$3 Million Guaranteed WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship Day 2 | 2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open

01-29-2014 02:38 UTC-4

Laz Hernandez Leads Once Again After Day 2 of the Borgata Winter Poker Open WPT Main Event

[user253757]

Level 16 : 1,500/3,000, 400 ante

Laz Hernandez Dominated Day 2, Turning in a Wire-to-Wire Performance to Bag the Most Chips For a Second Time

Laz Hernandez cannot be contained. The local amateur swam through the sea of sharks here at the Borgata Winter Poker Open WPT Main Event Championship once again, and after entering the day as the chip leader, Hernandez turned the trick a second time.

A clash with a poker legend left Hernandez on the right side of two big hands, as he flopped quad nines to down Mike Sexton's paired ace-king. From there, not even a bit of confusion regarding a lucky river card could stop Hernandez, and he continued to amass chips at a startling rate, ending the night with 753,000 to narrowly edge Matthew Haugen (735,500) for top honors.

A number of notable names came and went today, including the defending champion of this event Andy Hwang, Matt Salsberg, Matt Waxman, Kevin Eyster, Tony Dunst, Steve Brecher, Tony Ruberto, Victor Ramdin, Ravi Raghavan, Anthony Zinno, Jordan Cristos, Erick Lindgren, Derrick Rosenbarger, Allen Kessler, Lee Childs, Darren Elias, Ebony Kenney, Justin Zaki, Jeff Madsen, Chris Tryba, Aaron Steury, Kathy Liebert, Todd Terry, James Woods and Jacob Bazeley.

A total of 188 players survived the Day 2 killing fields to return tomorrow at noon local time, and the field will play through the money bubble to arrive at the final three tables. Check back then to follow PokerNews' live coverage of this WPT Main Event Championship live from the floor of the Borgata.

Tags: Aaron Steury Allen Kessler Andy Hwang Anthony Zinno Bryn Kenney Chris Tryba Darren Elias Darren Woods Ebony Kenney Erick Lindgren Eugene Todd Jacob Bazeley Jeff Madsen Jordan Cristos Justin Zaki Kathy Liebert Kevin Eyster Laz Hernandez Lee Childs Matt Haugen Matt Salsberg Matthew Waxman Mike Sexton Ravi Raghavan Richard Lee Steve Brecher Todd Terry Tony Dunst Tony Ruberto Tyler Kenney Victor Ramdin

01-29-2014 00:48 UTC-4

Noah Schwartz Forces the Fold

[user253757]

Level 16 : 1,500/3,000, 400 ante

Noah Schwartz on Day 2 of the 2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event

A pot of 90,000 was already up for grabs when Noah Schwartz moved all in for his last 52,000 or so. The board read by the river and Schwartz had his opponent down deep in the tank, as the player contemplated a decision that would cost a sizable portion of his stack if he happened to be beat.

Eventually, with the World Poker Tour camera crews hovering around to record the action, Schwartz watched his opponent reluctantly slide his hand forward for the fold, and a tournament-preserving pot was pushed his way.

Player	Chips	Progress
Noah Schwartz	215,000	60,000

Tags: Noah Schwartz

01-29-2014 00:26 UTC-4

The Case of the Vanishing Ace

[user253757]

Level 16 : 1,500/3,000, 400 ante

Shannon Shorr and Laz Hernandez on Day 2 of the 2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open WPT Main Event

Laz Hernandez has been living a charmed life of late, storming out to a huge chip lead on Day 1a of this WPT Main Event Championship and running even hotter here today.

Toward the end of Level 15 a hand went down that seemed to confirm Hernandez as an unstoppable force, when he caught a miraculous ace on the river to crack Shannon Shorr's set of jacks - pushing over the 700,000 chip plateau in the process. With his table situated right along the rail, and his mountainous stack attracting attention all night, a cheer could be heard when the ace fell down from heaven, giving Hernandez a set with his on the board to come back from the brink against Shorr's .

Unfortunately for Hernandez, what may have been the defining moment of a life-changing tournament run never should have happened. Here's what went down:

Shorr opened the betting with a 5,100 raise, only to see Hernandez three-bet to 15,100 as the big stack bully. After a flat from Shorr the flop fell to give him top set, and he tapped the table to set the trap. Hernandez fell right in with his bullets, blasting away for an all-in bet that was for 42,300 effective.

