Bin Weng has just taken his seat and on one of his first hands he was facing an early position open and a three-bet from Aaron Mermelstein in the hijack. In the small blind, Weng put out a cold four-bet to 4,200, getting quick folds from both opponents.
The next hand James Postiglione opened to 800 and was called by Mermelstein in middle position, Weng on the button, and Anthony Russo in the big blind.
Action resumed on the turn with Postiglione and Weng heads-up with around 8,000 in the middle and the board reading Q♥9♦8♣6♣. Postiglione checked to Weng who put out an overbet of 12,200, and Postiglione folded after some deliberation.
Mitch Garshofsky and Jordan Ludwick were engaged on some table chat while there was an open raise to 600 and a call oner seat over. Alex Queen then three-bet to 2,300 and the initial raiser decided to jam for more than 22,000.
Queen snap-called for a reason with the A♦A♣ and was up against 10♦10♣.
The board ran out J♦6♦5♦3♦8♣ board locked up the knockout for Queen with the nut flush on the turn.
"Good game guys, that was fuckin quick," the eliminated player said on the way out. He had just entered not long ago.
There were some 4,000 in the middle to the Q♦Q♣3♥ flop when three players checked to the 4♣ turn. Jordan Williamson bet 1,000 and Alex Queen folded. Zachery Tsachalis then raised to 3,500 on the button and Williamson reraised to 11,000 for Tsachalis to call.
Williamson then jammed the 2♠ river and Tsachalis sighed but called all-in.
Williamson tabled the Q♥9♥ but Tsachalis had the better kicker with the A♣Q♠ to earn a full double after a mere eight minutes of play.
At noon local time, the conference room on the second floor of the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City will be buzzing with poker enthusiasts from New York and New Jersey as the final starting flight of the 2026 Borgata $2,700 Summer Poker Open Championship will be just a quarter of an hour away from kicking off.
The crown jewel of the 2026 Borgata Summer Poker Open comes with a $1 million guarantee and has thus far attracted a field of 245 entries across two starting flights. However, the third and final Day 1 is traditionally the strongest and local staff at Borgata expect more than 300 entries.
In the previous two flights, 67 players have bagged up chips and Lewis Esposito remains the overall chip leader with his massive stack of 425,500 from Day 1a. He is now followed by Coleem Chestnut (359,000) and John McDonald (324,500), who claimed the largest chip tallies last night. Whether or not anyone will be able to break into the overall top three spots remains to be seen.
Top 10 Chip Counts Across Day 1a and 1b
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
BB Day 2
1
Lewis Esposito
United States
425,500
170
2
Coleem Chestnut
United States
359,000
144
3
John McDonald
United States
324,500
130
4
George St. Lawrence
United States
288,000
115
5
Corbin Avery
United States
262,000
105
6
Gregory Fishberg
United States
256,500
103
7
Samuel Ick
United States
255,000
102
8
Joel Mitchell
United States
232,500
93
9
Eric Starker
United States
228,500
91
10
Colin Moll
United States
227,000
91
The plan for the day is identical with the previous two flights: A total of ten levels of sixty minutes each await with a 15-minute break every two levels and an extended 75-minute dinner break scheduled upon completion of level six.
Unlimited re-entries are available throughout the entire day with all players receiving 40,000 in chips. The action kicks off at initial blinds of 100-200 with a big blind ante of 200, which gives everyone 200 big blinds in the first level of play. However, don't be surprised if even such a deep-stacked affair will provide fireworks from the get-go.
Day 1c Structure
Level
Small Blind
Big Blind
BB Ante
1
100
200
200
2
200
300
300
Break
15 minutes
3
200
400
400
4
300
500
500
Break
15 minutes
5
300
600
600
6
400
800
800
Dinner
75 minutes
7
500
1000
1,000
8
600
1200
1,200
Break
15 minutes
9
1,000
1500
1,500
10
1,000
2000
2,000
All survivors from today will join the 67 players who bagged up chips in the previous two flights but the overall attendance figures won't be set in stone just yet. The late registration will remain open until the start of Day 2 on Wednesday, July 28, 2026 at noon local time. Recommencing blinds then will be 1,500-2,500 with a big blind ante of 2,500.
Four-time WPT Main Event champion Darren Elias is among those who have already qualified for Day 2 whereas fellow BetMGM ambassador Michael Lavin busted on Day 1b and will likely give it another shot, Esther Taylor is also expected to join the action along with many other notables from the local poker community. Perhaps, even 2026 WSOP Main Event finalist Michael Gagliano may also jump in as well but the chances of that are a toss of the coin.
Stay closer than ever to the action with MyPlayers. This brand new, free feature on PokerNews puts your favorite poker players front and center. Whether you're keeping tabs on legends like Daniel Negreanu or following a friend grinding their way through a Day 2, MyPlayers delivers real-time updates tailored just for you. No subscriptions, no paywalls - just the hands, chip counts, and bustouts that matter most.
It’s simple: log in, search for any player in our live coverage, hit the star, and they’ll be added to your personalized MyPlayers list. You’ll see their progress across all live-reported events, with chip counts and updates pinned right where you need them at the top.
From railbirds to backers, MyPlayers is the smarter way to stay connected to the game.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor to provide all of the action until a winner has been crowned in a few days from now on July 31, 2026 and there will also be cards-up coverage on the BetMGM YouTube channel as of Day 2 as well.
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