000 100,000
Byron Kaverman us
Byron Kaverman
WSOP 1X Winner
997,000 -233,000
Chad Brown us
Chad Brown
896,000 -204,000
Keith Crowder
Keith Crowder
855,000 683,000
Michael Weber us
Michael Weber
852,000 647,000
Ronit Chamani za
Ronit Chamani
807,000 57,000
Tyler Patterson us
Tyler Patterson
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
710,000 10,000
Frank Toscano us
Frank Toscano
689,000 148,500
Katayon Khaterzai us
Katayon Khaterzai
626,000 -184,000
John Holley us
John Holley
614,000 -581,000
Vladislav Mezheritsky us
Vladislav Mezheritsky
551,000 -4,000
Joseph Ruff
Joseph Ruff
536,000 290,000

Read full

Tags: Farid JattinJared Jaffee

Jaffee Busts Santoro

Level 24 : 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
Jared Jaffe busted an opponent.
Jared Jaffe busted an opponent.

Jared Jaffee opened to 44,000 from an early position, and Chris Reslock made the call. Michael Santoro came along for a discount in the big, and they took the {j-Clubs}{5-Hearts}{3-Spades} flop three-handed.

Santoro checked, Jaffee fired 82,000, and Reslock folded. Santoro jammed for 377,000, and Jaffee called.

Jaffee: {a-Clubs}{a-Hearts}
Santoro: {j-Hearts}{4-Hearts}

Santoro had flopped top pair but found himself well behind the aces of Jaffee. The {5-Diamonds} and {3-Diamonds} weren't the cards he needed, and Jaffee added to his already-hefty stack.

Player Chips Progress
Michael Santoro
Michael Santoro
Busted

Tags: Jared JaffeeMichael Santoro

Merulla Busts Panayiotou

Level 24 : 10,000/20,000, 3,000 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

Robert Merulla is on a tear lately, crippling Matthew Mendez by winning a coin flip before making a full house with pocket kings and getting extreme value from Matthew Parry.

He kept the heater going in a recent hand with Eracles Panayiotou's.

Merulla opened for 42,000 from middle position and Panayiotou decided to three-bet for about half his stack, making it 115,000 to go and leaving only 126,000 behind. This is when Merulla began to set his trap, sitting for thirty seconds or so and acting as if he had a tough decision to work through. After putting on the disguise of a man disgusted with having to put the chips forward, Merulla moved a stack of hot pink T25000 chips forward.

A pot-committed Panayiotou snap-called with his {a-Hearts}{q-Clubs} but was shocked to discover Merulla hid a secret in the hole: {a-Diamonds}{a-Spades}.

"You had to think about it that long huh?" asked Panayiotou, not pleased with the deceptive play being used against him even though everybody at the table knew his chips were going in the middle the moment he three-bet.

The flop came down {9-Hearts}{10-Spades}{5-Diamonds} and Panayiotou asked for a jack to come on fourth street, searching for additional outs that never came. When the turn came {9-Spades} his tournament was over, and the meaningless {4-Hearts} completed the board on the river.

Player Chips Progress
Anthony Merulla us
Anthony Merulla
2,356,000 256,000
Eracles Panayiotou us
Eracles Panayiotou
Busted

Tags: Eracles PanayiotouRobert Merulla

Parry Likes the River

Level 24 : 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
Ronit Chamani called and mucked the river.
Ronit Chamani called and mucked the river.

Ronit Chamani fired 67,000 on the turn against Robert Merulla and Matthew Parry in a pot she had raised preflop that got checked through on the flop. The board now read {6-Clubs}{6-Hearts}{4-Spades}{9-Clubs}, and Merulla folded. Parry, who had checked from the big blind, made the call, and a {4-Clubs} completed the board. Parry came out firing with 100,000, and Chamani called after thinking for a brief moment.

Parry showed {5-Spades}{4-Diamonds} for a rivered full house, and Chamani just said "nice hand."

Player Chips Progress
Ronit Chamani za
Ronit Chamani
750,000 -60,000
Matthew Parry us
Matthew Parry
WSOP 1X Winner
700,000 190,000

Tags: Matthew ParryRobert MerullaRonit Chamani

Finish Him!

