Vanessa Selbst Will Not Return for Day 2 After Busting Out Late on Day 1b
Twitter is abuzz with the news of a few familiar faces falling short here on Day 1b of the Borgata Winter Poker Open WPT Championship. Here are the postmortems from the players themselves:
Tournament Director Tab Duchateau and Tournament Official Andrew Wong Listen to Robert Merulla's Explanation While D.J. Mackinnon Looks On
The dinner break ended just under an hour ago, and play has been in full swing since then at nearly every table in the room. The players at Table 37, however, didn't play a single hand until nearly 30 minutes had elapsed from the tournament clock, as yet another scandal involving chips broke out here at the Borgata Winter Poker Open.
Here's what we've determined after talking with the players involved and Tab Duchateau, Tournament Director here at Borgata.
D.J. MacKinnon returned from the dinner break and went to take Seat 1, where he had been playing from before break. Maruti Yarlapati — who finished in 13th place at the six-max event here just two days ago — was waiting for him, though, having just been handed a seat card after his table broke that directed him there. Confused? Imagine how MacKinnon felt.
Apparently, MacKinnon had stood up to sweat the result of the last hand before break, leaving his 61,500 stack under the supervision of the dealer — something that isn't out of the norm during poker tournaments. The last hand was contested by Robert Merulla (Seat 2) and Allison Schultz (Seat 4), with Merulla moving all in on the river for 50,000 (effectively 13,000, as he had Schultz covered).
Schultz tanked for a while, which prompted MacKinnon to stick around to see what happened, although he sweated from afar rather than remaining in his seat. After taking her time to make a decision, Schultz called off and put her last 13,000 into the pot, only to find her was second-best to Merulla's (we weren't around for the showdown, and thus the board cards here remain a mystery, but Schultz took to Twitter to vent about her aces being cracked by deuces).
This is where the issue of MacKinnon's missing stack began, because with his 61,500 stacked in front of the empty chair in Seat 1, Merulla's drag of the pot somehow included those chips as well as those just won from Schultz. Despite Merulla quickly producing a cell phone photograph of his stack taken after the hand — which in Merulla's opinion proved his ownership of the 143,000 now at his disposal — MacKinnon was calmly, but quietly insistent that his chips had been added to his neighbor's pile.
MacKinnon never accused Merulla of angle-shooting or stealing, attributing the situation to a potential dealer error instead, but the mathematics of the situation added up to show something was amiss. Merulla readily admitted that he began the last hand before break with around 50,000, but disputed his tablemate's assertion that Schultz only held 23,000 to start the hand before going bust. According to Merulla, she shipped a nearly equal stack his way, thus explaining the currently swollen size of his stack.
Nonetheless, a 50,000 stack had somehow transformed into one containing 143,000 — which shouldn't happen after a straight double up even with blinds and antes accounted for. However, if Merulla had added the 23,000 stack Schultz confirmed via Twitter that she lost, he should have started Level 7 with about 75,000 — and if MacKinnon's 61,500 was at some point added to that, his total of 143,000 made much more sense.
Merulla continued to deny any wrongdoing while showing Duchateau his cell phone images to show that he dragged a pot worth 143,000 his way before heading off to break. Despite the protestations of his tablemates — who pointed out that the cell phone shot could just as easily show the product of MacKinnon's stack being added to the pot — Merulla continued to state his case, insisting that his stack was accurate. Duchateau conferred with everybody involved before checking the video evidence, and after explaining the situation to the relevant parties, he ruled that MacKinnon's 61,500 would be removed from Merulla's stack and restored to its proper owner.
In explaining the ruling, Duchateau said that the video surveillance showed MacKinnon standing behind his chair to observe the showdown, and walking away after the cards were tabled. According to Duchateau, during the act of dragging the pot Merulla pulled MacKinnon's stack towards his and the chips became mixed, but the respected tournament director stated that intent was impossible to prove given the visual evidence. This meant Merulla kept his seat and the situation was deemed to be resolved.
Yarlapati, for his part, got out of dodge with his rightfully earned 145,000 — taking a new seat card and resuming his tournament. The other seven players at Table 37 were not so fortunate, though, and they were forced to sacrifice 30 minutes worth of irreplaceable tournament time at a key level in this second starting flight. Nobody was pleased with this fact, but despite their objections (MacKinnon himself was the most vocal in requesting either a frozen clock for the room or an extended clock for his table), Duchateau ruled that the tournament would roll on.
Play resumed at Table 37 with 45:00 or so remaining in Level 7, and the Borgata Winter Poker Open WPT Main Event continued without further incident.
