2014 Borgata Spring Poker Open

Event 14: $15,400 $5 Million Guaranteed WPT World Championship
Day: 1b
Event Info

2014 Borgata Spring Poker Open

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a8
Prize
$1,350,000
Event Info
Buy-in
$15,000
Prize Pool
$4,852,400
Entries
328
Level Info
Level
31
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
25

Count Your Blessings

Level 4 : 200/400, 50 ante

We've made another pass through the room scanning for stacks, so check out the score.

Player Chips Progress
Nancy Birnbaum us
Nancy Birnbaum
140,000 27,000
Harrison Gimbel us
Harrison Gimbel
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
EPT 1X Winner
76,000 -8,000
Kevin Saul us
Kevin Saul
WPT 1X Winner
72,000 22,000
Eugene Katchalov ua
Eugene Katchalov
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
64,000 -8,500
Adam Friedman us
Adam Friedman
WSOP 5X Winner
58,000 -6,000
Andy Frankenberger us
Andy Frankenberger
WSOP 2X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
57,000 -2,000
Vanessa Rousso us
Vanessa Rousso
56,500 10,500
Lily Kiletto us
Lily Kiletto
49,000 49,000
Layne Flack us
Layne Flack
WSOP 6X Winner
Poker Hall of Famer
48,500
Kevin Choe us
Kevin Choe
41,000 -10,500
Matt Affleck us
Matt Affleck
36,000 -9,000
Jonathan Tamayo us
Jonathan Tamayo
35,500 -5,500

Justin Young vs Jesse Sylvia

Level 4 : 200/400, 50 ante
Justin Young
Justin Young

We caught up to the action on the river with the board showing {J-Diamonds}{6-Clubs}{2-Spades}{3-Clubs}{Q-Hearts}. Justin Young had made a bet and his opponent Jesse Sylvia was contemplating whether to call or not. Young sat silent, waiting. Sylvia was quicker than normal with his answer, and tossed the call out into the middle of the table.

Young turned over {5-Hearts}{4-Hearts} for the nut straight that he had hit on the turn.

Player Chips Progress
Justin Young us
Justin Young
WPT 1X Winner
62,000 5,000
Jesse Sylvia us
Jesse Sylvia
WPT 1X Winner
48,000 -17,000

Tags: Justin YoungJesse Sylvia

Annnnnnnnnnd More Counts

Level 4 : 200/400, 50 ante
Player Chips Progress
Matt Giannetti us
Matt Giannetti
WPT 2X Winner
97,000 42,000
Ronit Chamani za
Ronit Chamani
86,000 44,000
Keith Lehr us
Keith Lehr
WSOP 2X Winner
80,000 30,000
Jason Koon us
Jason Koon
70,000 5,500
Lazaro Hernandez us
Lazaro Hernandez
70,000 70,000
Eugene Todd us
Eugene Todd
52,000
David Tuthill us
David Tuthill
47,000 10,000
Chris Klodnicki us
Chris Klodnicki
WSOP 2X Winner
43,000
Scott Clements us
Scott Clements
WSOP 3X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
41,000 -9,000
Athanasios Polychronopoulos us
Athanasios Polychronopoulos
WSOP 2X Winner
38,000 17,000
Jonathan Jaffe us
Jonathan Jaffe
WPT 1X Winner
28,000 -22,000
James Mackey us
James Mackey
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
27,000 -23,000
Noah Schwartz us
Noah Schwartz
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
21,000 -17,000

A Matte Finish

Level 4 : 200/400, 50 ante
Jake Toole just made a true pro's play, correctly laying down aces on a king-high board
Jake Toole just made a true pro's play, correctly laying down aces on a king-high board

The final board read {8-Clubs}{10-Clubs}{9-Spades}{4-Diamonds}{k-Diamonds} when we passed by Jake Toole's table, and the pro was facing an all-in wager of 14,000 made by Scott Matte. With just about the same stack behind, calling would essentially commit Toole for his tournament life, so he took his time to sort things through.

The pot contained about 55,000 at the time, and while Toole tanked long and hard to contemplate his options, we conferred with Elia Ahmadian to discern the previous action.

According to Ahmadian, an under the gun open to 800 by Matte was called by two players, with Toole three-betting to about 3,500. This forced the flatters to fold and when Matte called the ten-high flop fell. The two tapped the table and when the turn dropped in Matte led out for 8,000. Toole popped it to 18,000 and Matte smooth called, bringing the king to the board on the river, which is where we caught the action.

After tanking for a couple of minutes and appearing pained by Matte's big bet, Toole finally released his hand without a word. Matte then told the table he had hit gin on the river with {K-}{K-} in the hole, and Toole responded by letting Matte and us know that he had laid pocket aces down. Poker is a waiting game and finding bullets is always a big moment, but the young pro correctly deduced that his monster had been scared off, so he made the right play without becoming attached.