Level 24 : 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
Byron Kaverman Made Quick Work of Laz Hernandez, Chopping the Big Stack Down in a Series of Three Hands
Byron Kaverman Made Quick Work of Laz Hernandez, Chopping the Big Stack Down in a Series of Three Hands

After doubling through Laz Hernandez - the Day 1a and Day 2 chip leader - and then crippling him shortly after that, Byron Kaverman went for the kill and put him down for good.

The demise of a once dominant chip leader began when Kaverman opened for 43,000 from the hijack and Joseph Ruff flatted on the button. Hernandez, perhaps still steaming a bit from the two previous encounters with Kaverman, then shoved all in from the big blind, putting his last 270,000 or so more in the middle.

Ruff got of the way and Hernandez showed down with his nemesis, only to find the torment continuing as his {a-Diamonds}{2-Clubs} was dominated by the pro's {A-Spades}{q-Hearts}.

A final runout of {a-Clubs}{7-Clubs}{9-Diamonds}{9-Spades}{j-Hearts} was the end of the road for Hernandez, and as he headed over to the payout desk to collect his $13,125 in prize money, it was apparent from his frustrated body language that he never thought this time would come.

Kaverman, meanwhile, surged back into contention for another final table run at this Borgata Winter Poker Open - with more than 1.2 million late on this third day of play.

Player Chips Progress
Byron Kaverman us
Byron Kaverman
WSOP 1X Winner
1,230,000 280,000
Laz Hernandez us
Laz Hernandez
Busted

Tags: Byron KavermanLaz Hernandez

Hernandez Down to 15 Bigs

Level 24 : 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
Byron Kaverman won a race.
Byron Kaverman won a race.

Laz Hernandez limped under the gun, and Faraz Jaka raised to 80,000 from the next spot. Action folded to Byron Kaverman in the cutoff, and he jammed for 396,000. Hernandez called when it got back to him, and Jaka mucked.

Hernandez: {4-Diamonds}{4-Spades}
Kaverman: {k-Diamonds}{q-Diamonds}

It was a race, and the board came out {a-Spades}{8-Clubs}{6-Hearts}{q-Hearts}{9-Spades}. Hernandez is now low on chips, while Kaverman has a healthy stack.

Meanwhile, Tyler Patterson doubled up with {a-Clubs}{a-Diamonds} on a nearby table.

Player Chips Progress
Byron Kaverman us
Byron Kaverman
WSOP 1X Winner
950,000 330,000
Tyler Patterson us
Tyler Patterson
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
700,000 -550,000
Laz Hernandez us
Laz Hernandez
300,000 -425,000

Tags: Byron KavermanLaz Hernandez

Laz Can't Club Kaverman

Level 24 : 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
Byron Kaverman and Laz Hernandez Just Clashed, With the Pro Besting the Amateur
Byron Kaverman and Laz Hernandez Just Clashed, With the Pro Besting the Amateur

Byron Kaverman opened the pot for a raise but Laz Hernandez didn't notice, and he tried to enter the pot with a limp. The action was binding though, and he then called the raise to take a flop.

The dealer fanned the {6-Diamonds}{k-Clubs}{10-Clubs} across the felt, and Kaverman then led into Hernandez with a 36,000 wager.

Hernandez responded by raising the action to 76,000 and Kaverman then three-bet jammed for about 200,000 more. The escalation caused Hernandez to stand up and pace behind his seat, trying his best to determine the best course of action. Eventually though, the long tank resulted in a call and the two players showed the hands that had forced the all-in confrontation.

Showdown:

Hernandez: {5-Clubs}{7-Clubs}
Kaverman {k-Diamonds}{j-Spades}

The pro was out in front with his pair of kings, but Kaverman was fading nine outs in the form of a flush draw. Hernandez added five more outs when he paired up on the {5-Hearts} turn, but after hitting a slew of gin cards over the course of the tournament, he watched as the river came {q-Hearts} to keep him second-best.

The loss further eroded Hernandez' once dominant chip stack to under the average, while a dangerous pro like Kaverman now has additional ammunition with which to try and finish him off.

Player Chips Progress
Laz Hernandez us
Laz Hernandez
725,000 -700,000
Byron Kaverman us
Byron Kaverman
WSOP 1X Winner
620,000 170,000

Tags: Byron KavermanLaz Hernandez