The action is about to pick back up at the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, with Day 2 of the $5,300 Big, Big Championship set to get underway. A total of 143 players return from the starting flights, all with their sights set on making a deep run.
There is still time for the field to grow, as late registration remains open until Day 2 begins. Leading the returning field is Ari Katz, who sits on a stack of 393,000, nearly ten times the 40,000 starting stack.
The biggest starting flight of the $5,300 Big, Big Championship has come to an end, with 312 entries taking their seats in Day 1c. That brings the total field across all three flights to 483 entries, with 96 players from today’s flight advancing to Day 2.
In total, 143 players will return to the tables tomorrow, all chasing their share of the prize pool and the chance to make a deep run. Late registration remains open until the start of Day 2 at 12:15 p.m. local time, so there is still time for players to join the action.
Want to see who bagged the biggest stacks and who made it through?
That brings today’s Highlight Blog to a close. Stay tuned for tomorrow, when two more events take center stage alongside the continuation of the Main Event.
Over a 20-year career, Carlos Chadha has experienced every poker player's dream and also worst nightmare. He’s sat with the game’s best and beaten them for big scores. He’s also gone years without winning anything, wondering if all the work and studying he was doing was worth it. He’s won millions in live tournaments, and had long stretches where the money disappeared. It’s a dichotomy that a poker pro who stays around long enough is well familiar with.
Through it all, Chadha has never lost the one thing he started with: his love of the game. The passion that keeps him coming back, the determination to put in long hours of study in an attempt to get better, paid off in a big way at the final table of the 2026 Borgata Summer Poker Open $2,700 Championship.
Chadha came into the final table as a massive chip leader and, after just over three hours, took care of the rest of the field on his way to emerging on top of the 565-player field and capturing the $242,385 first prize after making a big river call against Maxwell Young on the final hand.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlos Chadha Villamarin | United States | $242,385 |
| 2 | Maxwell Young | United States | $167,985 |
| 3 | Nicholas Verderamo | United States | $116,525 |
| 4 | James Tedrow | United States | $77,345 |
| 5 | Michael Renna | United States | $54,100 |
| 6 | Russ Dunlevy | United States | $42,975 |
| 7 | Andrew Porter | United States | $34,620 |
| 8 | Ricky Guan | United States | $28,160 |
| 9 | Mike Dentale | United States | $22,945 |
The field continues to grow in Day 1c of the $5,300 Big, Big Championship, with 285 entries now on the board.
The remaining players have just been sent on their final 15-minute break of the night. Once they return, there are only two levels left before the bags come out, and the surviving players secure their spots for Day 2 tomorrow at 12:15 p.m. local time.
With the finish line in sight, there is still plenty of action to come. Follow along with the Live Reporting Blog to see who makes it through to Day 2.
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It’s time for dinner in the $5,300 Big, Big Championship, with the remaining players heading off for a 75-minute dinner break.
There’s still plenty of poker to be played when they return, with four more levels on the schedule before Day 1c comes to an end. That gives the field plenty of time to find a bag and secure a spot in Day 2.
Andrew Ostapchenko is among the chip leaders heading into the break with approximately 201,500.
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