Level 5 (Blinds 25/150/300)
Total Day 1A Entries: 280
Ahmed Mohamed (Scotch Plains, NJ)
While some players poker resumes, or their Hendon Mob pages for that matter, tell you nearly everything you need to know about a players tournament results and pasts, that is usually not the whole story.
That is certainly the case for Ahmed Mohamed (Scotch Plains, NJ) who, despite having nearly $65,000 in live tournament earnings and two Borgata championships to his name, is best known as being one of the best limit players in perhaps the entire country.
“Drawing Dead Ahmed” is a regular at some of the biggest limit and mix games on the East Coast, but takes some time to take shots at the bigger guaranteed tournaments that the Borgata offers.
Just over a year ago, Ahmed took down the $100,000 Saturday Series at Borgata, good for just over $40,000 and he recently made a deep run in this exact event during the September WPT BPO, bowing out in 81st place, after “not winning a hand for the entirety of Day 2”.
He’ll hope to replicate that result, minus the card dead part on Day 2, here in Day 1A of Event 1.
Ahmed is currently playing in the Poker Room, where there are no close to ten tables up and running.
Level 4 (Blinds 100/200)
Total Day 1A Entries: 280
Norm Michalek (Westfield, NJ)
With the Signature Room only able to hold 25 tables, it was just a matter of time until the Poker Room needed to be utilized, and as we returned from break, the first few tables began to appear.
Mid-way through Level 4, the Poker Room is seemingly a “who’s who” of, in all due respect to our elder tournament entrants, young, experienced poker professionals.
One table in particular stands out, as Scott Blumstein, Travis Greenawalt, Michael Haberman, Mo Farah and Norm Michalek (Westfield, NJ) are all seated together in the Poker Room.
Blumstein and Haberman, are mainly online players, but have seen recent success at the live game, with Blumstein making a deep run in the $2,000,000 GTD Event 10 during the Borgata Poker Open.
Greenawalt is coming off the biggest victory of his career, and his first major championship, as he took down the Parx Big Stax Main Event in October, good for a $110,000 score.
Farah is also coming off a good Parx series, as he won the Six Max NLH event, for just over $10,000 and made a deep run in the opening $300 event.
Michalek is our player to watch from this group though, as he has been able to churn out over 20 four figure scores since 2012, giving him just over $80,000 in live tournament earnings.
Michalek has results from the WSOP, WSOP Circuit, Heartland Poker Tour, and previous Borgata Poker Opens on his resume, and is looking to finally make that breakthrough score that has eluded him for the past couple of years.
He’ll have to battle an extremely tough Day 1A table draw to get there, as we continue to cover the action in both the Poker and Signature Room.
Level 4 (Blinds 100/200)
Total Day 1A Entries: TBD
Herb Kelsey (Wall Township, NJ)
Back from break, there is another recent Borgata champion in the early Day 1A field.
Herb Kelsey (Wall Township, NJ) scored the biggest reported cash of his career during Event 5 of the Deep Stacks Challenge series, besting the field to take home his first Borgata trophy and close to $10,000.
Kelsey, who is a Borgata regular, is looking to parlay that result into another big score here in Event 1 of the Fall Poker Open.
Also joining Kelsey in the field, is Richard Collinson (Galloway, NJ) who won a DSC event during the July series, and Final Tabled an event in October, trying to become the first two time DSC champion.
He would bow out in 9th in that event, and is looking for his first “big time score” during a Borgata Poker Open.
Level 3 (Blinds 75/150)
Total Day 1A Entries: TBD
Kevin Grabel (Southampton, PA)
During the WPT Borgata Poker Open, the Borgata again was at the forefront of the poker world, boasting two live streamed Final Tables for their biggest guaranteed preliminary events.
Both Event 1 and Event 10, $2 million and $1 million guaranteed tournaments, respectfully, had their Final Tables streamed live online, and anyone who watched it would know that it wasn’t your “normal rinky-dink live stream” as a certain player would call it.
Kevin Grabel (Southampton, PA) ended up finishing, unluckily, in 7th place of Event 1 of the BPO, for just over $50,000. It would be the second biggest score of his career, only behind a 3rd place finish in a $1,000,000 GTD event during the Spring Poker Open in April of 2014, good for just under $90,000.
Grabel, who is a member of the illustrious, twitter celebrated “Team Kitten Poker”, seems to have a knack for making deep runs in huge, opening events here at the Borgata, and it wouldn’t shock anyone if he did it here again during the Fall Poker Open.
He is currently sitting with an average stack as players in Day 1A are just minutes from their first break of the day.
Level 3 (Blinds 75/150)
Total Day 1A Entries: TBD
Michael McGuinness (Toms River, NJ)
If there was one player that stood out during Borgata’s recent October Deep Stacks Challenge, it was Michael McGuinness (Toms River, NJ).
McGuinness got off to a quick start in that series, going “wire to wire” to win Event 1 and take home his first ever Borgata Poker victory.
He then made another deep run, Final Tabling Event 5, failing in a repeat Championship bid, finishing in 7th place.
Those two finishes netted McGuinness close to $10,000 in earnings, and moved him over the $100,000 lifetime mark, while adding to his poker trophy case, as he now has a Borgata trophy next to his WSOP Circuit ring, from a NLH event in 2012.
McGuinness will hope to carry his run good from the DSC into the Fall Poker Open, after getting shut out during the BPO held in September.
He is in the Event 1 Day 1A early field, and currently sitting with an above average stack.