The snap-call by Shorr should have signaled to Hernandez that his monster was now second-best, but he stood in triumph anyway, tabling his aces believing them to be the winner. As he did so, Hernandez managed to drop one of his cards to the floor, which attracted the attention of tournament Andrew Wong to resolve the situation. A quick ruling by Wong resulted in Hernandez' fallen ace being restored to its rightful place on the table, all while Shorr asked for the dealer to burn and turn, as he was merely sweating two outs twice to score the double up.

The dealer turned the and burned a card before dropping the river card down, with the arrival of the causing the aforementioned outburst along the rail. Hernandez had hit his gin card to continue an improbable tear through this extremely tough field, while knocking off another skilled pro to boot.

Unfortunately for Hernandez, a table filled with pros like Shorr, Nick Guagenti and James "Big Show" Caldarero astutely noticed something was amiss, and with only two burn cards separated from the deck, it was clear that a dealer error had occurred at some point. Tournament Director Tab Duchateau was consulted to sort through the mess, and it was determined that after the previous card down discussion was settled, the dealer forgot to burn a card before the turn. Thus, the order of the turn and river were incorrect and Hernandez' ace on the river was nothing more than smoke and mirrors.

Hernandez briefly disputed the ruling, before being convinced by his tablemates that the two-out shot would never have come through if the deal was correctly conducted. Duchateau ordered the deck to be reconstructed using the previous sequencing - meaning the was now burned before the turn and a new roll out would take place. When it was all said and done, the turn came and the river , leaving Shorr out in front with top set and Hernandez second-best with the best preflop hand in the game.

All told, situations like this occur quite often and the incident was just one small segment of a long poker tournament. But for Hernandez, who looked to all the world to be carried by the inexplicable force known as momentum, such a sudden end to his untouchable run through this Main Event had to have been a jarring experience.

We'll see if he can maintain his composure and maintain his still healthy stack during the last level of play tonight, or if being snapped back to reality disrupts his focus.

Player	Chips	Progress
Laz Hernandez	610,000	-110,000
Shannon Shorr	121,000	66,000

Tags: Laz Hernandez Nick Guagenti Shannon Shorr

01-28-2014 23:19 UTC-4

Where They Stand

[user253757]

Level 15 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante

Mike Linster is Chipping Up Steadily Here on Day 2

A few updated chip counts from the latest tour around the room.

Player	Chips	Progress
Julio Belluscio	340,000	-95,000
John Dibella	315,000	185,000
Mike Linster	260,000	150,000
Brian Lemke	180,000	44,000
John Gordon	155,000	13,000
Aaron Massey	140,000	19,000
David Paredes	132,000	48,000
Patrick Eskandar	125,000	69,350
Scott Baumstein	123,000	-47,000
Eugene Todd	122,000	-8,000
Victor Figueroa	117,000	-11,000
Isaac Baron	115,000	-20,000
DJ Mackinnon	90,000	-65,000
Brandon Shane	65,000	22,000
Larry Ormson	65,000	-5,000
Denis Gnidash	60,000	14,000
Eric Baldwin	45,000	-4,000
Matt Stout	45,000	-49,500

01-28-2014 23:15 UTC-4

Jack Kashing In

[user253757]

Level 15 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante

Jack Kashishian Made a Deep Run at the WPT Champion's Cup in 2011, and He's Back for More Here Today

The flop read when we walked by, but despite the baby card board a bit of grown man betting was going down.

Jack Kashishian had raised over the top of a 15,400 bet and put his last 90,100 more into the middle for the all-in move.

The other player went into the tank for a while to think things through, but he was unable to convince himself that Kashishian held trips. The sudden announcement of "call!" prompted Kashishian to table his hand with authority, and he rolled over the for the hand his opponent decided he couldn't have held.

Kashishian was fading two outs when his opponent tabled , but the turn and river failed to deliver a minor miracle, sending the huge pot to a man who is no stranger to World Poker Tour success here at the Borgata. Kashishian made a deep run in the 2011 Borgata Poker Open WPT Main Event, finishing in 34th place and taking home a $16,352 payday. We'll see if he can keep the run good up here today as he tries to best that impressive performance from two years ago.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jack Kashishian	223,000	192,675

Tags: Jack Kashishian

01-28-2014 23:00 UTC-4

Sexton's Cards Weren't Live, and His Opponent Was the Monster

[user253757]

Level 15 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante

Mike Sexton on Day 1b of the 2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event

Laz Hernandez is an amateur player with little to no experience under the World Poker Tour spotlight, while Mike Sexton is... Mike Sexton.

