Home Stretch
Players have returned for the last few levels of the day.
Players have returned for the last few levels of the day.
Level: 14
Blinds: 1,200/2,400
Ante: 300
The field has stood to stretch as we enter the last break of Day 1b.
When Gene Mazza went all in with and found a lone caller two seats to his left, he likely expected to be facing a hand that dominated his, or a coin flip situation.
Instead, his opponent turned up , an obviously surprised Mazza watched as the flop came to snatch the lead away.
Mazza's befuddlement at his opponent's light call as evident, and when the fell in on the turn, he began to stand in anticipation of making his exit from the tournament floor.
River:
With that, Mazza sat back in his chair and began stacking his new chips - about 90,000 of them - while asking a tablemate in hushed tones, "how does he call there?"
Eric Borduas raised to 4,000 from middle position, and Allard Bordelet made the call from the cutoff. The flop came down , and Borduas bet 5,000. Bordelet made the call, then he called another 5,000 on the turn.
"All in," Borduas announced before the dealer could even turn over the river card. Bordelet folded immediately, and Borduas showed for an airball. Borduas, who sports a third-place finish for $13,720 at the Borgata Winter Poker Open in 2009, then informed us that it's his birthday, and he'll be seeing us tomorrow for sure.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Eric Borduas
|
168,000 | |
Men Nguyen | Busted | |
|
A player under the gun raised to 4,000, the next player called, and Anthony Caruso made it 14,000 from the next position. Everyone else folded, and the original raiser followed suit. The first caller made the call again before leading out for 10,000 on the . Caruso jammed for 24,700 more, and the bettor called.
Caruso:
Opponent:
Caruso's opponent picked up some outs on the turn, but the river was a , preserving Caruso's double.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Anthony Caruso
|
100,000 |
Level: 13
Blinds: 1,000/2,000
Ante: 300
Norman Michalek made his stand holding , moving his last 30,400 in over the top of an opening raise.
The preflop opener decided to look Michalek up with , finding himself dominated by the young tourney grinder's ace kicker.
The final board rolled out and with that, Michalek chipped up to around 75,000 or so late on Day 1b.
Laurence Wolf and another player shipped all in from early position, and Diem Phan jammed over the top. Everyone else folded.
Wolf:
Phan:
Third player:
The flop came , giving Phan top pair. An made things interesting on the turn, since Wolf now had a straight draw, but another eight on the river shipped the pot to Phan.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Diem Phan
|
126,000 | |
Laurence Wolf | Busted |
A flop of hit the felt and a short-stacked player moved all in for his last 21,700.
Anthony Schifilliti went into the tank for a minute or so, telling the table "I have the top pair here..." while contemplting his decision.
Eventually, able to afford the loss with a much bigger stack, Schifilliti decided to call his opponent down and tabled . Although he did indeed hold top pair, so did the player at risk, and his put him put in front with the better kicker.
Turn:
Just like that, Schifilliti surged into the lead with two pair, and the on the river kept him there. With the win, he pushed over 200,000 to late on Day 1b.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Anthony Schifilliti
|
205,000 |