Event 1 (Day 1C)

Level 17 (2,500/5,000/500)
Total Event 1 Entries: 1,757
Players Remaining:  332
Average Stack: 132,000

In total, 332 players have advanced from the four Day 1 sessions of the $500,000 GTD opening event of this year’s Fall Poker Open. They will return to Level 17, to not only play into the money, but to also play down to the final 18 players. Going from over 300 down to just two tables is not going to be a quick process, so the returning Day 2 players should all be prepared for a series grind, a grind that will start at 12 PM.

The majority of the Day 2 restart will take place in the Signature Room, with Tables 1-25 starting and finishing their day in the Signature Room. All other tables will start in the Poker Room and then move themselves across the hall as the field consolidates prior to the money bubble. That money bubble likely won’t come into focus for a few hours and when an official Event 1 payout structure is produced, we’ll post it for both players and blog followers to reference.

Before players lock up an Event 1 cash, they need to know where they’re sitting to start Day 2 and that information is provided below in our searchable and sortable Day 2 seating assignment chart:

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End of Level 16:  Blinds 2,000/4,000/400 ante
Total Entries: 1,128
Total Day 1C Entries: 588
1C Players Remaining:  115
1C Average Stack:  128,000

Several players have tweeted their end of Flight C chip counts, so we’re sharing via the blog.  Use #FPO2015 so we can find your tweets!

Bagging up 64k in this Borgata fall opening event. Coming back to 2.5k/5k/500 tomorrow. #NeedADouble #FPO2015

— T.J. Jurkiewicz (@RandalGravesNL) November 12, 2015

bagged 150k in #FPO2015 event one #teamonebullet #teammaxlatereg #teamthirtybbs #teambobbyflays

— Thomas J. Balla (@ThomasJBalla) November 12, 2015

Bagged 234,500 in @BorgataPoker $500K kickoff #NoRunners

— Steve Scales (@SteveScales) November 12, 2015

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End of Level 16:  Blinds 2,000/4,000/400 ante
Total Entries: 1,128
Total Day 1C Entries: 588
1C Players Remaining:  115
1C Average Stack:  128,000

When the craziness of the end of night bag & tag process finally ended, there were 115 players who managed to bag up chips in Flight C.

Justin Liberto crushed this flight, bagging 625,500.  That makes him the overall chip leader through the first three flights.

Jeremiah LeBlanc bagged 526,000, making him second in this flight and second overall.  The rest of the Flight C field is way back.

A full list of chip counts with Day 2 seat assignments will be posted when available.

Flight D coverage will kick in shortly as we continue Fall Poker Open blog coverage from the Poker Room.

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Level 16:  Blinds 2,000/4,000/400 ante
Total Entries: 1,128
Total Day 1C Entries: 588
1C Players Remaining:  150
1C Average Stack:  98,000

The last level of the night is underway and the all-ins are coming non-stop.

After the small blind opened for a raise, Vinny Pahuja 3-bet from the big blind.  The small blind shoved and Vinny was happy to call, holding {ac}{ad} and having his opponent covered.  The small blind rolled over {ah}{kc} and he was in bad shape.

The board ran out {kd}{qc}{3h}{7s}{9d} and Vinny’s Aces held.  He chipped up to about 180,000, close to double the average stack.

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Level 15:  Blinds 1,500/3,000/400 ante
Total Entries: 1,128
Total Day 1C Entries: 588
1C Players Remaining:  ~170
1C Average Stack:  ~86,500

Before the blinds went up:

It looked like the end for “Frankie Funerals” Cieri.  He moved in for 30,600 holding {as}{8d} and ran into Jeremiah LeBlanc’s {Ah}{qd}.  Frank was dominated and the flop of {ac}{6d}{5s} was no help.

Then the {8h} came on the river, the gin card for Frank giving him Aces-up.  He only had to fade a Queen on the river to survive.  The river brought the {ad} giving Frank Aces-full and the double-up to over 60,000.

Frank got his nickname “Frankie Funerals” from his work as a funeral director.  He rose to poker fame back in 2008 at the Foxwoods Poker Classic where he made the WPT Televised final table, which also featured Ted Forrest and was eventually won by Eric Seidel.  Frank finished 4th for more than $200,000.  His wife Francine is here on the rail watching her husband in action.

