Otti Leads Event #13: $400 Almighty Stack NLH Day 1A; Buzgon, Hawkins, and Cajelais Bag
Day 1a of the 2020 Borgata Winter Poker Open Event #13: $400 Almighty Stack NLH has come to a close after 17 levels of play. Of the 718 entrants on Day 1a, only 174 managed to get chips in a bag, locking up a seat for Day 2 Friday at 12 noon.
Olamide Otti bagged the lead by a good stretch, putting more than $1.5 million in the bank. He came from behind late in the flight, overtaking several other players already stacking close to one million. Only a handful crossed that milestone.
Otti is followed by Mingda Bi (1,134,000), Tanner Thrush (1,093,000), Kevin Ozcelik (1,043,000), and Michael Procopio (1,000,000). Honorable mentions go to Anthony Conti (996,000) Hot Tran (994,000), and Maurice Hawkins (992,000) who all bagged up just shy of a million.
Other notable stacks in the bag are two-time Borgata titleist Gene Castro (912,000), BorgataPoker.com Sponsored Pro Dan Buzgon (838,000), and WSOP bracelet holder Erik Cajelais (429,000).
Day 1b continues in the back of the Event Center with PokerNews continuing to provide live updates through its conclusion.
The final two Almighty starting flights will take off Thursday, January 23, at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. local time. A complete list of remaining players with their seat assignments and chip counts will be posted before the start of Day 2.
. Rutherford checked it over to Jackson, who plopped out a bet that covered Rutherford's remaining stack.
for nothing but ten-high. Rutherford had 
for a pair of eights to take the pot.
, both Dukaj and Varnell checked. The initial raiser made it 10,000, the other player called, Dukaj folded, and Varnell called.
for the second club to come on the board. Varnell checked again, the initial raiser shoved for around 100,000, the other player shoved too for more and Varnell called for around 200,000.
to not change things as Varnell earned a full double through the not so sober player and eliminated the initial raiser. 
with just over 30,000 in the middle already. Timothy Rutherford bet 14,500 from under the gun and was called by the player in the early position. Judith Bielan decided to shove for 55,900 from the middle position. Rutherford took some time to consider his options and then decided to shove too for almost 95,000. The third player took a few seconds but opted to get out of their way. Bielan tabled 
for the nut straight while Rutherford had the 
as a formality as Bielan got paid.
and Bielan and Haberman were the only ones to make the call when the small blind bet 7,200. The turn was the 
and now only Bielan called the 22,000 continuation-bet of her opponent. The river completed the board with the 
and both players checked. Bielan scooped the pot wiith 
for two pair. 
, the big blind check-folded to the 5,000 continuation-bet of the under-the-gun player which Bielan did call. The button also folded. The turn brought them the 
for the intial raiser to check-fold to the 8,000 of Bielan who showed the 
for Finley to improve to trips but it gave Burrell a full house. 
with just over 11,000 in the middle already. The player in the hijack checked and Emile Schiff bet 3,000 from the button which was called. The turn was the 
and Schiff's continuation-bet of 9,000 was check-called again. The river completed the board with the 
, it was checked to Schiff who bet 3,500. Babos called but the under-the-gun player raised to 10,000. The hijack and Schiff folded but Babos called. 
for the turned straight. The other player held 
