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

Dentale's Anti-Jinx

Level 13 : 1,500/3,000, 500 ante
Mike Dentale
Mike Dentale

Mike Dentale was all in and at risk moments ago for around 40,000, and despite leading with {a-Diamonds}{2-Hearts} against the {k-Spades}{4-Spades} of Garrett Greer, he got up and started bidding adieu.

The dealer fanned a flop of {7-Spades}{7-Diamonds}{j-Clubs}, keeping Dentale in the lead, and the turn brought the {8-Spades}. Now, Greer could seal the deal with any {k-}, {4-}, or {x-Spades} on the river.

Dentale's hand held up when the {q-Hearts} completed the board, and he doubled to around 82,000 chips.

"What a great turn!" Will Failla shouted. "His face turned as read as his f***ing shirt!"

Player Chips Progress
Garrett Greer us
Garrett Greer
345,000
-35,000
-35,000
Mike Dentale us
Mike Dentale
82,000
12,000
12,000

Tags: Garrett GreerMike Dentale

In Da Club

Level 13 : 1,500/3,000, 500 ante
David Daggett
David Daggett

Mike Leah checked to David Daggett on a board of {5-Clubs}{q-Diamonds}{a-Hearts}{2-Diamonds}, and the Club WPT winner fired out four gray T5,000 chips. Leah tank-called the 20,000-chip bet, and the river was the {j-Clubs}.

Leah checked once more, and Daggett plopped 40,000 in front of him, putting Leah all in.

Roughly two minutes passed before Leah started goading Daggett for information. Daggett refused to entertain the one-sided conversation, sitting silently and stroking his white beard under his black cowboy hat. Eventually, Leah gave up on both the conversation and the hand, flicking his cards into the muck.

Daggett finally acknowledged Leah, albeit silently, showing him and the rest of the table {5-Hearts}{5-Diamonds} for a flopped set of fives.

Player Chips Progress
David Daggett
David Daggett
285,000
222,000
222,000
Mike Leah ca
Mike Leah
34,000
-76,000
-76,000
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 1X Winner

Tags: David DaggettMike LeahWPT

Gregg Going Goro

Level 13 : 1,500/3,000, 500 ante
Tony Gregg
Tony Gregg

Tony Gregg has earned the coolest nickname in poker by becoming the man waiting at the end of poker's biggest games. Since 2008 the mild mannered Gregg has terrorized final tables at poker's elite events all over the world. And like the famed end bosses of video game lore before him, Gregg does not go down easy - if at all.

He has a pair seven-figure scores to his credit, including one of the biggest hauls in poker history from a financial standpoint, as Gregg won the 2013 World Series of Poker One Drop high roller event for $4,830,619. He also won the WPT Parx Open Poker Classic Part III in 2013, showing that his moniker is more than just a screen name.

Gregg is currently crushing a table full of pros, and he now holds nearly three times the average stack at the moment, pushing closer to the coveted 500,000-chip plateau while the average sits at 176,000.

A recent hand saw Gregg check the {8-Spades}{3-Diamonds}{7-Spades} flop to prompt a feeler bet of 10,000 from the cutoff and a call by Cathy Dever on the button. Gregg sat still for a few seconds before reaching decisively for a stack of baby blues and making the raise. It looked to be about 48,000 or so, but we couldn't even count it before both opponents surrendered to the End Boss.

Player Chips Progress
Tony Gregg us
Tony Gregg
472,000
16,000
16,000

Tags: Cathy DeverTony Gregg

DPeters is (St)Out

Level 13 : 1,500/3,000, 500 ante
David Peters
David Peters

Layne Flack opened to 6,000 from early position, leaving around 20,000 behind, and Matt Stout three-bet on his left. David Peters put in a cold-four bet, the action folded back to Stout who five-bet shoved for 115,000 effective, and Peters called.

