Event 8
$200+$30+$10 Donation Veterans Deeper Stack NLH
$25,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 17: 3,000/6,000/6,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 117
Players Remaining: 18

Travis Merrifield raised to 13,000 from late position and the player in the big blind called. They went heads up to the flop and the big blind moved all in for his last 58,000. Merrifield thought about his decision for a bit and called.
His opponent showed for an open ended straight draw but would need to improve against the
of Merrifield. The turn
and river
sealed the deal for Merrifield to earn him the pot and the knockout.
The remaining 18 Event 8 players are now all in the money and guaranteed at least $364 for their efforts.
Travis Merrifield- 355,000
$200+$30+$10 Donation Veterans Deeper Stack NLH
$25,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Returning to Level 17: Blinds 3,000/6,000/6,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 117
Players Remaining: 21

As of the dinner break, John Harvilla holds the chip lead with 426,000.
Other big stacks:
Joseph Acquavella – 329,000
Chris Brescia – 264,000
A. Nonymous – 254,000
Travis Merrifield – 246,000
Casey Crews – 228,000
Sal Anastasio – 193,000
And some other chip counts:
Gary Kosakowski – 167,000
Tommy Bates – 107,000
Al Annunziata – 123,000
Scott Raifer- 123,000
Ted Geier – 101,000
Natale Kuey- 100,000
Scott Rosmarin – 92,000
$200+$30+$10 Donation Veterans Deeper Stack NLH
$25,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
End of Level 16: Blinds 2,500/5,000/5,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 117
Players Remaining: 21
Average Stack: 167,000
The final 21 players are off on a one-hour dinner break. Play will resume at about 8:35pm.

John Harvilla opened to 10,000 early and got called by Tommy Bates (sb) and chip leader Travis Merrifield (bb).
On the flop of , they checked it to John, who bet 25,000. Tommy picked up his chips, looked at them, said “Well boys…”, then put them back down and mucked his hand. Travis raised to 70,000 and John called.
On the [Jh] turn, both checked the possible flush. The river put four hearts on the board and Travis led out for 107,000. John called and Travis patted the felt, showing
for nothing but air. John tabled
for the flush to take the pot.
Travis’ stack fell to about 250,000 and John chipped up to about 400,000, becoming our new chip leader.
After an open from Scott Rosmarin, Tommy Bates moved in for 47,500 on the button. Scott called, tabling . Tommy was at least live with
.
The flop of gave both a pair, but left Scott in the lead and Tommy packing up to leave. Then the
landed on the turn, giving Tommy trips and a reason to stay. When the
completed the board, Tommy doubled up to 107,500. Scott was left with about 100,000.
Over on table 1, seat 1 was all-in with against A. Nonymous, who had
. The runout of 9 3 2 2 2 sent seat 1 to the rail, bringing the player count down to 21.
Back on table 2, seat 9 got all-in holding against Casey Crews’
. The board came J T 4 3 T, rewarding seat 9 with a double up.
Whew! That wrapped up the level and players headed out for their dinner break!
$200+$30+$10 Donation Veterans Deeper Stack NLH
$25,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 16: Blinds 2,500/5,000/5,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 117
Players Remaining: 22
Average Stack: 159,500

Eric Rivera (button) got all-in holding on a flop of
. Travis Merrifield (utg) had him covered and was drawing with
.
The on the turn completed Travis’ flush and left Eric drawing dead. He hit the rail in 25th place.
Over on table 1, Martin King for all-in from the small blind holding on a flop of
(middle pair with gutshot). His opponent, A. Nonymous, had
and successfully faded all the outs as the board completed with
.
Martin was felted in 24th place.
Another player hit the rail, bringing the count down to 22, just four from the money, as they approach the dinner break.
$200+$30+$10 Donation Veterans Deeper Stack NLH
$25,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 16: Blinds 2,500/5,000/5,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 117
Players Remaining: 26
Average Stack: 135,000

Martin King got moved to table 1 and soon found himself all-in holding . The board cooperated as it came 6 6 3 T 4 and Martin doubled up (the losing hand was already in the muck so we missed it).
He won the Seniors event here during the 2015 Summer Poker Open, good for $16,850. Although he has numerous wins in Pennsylvania, that’s his lone Borgata title.
$200+$30+$10 Donation Veterans Deeper Stack NLH
$25,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 15: Blinds 2,000/4,000/4,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 117
Players Remaining: 27
Average Stack: 130,000
Players have been dropping rapidly and we’ve seen pocket Kings run into pocket Aces (and they held up) and coin-flips going both ways.
Chris Brescia opened to 11,500 from the hijack, then Tommy Bates jammed for 117,000 total from the cutoff. Everyone got out of the way and Chris opted to let it go.
Travis Merrifield, now on Tommy’s left, called his hand – “pocket 9s”. Tommy made the courtesy show to the table and Travis was correct.
$200+$30+$10 Donation Veterans Deeper Stack NLH
$25,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 14: Blinds 1,500/3,000/3,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 117
Players Remaining: 36
Average Stack: 97,500
Play has resumed after the break. Now it’s a race to the money or the dinner break, which is coming up at about 7:30pm.



$200+$30+$10 Donation Veterans Deeper Stack NLH
$25,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
End of Level 13: Blinds 1,200/2,500/2,500 BB Ante
Total Entries: 117
Players Remaining: 36
Average Stack: 97,500
Level 13 is done and time for another break.

Before they took off, I learned that Chris Brescia is here at Borgata for his Bachelor Party and this is the first tournament he’s ever played here. For a newbie he’s doing well, playing about 160,000 and nearly double the average.
Wonder what his fiancé Ashley is doing while he’s here playing poker? Their wedding is set for January 20th, so they’ve got a couple of months to party before tying the knot.
$200+$30+$10 Donation Veterans Deeper Stack NLH
$25,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 13: Blinds 1,200/2,500/2,500 BB Ante
Total Entries: 117
Players Remaining: 40
Average Stack: 87,800

Peter Miranda thought he was all-in and busted on a previous hand, but still had a single black 100-denomination chip left.
He got that in the middle against two players and they saw a flop of . Joe Fermane bet and the third player folded. Peter’s
had been out-flopped by Joe’s
. The last two cards failed to bring a miracle for Peter and this time he really was busted.
$200+$30+$10 Donation Veterans Deeper Stack NLH
$25,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 13: Blinds 1,200/2,500/2,500 BB Ante
Total Entries: 117
Players Remaining: 48
Average Stack: 73,100

Eric Rivera is up to more than 100,000 and doing it ‘debonaire’ style with his cigar in hand.
He was just a spectator, however, when Aces went down in flames again. A short-stack got his chips in with the ultimate pair, against A. Nonymous, who had pocket Tens. A Ten in the window sunk those Aces.