Bruce Yamron was eliminated, while BetMGM ambassador Michael Gagliano is still busy building his stack on Day 1 in the $1,100 Big, Big Welcome H.O.R.S.E. event at Borgata in Atlantic City.
There are 10 players out of the original 27 still standing on Level 13. This tournament will conclude tomorrow.
Bruce Yamron, who is competing in the opening event at the Borgata Big, Big Series, was the runner-up in a historic World Series of Poker (WSOP) event 12 years ago.
The tournament was the $1,500 Eight Game Mix, so you might be wondering what was so historic about that event. Well, the player he lost to heads-up — Phil Ivey — became just the fourth player ever to reach 10 WSOP bracelets (Erik Seidel has since reached the double-digit mark).
Yamron, who has over $1 million in live tournament earnings and used to stake Ivey, spoke to PokerNews on a break during the $1,100 Big, Big Welcome H.O.R.S.E. tournament in Atlantic City to discuss that heads-up match with Ivey, widely considered the greatest poker player ever.
"The cards went his way in a couple big hands, and there was not a whole lot I could do," Yamron, who began heads-up play against Ivey with a slight chip lead, said.
Yamron said he wasn't intimidated playing against Ivey. He's friends with the Poker Hall of Famer and has played against him many times.
"We used to put Phil Ivey in (poker games) way back at the Taj," Yamrom said of Ivey's early days when he used to stake the young future poker legend.
Ivey got his start in poker right here in Atlantic City at the Trump Taj Mahal, a legendary poker room at a casino that is no longer in operation. He was known as "No Home Jerome" back then, a nickname given to him because he spent most of his time playing poker and didn't have a residence.
Yamron got off to a solid start on Sunday in the H.O.R.S.E. event on Day 1. He knows it's a "slow" tournament due to playing limit games, so he'll have to grind it out to win the tournament.
The payouts have been released for the 27-player $1,100 Big, Big Welcome H.O.R.S.E. event at Borgata a bit after registration closed following Level 9.
The winner will take home $12,150, with the runner-up receiving $7,020. Third place will be paid $4,590, and the fourth-place finisher is set to collect $3,240.
Michael Gagliano, who finished fourth in the 2026 WSOP Main Event for $2,750,000, late reigstered for the $1,100 Big, Big Welcome H.O.R.S.E. tournament on Sunday evening.
The BetMGM ambassador, a New Jersey native, has already won some pots on Day 1 of this two-day tournament. Gagliano, a longtime pro, has over $5 million in live tournament cashes. He'll be looking to put a dent in that number during the Big, Big Series at Borgata, which runs through Sept. 23 in Atlantic City.
Registration has officially closed just before the start of Level 10 in the $1,100 Big, Big Welcome H.O.R.S.E. event. The $25,000 guaranteed tournament hit 27 entries, four of whom will be paid. Official payouts aren't yet available.
Level 9 has completed in the $1,100 Big, Big Welcome H.O.R.S.E. tournament at Borgata, which means the players are on a 45-minute dinner break.
The field has reached 27 players, enough to crack the $25,000 guarantee. When they come back at around 7:35 p.m. local time, registration will officially close.
Mixed games have grown in popularity in recent years, and with the start of the $1,100 Big, Big Welcome H.O.R.S.E. event at Borgata, let's take a look at how you play this exciting game that includes five poker variants.
HORSE Poker, or just H.O.R.S.E (HORSE) is a variant of poker that accommodates five different poker games in rotation. HORSE is the most common mixed game, incorporating five poker disciplines. As well as the core poker games of Texas Hold'em and Omaha, the rotation includes Razz and both Stud and Stud Hi/Lo.
Here we go over the poker rules for H.O.R.S.E.
Today is just the start of the Big, Big Series at Borgata, a series with $6 million guaranteed. If you couldn't make it to the $1,100 Big, Big Welcome H.O.R.S.E. event (registration closes in a couple hours), don't sweat it. You can make it to the Atlantic City resort tomorrow for one of the biggest tournaments of the series.
That tournament is the $2,200 Big, Big Kickoff, a No-Limit Hold'em event with $1 million guaranteed. There are two Day 1 starting flights, both on Monday. The first is at 11:15 a.m. and hte second at 6:15 p.m. Those who bag chips tomorrow will return on Tuesday for Day 2 to plaly it down to a winner.
Atlantic City, like Las Vegas, has long been a hotbed for poker action. Back in the day, the touristy New Jersey city had a number of big poker rooms, including the iconic Trump Taj Mahal.
But times have changed and now most of the poker action takes place at Borgata, a world-class MGM Resorts property with over 50 poker tables. Borgata takes its poker seriously, which is why so many poker players from all over the Northeast travel to the casino for juicy cash games and major tournaments.
Borgata hosts all the major poker events in Atlantic City, including the recently started Big, Big Series, a festival with over $6 million in guaranteed prize money.
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