2007 Borgata Winter Poker Open - Day 1WPT Event Attracts 570 Players And Generates $1.5 Million First Place Cash Prize |
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The World Poker Tour hit Atlantic City for the second time during season 5, courtesy of the 2007 Borgata Winter Poker Open. Unlike September's Borgata Poker Open, a full-on poker production complete with lights and music and held in the hotel's massive Event Center, the BWPO provided players with a much more low-key and traditional setting, namely, the Borgata poker room.
As the high-stakes (and low-stakes) cash games played out in the background, the 2007 BWPO began at 11:25 a.m. EST with $25-$50 blinds and $30,000 starting stacks. Action started with 550 participants, but the player-friendly structure attracted a large enough field that tournament personnel allowed alternates through the first two levels of play.
Despite the big stacks and small blinds, Gene Todd needed only 15 minutes to notch his first elimination. The New York native turned trip jacks to bust an opponent and rake a pot that made him an early chip boss with over $60,000.
Jamie Gold proved to be another player who experienced early success on day 1. Seated at table 33, the 2006 WSOP champ doubled up, then displayed some of his much-televised table-talking abilities to eliminate Brian Wolfe.
With the board showing the Q 8
7
5
, Gold moved all in over the top of a $7,000 bet by Wolfe. While Wolfe mulled over the decision, Gold continuously encouraged action, even at one point saying, "it's a lot closer than you think." Wolfe called, and found his A
K
up against Gold's 8
7
. The two pair held with the 5
river, and the win gave Gold a $93,000 stack.
At 3:15 p.m. tournament officials announced a 570-player starting field. The $5,529,000 total prize pool, and the 55th-place elimination money bubble meant that the winner of the 2007 Borgata Winter Poker Open would earn a $1.6 million prize. The payouts for the top five positions were announced as follows:
First place - $1,603,410
Second place - $847,596
Third place - $442,320
Fourth place - $387,030
Fifth place - $331,740
For a complete list of payouts please click here.
While the largest crowd of the day congregated around local favorite Phil Ivey, who came up playing in Atlantic City, three other participants also attracted an above-average level of attention. Only hours after appearing at the World Poker Open televised final table, Daniel Negreanu, Kido Pham, and J.C. Tran chartered a private jet from Tunica, Mississippi, to Atlantic City to play on day 1 of the BWPO.
The late-night trip became the talk of the Borgata poker room, and fans watched to see if the three players could continue their recent World Poker Tour success. Pham, the WPO's fifth-place finisher, suffered a series of hits during the first hour, and busted shortly before the end of level three.
Tran, who finished sixth in the WPO, dropped out of contention in post-dinner break play, while Negreanu, less than 24 hours removed from his runner-up finish, exited the Borgata Winter Poker Open in the day's final two minutes when he mucked his all-in hand against an opponent's A 8
and another player's winning pocket tens (on a 9
3
2
3
4
board).
Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, the 2006 Card Player Player of the Year award winner, entered the BWPO as the defending champ. Like Tran, Pham, and Negreanu, Mizrachi battled for most of the day in the bottom half of the leader board.
At 8:39 p.m. Mizrachi's title defense ended in a hand against John Racener. After limping into the pot, Racener bet $1,100 on the A A
6
flop. Mizrachi raised an additional $1,150 and Racener called. Both players checked the 9
turn. When the K
landed on the river, Mizrachi immediately pushed all in for around $6,000. After the call, Mizrachi said "full house" as he turned over the 6
6
, but Racener showed the A
9
and eliminated "The Grinder" from the tournament.
While Mizrachi fell, Joe Pelton positioned himself to make another deep run in a WPT championship event. The 2006 Legends of Poker winner and 2006 Festa al Lago third-place finisher eliminated Joe Cassidy with an ace-high flush against a king-high flush en route to becoming one of the first players to crack the $100,000 mark (along with Gold and Devin Porter).
At 10:51 p.m. and with seven levels of play completed, day 1 of the 2007 Borgata Winter Poker Open came to a close.
Some other notables who failed to survive the tournament's first stage include Eric Froehlich, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, Alex Jacob, David "The Dragonfly" Singer, John Juanda, David Williams, Gavin Smith, and Joe Sebok.
Official chip counts will be available upon release.
The remaining players return at 11 a.m. EST for the BWPO's day 2.
Stay tuned to CardPlayer.com for live updates, chip counts, photos, videos, and a new edition of "The Circuit."
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