Event #1: $600 Deepstack Kick-Off Day 1b | 2020 Borgata Winter Poker Open

01-15-2020 21:06 UTC-4

William Siegel Takes the Lead on Day 1b of Deepstack Kick-Off

MartianNews

Level 15 : 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Day 1b of Event #1: $600 Deepstack Kick-Off at the Borgata Winter Poker Open accumulated a total of 558 entries and when the last chance saloon had closed for business it was William Siegel leading the final 91. The $2,000,000 guaranteed prize pool has now attracted 963 entries in the first two starting flights and is sure to blow past the set guarantee with three remaining flights yet to come at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in the first event of the series.

Siegel saw himself catapult to the top late in the day and that is where he finished by night's end, accumulating a chip lead stack of 461,000. Some other big stacks from Day 1b include Zarko Mandic (408,000), James Liddell (398,000), Martin Matranca (327,000), and Dan Walsh (325,000).

Many notable players bagged up for the night and that list includes Stanislov Angelov (317,000), BorgataPoker.com sponsored pro Dan Buzgon (246,000), Erik Gorman (177,000), Frank Funaro (154,000), Mukul Pahuja (129,000), Julian Miranda (119,000), and Stephen Song (82,000).

That wraps it up for the second of five starting flights with Day 1c underway now so tune in for the PokerNews updates and watch as all of the action unfolds.

Tags: Dan Buzgon Erik Gorman Julian Miranda Martin Matranca Mukul Pahuja Stephen Song William Siegel Zarko Mandic

01-15-2020 16:05 UTC-4

Drabot Doubles Thru Jackson

Kaelaine Minton

Level 8 : 400/800, 800 ante

Michael Drabot got all in for his last 14,900 from the hijack and it was up to David Jackson in the big blind, who shoved over the top, forcing out an early position player and successfully isolating Drabot.

Jackson's was in bad shape against Drabot's and the runout of changed nothing. Drabot doubled up to about 33,000 while Jackson's stack was cut down to ~22,500.

With two Open Series Championship wins, David Jackson has distinguished himself among Borgata's elite tournament players, as one of only five to ever accomplish that. In addition, he won two trophy events during a single Open series last November (2019 Fall Poker Open) and that puts him in yet another elite group. He's the only player to accomplish both feats, putting him in a class all to himself!

Player	Chips	Progress
Michael Drabot	33,000	33,000
David Jackson	22,500	22,500

Tags: David Jackson Michael Drabot

01-15-2020 14:40 UTC-4

Defending Champion in the House

Kaelaine Minton

Level 5 : 200/400, 400 ante

Pascal Zaklama won this event last year, claiming his first Borgata Open title in the process.

The 2019 BWPO Kick-Off event drew a massive field of 5,130 entries, putting more than $2.6 million in the prize pool. The event ended with a three-way deal which gave chip leader Pascal Zaklama first place, $328,695, and the BWPO trophy.

He's begun his attempt at a tite defense here today in Flight B.

Player	Chips	Progress
Pascal Zaklama	32,000	32,000

Tags: Pascal Zaklama

01-15-2020 13:00 UTC-4

Businessman, Baseball Coach, and Poker Champion

Kaelaine Minton

Level 2 : 100/100, 100 ante

Adam Gerber has turned up in the field today and he's one we don't see very often. He runs his family's business and also coaches his kids little league team, which keeps him quite busy. He's got to spend time with the kids before they're all grown up, then he'll "have plenty of time to play poker".

He’s got more than $1 million in tournament earnings, and that’s considerable for an amateur player. Most of his earnings came from the 2007 US Poker Championships Championship event, which he won for more than $606,000. The final table in that event was star-studded with the likes of Svetlana Gromenkova, Victor Ramdin, and the late Gavin Smith, but Gerber came out on top.

Just a few weeks prior to that win, Gerber finished second in the 2007 Borgata Poker Open $5,000 NLH event, collecting more than $248,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Adam Gerber	25,000

Tags: Adam Gerber Gavin Smith Svetlana Gromenkova Victor Ramdin

01-15-2020 11:00 UTC-4

Flight B Takes to the Air at 11 AM

Kaelaine Minton

Day 2 of the 2020 Borgata Winter Poker Open here at the luxurious Borgata in Atlantic City kicks off at 11 a.m. local time with the second starting flight of the $600 Deep Stack Kick-Off in the Event Center. Day 1b will be a repeat of Day 1a which took place yesterday, albeit with more entries expected as the first starting flight attracted 405 entries.

Out of those 405 entries, 65 players have already made it through to Day 2. Emanuele "Manny" Gugliuzza is currently leading them with 419,000 in his Day 2 bag. Other notable stacks belong to players like Reggie Jones (326,000), Charlie Marchese, Mike Volpe (263,000), and Michael Marder[/b] with 246,000 in chips.

With a whopping $2,000,000 guaranteed prize pool, many more entries are expected to fly in over these next few starting days. The 2019 edition attracted 5,130 entries to easily surpass the guarantee with Pascal Zaklama walking away with $328,695 and the trophy to score his biggest live cash ever.

Late registration and re-entry are available until the start of level 13 (about 5:45 p.m.). All players will start with a full 25,000 stack. They will play fifteen 30-minute levels today, the remaining players will then bag up their chips for the night (about 7:30 p.m.).

Another starting flight, Day 1c will start at 5 p.m. with two more taking place on Thursday, January 16. The survivors of all five starting flights will combine on Friday, January 17, at 11 a.m for Day 2 to battle it out for their spot on the final day.

Tags: Charlie Marchese Emanuele Gugliuzza Michael Marder Mike Volpe Pascal Zaklama Reggie Jones