2014 Borgata Spring Poker Open

Event 14: $15,400 $5 Million Guaranteed WPT World Championship
Day: 2
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

Honest Abe

Level 11 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Abraham Korotki doubles
Abraham Korotki doubles

"YEAH, BABY!" Abraham Korotki yelled from across the Signature Room. "YEAH!"

We rushed over to see what had the 2009 Borgata Poker Open Ladies Champion all hot and bothered, and when we arrived, we saw that he had doubled through Bart Dowling.

Korotki was all in and at risk for 112,900 on a flop of {4-Hearts}{10-Clubs}{7-Hearts} with {k-Spades}{k-Hearts}, and Dowling was drawing to a flush with {a-Hearts}{q-Hearts}. Neither the turn ({9-Spades}) or the river ({5-Spades}) produced hearts, and Korotki doubled through.

He now sits with 270,000 chips, while Dowling was down to 30,000 and busted shortly thereafter.

Player Chips Progress
Abraham Korotki us
Abraham Korotki
270,000
97,700
97,700
Bart Dowling
Bart Dowling
Busted

Tags: Abraham KorotkiBart DowlingBorgata

"I Just Wanna Rock for a Century"

Level 10 : 800/1,600, 200 ante
Greg Merson
Greg Merson

Harrison Gimbel raised from middle position, Greg Merson three-bet to 8,400 two spots to his left in the hijack, and the action folded back to Gimbel. The 2010 PCA Main Event champion four-bet shoved for effectively 76,100, and Merson went deep into the tank.

"I don't think I'm folding," he said, counting down his stack.

After a minute or so of deliberation, he committed the rest of his stack and revealed {a-Hearts}{q-Hearts}. He dominated Gimbel's {k-Hearts}{q-Diamonds}.

The {a-Diamonds}{7-Spades}{k-Spades} flop gave both players a pair, but Merson remained ahead with a pair of aces. Neither the {6-Hearts} nor the {3-Spades} improved Gimbel further, and Merson doubled through.

The dealer counted down the stacks to confirm the amount, and it was a bit higher than tablemate Jared Bleznick expected.

"Wow," he said.

"That's why I didn't snap-call," Merson said, smiling.

Once the dealer was finished, he asked Merson to confirm the count.

"Yeah, yeah whatever," Merson told him, leading the entire table to break out into laughter.

Player Chips Progress
Harrison Gimbel us
Harrison Gimbel
215,000
-65,000
-65,000
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
EPT 1X Winner
Greg Merson us
Greg Merson
157,000
80,900
80,900
WSOP Main Event Champion
WSOP 2X Winner

Tags: Greg MersonHarrison GimbelJared Bleznick

Go Long

Level 10 : 800/1,600, 200 ante
Miles Austin
Miles Austin

After Matt Glantz opened for 3,500 from under the gun, professional football player Mile Austin tossed two baby blue chips out for a three-bet to 10,000.

Glantz sized up Austin's stack before flatting to see the flop fall {4-Diamonds}{j-Hearts}{a-Hearts}.

A check to him prompted Austin to c-bet for 21,000, and Glantz rapped the felt in acknowledgement before sliding his cards to the dealer.

Player Chips Progress
Matt Glantz us
Matt Glantz
149,000
-16,000
-16,000
Miles Austin
Miles Austin
86,000

Tags: Matt GlantzMiles Austin

Corey Hochman Wins Huge Race to Double Up

Level 10 : 800/1,600, 200 ante
Corey Hochman
Corey Hochman

Paul Volpe opened the action with a raise from middle position and found one caller. It was folded to Corey Hochman in the small blind , and he made it 16,000 to go. Volpe re-raised to 35,000 and the caller folded. Hochman moved all in and Volpe called. The hands:

Hochman: {Q-}{Q-}
Volpe: {A-}{K-}

Volpe was unable to improve his hand and Hochman doubled up to over 300,000 in chips while Volpe slipped to 115,000.

Player Chips Progress
Corey Hochman (Cory Hochman)
Corey Hochman (Cory Hochman)
320,000
231,100
231,100
Paul Volpe us
Paul Volpe
115,000
-125,000
-125,000
WSOP 3X Winner

Tags: Corey HochmanPaul Volpe

MyStack App Available for WPT World Championship

Level 10 : 800/1,600, 200 ante
Update your own stack now!
Update your own stack now!

The PokerNews MyStack App is available for players here in the Season XII WPT World Championship, allowing players to directly update their chip count on the PokerNews Live Reporting page for their friends and family to see.

You can download the app for iPhone or Android now to get started. Then, create a new PokerNews account or update your current one to start updating your status immediately. Your followers can see all the live action that you're involved in.

Be forewarned, however, any abuse of the app will result in account suspension or termination.

Tags: MyStackWorld ChampionshipWPT

The Banana Man

Level 10 : 800/1,600, 200 ante
Harry Kaczka
Harry Kaczka

Yesterday we met Harry Kaczka and found out that he prefers the name "Harry Banana," - with his online handle "ugotabanana" too good to abandon even in the wake of Black Friday.