Mackinnon took to Twitter shortly after resuming play to comment on his new predicament for the rest of night, showing that despite almost losing a 157-big blind stack while sitting at the buffet, he can still see the humorous side of a strange situation:
According to Eriquezzo's always active Twitter account, he flopped a king with but Klodnicki had the real top pair with in the hole. Here's how Eriquezzo described the situation:
James Woods and Dan O'Brien Discussing the Intricacies of Raising and Calling
On the last hand before the recent break, we watched Dan O'Brien get schooled by actor James Woods for a decent pot, before teaching Woods a thing or two about the rules of the game.
The exchange between Woods and O'Brien was cordial and professional of course, and it concerned the last action O'Brien took in the hand.
We caught the action with the board reading , and more than 15,000 in the middle already. Woods had led into O'Brien on the river, making it 6,500, and O'Brien was contemplating his decision as the rest of the field departed for break.
"The problem is you're a professional actor..." O'Brien told Woods, after the man who tormented Robert De Niro in the classic Scorsese flick Casino began a bit of table talk. Woods told O'Brien to fold, saying something about not wanting the young pro to make a bad call and lose chips he could easily keep by folding.
The misdirection worked wonders and O'Brien tossed in the crying call - throwing two of the baby blue T5000 chips forward in doing so - only to muck with a grin on his face as Woods tabled with confidence.
"Nice hand..." said O'Brien, knowing now he had been hoodwinked by a man paid very well to pretend. "I didn't see that coming."
"Thanks," offered Woods, before beginning what would become an extended discussion. "But you know, you did put 10,000 in there, and that's really a raise. I don't really care, but... it was more than half my bet, so it really was a raise."
O'Brien then went on to patiently explain why his action did not constitute a raise - correctly noting that if one chip was pulled back the amount left over would not exceed half of Woods' original bet - and Woods accepted his explanation accordingly. A tournament official overheard the discussion though, and with O'Brien already outside gone to enjoy the break, he told Woods and the dealer that the two-chip call should have been ruled a raise after all. Woods appeared quite willing to accept that ruling and earn an additional 6,500 chips without trying, but eventually the Borgata's head honcho in the tournament department Tab Duchateau ended the impending drama by ruling the action to be a call, citing the reasoning O'Brien originally offered as the correct ruling.
O'Brien soon confirmed that Woods had pulled the wool over his eyes, issuing the following tweet:
With so many top pros and local heroes here today, a few huge hands are bound to get lost in the shuffle. Thankfully, poker players love a sick brag though, and Twitter makes it easy for them to trumpet their successes to the masses.
Matthew Waxman did just that after hitting a one-out shot to down top set with quads. Apparently making that huge hand provided a bit of momentum for Waxman, because soon afterward he busted a player to move above 90,000.
Eriquezzo didn't go so far as to make a guarantee, but he confidently announced that a 100,000 chip count was his expectation for the end of today's play. Tripling (and then some) one's starting stack is always a good way to end a starting flight, so Eriquezzo wasn't out of line by any means, and he is obviously skilled enough to set a high bar for himself.
We've been wondering how Eriquezzo has been doing thus far in his effort to build a six-figure stack, so we checked his favorite outlet for on the felt updates to see how he's doing. Here's what we found out:
Apparently Eriquezzo victimized his friend and fellow pro Jeff Madsen when both players flopped two pair and filled up on the turn. That pot pushed him over 60,000, but the swings set in and he fell back to 22,000 during Level 3, only to rebound recently as Level 4 is set to begin.
Halfway home, Eriquezzo looks to be well on his way to the 100,000 mark he assured the world he would meet. It's poker though, so we won't book his seat in Day 2 just yet... even if Eriquezzo himself already has.
Vanessa Selbst Was Here on Day 1a, but She Hasn't Arrived to Day 1b of the 2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open WPT Main Event
Vanessa Selbst is always conspicuous in her absence from a Main Event field, and today is no different.
After firing at least one $3,500 bullet yesterday and failing to bag up a stack by the end of Day 1a, we expected to see Selbst back at it here on Day 1b to take another shot.
So far though, Selbst hasn't been seen, although a recent tweet indicates she'll be here shortly.
I'm sure the rest of the field is really happy to hear that...
Ryan Eriquezzo on Day 1a of the 2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event
Ryan Eriquezzo is not impressed with the play of his tablemates so far, and he is already making bold predictions regarding his ability to run them over. After a recent loss against a man who called his raise with rags, Eriquezzo took to Twitter to announce that he will triple his starting stack (and then some) by then end of play today.
With more than $1.2 million in live tournament earnings to his credit, Eriquezzo is certainly capable of backing up his boast, so we'll be sure to let you know when he builds that six-figure chip stack.
Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy is Back for More Punishment on Day 1b of the 2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open WPT Main Event
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.
![[user253757]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
but Klodnicki had the real top pair with 
, and more than 15,000 in the middle already. Woods had led into O'Brien on the river, making it 6,500, and O'Brien was contemplating his decision as the rest of the field departed for break.
with confidence.
