2020 Borgata Winter Poker Open

Event #1: $600 Deepstack Kick-Off
Day: 1d
Event Info

2020 Borgata Winter Poker Open

Final Results
Winner
Zarko Mandic
Prize
$342,967
Event Info
Buy-in
$600
Prize Pool
$2,291,625
Entries
4,375
Level Info
Level
36
Blinds
300,000 / 500,000
Ante
500,000
Players Info - Day 1d
Entries
1,522
Players Left
291

Rick Lee Among the Top of Day 1d Flight in Deepstack Kick-off; Douglas Hamshaw Bags the Lead

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

Day 1d of Event #1: $600 Deepstack Kick-Off in the Borgata Winter Poker Open drew an insane total of 1,522 entries and by the end of 15 levels, only 291 found a bag. Douglas Hamshaw seemed to find the largest stack of the night with his 446,000 in chips, which is good for third overall thus far through the first four flights.

A well-known Borgata regular saw himself finish among the top in Rick lee with a healthy sized stack of 329,000. Lee hovered well above the average for the early stages of the day and really started to kick it into overdrive during the latter. He managed to secure one of the top stacks of the day and will be looking for another deep run here in the first event as he searches for his second Borgata trophy.

Some other big stacks from the day include Christopher Frigon (366,000), Andrew Cooper (308,000), Albert Abbey (291,000), Arnaldo Gordon (251,000), and Israel's Eyal Maaravi (225,000).

Many notable players found a bag and some of those to do so are Asher Conniff (187,000), Nicholas Verderamo (182,000), Ryan Dodd (174,000), Vincent Moscati (168,000), Benson Tang (163,000), Matthew Holmquist (151,000), and Alex Jim (63,000).

The survivors from all five flights will return to the Event Center on Friday, January 17 at 11 a.m. local time for Day 2. That wraps it up for the PokerNews coverage of Day 1d, but tune in now for all the updates of Day 1e which is currently running and is expecting another enormous field to add to the 2,960 entries that have already been accumulated over the first four flights.

Tags: Alex JimAndrew CooperArnaldo GordonAsher ConniffBenson TangEyal MaaraviMatthew HolmquistNicholas VerderamoRick LeeRyan DoddVincent Moscati

Fishberg Chipping Up

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

Greg Fishberg is on the move as they approach the close of registration. He's up to more than 180,000 and in good shape to bag chips at the end of level 15.

At the end of Level 12, they'll take a color up break to get rid of the black 100 chips and when play resumes, registration will close for Flight D. The final flight takes off at 6 p.m., right here in the back of the Event Center.

Player Chips Progress
Greg Fishberg us
Greg Fishberg
180,000 105,000

Tags: Greg Fishberg

Like Father, Like Son

Level 10 : 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Theen Wey & Ta Wey
Theen Wey & Ta Wey

Borgata has several husband and wife duos, pairs of brothers and even sisters who play tournaments together. Today we have a Father/Son pair in action.

Theen Wey is the father and has $98,814 in tournament earnings. His best showing here at Borgata is second place in a 2016 Spring Open Saturday Series, for which he earned his best live cash of $27,330.

Ta Wey, his son, has $111,211 in earnings and a best live cash of $44,661 for fourth place in the 2011 Borgata Poker Open $450 NLH event — also his best finish at Borgata.

They're pretty evenly matched, so it will be interesting to see who wins the last-longer in this family!

Player Chips Progress
Ta Wey us
Ta Wey
78,000 78,000
Theen Wey us
Theen Wey
63,000 63,000

Tags: Ta WeyTheen Wey

An Mis-Matched Duo

Level 10 : 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Bill Gazes & Charles Kassin
Bill Gazes & Charles Kassin

A couple of players in the middle of the room present an unlikely duo, but demonstrate tournament poker as the great equalizer.

Bill Gazes has more than $2.3 million in career tournament earnings, a best live cash of $759,000, and cashes in all variants of the game.

On his left is Charles Kassin, with total live earnings of just over $57,000 and a best live cash of $13,140. He has cashed in three Borgata Open Kick-Offs (2019 BFPO, 2019 BPO, & 2019 Spring Poker Open).

At this point Kassin has more chips, but this is a marathon, not a sprint, and there still a long way to go to reach the coveted plastic bag at the end of Level 15, not to mention the culmination of this event, which will be on Saturday, January 18.

Player Chips Progress
Charles Kassin us
Charles Kassin
73,000 73,000
Bill Gazes us
Bill Gazes
58,000 58,000

Tags: Charles KassinBill Gazes

Datashvili Hiding in the Low Tables

Level 8 : 400/800, 800 ante
Jackob Datashvili
Jackob Datashvili

Among the familiar faces seated just inside the Event Center, we found 2019 Summer Poker Open Championship winner Jackob Datashvili. Last Summer, he came out on top of a field of 514 entrants in that $2,700 buy-in event to claim first place, $276,129, and his first Borgata title.