In addition to his presence as the Ambassador of Poker - showcasing the game's good side to a global audience for over a decade as host of the WPT's groundbreaking broadcasts - Sexton is no slouch on the felt. He nearly took down his second WSOP bracelet last summer, finishing as the runner-up in a $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better event.

Despite the disparity in skill and experience between Sexton and Hernandez, the beauty of poker is that anybody can beat anybody else on one particular hand - although Sexton might not think so after his last hand of the night.

Sexton raised to 15,000 before the flop, Hernandez flatted the bet along with another player, and the flop rolled out . Holding , Sexton shoved for his last 40,000 and Hernandez actually laughed a little bit while beating him into the pot and tabling for quad nines. Sexton's famous wish that "all your cards be live and your pots be monsters" had abandoned him for at least this hand, as he was drawing about as close to dead as one can be.

The flop and turn failed to deliver the 1000:1 long shot and Sexton was off to prep for his announcing duties later this week. Hernandez, meanwhile, continued to gobble up chips at a startling rate, as the Day 1 chip leader threatens to make it a wire-to-wire performance here today.

Player	Chips	Progress
Laz Hernandez	720,000	402,500
Mike Sexton	Busted

Tags: Laz Hernandez Mike Sexton

01-28-2014 22:53 UTC-4

Baldwin Gets a Sweat

mnuwwarah

Level 15 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante

Eric Baldwin opened to 4,800 from an early position, and two players called. The small blind shipped all in for about 40,000, and Baldwin moved in as well. The other two players folded.

Baldwin:
Small blind:

Baldwin was in a relatively comfortable position, but the flop came to change that, giving the small blind an open ender. A turn changed nothing, and a river followed by a chip countdown resulted in Baldwin busting his opponent.

"The ol' red deuce," Baldwin said with a smile.

Player	Chips	Progress
Eric Baldwin	105,000

Tags: Eric Baldwin

01-28-2014 20:46 UTC-4

Laz and the Legend

[user253757]

Level 14 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante

Laz Hernandez is Still Among the Leaders Despite a Small Setback

As the overwhelming chip leader entering Day 2, Laz Hernandez knew he'd be in position to punish his opponents, but as the tournament progresses and the cream of the crop rises, his table is quickly becoming a tough draw.

With the legend himself Mike Sexton sitting directly to his right, along with experienced pros Nick Guagenti and James "Big Show" Caldarero, Hernandez could be forgiven for becoming passive and sitting on his massive stack.

Instead, Hernandez has shown no fear, scooping up multiple pots in the last few minutes to build on his chip-leading stack.

One hand saw Hernandez take the up against a lone opponent, before forcing them to fold when the flop came . Despite being surrounded by card sharps to his left and right, Hernandez refuses to retreat and continues to climb, showing that his Day 1a run may not have been merely a lucky run after all.

Player	Chips	Progress
Laz Hernandez	317,500	-7,500

Tags: Laz Hernandez Mike Sexton Nick Guagenti

01-28-2014 20:28 UTC-4

It's Good to Be the Champ

[user253757]

Level 14 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante

Greg Merson is Facing Little Resistance as He Bullies the Table

Whenever a World Series of Poker Main Event champion is in the house, we make sure to stop by early and often to check on their progress.

And while 2012 Main Event winner Greg Merson certainly warrants the attention, we just haven't seen too many players willing to challenge the champ.

After an orbit spent observing Merson we saw him take down a few uncontested pots with preflop raises, while folding a few hands away in between. Merson currently holds a stack with more than 180,000 - more than enough to continue applying pressure while his opponent's pay homage by getting out of his way.

Player	Chips	Progress
Greg Merson	183,400	13,400

Tags: Greg Merson

01-28-2014 20:25 UTC-4

Gee's AA Cracked

mnuwwarah

Level 14 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante

Harrison Gimbel on Day 2 of the 2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event

A player in middle position opened to 4,800, and the cutoff shoved for 33,500. Steve Gee thought for a bit before making the call for about half of his stack on the button, and Harrison Gimbel began tanking in the big blind. Finally, he announced all in but was beaten to the pot by Gee after the original raiser quickly folded.

Gee:
Gimbel:
Cutoff: