Iverson Cotton Snuffer shoved all in for 226,000 on the turn with the board reading 
. Dan Heimiller made the call.
Heimiller: 
Snuffer: 
Heimiller didn't have an out in the deck, and "Heisenberg" doubled up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
600,000
545,000
|
545,000 |
|
353,000
-247,000
|
-247,000 |
|
||
Dan Heimiller limped under the gun with the blinds at 6,000-12,000, and the next player pushed all in for 155,000. Action folded to the cutoff, who moved all in for less, and the small blind followed suit. After the big blind folded, Heimiller called off his 151,000 stack.
Early position: 
Heimiller: 
Cutoff: 
Small blind: 
Things were looking good for Heimiller since his opponents had shared overcards and a small pair, and the board came down 
. The early-position player stayed alive with less than a big blind, while the small blind is down to a short stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
600,000
340,000
|
340,000 |
|
|
||
Amanda Musumeci raised to 20,000 from under the gun, and action folded to the small blind. After a lengthy tank during which he asked what would happen if he busted during the hand-for-hand, a player called the clock. Musumeci and others at the table tried explaining to the player that stalling would do nothing if he busted with less chips than another player, but the player insisted on waiting until the end of the clock to fold. The big blind immediately pushed all in, and Musumeci called.
Musumeci: 
Big blind: 
The flop came 
, giving nothing to both players. A turn brought some extra outs for the big blind, but the river was the 
, and Musumeci was the hero of short stacks everywhere.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
360,000 |
A player checked to Chad Brown on the end with the board reading 
. Brown fired 25,000, and his opponent snap-called. Brown showed him 
for two pair, and his opponent rapped the table and mucked.
The next hand, Brown opened for 11,000 from late position, and one player called. The loser of the previous hand jammed for 46,800 from the big blind. Brown made the call, and the first caller folded.
Brown: 
Opponent: 
Both player got help on the 
flop, but the player with fives filled up when the 
came on the turn. A completed the board, and Brown was forced to give his opponent from the previous hand a refund.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
157,000
18,000
|
18,000 |
Chad Brown raised from the button and an opponent in middle position who had either raised or limped (we didn't see) made the call.
The flop came , and Brown fired 4,000 when checked to. The middle-position player called. Both players checked the , and action checked to Brown once more on the 
. Brown bet 6,000, and his opponent called without much deliberation. Brown showed , and his opponent rapped the table and mucked.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
139,000
104,000
|
104,000 |
We've been told that former Main Event runner-up Steve Dannenmann busted out in a three-way all in with top pair against a set and a flush draw.
In one of the last hands before the recent break, experienced tournament player Amanda Musumeci managed to triple her stack in a single hand.
Musumeci held 
when the flop fell 
, and after a series of bets and raises she found herself all-in against two opponents. One flopped two pair with , while the other did the same with . Neither player managed to fill up, and with her flopped straight Musumeci built a sizable stack early on Day 1 of this $400 Big Stack NLHE Re-Entry event.
We have been handed a press release from the Borgata staff regarding Event 1 ($560 NLHE Re-Entry, $2 Million Guarantee), which was suspended yesterday pending an investigation into the suspected use of counterfeit T5000 chips. Below is the text from that announcement:
Borgata announced today that the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has ordered the cancellation of the first event of the Borgata Winter Poker Open due to a pending investigation.
Thus far, investigators have found that one or more tournament entrants improperly introduced a significant number of counterfeit chips into the tournament, gaining an unfair advantage and compromising the integrity of play for the event.
Tom Ballance, President and Chief Operating Officer of Borgata, said "It is extremely unfortunate that the criminal actions of these individuals can have a detrimental impact on more than 4,000 other entrants. We fully understand and regret the disappointment this cancellation causes our valued customers, and we will work diligently with DGE investigators to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. The integrity of our games and the confidence of our players is of the utmost importance to us."
"We thoroughly verified all remaining chips in our inventory, and are confident in moving forward with our tournament schedule as planned and approved by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement."
With an ocean of anonymous faces filling the Borgata tournament floor, finding players we recognize can be like searching for a pearl on the bottom of the sea.
Fortunately, a few familar faces have been spotted around the room, including Dan Heimiller, Steve Dannenmann, Iverson "Heisenberg" Snuffer, Amanda Musumeci, and Robert "Uncle Krunk" Panitch.
Event 5 of the Borgata Winter Poker Open ($400 Big Stack No-Limit Hold'em Re-Entry) is currently underway, and the scene is one to behold.
Hundreds of players continue to file in the room searching for their seats, recent eliminations are frantically returning from the cashier's cage to find their new tables after re-entering, and tournament officials are trying their best to keep everything organized.
Add in the amount of satellite tables being ran here in the Borgata Conference Room, as well as the conclusion of Event 3 with its own eight tables spread around the floor, and the atmosphere here is electric and exciting.
