Welcome to Day 1b of the WPT Borgata Poker Open $3,500 Championship
The flagship tournament of the 2019 Borgata Poker Open continues today at 11 a.m. with the second of two starting flights in the World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open $3,500 Championship, which boasts a $3,000,000 guarantee!
On Sunday, the Day 1a flight drew 271 runners with 129 of them surviving the night. The biggest stack to emerge from Day 1a was owned by Mukharji Uppalapati, who bagged 252,400. Others to make it through in the first flight were Andrew Ostapchenko (165,800), Frank Stepuchin (147,200), Joe McKeehen (143,500), Victor Ramdin (140,200), Patrick Eskandar (108,000), Stephen Song (95,800), and WPT's Tony Dunst (75,500).
The tournament starts players with 40,000 in tournament chips and late registration and re-entries will remain open through the break at the end of Level 10. Levels 1-10 are 60 minutes each, while Levels 11-16 will last 75 minutes. Days 3 and 4 will see the levels go up to 90 minutes. Both the Day 1a and 1b flights will play a total of eight levels.
Here's a look at the structure for today:
| Level | Small Blind | Big Blind | Big Blind Ante |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100 | 100 | - |
| 2 | 100 | 200 | - |
| 3 | 100 | 200 | 200 |
| 4 | 200 | 300 | 300 |
| 5 | 200 | 400 | 400 |
| 6 | 300 | 500 | 500 |
| 7 | 300 | 600 | 600 |
| 8 | 400 | 800 | 800 |
The Borgata Poker Open has been a staple on the WPT schedule dating all the way back to 2003. During that time, some of poker's biggest names have captured the prestigious BPO title including Daniel Negreanu, Olivier Busquet, and Anthony Zinno.
Here's a look at the past BPO champions:
| Season | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| II | Noli Francisco | $470,000 |
| III | Daniel Negreanu | $1,117,400 |
| IV | Al Ardebili | $1,498,650 |
| V | Mark Newhouse | $1,519,020 |
| VI | Roy Winston | $1,575,280 |
| VII | Vivek Rajkumar | $1,424,500 |
| VIII | Olivier Busquet | $925,514 |
| IX | Dwyte Pilgrim | $733,802 |
| X | Bobby Oboodi | $922,441 |
| XI | Ben Hamnett | $818,847 |
| XII | Anthony Zinno | $825,099 |
| XIII | Darren Elias | $843,744 |
| XIV | David Paredes | $723,227 |
| XV | Jesse Sylvia | $821,811 |
| XVI | Guo Liang Chen | $789,058 |
| XVII | Erkut Yilmaz | $575,112 |
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand to capture all the action from the WPT Borgata Poker Open $3,500 Championship, so be sure to check back at 11 a.m. local time when cards are in the air.