2007 Borgata Winter Poker Open - Day 2Gold Falls On WPT Event's Second Day; Phan, Rousso, And Le Among Names Still In Contention |
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Atlantic City's $1.6 million fight continued with day 2 of the 2007 Borgata Winter Poker Open. For the 318 returning players, the still distant money bubble made the tournament's second stage similar to the early rounds of a heavyweight bout, where the emphasis falls less on delivering the knockout blow and more on formulating, and executing, a strategy for long-term success.
The "grind" day for the Borgata Winter Poker Open began at 11 a.m. EST with $300-$600 blinds and $75 antes.
Jamie Gold again proved to be one player apparently unaware of the phrase "slow start." The New Jersey native, who admitted he was fighting off the effects of an all-night celebration with friends and family, took the early chip lead when, a half-hour into play, he flopped quad treys and eliminated a player holding pocket kings. Gold raked the pot, and climbed the leader board via his $260,000 stack.
While the reigning WSOP champ continued to accumulate chips, and become one of the first participants to pass the $300,000 mark, Joe Bartholdi joined the eliminations list when his pocket aces fell to an opponent's spiked set of queens.
The early levels claimed a number of other notable players including Amnon Filippi, Jon Friedberg, Phil Ivey, Ted Forrest, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Erick Lindgren, and "Yukon" Brad Booth.
Despite being a prohibitive short stack in hour one, John Gale survived and made one of the biggest comebacks of the day. Down to his last $2,075, the British-born pro first quintupled up, then steadily battled his way to $120,000 in chips. After rebuilding his stack, Gale proceeded to eliminate Andy Black when Black's all in reraise with the A
10
collided with Gale's A
K.
Victor Ramdin also capped off a leader board resurgence by busting a fellow big-name player. In a battle of Team PokerStars members, Ramdin eliminated Barry Greenstein after his A
A held against a short-stacked Greenstein's A J.
Another online-sponsored pro, UltimateBet's Devin "TranquilChaos" Porter provided one of the day's most talked about hands when he squared off against one-time chip boss Omar Saeed.
Porter initiated the action when he raised $6,000 and received three callers. After a K 9 7 flop, Porter tossed $15,000 into the middle. His bet knocked two of the callers out of the hand, but Omar Saeed kept play going with a $40,000 raise. While mulling the decision, Porter accidentally dropped a couple of his chips over the betting line, and, forced to make a move, stated, "Well, I guess I'm all in." Saeed mucked, and admitted to holding a king, only to have Porter flip up the 6 4 and drag the pot.
At 9:53 p.m., the player who started both day 1 and 2 by claiming the chip lead, made a surprise exit from the 2007 BWPO. After watching his stack decline level by level, Gold used his last remaining chips to come in over the top of a Michael Sukonik raise. After a call, Gold found his A-8 up against Sukonik's pocket jacks. With no help coming on the board, Gold walked out of the tournament area as an unexpected day 2 casualty.
A number of notable pros made late moves up the leader board following Gold's elimination. Seated at a table that also featured Haralabos Voulgaris, Burt Boutin, and Vanessa Rousso, John Phan took down a series of small- and medium-sized pots en route to cracking the day's top five (this after being down at one time to $5,000).
Bill Edler's end-of-day rush came in the form of one elimination and a double-up. Edler started the run when his A J paired an ace on the flop to bust John D'Agostino and his pocket sevens. Half an hour after Jdags' elimination, Edler called an all-in preflop reraise by Nam Le. Ahead with the K K against Le's A K, Edler doubled up to $280,000 after the board brought Le no improvement. Despite the loss, Le still possessed over $270,000.
Like day 1, the second stage of the 2007 Borgata Winter Poker Open concluded shortly after 10:50 p.m. EST, and with seven levels of play completed.
The top five chip counts for the BWPO are as follows:
1. Erik Cajelais - $449,600
2. Jon Turner - $432,800
3. Tom Schreiber - $403,000
4. Kyle O'Donnell - $387,200
5. John Phan - $340,000
Other notables close behind include Bill Edler, Nam Le, Vanessa Rousso, Chip Jett, John Hennigan, and Davidson Matthew.
Meanwhile, some players not advancing are Darrell Dicken, Michael Binger, Rob Mizrachi, Cliff Josephy, Erik Seidel, and Chris Bell.
For a complete list of chip counts and eliminations please click here.
The remaining field of 107 return at 11 a.m. EST and will play down to the final 27 players.
Stay tuned to CardPlayer.com for live updates, chip counts, photos, videos, and a new edition of "The Circuit."
Quote of the Day: "You know what the difference is between me and the press? One day." - Joe Sebok on his media availability following the first day of a championship event.
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