Bravo sir.

Player Chips Progress
Scott Matte us
Scott Matte
47,500
Jake Toole us
Jake Toole
15,000 -35,000

Tags: Elia AhmadianJake TooleScott Matte

Level: 4

Blinds: 200/400

Ante: 50

A Few More Chippies

Level 3 : 150/300, 50 ante
Player Chips Progress
Maurice Hawkins us
Maurice Hawkins
170,000 25,000
Jeff Madsen us
Jeff Madsen
WSOP 4X Winner
122,000 59,000
Shankar Pillai us
Shankar Pillai
WSOP 2X Winner
68,000 68,000
Jesse Sylvia us
Jesse Sylvia
WPT 1X Winner
65,000 65,000
Joe McKeehen us
Joe McKeehen
WSOP Main Event Champion
WSOP 3X Winner
57,000 9,000
Justin Young us
Justin Young
WPT 1X Winner
57,000 7,000
Emad Alabsi
Emad Alabsi
55,000 5,000
Zo Karim
Zo Karim
52,000 -4,000
Kevin Eyster us
Kevin Eyster
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 2X Winner
43,000 -7,000
Daniel Buzgon us
Daniel Buzgon
43,000 -7,000
Blake Bohn us
Blake Bohn
43,000 43,000
Chris Tryba us
Chris Tryba
WSOP 1X Winner
40,000 -10,000
Iverson Snuffer us
Iverson Snuffer
37,000
Abraham Korotki us
Abraham Korotki
26,000 26,000
Nick Guagenti us
Nick Guagenti
WSOP 1X Winner
6,000 6,000

Matusow Finds a Fold

Level 3 : 150/300, 50 ante

Mike Matusow checked to Garrett Greer on a board of {7-Clubs}{3-Hearts}{9-Spades}{4-Clubs}, and Greer fired out 6,625. Matusow check-raised to 15,000, and Greer tanked for a considerable amount of time before calling.

The {6-Clubs} completed the board, Matusow checked again, and Greer moved all in for effectively 23,000 or so. Matusow went deep into the tank, agonizing for five minutes or so.

"Did you call on the turn to bluff me on the river?" Matusow asked Greer, who remained silent.

Matusow picked up his entire stack, shuffling it sloppily several times before eventually folding. Greer mucked the winner, and dragged in the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Garrett Greer us
Garrett Greer
90,000 40,000
Mike Matusow us
Mike Matusow
WSOP 4X Winner
23,000 -27,000

Tags: Mike MatusowGarrett Greer

A Round of Counts on Us

Level 3 : 150/300, 50 ante

The chips are moving so take a look at the counts for a few players making moves.

Player Chips Progress
Nancy Birnbaum us
Nancy Birnbaum
113,000 32,000
Harrison Gimbel us
Harrison Gimbel
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
EPT 1X Winner
84,000 21,000
Eugene Katchalov ua
Eugene Katchalov
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
72,500 22,500
Adam Friedman us
Adam Friedman
WSOP 5X Winner
64,000
Jared Jaffee us
Jared Jaffee
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 2X Winner
63,000 10,000
Andy Frankenberger us
Andy Frankenberger
WSOP 2X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
59,000 9,000
Kevin Choe us
Kevin Choe
51,500
John Hennigan us
John Hennigan
WSOP 6X Winner
Poker Hall of Famer
WPT 1X Winner
47,000 -3,000
Vanessa Rousso us
Vanessa Rousso
46,000 -4,000
Matt Affleck us
Matt Affleck
45,000 -5,000
Jonathan Tamayo us
Jonathan Tamayo
41,000
Micah Raskin us
Micah Raskin
28,000 -22,000
Kara Scott ca
Kara Scott
19,000 -3,000

McKeehen Meets Mo

Level 3 : 150/300, 50 ante
Joe McKeehen
Joe McKeehen

With a flop of {a-Hearts}{5-Clubs}{10-Spades} already on board one player checked to Maurice "Mo" Hawkins, and the early chip leader fired out a bet of 750.

Next to act, Joe McKeehen flatted the bet, as did the flop checker. On the {7-Spades} turn the action was checked to McKeehen, so he flicked a bet of 2,200 to take down the pot.

"When the media guy is over here my bluffing rate there goes up to like 99 percent," McKeehen told Hawkins as he dragged the pot. "But 99 percent of zero is still zero."

McKeehen should be quite accustomed to us media folks hovering nearby, with his recent win in Event 10 making it three straight Borgata seasonal series in which he has taken a trophy home.

Player Chips Progress
Maurice Hawkins us
Maurice Hawkins
145,000 -10,000
Joe McKeehen us
Joe McKeehen
WSOP Main Event Champion
WSOP 3X Winner
48,000

Tags: Maurice HawkinsJoe McKeehen