WPT Borgata Poker Open $3,500 Championship Day 2 | 2019 Borgata Poker Open

09-17-2019 16:14 UTC-4

Cai Gets a Call From Blumstein

Kaelaine Minton

Level 12 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Zhen Cai opened early, Scott Blumstein made it 12,000 from the middle, Cai kicked it on up to 28,000, and Blumstein called.

On the flop of , Cai led for 13,500 and Blumstein flatted. On the turn, Cai fired 20,500 and again Blumstein called.

The finished the board and Cai bet 83,000, leaving himself only about 40,000 behind. Blumstein tanked for a few minutes before deciding to call.

Cai tabled for Aces-full and Blumstein mucked his hand. After paying off that bet, he was down to only ~35,000 while Cai chipped up to 334,000, close to the chip lead.

Player	Chips	Progress
Zhen Cai	334,000
Anthony Zinno	75,000
Matthew Iles	70,000
Orson Young	70,000
Scott Blumstein	35,000

Tags: Scott Blumstein Zhen Cai

09-17-2019 15:57 UTC-4

New Chip Leader

Kaelaine Minton

Level 12 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

It appears that Asher Conniff is the chip leader, playing about 335,000 and leading the quickly shrinking field.

All of his World Poker Tour success has been right here at Borgata when he won the 2015 WPT World Championship and $973,683, so he's got his eyes set on the ultimate prize — another WPT title!

Player	Chips	Progress
Asher Conniff	335,000
Joel Gola	125,000
Stephen Song	30,000

Tags: Asher Conniff

Level: 12

Blinds: 1,000/2,000

Ante: 2,000

09-17-2019 15:29 UTC-4

WPT Champions Abound

Kaelaine Minton

Level 11 : 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

WPT Season XIII Player of the Year runner-up Darren Elias just missed out on the honor, running hot in the same season as Anthony Zinno. He's still got four World Poker Tour titles to his credit and more than $7.2 million in tournament earnings on his record.

He seems to be struggling a bit today, down to 75,000 from the 115,000 with which he started the day. Until his table is broken, which should be soon, he's got to deal with Jonas Wexler, who won more than $300,000 back in April when he claimed the WSOP Circuit Championship at Harrah's Cherokee.

Also on Table 49 are Stanley Lee, and James Gilbert.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jonas Wexler	150,000	25,700
Stanley Lee	100,000	59,000
James Gilbert	95,000	-75,300
Darren Elias	75,000	-40,000

Tags: Darren Elias James Gilbert Jonas Wexler Stanley Lee

09-17-2019 15:09 UTC-4

WPT Season XIII POY Anthony Zinno

Kaelaine Minton

Level 11 : 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Anthony Zinno's stack is moving in the right direction. He's up to ~80,000 from his start of Day 2 count of 32,400. He's proven he's got staying power since winning his first World Poker Tour event, which was this WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship, back in 2013. Since then, he's won two more WPT titles and claimed the Season XIII Player of the Year honor.

As for the rest of the players on Table 49, he's got some tough customers including Kevin Calenzo, Sang Kim, Anthony Garofalo, Orson Young, and Mukul Pahuja to deal with.

Player	Chips	Progress
Anthony Garofalo	182,000	35,300
Kevin Calenzo	125,000	-2,800
Sang Kim	105,000	16,000
Orson Young	100,000	20,200
Anthony Zinno	80,000	80,000
Mukul Pahuja	80,000	1,900

Tags: Anthony Garofalo Anthony Zinno Mukul Pahuja Orson Young Sang Kim

09-17-2019 14:49 UTC-4

Kramer Climbing

Kaelaine Minton

Level 11 : 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Bruce Kramer was in the top 10 at the start of the day and he continues to climb, already up to 305,000, and still among the leaders.

He was sharing the felt on Table 45 with Mike Meskin, Michael Stashin, Friman Villalona, and Nick Pupillo, then Sam Taylor arrived from his recently broken table, bringing his short stack into the mix.

Player	Chips	Progress
Bruce Kramer	305,000	93,400
Nick Pupillo	240,000	95,400
Michael Stashin	170,000	141,600
Friman Villalona	120,000	-21,000
Sam Taylor	48,000

Tags: Bruce Kramer Michael Stashin Mike Meskin Nick Pupillo Sam Taylor

09-17-2019 14:37 UTC-4

Registration Closed for Championship

Kaelaine Minton

Level 11 : 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Play has resumed following the break and that means registration is finally closed!

All numbers are unofficial until confirmed and released by the house, but the current entry count is 1,156, making a prize pool of more than $3.7 million!

Level: 11

Blinds: 1,000/1,500

Ante: 1,500

09-17-2019 14:10 UTC-4

Twenty Minute Color-Up Break In Progress

Kaelaine Minton

Level 10 : 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

It's break time and time to color up the black 100 chips, so the break has been extended to 20 minutes.

Play will resume at about 2:25, at which time registration will close.

09-17-2019 14:04 UTC-4

Lentini Gets Some from Eskandar

Kaelaine Minton

Level 10 : 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

On the river with the board reading , Giuliano Lentini (cutoff) net 27,000 after Patrick Eskandar (bb) checked. Eskandar called, only to see the bad news. Lentini tabled for the rivered flush and Eskandar mucked.

Sharing the felt on Table 51 with these two are Ryan D'Angelo, who is chipping up nicely today, Paul Snead, who's stack has slipped a bit since the start of play, and Aaron Overton, who's holding steady.