He's struggling here in the early levels, down to about half what he started with, currently sitting on about 16 big blinds.

Some other familiar faces sharing the entry-area tables, with chip counts:

Player Chips Progress
Bart Dowling us
Bart Dowling
130,000
Phong Nguyen us
Phong Nguyen
37,000
Lexy Gavin us
Lexy Gavin
32,000
Joel Gola us
Joel Gola
30,000
Jackob Datashvili us
Jackob Datashvili
13,000
Joe Reddick us
Joe Reddick
10,000

Best Initials for Poker Players

Level 7 : 300/600, 600 ante
Anna Antimony, Anthony Anastasi & Adam Agaev
Anna Antimony, Anthony Anastasi & Adam Agaev

Over near the Event Center entrance, quite a hike from our Media area, we found some of our favorite players.

Anna Antimony (sb) was involved in a battle of the blinds and checked the river on a 9-high board. The big blind checked, behind, showing {j-}{9-} for top pair. Her {a-Clubs}{9-Diamonds} had him out-kicked and the three-time Borgata titleist took the pot.

At a nearby table sits Anthony Anastasi, a fellow Capricorn who celebrated his birthday (elsewhere) yesterday. He's back on the felt today after failing to bag in Flight A Tuesday. He's got one Borgata title from the 2015 BPO in the Turbo NLH post-lim.

Also in the low-numbered tables is Adam Agaev, a long-time Borgata regular with one title from the 2011 Spring Poker Open.

Aside from winning tournaments here at Borgata what do these three players have in common? The coolest initials a poker player can have: AA!

Player Chips Progress
Anna Antimony us
Anna Antimony
33,000 33,000
Anthony Anastasi us
Anthony Anastasi
25,000 -5,000
Adam Agaev us
Adam Agaev
25,000 25,000

Tags: Adam AgaevAnna AntimonyAnthony Anastasi

Kachittavong Looking Kalm in Early Play

Level 4 : 200/300, 300 ante
Soukha Kachittavong
Soukha Kachittavong

Soukha Kachittavong has more than $1.5 million in reported tournament earnings, so it's no wonder he's looking cool, calm, and collected here early in Flight D.

He was also part of a seven-way chop that ended this event during last November's Fall Poker Open, taking first place and more than $87,000. Kachittavong took first place ($127,637) in the 2017 Spring Poker Open Kick-Off as well, making him one of few players to win an Open Series Kick-Off twice. That remains his best live cash.

He does most of his winning in Connecticut casinos, but he's also taken down two Borgata DeepStacks Challenge events, giving him a total of four Borgata titles. Could this be number five? We won't know until Saturday when this event concludes, but first he's got to make it through 15 levels today and get chips in a bag.

Player Chips Progress
Soukha Kachittavong us
Soukha Kachittavong
25,000 25,000

Tags: Soukha Kachittavong

Welcome to Day 1d of the 2020 BWPO Event #1: $600 Deepstack Kick-Off

Pascal Zaklama - 1st Place - 2019 BWPO Kick-Off
Pascal Zaklama - 1st Place - 2019 BWPO Kick-Off

Today, the 2020 Borgata Winter Poker Open (BWPO) will hold the final two starting flights of Event #1: $600 Deepstack Kick-Off. The first three starting flights over the previous two days have seen a total of 1,438 entrants take to the felt with about 230 of those already advancing to Day 2. The final two flights are expected to increase that number considerably, starting at 10 a.m. with Day 1d. The final flight, 1e, will begin at 6 p.m. tonight.

Players start with 25,000 chips and late registration and re-entries will be available through the break after Level 12. Day 1 Levels 1-15 will last 30 minutes each, while on Day 2, Levels 16 and beyond will be 50 minutes each. Day 3 will see levels increase to one hour. All Day 1 flights will play through the end of Level 15 before the bag & tag. Click here for the complete Structure Sheet.

Manny Gugliuzza (419,000) bagged the biggest stack Tuesday on Day 1a. Yesterday for Day 1b, William Siegel bagged 461,000 and 1c's Rajasekar Govidan locked up 456,000. The average stack, so far, for players advancing to Day 2 is about 156,000. Lots of regulars and familiar faces failed to get chips in a bag and many of them will be back today to fire again.

This tournament is Borgata's biggest of the year, as evidenced by last year’s event, which drew 5,130 entries. Pascal Zaklama took first place and $328,695 as part of a three-way final table deal. Nearly 2,300 more entries are needed today to cover the guarantee and that's quite reachable, since last year's event saw more than 3,000 entrants play in the final two flights. Action will get underway for Flight , in what is sure to be a packed Event Center, shortly after 10 a.m.

Click here for a look at the entire 2020 Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event schedule.

Tags: Pascal Zaklama