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Level 14 (1,200/2,400/300)
Total Entries: 1,128
Total Day 1C Entries: 588
Players Remaining: 175

While Justin Liberto is pacing this Day 1C flight with just under 500,000 there are a handful of players playing close to half that number, as part of this flight’s second wave. Bob Latouche is one of those players, as he’s been quietly working his over 200,000 chip stack for the better part of the last few levels.

Liberto and Latouche could not be any more opposite when it comes to their past tournament successes, as Liberto is a recent World Series of Poker bracelet winner and has nearly $2,000,000 in career earnings. Latouche has a few small scores from regional tournament series but that’s the beauty of an event like this, that veteran professionals and players looking to breakthrough to notch their first big score are competing against one another.

Liberto’s half-million chip stack might be out of reach to some but if Latouche is able to win a few sizable pots and continue to chip up, he could put himself in a great position heading into tomorrow’s Day 2 session.

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Level 14:  Blinds 1,200/2,400/300 ante
Total Entries: 1,128
Total Day 1C Entries: 588
1C Players Remaining:  ~190
1C Average Stack:  ~77,400

As expected, tables are breaking down rapidly.  We’ve lost 4 tables (40 players) in just one 30-minute level!

Justin Liberto did his part to thin the herd.  In a recent hand that was recounted to us by a departing player, Justin flopped a full house against a player holding a set and another with a flush draw.  Justin is now the chip leader with close to 470,000.

To put that in perspective, the overall chip leader from yesterday’s two flights, Stephanie Hubbard, bagged 474,000.  The next largest stack was only 310,000, more than 160,000 behind Stephanie.

Justin picked up his first WSOP bracelet this summer in the $3,000 Six Max NLH event, good for more than $640,000.  He also has a couple of WSOP Circuit rings in his trophy case, but has yet to claim a Borgata Open title.  He came close during the Winter Poker Open when he finished second to Ari Engel in the $1,500 Heads-Up NLH event, taking home $15,714.  His career earnings top $1.7 million.

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Level 13:  Blinds 1,000/2,000/300 ante
Total Entries: 1,128
Total Day 1C Entries: 588
1C Players Remaining:  ~210
1C Average Stack:  ~70,000

After a short-stack shoved, Howard Wolper was more than happy to look him up from the small blind, since he was holding pocket Queens.  The short-stacked player had {Js}{3s}.  The flop came {qd}{7d}{2s} giving Howard top set and a solid grip on the hand.

When the {7s} came on the turn, Howard had a full boat and his opponent was drawing dead, but he didn’t realize it and started calling for a “spade!”.  He got his wish, as the {6s} hit the river, and he started to celebrate before realizing that his flush was no good.  He headed for the exit while Howard chipped up to about 140,000.

Howard holds the record for most (reported) cashes here at Borgata with 66.  His closest rival has only 46 cashes.

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Level 13 (1,000/2,000/300)
Total Entries: 1,128
Total Day 1C Entries: 588
Players Remaining: 210

Of the dozen or so tables of players that made the across the hall journey to the Signature Room over the last break, Steve Scales looks like he brought with him one of the bigger stacks. Scales is currently playing just shy of 175,000 and while he’s happy with that number, he’s hoping to building to build his stack over the last four levels of Day 1C.

After a few bullets misfired yesterday, Scales came into this Day 1C flight with a “goal” of 200,000 and while he’s on pace to hit that number, he shouldn’t be too concerned with he does or not. His current stack size is more than enough to put him over the chip average in tomorrow’s Day 2 session. So, while Scales will hope to reach his goal, he’ll also try to keep himself safe over the next two hours and lock up a spot in tomorrow’s restart.

The rest of this flight will be dealing with that same dilemma, as players will try their best to increase their stacks tonight but also, try their best to avoid having to jump into tonight’s Day 1D flight. That’s because that 1D session will likely conclude around 4:30 AM, meaning that players who have played through the majority of the morning flight will be putting in a close to 18 hour shift if they are forced to play another session tonight.

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Level 13:  Blinds 1,000/2,000/300 ante
Total Entries: 1,128
Total Day 1C Entries: 588
1C Players Remaining:  ~230
1C Average Stack:  ~64,000 

During the extended break, the remaining players from the poker room were relocated to the signature room.  Play has now resumed with 23 tables, leaving 230 or fewer players in action in this Flight.

They’ll play straight through four levels, to the end of level 16, then bag up for the night (about 7:15pm).

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