The players were sent on their first 20-minute break of the day, with play resuming in around ten minutes time.
Unlike yesterday, there's no runaway leader just yet. Justin Leeds is possibly holding the biggest stack in the room, sitting on around 95,000.
There have been 244 entries so far, with late registration open for another eight levels.
The first two starting flights of the $600 Deep Stack Kick Off ($1,000,000 Guaranteed) are in the books at the Borgata Summer Poker Open powered by BetMGM Poker, and there's a familiar face sitting atop the chip counts.
Defending champion James Lauer has picked up right where he left off last summer, bagging a tournament-leading 1,140,000 chips after cruising through Day 1a. Lauer spent much of the day among the leaders before finishing well clear of the rest of the field as he looks to make another deep run in the event that produced the biggest score of his career 12 months ago.
Lauer wasn't the only player to build a mountain of chips on Day 1a. Leo Saiag finished second in the flight with 758,000, while Scott Lesh rounded out the top three with 625,000.
The opening flight attracted 378 entries, with 48 players reaching the money and locking up a $1,200 min-cash. By night's end, just 31 players remained to advance to Day 2.
Joining Lauer among the Day 1a survivors are James Lillis (563,000), Brandon Mueller (449,000) and Bijay Lama (222,000), who burst the money bubble by eliminating Hector Santucci in a flip to guarantee the remaining players a payday.
Day 1b drew another healthy crowd, with 189 entries taking their shot at the seven-figure guaranteed prize pool. Robert Elias emerged as the chip leader after bagging 955,000, narrowly ahead of Steven Petitte, who finished with 930,000. Omar Taveras completed the podium with 468,000.
A total of 24 players cashed in Day 1b, with 16 players surviving to bag chips for Sunday's Day 2.
The shuffle up and deal has taken place, and the 92 initial entries are looking to punch their ticket to Day 2 as cards are in the air.
Welcome back to PokerNews' live coverage of the Borgata Summer Poker Open at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City.
The festival got off to a busy start on Thursday as the first two flights of the $600 Deep Stack Kick Off played out. By the end of the night, 47 players had secured their seats in Day 2.
Defending champion James Lauer picked up where he left off last summer, finishing as the overall chip leader after bagging 1,140,000 on Day 1a. Robert Elias wasn't far behind after Day 1b with 955,000, while Steven Petitte rounded out the top three overall with 930,000.
We'll have a full recap of yesterday's action a little later today, but for now the focus shifts to another packed Friday schedule.
Players have two more chances to qualify for Day 2 in the $600 Deep Stack Kick Off, with Day 1c getting underway at 11:15 a.m. and Day 1d following at 5:15 p.m. Both flights feed into the tournament's $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool.
| Date | Time | Day | Buy-In | Tournament |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Jul 17 | 11:15 a.m. | Day 1C | $600 | Deep Stack Kick Off |
| Fri, Jul 17 | 3:15 p.m. | — | $650 | The "One Shot" Freezeout |
| 17-7 | 5:15 p.m. | Day 1D | $600 | Deep Stack Kick Off |
| Fri, Jul 17 | 7:15 p.m. | — | $250 | Friday Night Super Deep Frenzy |
There's also plenty of side-event action, including the $650 One Shot Freezeout at 3:15 p.m., which features a $25,000 guaranteed prize pool, before the $250 Friday Night Super Deep Frenzy closes out the day's schedule at 7:15 p.m.
With the money bubble burst in Day 1a of the $600 Deep Stack Kick Off, the PokerNews highlight blog is wrapping up for the evening.
We'll bring you the chip counts from both Day 1a and 1b when available, with a recap of the action. We'll also bring you the results from the side events taking place in the morning.
For players looking to see the photos from today, head to the gallery tab or to the photo shelter album.
Until then, goodnight!
The PokerNews live reporting for this event will officially begin on Sunday, which marks Day 2 of the tournament.
After a series of short stack double ups on the stone bubble, Hector Santucci jammed for 63,000 from the button. Bijay Lama reshoved as the bigger stack from the small blind and Dhesikan Ananchaperumal folded in the big blind for the cards to go on their backs.
Hector Santucci: A♣K♦
Bijay Lama: 5♥5♦
Santucci needed to hit to take the lead but whiffed on the Q♥8♦4♥ flop, with the 8♥ turn bringing in some counterfeit outs. Any ace, king or queen would give Santucci the checkmark, but the 7♠ river ensured he was the last player to leave empty-handed.
The 48 remaining players are now playing until 31 players remain. Once that figure is hit, Day 1a will close.
The blinds were 4,000/8,000, and after the A♠ was exposed during the deal, Andrew Torrico raised to 20,000 from the button. Defending champion James Lauer defended his big blind, then check-called a bet of 25,000 on the A♦8♦4♥ flop.
The 7♣ landed on the turn, and after Lauer checked again, Torrico fired 37,000, leaving himself around 155,000 behind. Lauer responded by moving all in, putting Torrico to the test for his tournament life.
"I'm ahead," Torrico groaned as he slipped deep into the tank.
While he wrestled with the decision for more than five minutes, the soft bubble burst on a neighboring table.
George St. Lawrence found himself in a dream spot three ways all in, holding A♦A♣ against 9♦9♣ and 8♥8♠. The board ran out 10♥K♣K♥7♠10♠, keeping his aces best and boosting him to around 335,000, while the player holding nines departed to set up the soft bubble.
Meanwhile, Torrico was still thinking. Eventually, he called the clock on himself, but failed to act before his 30 seconds expired and his hand was ruled dead.
Lauer immediately tabled 10♣10♠, prompting Torrico to reveal he had folded an ace.
On the very next hand, Nick Steen — the dealer who kick-started his bankroll by hitting a bad beat jackpot — moved all in for 31,000. Lauer made the call.
Lauer tabled 9♠8♠ and found himself flipping against Steen's K♣J♣. Steen paired his king on the K♠10♥4♦3♣5♠ runout to secure the double-up and keep his tournament hopes alive.
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