Stout: {a-Hearts}{k-Diamonds}
Peters: {q-Hearts}{q-Spades}

The {5-Clubs}{5-Hearts}{9-Hearts} flop changed nothing, nor did the {9-Spades} on the turn, but the {a-Spades} spiked on the river. Peters gave the slightest grimace before grabbing his bag and exiting, and Stout offered his condolences to his fellow online grinder.

Stout is up to around 265,000 chips.

Player Chips Progress
Matt Stout us
Matt Stout
265,000
8,000
8,000
David Peters us
David Peters
Busted
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 2X Winner

Tags: David PetersMatt Stout

Man on the Moon

Level 13 : 1,500/3,000, 500 ante
She Lok Wong
She Lok Wong

She Lok Wong has enjoyed a spectacularly successful past six months, finishing as the runner-up in the $2,700 buy-in Borgata Fall Poker Open Main Event Championship last November for a bankroll-building $203,394 score, before taking down top honors at the $2,700 Foxwoods Poker Classic Main Event Championship for another $95,000 haul.

A poker fan first, Wong has made mention of his awestruck attitude several times during the tournament - even as he ran up the biggest stack in the room heading into the dinner break.

Wong just let us know about a recent hand in which his incredible respect for Phil Hellmuth as a player led to a little loss of self-respect for his own game. According to Wong, he peeked down to find {a-}{a-} under the gun and limped into the pot, with Scott Seiver raising and Hellmuth flatting. Having prompted the raise he was looking for with a well-concealed monster, Wong had a chance to three-bet and build a big pot (or at least take down the pot right then and there), but instead he simply smooth-called to see a {10-}{7-}{8-} flop.

By the end of the hand Seiver had made a straight, and as Wong revealed after he called off a chunk of change to pay Siever off, "I knew he had the straight but I cannot fold my hand... so stupid!" Wong was smiling nonetheless even as he chided his own "bad play." With so many champions in the room today, Wong has every reason to be a little starstruck, but we'll see if being the man on the moon eventually ends his amazing act under one of poker's brightest spotlights.

Player Chips Progress
She Lok Wong us
She Lok Wong
366,000
-99,000
-99,000
Scott Seiver us
Scott Seiver
203,000
3,000
3,000
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 5X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
Phil Hellmuth us
Phil Hellmuth
76,000
-4,000
-4,000
WSOP Main Event Champion
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 17X Winner
Poker Hall of Famer
StakeKings

Tags: Phil HellmuthScott SeiverShe Lok Wong

Eric Afriat Wins Huge Pot to Move Into Chip Lead

Level 13 : 1,500/3,000, 500 ante
Eric Afriat
Eric Afriat

There was a raise to 6,500 and Harrison Gimbel flatted. It was folded over to Eric Afriat who made it 20,000 to go out of the blinds. The original raiser and Gimbel called.

The flop came {K-Spades}{10-Spades}{6-Hearts} and Afriat led out for 24,000. The original raiser folded and Harrison Gimbel raised it to 64,000. Afriat made it 130,000 to go and Gimbel moved all in for roughly 280,000 total. This concerned Afriat who looked at Gimbel and asked him "did you flop a set of 6's?"

Gimbel sat there motionless as Afriat tanked. "Take your time," players at the table told him, knowing this was a huge decision.

Finally, Afriat made the call, turning over {A-Spades}{A-Clubs}. Gimbel didn't have a set. He did have a flush draw though with the {7-Spades}{6-Spades}. He would pick up a few more outs when the {8-Diamonds} was delivered on the turn.

When you're running hot, as Afriat is having just won the Seminole Hard Rock $5 million Guarantee event last week, you're running hot. The river bricked out for Gimbel... the {J-Hearts} and Afriat scooped the huge pot to move into the chip lead.

Player Chips Progress
Eric Afriat ca
Eric Afriat
800,000
410,000
410,000
WPT 3X Winner
Harrison Gimbel us
Harrison Gimbel
Busted
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
EPT 1X Winner

Tags: Eric AfriatHarrison Gimbel