Event 9: $300 $100,000 Guaranteed Big-Stack NLHE Reentry | 2014 Borgata Spring Poker Open

04-16-2014 10:52 UTC-4

Event 9 Set to Kick Off

[user101598]

It's a chilly morning here in the great Garden State of New Jersey - it snowed it parts of the state overnight - but the poker action is about to heat up at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.

Event 9: $300 $100,000 Guaranteed Big-Stack NLHE Reentry is set to kick off in a few minutes, and the registration line is already snaking outside of the poker room. This massive, one-day tournament will feature 10 25-minute levels and then as many 30-minute levels as it takes to crown a champion. Each player will begin with 20,000 chips, and registration is open until the beginning of Level 10.

Be sure to stay tuned for updates from this and every main event during the 2014 Borgata Spring Poker Open right here on PokerNews.

04-16-2014 11:30 UTC-4

MyStack App Available for 2014 Borgata Spring Poker Open

[user101598]

Level 1 : 25/50, 0 ante

The PokerNews MyStack App is available for players here in the 2014 Borgata Spring Poker Open, 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.

04-16-2014 20:42 UTC-4

Local Flavor

[user253757]

Level 17 : 3,000/6,000, 500 ante

A few familiar faces from the local poker seen have made themselves known, so here are their current chip counts.

Jack Rapoport is a resident of Brooklyn who has made a name for himself at the Borgata's annual poker series, with all six of his live recorded cashes ($114,005) coming at Atlantic City's premier poker establishment. Rapoport won a $560 Deep Stack NLHE event at the 2012 Borgata Summer Open for a $79,096 haul, and he is here today looking to make another deep run.

Ted Goldbergh is a New York litigator who won the first poker tournament ever held at the Borgata Poker Room, and after being profiled by PokerNews during last January's "Local Spotlight" series, he's back to see if another win is in the cards.

Anthony Maio finished in 3rd place at the Borgata Winter Poker Open WPT Main Event Championship, and Dinesh Ramnauth is a Borgata regular looking for his first major score.

Player	Chips	Progress
Anthony Maio	365,000 365,000	365,000
Jack Rapoport	178,000 -3,000	-3,000
Dinesh Ramnauth	73,000 73,000	73,000
Ted Goldbergh	55,000 13,000	13,000

Tags: Anthony Maio Dinesh Ramnauth Jack Rapoport Ted Goldbergh

04-16-2014 21:28 UTC-4

Bubble Approaching

[user253757]

Level 19 : 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante

Just eight more eliminations remain until the money bubble is burst.

04-16-2014 23:00 UTC-4

Chaos and Confusion

[user253757]

Level 20 : 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante

Gary Rosenzweig (pictured in middle) was among the unfortunate trio to bubble this tournament in highly unusual fashion

After a thirty-minute pause in the action, play has rolled on here in Event 9, with the remaining 80 players now officially — at long last — in the money.

Here's what we heard and saw:

During hand-for-hand play, with the tournament clock showing 82 players remaining, a series of simultaneous eliminations led to an extended argument, as the shortest-stacked of the players who went bust refused to accept his position as the bubble boy.

Gary Rosenzweig had lost his last two big blinds (22,500) after calling a preflop raise with . Tony Potis held the to put Rosenzweig at risk, and when the final board rolled out he made a straight to notch the knockout. According to Rosenzweig, his elimination had not burst the bubble though, as the tournament clock had already clicked over to show 81 players remaining, with the tournament staff making a verbal announcement that all remaining players were in the money. A round of applause had gone up throughout the room immediately after that - at which time Rosenzweig was tanking to see what happened - and when the cheering erupted, he happily called off with his thinking he had already min-cashed.

Hand-for-hand play was underway throughout the room, and in the moments preceding Rosenzweig's fateful call and loss, dealers could be seen standing up one by one to signal the end of their table's individual hand. Before Rosenzweig called off, a loud slam of the table had punctuated the air - as a player across the room had just gone broke, and in devastating fashion.

David Silverstein raised preflop with and found a willing caller in a player holding . Both players held around 150,000 or so behind, with Silverstein in ownership of the slightly larger stack. On the flop, Silverstein c-bet and his opponent flatted with his four-flush. The turn came down to miss everyone, and Silverstein then shoved all in for his last 140,000, or just enough to put the other player at risk if he called.

Call he did, and correctly so, as he was only fading the deck's two remaining non-spade jacks to avoid going broke on the direct bubble.

River:

Of course, the brutal suckout was delivered, leading to the aforementioned slam of the table. This is when Rosenzweig mistakenly believed himself to have reached the money - as he failed to account for the concept and conduct of hand-for-hand play. In quick succession the air rang out with the previous player's outburst, and an announcement from tournament staff - made over the microphone - of "Congratulations players, you are all in the money!"

To complicate matters even further, a third all-in confrontation had gone down during this segment of hand-for-hand play, as Gene Mazza wielded his to perfection in busting an unfortunate player who held . The flop had rained down and both players quickly committed the last of their similarly-sized 180,000 or so stacks. Mazza's set of aces trumped the other player's pair, and thus a third casualty was added to the potential roster of bubble boys.

After losing his own all-in hand, Rosenzweig believed himself to have been on the safe side of the bubble, what with his call-off having come after the tournament staff's announcement. However, hand-for-hand play was still underway, and even with two bustouts coming before his own, all three of the eliminations technically occurred on the same deal.

