2007 Borgata Winter Poker Open - Day 327 Players Remain; Davidson Matthew Sits Atop BWPO Leader Board |
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For the first time in the 2007 Borgata Winter Poker Open the emphasis of a day switched from levels played to something a bit more interesting: eliminations. The goal for the BWPO's third stage centered on whittling the returning field of 107 down to the tournament's final 27 players.
Day 3 also featured one of the most closely watched moments in any tournament, the bursting of the money bubble.
Play began at 11:11 a.m. EST with $1,500-$3,000 blinds and $300 antes.
The first of the 80 necessary eliminations came on the second hand of the day when PokerStars' Vanessa Rousso busted David "The Lion" Singer (not "The Circuit's" David "The Dragonfly" Singer), courtesy of her pocket aces holding up against Singer's pocket nines.
Two of the bigger names still in contention at the BWPO soon followed Singer to the exits of the Borgata poker room. A run-in with day 2 chip leader Erik Cajelais ended Scotty Nguyen's tournament life after Nguyen's A
7 failed to best Cajelais' pocket jacks. Meanwhile, Nam Le, the victim of a Bill Edler double-up late in the previous day's action, continued his plummet down the leader board and soon became a tournament short stack. With only $45,000 in chips, Le, holding pocket eights, pushed all in, but dropped out of the BWPO when Michael Sukonik's A
Q made trips on the J
6 2 Q Q board.
Despite missing a finish in the money, Vanessa Rousso still managed to earn the distinction of being the last female player eliminated from the Borgata Winter Poker Open. Nearing the end of the day's second level, the PokerStars pro reraised all in for her last $130,000. Bill Edler called, and showed Q
Q to Rousso's A 10. The J J 2 6 Q board gave Edler the full house, and busted Rousso from the tournament.
Other pros to exit during the first half of play included Steve Brecher, Surinder Sunar, Steve Dannenmann, Eric Mizrachi, Gene Todd, Haralabos Voulgaris, and Isaac Haxton.
At 5:46 p.m., Tony Cousineau's elimination in 56th place put the remaining field on the money bubble, and play switched to hand-for-hand. With the clock turned off, and fans crowded along the roped-off area of the Borgata poker room, Burt Boutin and Bill Edler tangled on one of the most memorable hands of the day.
Following an Edler raise from middle position, Boutin, the big blind, reraised to $125,000 and Edler called. A 7 6 4 flop lead to an immediate all-in by Boutin. A player known for his physically active table persona, Boutin hopped out of his chair and paced around until Edler called. Returning to the table, Boutin flipped over A A and Edler showed J J. The J turn caused a collective groan/cheer from the rail, but Boutin threw his hands into the air when the Q landed on the river, to give him a flush and the hand.
Six minutes later, David Oppenheim's flopped set of nines made Glyn Banks, all in with the unpaired A Q, the 2007 BWPO's official "bubble boy."
Greg Fondacaro became the first player to walk off the tournament floor with a paycheck (54th - $13,823) when Chuck Kelley rivered a Broadway straight to top Fondacaro's pocket sixes.
The expected post-money bubble elimination boom saw 16 players fall in two hours. When Burt Boutin flopped quad sixes, and busted Devin Porter (37th place - $14,954), day 3 of the Borgata Winter Poker Open stood nine players away from completion.
Davidson Matthew contributed to the end goal, when, after raising $40,000, he called Scott Jones' $80,000 all in reraise. Matthew's Q J put him behind Jones' A A, but the K 5 2 9 10 board gave Matthew the runner-runner straight and made Jones the 31st-place finisher ($16,616).
Less than one minute after Padraig Parkinson's pocket tens held against Victor Ramdin's A-2 (29th place - $16,616), Tom Werthmann's 28th-place finish ($16,616) put a close to day 3 of the 2007 Borgata Winter Poker Open.
The top five chip counts are as follows:
1. Davidson Matthew - $1,455,000
2. Joe Simmons - $1,380,000
3. Erik Cajelais - $1,046,000
4. Burt Boutin - $982,000
5. Tony Salerno - $968,000
For a complete leader board and list of eliminations please click here.
Play resumes at 11 a.m. EST and the remaining field will play down to the Borgata Winter Poker Open's final six participants.
Stay tuned to CardPlayer.com for live updates, chip counts, photos, videos, and a new edition of "The Circuit."
Quote of the Day: "I think Burt crapped his pants twice on that hand" - Jon Friedberg on Burt Boutin, following Boutin's aces-versus-jacks double-up through Bill Edler.
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