$3 Million Guaranteed WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship
Day 1b Started
2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open
$3 Million Guaranteed WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship
Day: 1b
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open
Buy-in
$3,300
Entries
1,229
Level
39
Blinds
300,000 / 600,000
Ante
75,000
Day 1b of the Borgata Winter Poker Open WPT Main Event Set to Start
![[user253757]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
The first two weeks of the Winter Poker Open were dominated by regional grinders like Cotton Snuffer and East Coast pros like Andy Hwang, but yesterday a whole host of notable names and familiar faces arrived at the Borgata for the $3 Million Guaranteed WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship.
In the end though, by the end of Day 1a, it was a relative unknown who went to bed content having built an incredible chip lead.
Laz Hernandez - a man with a lone recorded cash for $1,536 - bagged 258,175, to put him more than 70,000 ahead of John Racener (186,250). The top five chip counts by the end of Day 1a were Calvin Lee (169,050), Randy Pfeifer (150,100), and George Lampert (146,000). Other notables bagging solid stacks include Matt Brady (145,200), Steve Levy (144,250), Bob Panitch (140,000), Jordan Cristos (125,000), and Noah Schwartz (124,325).
Hernandez, was reportedly down to about 3,000 early, won two huge hands to vault to the top of the counts, and he seemed to only keep climbing from there.
Notable players who fired bullets but missed their mark yesterday included Vanessa Selbst, Jonathan Little, Cliff Josephy, Chino Rheem, Men Nguyen, Kevin Eyster, and Roland Israelashvili - and we fully expect to see each back here today for a second crack at building a stack. There will also be plenty of pros who show up today t take their one and only shot, so the field is sure to be star-studded and highly skilled.
Stay tuned throughout the rest of this Day 1b as a second starting flight adds a few hundred more survivors to tomorrow's Day 2 - where the sprint for the WPT Champions Cup begins - as PokerNews brings you live coverage of the Borgata Winter Poker Open WPT Main Event.
Level: 1
Blinds: 25/50
Ante: 0
Sexton Starts Us Off
Level 1
: 25/50, 0 ante
Clad in a bright red New Jersey Devils jersey for a sports betting website cross-promotion, the one and only Mike Sexton just hit the mic to deliver the prettiest sound in all of poker.
At Sexton's command the dealers shuffled up and dealt, and we are now underway here on Day 1b of the Borgata Winter Poker Open WPT Main Event.
Early Risers
Level 1
: 25/50, 0 ante
Many poker pros opt to skip the first level of a big buy-in Main Event simply because at 25-50, there's much more to lose than to gain. After all, one cooler early and a bullet goes bust, while the 50-100 and 75-150 blind levels allow skilled bettors to build a stack without many showdowns.
Nonetheless, here are a few familiar faces we just spotted during a round around the room.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | 5,000 |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | 2,500 |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 |
Let's Get Acquainted With the WPT Main Event
Level 1
: 25/50, 0 ante
Today's tournament offers players the chance to re-enter as often as needed before the start of Level 7, with each bullet running $3,500 a pop. Fifteen minute breaks are scheduled to occur after every two levels today, and a 75-minute dinner break takes place after Level 6 - or right around 7:00 p.m. local time. This second starting flight will conclude after eight levels are in the books, meaning the expected end point is 11:00 p.m. local time.
Last year's edition of this event saw a field of 1,042 players take a shot, and Andy Hwang was the one with every chip in play when it was all said and done. Hwang's victory here at the Borgata was worth a $730,053 payday, and his name is now etched on the WPT Champion's Cup. Yesterday a total of 422 entries were recorded for Day 1a - topping the 397 entries recorded during last year's first starting flight - with 207 advancing to Day 2 by bagging and tagging a stack. The field today will have a tough task topping Day 1a chip leader Lazaro Hernandez, a local amateur who accumulated a staggering 258,175 chips in just eight levels to build an enormous lead of 70,000 over professional John Racener.
Those Old Familiar Faces
Level 1
: 25/50, 0 ante
There are more pros and notables streaming in to take their seats, including Anthony Zinno - winner of last year's WPT Borgata Poker Open Main Event and Day 1a casualty.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | -9,000 |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | 15,500 |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | 2,000 |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | -300 |
|
30,000 |
A Little Bird Told Me
Level 1
: 25/50, 0 ante
Twitter has fast become the medium of choice for poker players looking to share their tournament experience with friends and followers.
Check out a selection of tweets from the players in the house on Day 1a of the Borgata Winter Poker Open WPT Main Event, including Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy - who busted a bullet yesterday and is apparently running rough here today.
Went to dinner w/VIP experience winners from MS charity event last night so I'm playing Day 1b of WPT @BorgataPoker. #excitedtoplayFollow @MikeSexton_WPT
For the first time in a week, I got lots of sleep, drank lots of team and worked out. Playing day 1b of the @BorgataPoker @WPT.Follow @JonathanLittle
Amazing. 2 pr v flopped straight on the very 1st hand. Gonna have to turn this around lol #wptborgataFollow @JohnnyBaxPoker
Round 2 of this WPT bird today, feeling infinitely better than yesterday. Was so groggy all day. Today's a fresh slate though. #tgig #mkFollow @1sickdisease
Playing the $3500 WPT Borgata event today. Decent starting tabling but have @realAriEngel directly on my left. It's about time I won a WPTFollow @JCamby33
More for the Counts
Level 1
: 25/50, 0 ante
There are a few more pros and local heros to enter the fray, including Natale Kuey - who finished as the runner-up in this series' Seniors Event and made a deep run in the Six-Max event to prove his near miss was no fluke.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | 21,950 |
|
30,000 | |
|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | -16,650 |
|
30,000 | 2,500 |
|
30,000 |
It's Early...
Level 1
: 25/50, 0 ante
...But it appears we have a larger field today here on Day 1b of the $3 Million Guarantee WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship than we had on Day 1a. Whereas satellites took up a few of the tables near media row with a gap in between them and the main tournament, today the 1b field has almost filled the room completely.