Event #3: $500 Black Chip Bounty Day 1 | 2019 Borgata Poker Open

09-06-2019 17:18 UTC-4

Taleb Travels from Minnesota for First-Ever Visit to Borgata

Chad Holloway

Earlier this week, Ahmed Taleb, originally from Morocco but now residing in Minnesota, opted to hop a plane to Atlantic City for the very first time. Taleb is well-known throughout the Midwest and on the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT), but this is his maiden visit to Borgata.

Since 2017, Taleb has amassed more than $400,000 in tournament earnings, which includes a career-best $70,811 for finishing runner-up in the Venetian DeepStack Championship Poker Series Event #28: $1,100 Summer Kick Off back in 2018.

Other highlights on his young poker resumay include $54,089 for winning the 2017 MSPT Grand Falls $1,100 Main Event, placing second in a 2018 DeepStack Extravaganza $600 NLH tournament for $41,493, and then taking second in a $1,100 buy-in tournament at Venetian this past June for $40,774. In 2018, he also cashed in his first-ever World Series of Poker Main Event finishing 833rd for $18,340.

Only time will tell if Taleb can notch his first cash here at Borgata.

Tags: Ahmed Taleb

09-06-2019 17:12 UTC-4

"FrankieDaFish" Chipping Up and Collecting Bounties

Chad Holloway

Sung "FrankieDaFish" Lee is cruising right along in Event #3: $500 Black Chip Bounty and has already recouped more than have his buy-in thanks to three bounties.

Not only that, he's primed to get even more sitting on a robust stack of 135,000.

"I want to say hi to my beautiful daughter," Lee said before getting back to the action.

Lee is no stranger to tournaments here at Borgata; in fact, back in 2017 he finished third in the Summer Poker Open Event #16: $2,700 NLH for a career-high $123,675.

Player	Chips	Progress
Sung Lee	135,000

Tags: Sung Lee

09-06-2019 12:31 UTC-4

Bounty Hunters Get Ready, Set, Go!

Chad Holloway

The third tournament of the 2019 Borgata Poker Open – the $500 buy-in Event #3: Deepstack Black Chip Bounty ($200k GTD) – will kick off at 1 p.m. local time. While PokerNews live updates are focused on Day 2 of Event #1: $600 Deep Stack Kick Off, which you can follow here, we’ll be bringing you periodic updates from Day 1 of this event.

For tomorrow’s Black Chip Bounty Day 2, we’ll then switch to full live updates on the way to crowning a winner.

Last year, this tournament surpassed its $200k GTD by attracting 781 runners and creating a $273,350 prize pool. Poker pro Blake Whittington wound up winning it outright for $61,581. Whittington has been spotted here at the Borgata so we expect he’ll attempt a title defense at some point.

Players will start with 25,000 in chips and late registration and re-entries will remain open through the end of break after Level 8. Levels will last 45 minutes each. Day 1 will end at 18 players or 2 a.m., whichever may come first. Each bounty is worth $100

Here’s a look at the structure:

Level	Big Blind Ante	Blinds
1	-	100-100
2	100	100-100
3	200	100-200
4	300	200-300
5	400	200-400
6	500	300-500
7	600	300-600
8	800	400-800
9	1,000	500-1,000
10	1,200	600-1,200
11	1,500	800-1,500
12	2,000	1,000-2,000
13	2,500	1,500-2,500
14	3,000	1,500-3,000
15	4,000	2,000-4,000
16	5,000	3,000-5,000
17	6,000	3,000-6,000
18	8,000	4,000-8,000
19	10,000	5,000-10,000
20	12,000	6,000-12,000
21	15,000	8,000-15,000
22	20,000	10,000-20,000
23	25,000	15,000-25,000