When informed of the bad news, Rosenzweig was visibly upset, refusing to leave his seat until Tournament Director Tab Duchateau himself was consulted. Tournament official Andrew Wong relayed the request for a ruling to Duchateau, and after a lengthy delay, returned to tell Rosenzweig that he had bubbled the tournament. Rosenzweig was distraught after hearing the decision and he mentioned aloud that he "would have to be carried out of here" if he didn't receive a minimum cash prize, while also stating "I have six kids, I need the five-hundred bucks."

Eventually, Wong calmed the commotion and escorted Rosenzweig to the exits, with play resuming about 45 minutes after it was halted. Rosenzweig was declared the bubble boy (along with the other two players who lost with ), and after all of that, the tournament continued as if the three players had never been there at all.

Player	Chips	Progress
Tony Potis	435,000 435,000	435,000
Gene Mazza	410,000 410,000	410,000
Daid Silverstein	320,000 320,000	320,000
Gary Rosenzweig	Busted

Tags: Gary Rosenzweig Gene Mazza Tony Potis

04-16-2014 23:56 UTC-4

Maio Can't Make It Happen

[user253757]

Level 21 : 8,000/16,000, 2,000 ante

When we last saw Anthony Maio it was right here at the Borgata, albeit under far different circumstances. Maio finished in 3rd place at last January's Borgata Winter Poker Open WPT Main Event Championship, earning $307,565 for his appearance at the televised final table.

Maio is an up-and-coming young pro who has made several splashes on the live circuit, but he seems to find a comfort zone here in Atlantic City, recording multiple deep runs and cashes at the Borgata's seasonal series.

After running deep in yet another Borgata tournament though, Maio has hit the rail after his flopped four-flush failed to come through.

Maio held the and he connected well with the flop, finding a pair and two more clubs. Unfortunately for Maio, Nick Angello wasn't going anywhere with his own flush draw, and the latter took his to war.

A third player in the pot brought to bear, meaning Maio's fortuitous flop actually found him drawing rather thin, as he was up against an overpair and and a better club draw.

The arrived on the turn to give Angello the best hand, and the epitome of a brick completed the board when the river came .

Maio was gracious enough to provide us with a postmortem on the hand afterward, proving that a true pro knows how to shrug off a tough beat and move on in short order.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nick Angello	180,000 180,000	180,000
Anthony Maio	Busted

Tags: Anthony Maio Nick Angello

04-17-2014 00:16 UTC-4

Dominant Domain

[user253757]

Level 22 : 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante

Whenever several players simultaneously scream aloud, chances are the rare two-out suckout has just been sighted.

Sure enough, after hearing one player shout out "oh my God!" while his tablemates buzzed excitedly around the scene, we headed over to find a 5 percent miracle had been delivered.

The final board read and Dom Carlo has what appeared to be the winner tabled with his . Despite flopping trip aces though, Carlo's hand was second-best, what with Dom Gaccino holding the .

According to Gaccino, his appropriately named opponent had shoved his last 100,000 or so into the middle before the flop, coming over the top of Gaccino's open to 60,000.

Gaccino called to bring on the race, but he stumbled out of the gates when Carlo flopped trip aces. Carlo's lead was lengthened when the turn came down , but he tripped over the last hurdle on the track when the river fell .

With the win, Gaccino extended his chip lead to a staggering 1.35 million, which is good for more than three times the current average at the moment.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dom Gaccino	1,350,000 1,350,000	1,350,000
Dom Carlo	Busted

Tags: Dom Carlo Dom Gaccino

04-17-2014 01:02 UTC-4

Silver Bullet

[user253757]

Level 23 : 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante

David Silverstein continues to chip up, after coming from behind to snatch another stack from the ether.

According to Silverstein, he opened for 50,000 from early position holding and an opponent three-bet jammed for his last 240,000 or so.

Silverstein made the call with more than enough chips to afford the gamble, and after flopping a queen and rivering another, he notched the knockout to move above the 1 million chip mark.

"It's my birthday on Saturday," he told us as he stacked the spoils of war. "I can get lucky once in a while."

Player	Chips	Progress
David Silverstein	1,100,000 565,000	565,000

Tags: David Silverstein

04-17-2014 01:17 UTC-4

The Pool is Shrinking

[user253757]

Level 23 : 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante

There are just 30 players remaining in contention for the title, and soon enough the final three tables will be set.

All of the players left with chips are guaranteed to cash for at least $914, but everybody has their sights set on the $48,895 prize up top.

04-17-2014 01:48 UTC-4

Unlimited Datta Plan

[user253757]

Level 24 : 15,000/30,000, 4,000 ante

A series of two hands in quick succession has catapulted Sam Datta into the stratosphere, as he now holds more than 2 million chips.

On the first huge win, Datta was involved in a massive three-way confrontation, which we caught with the flop showing . The small blind checked to Datta in the big blind, and he knuckled the felt as well, prompting the third player the hand to shove for his last 230,000.

The small blind player flatted that bet - leaving himself 731,000 behind - and with the action back on him Datta then moved all in over the top. His bet was for 516,000 more, meaning the small blind would have to call off most his stack to continue in the hand.

That player went deep into the tank as a crowd of onlookers, fellow players and tournament staff hovered around the table. Finally, the man showed an ace and threw his hand away, leaving Datta to showdown with the flop shover.

Datta:
Opponent:

Both players had hit the flop hard, but Datta's set gave him a hammerlock on the hand, and the turn () and river () kept him out in front. That huge pot gave Datta about 1.7 million, and within a few deals he surged over the 2 million mark by eliminating the small blind player from the previous hand.

This time, Datta made trips with on the flop, which crushed his opponent's . The turn came and the river to solidify his lead, and with that, Datta became the man to beat with just 24 players left.

Player	Chips	Progress
Sam Datta	1,900,000 1,900,000	1,900,000

Tags: Sam Datta