Mr. Banana is still contending for the WPT World Championship here today, chipping up a bit after a recent clash with Andy Frankenberger.

Kaczka opened to 3,300 from under the gun and an unidentified player flatted in middle position, with Frankenberger doing the same in defense of his big blind. The flop rained down {5-Spades}{10-Spades}{q-Clubs} and all three players checked, but after Frankenberger tapped the table on the {2-Spades} turn, Harry Banana took the pot down with a 6,300 wager. Both players still have some work to do though if they hope to run their stacks back up to the average and beyond.

Player Chips Progress
Andy Frankenberger us
Andy Frankenberger
50,500
-25,600
-25,600
WSOP 2X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
Harry Kaczka
Harry Kaczka
41,000
-21,700
-21,700

Tags: Andy FrankenbergerHarry Kaczka

PokerNews Podcast Episode #212: WPT World Championship feat. Jared Jaffee

Level 10 : 800/1,600, 200 ante
PokerNews Podcast Episode #212
PokerNews Podcast Episode #212

The WPT World Championship is underway at Borgata, and Rich is on hand to talk with Jared Jaffee, a Season XII WPT Champion. Rich and Donnie also discuss Vicky Coren Mitchell's historic win at EPT Sanremo, making her the first ever two-time European Poker Tour champion. Don't forget to tune in for the DraftKings Fantasy Minute, where the crew offers information on an exclusive bonus code.

You can subscribe to all three of the podcasts produced by PokerNews on iTunes here, or you can access the RSS feed here.

Tags: BorgataJared JaffeePokerNews PodcastWPT

Ronit Railed, Gross Grows

Level 10 : 800/1,600, 200 ante
Ronit Chamani - Eliminated
Ronit Chamani - Eliminated

Ronit Chamani moved her last 18,400 into the middle with the open-shove, and Jeff Gross slid a tower of chips forward for the isolation three-bet.

That move did its job and the table folded dutifully around, leaving Chamani to table her {a-Diamonds}{3-Clubs} while peering over to see what she was up against. Gross held the {j-Hearts}{j-Clubs} and was far out in front (even further than the cards would suggest, as another player at the table piped up to mention he folded ace-king).

Flop: {a-Clubs}{k-Clubs}{5-Hearts}

Chamani found one of the two aces still in the deck, and she was in great shape to double through, but the turn ({8-Clubs}) and river ({10-Clubs}) four-flushed the board to give Gross the winner.

Player Chips Progress
Jeff Gross us
Jeff Gross
94,000
32,000
32,000
Ronit Chamani za
Ronit Chamani
Busted

Tags: Jeff GrossRonit Chamani

Hans Winzalot

Level 10 : 800/1,600, 200 ante
Allen Kessler paid off a river bet, but he still has plenty of chips and can't complain (yeah right)
Allen Kessler paid off a river bet, but he still has plenty of chips and can't complain (yeah right)

On the last hand before the recent break we saw Allen Kessler paying off a big bet on the river, and a scan of the board showed that his {Q-}{10-} had been bested by Hans Winzeler's {9-Diamonds}{7-Diamonds}.

The board read {8-Hearts}{6-Clubs}{q-Hearts}{10-Diamonds}{6-Spades} by the river, with Winzeler's straight trumping the Chainsaw's top two, and although we missed the action ourselves, Winzeler was kind enough to run us through the play by play.

According to Winzeler, Nick Schulman opened to 2,500 before the flop and found four flatters, including Kessler in the big blind. On the flop Schulman c-bet and both Winzeler and Kessler came along to see the turn (which completed Winzler's straight draw while giving Kessler top two pair).

On fourth street Kessler checked to Shulman, who did the same, prompting Winzeler to bet 5,000. Only Kessler called that wager and on the river he paid off a 28,000 value bet.

Player Chips Progress
Hans Winzeler us
Hans Winzeler
267,000
109,100
109,100
Allen Kessler us
Allen Kessler
164,000
18,700
18,700

Tags: Allen KesslerHans WinzelerNick Schulman

Hawkins Folds the River

Level 9 : 600/1,200, 200 ante
Maurice Hawkins made a disciplined laydown on the river
Maurice Hawkins made a disciplined laydown on the river

With a flop of {k-Clubs}{10-Clubs}{j-Diamonds} already on board Maurice Hawkins check-called a bet of 5,000 by Chris O'Rourke.

The turn card came {8-Hearts} and Hawkins sprung to life, firing out a 7,200 bet which was called without much hesitation by O'Rourke. When the {a-Spades} came down on the river Hawkins led into O'Rourke once again (the bet looked to be about 8,000), but O'Rourke flicked a few of the baby blue T5000 chips forward for the raise.

Hawkins could only shake his head and flash {a-}{k-} as he folded, asking "I was good until the river?" as he did so.

"Maybe..." replied O'Rourke, planting the seed of doubt in Hawkins mind while dragging the pot in.

Player Chips Progress
Chris O'Rourke
Chris O'Rourke
134,000
25,600
25,600
Maurice Hawkins us
Maurice Hawkins
110,000
-20,200
-20,200

Tags: Maurice HawkinsChris O'Rourke