Event 14 (Day 1A)
$2,500+$200 Championship NLH
$1,000,000 Guaranteed
End of Level 8: Blinds 300/600/75 ante
Entries: 159
Players Remaining: 81
Average Stack: 59,900
At the conclusion of play, the green 25 chips were colored up and removed from play. The remaining 81 players have bagged up their chips for the night. They will return Sunday at 12 noon for Day 2. Of course if any are not happy with their chip counts, they can take advantage of the Best Stack Forward feature and play again in Flight B tomorrow at 11am.
Robert Marquette (York, PA)
Robert Marquette bagged the chip lead for this flight with 152,600. Other big stacks in this flight belong to Travis Hartshorn (139,100) and Zach Donovan (133,600). A full list will be posted when available.
Travis Hartshorn (Sarver, PA) & Zach Donovan (Franklin, MA)
$2,500+$200 Championship NLH
$1,000,000 Guaranteed
Level 8: Blinds 300/600/75 ante
Entries: 159
Tony Sinishtaj (far left) and Joe McKeehen (far right)Heads down, focused on their game of online Chinese Poker.
Dennis Zollo is in the middle, maintaining the Neutral Zone.
Apparently playing in the Fall Poker Open Championship is not enough for Tony Sinishtaj and 2015 WSOP Main Event Champion Joe McKeehen. In addition to battling each other playing No Limit Hold’em on the same physical table, they’re also playing Pineapple Chinese Poker against each other online, in-between hands.
Tony Sinishtaj’s tablet showing his opponent, Joseph McKeehen!
$2,500+$200 Championship NLH
$1,000,000 Guaranteed
Level 8: Blinds 300/600/75 ante
Entries: 158
Flight A of the Championship event has entered the final level of the night. One more hour to go and they’ll bag & tag.
Russell Crane (Howell, NJ)
In addition to defending champion Mike Dentale, we have another Borgata Open Championship winner in the field. In fact, Russell Crane is one of only two players to ever win two Borgata Open Championships. His first was the 2011 Spring Poker Open Championship ($148,704) and the second was the 2013 Fall Poker Open Championship ($361,747). Lifetime earnings: more than $1.5 million.
$2,500+$200 Championship NLH
$1,000,000 Guaranteed
Level 1: Blinds 50/100
Flight A is off to a leisurely start with ten tables up and running.
Let’s take a look at some familiar faces that we haven’t highlighted previously in this series.
Sirous Jamishidi (Broomall, PA)
Sirous Jamshidi doesn’t have a Borgata Open title, but his career earnings are approaching $2 Million. His best live cash was in the 2006 WSOP Main Event where he finished 16th for $659,730. His second-largest cash was right here at Borgata during the 2010 Winter Poker Open. Sirous finished 2nd in that event, collecting $367,794.
Arthur Peters (Brick, NJ)
Arthur Peters made a strong showing during the Borgata Poker Open a couple of months ago. After a final table appearance in the Omaha Hi/Lo event, he went on a deep run in the BPO Championship, finishing 21st for $16,983. His best live cash was in the 2008 BPO $1,500 NLH event where he finished 4th for $43,680.
Bill Horan (New York, NY)
Billy Horan has nine World Series of Poker cashes including two final table appearances. One of those produced his best live cash of $32,168. That’s what he earned for an 8th place finish in the 2014 WSOP $1,000 NLH event. His lifetime earnings are closing in on $100,000.
Coincidentally, all three of these players are on the same table!
$2,500+$200 Championship NLH
$1,000,000 Guaranteed
Level 1: Blinds 50/100
The 2016 Fall Poker Open Championship is underway here in the Signature Room! For the first time ever, a Borgata Open Series Championship will have Friday/Saturday starting flights instead of Sunday/Monday. This schedule change is to accommodate the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, of course.
Mike Dentale (Brooklyn, NY)2015 Fall Poker Open Champion
Last year, it was the early hours of Thanksgiving morning when Mike Dentale claimed the top prize of more than $336,000. He was in house yesterday playing the SixMax, so we expect to see the Defending Champion here today to start his title defense.
This year, the Championship event will wrap up on Tuesday, giving players plenty of time to make it home for turkey dinner.
Cards are in the air!
*The “Shuffle Up & Deal” alternative courtesy of @PaulOresteen.
$2,500+$200 Championship NLH
$1,000,000 Guaranteed
Fight A, the first of two starting flights of the 2016 Fall Poker Open is getting underway shortly in the Signature Room.
Players start with 30,000 chips and Levels 1-10 are 60 minutes long. They’ll play eight of those levels today, then call it a night. Flight B runs at 11am Saturday and will play the same eight levels.
This is a best stack forward event, which means players who bag chips in Flight A can play again in Flight B to try to better their chip position. They will not automatically forfeit their first stack, but only the best stack will carry into Day 2 — no combining!
The Championship event also allows unlimited re-entries until registration closes, which happens at the start of level 11. That’s two levels into play on Day 2, during which players can still late register and re-enter (until about 2:15pm Sunday).
Cards will be in the air shortly, so stay tuned!