Event 11
$500+$60 Super Survivor NLH (Re-Entry)
Level 15: 2,000/4,000/400
Total Entries: 136
Players Remaining: 19
Frank Ghanem
As Day 2 of the Almighty Stack NLH wraps up over in the poker room the $560 Super Survivor NLH Event is chugging along in the Signature Room.
We are closing in on the money as 19 remain and the final 13 will all take home $5,000 cash with 14th place earning $960.
Frank Ghanem narrowly missed winning his first Borgata Poker title in the Spring Poker Open finishing 2nd in the $300 Deeper Stack NLH event for nearly $8,000. He is sitting behind one of the biggest stacks here in the Survivor with 350,000 as we near the money.
Sergey Demidenko
Sergey Demidenko may not have as many chips as Ghanem but he is still all smiles and in good spirits. “I just came back from 60,000 and now I’m over 200,000” he says after his pocket tens hold up against his opponents pocket sevens to earn him the knockout.
Event 11 ‘Almighty Stack’ (Day 1E)
Level 9: Blinds 1,000/2,000/300 ante
Total Event 11 Entries: 1,324
Total Day 1E Entries: 396
Raj Patel is one of the more experienced players in the field here on Day 1E. With over $1,800,000 in earnings. Raj is coming off a string of cashes in the Foxwoods World Poker Finals last month. He took 2nd place in the PLO event and 4th in the Big Stack Freezeout. Raj has a healthy stack of 350,000 and will certainly be one to keep an eye on as the night continues.
Level 28 (Blinds 50,000/100,000/10,000)
Total Entries: 655
Players Remaining: 1
Chip Average: 14,300,000
Aaron Mermelstein grabbed a stranglehold on the chip lead with two tables remaining and never let it go en route to his first Borgata Poker Championship.
After Alex Tsimikalis was eliminated, he gave Aaron Mermelstein (Philadelphia, PA) a somewhat backhanded compliment, saying, “You ran so good man.”
Aaron certainly did, and while some people will look at his heater that started around 9 PM and never seemed to cool off as “luck”, the old adage of, “You make your own luck.” would work perfectly here.
There were plenty of times at this Final Table where Aaron just seemed to press the right buttons at the right time, opting to wait for better spots instead of settling for marginal, “flipping” situations, which is the main reason he also seemed to have “it”.
Alex was certainly not being 100% serious, but it should be said that with two tables remaining, Aaron Mermelstein already controlled nearly a third of the chips in play.
You don’t see that often, but when you do, you can pretty much peg that player for a podium finish, and Aaron did that prediction one better, winning the title outright, for his first Borgata Poker Championship.
Aaron has come close before, finishing in 2nd place during a Borgata Mini Series in December of 2013, for $15,000, the biggest cash of his career until today.
Mermelstein now has more than $130,000 in live tournament earnings, and will head to bed and get some sleep, as he is already registered for the Heads Up event which starts tomorrow at 3 PM.
That field should include some of the better players in the region, but Aaron will enter the field with confidence, as the 64 who have entered may all be very good poker players; only a few of them can be considered Borgata Poker Champions, Aaron Mermelstein is now in that illustrious group.
Level 28 (Blinds 50,000/100,000/10,000)
Total Entries: 655
Players Remaining: 1
Chip Average: 14,300,000
James Kinney (Matthews, NC) finishes runner up in Event 11, after Final Tabling yesterday’s $100,000 GTD Event 8.
We’ve know seen three players make back-to-back Final Tables, as James Kinney (Matthews, NC) almost added a second Borgata Poker trophy to his already impressive poker resume.
We use the word “almost” lightly, as the chip counts were no where close going into the heads up matchup, with Aaron Mermelstein holding a 12 million to 2,300,000 advantage.
Kinney chipped up slightly over the first few hands, but the battle would not last long, as Kinney was moving all-in on a board of {Qh}{Jc}{7s}{Ks}{Kh} only to see Aaron snap call and turn over {Kc}{8s}.
Kinney held {Jh}{7d} and was ahead on the flop when he began his aggression, only to see the board run out, like it seemingly has all day, perfect for Mermelstein.
We mentioned earlier in today’s coverage that Mike Hollenberg, who is one of the other players with multiple Final Tables during this series, would be leading the fake “FPO Leader Board Challenge”, we might have to redact that statement, as Kinney has now cashed three times in this series and notched back-to-back Final Tables in two of the biggest events this week, both $100,000 GTDs with massive fields.
This result will move Kinney just under the $200,000 mark in live tournament earnings, as he makes $22,000 for his runner up finish.
Level 28 (Blinds 50,000/100,000/10,000)
Total Entries: 655
Players Remaining: 2
Chip Average: 7,100,000
Alex Tsimikalis finishes 3rd for the second time this FPO, this time in the $100,000 GTD Event 11.
After losing a pot to cut his stack in half, and then doubling up, Alex Tsimikalis was all-in and at it again, this time against the buzz saw of Aaron Mermelstein.
Mermelstein would, what do you know, raise the action pre-flop to 250,000 and Alex would move all-in from the small blind.
This time, James Kenney got well out of the way, and Aaron would call after getting a count of 2,400,000.
He’d also be dominating, as he held {Ah}{Jc} to Alex’s {Qd}{Jh}.
The board would run out {3s}{4s}{9c}{5s}{9s} and Alex would be sent to the rail in 3rd place, for the second time this series.
Alex was overheard saying earlier in the day that he came to “just see if he could make a score so he could maybe free roll the main”.
Looks like he did that and then some, as Alex will make just over $14,000 for his finish today.
Alex has played two of the bigger tournaments offered so far in the Fall Poker Open, and has made just under $25,000 from those two scores alone, a pretty impressive accomplishment by a “dad of one and a half (he has a daughter and another on the way) who only plays poker a few times a month”.
Level 28 (Blinds 50,000/100,000/10,000)
Total Entries: 655
Players Remaining: 3
Chip Average: 4,100,000
Tony Robideau (Hammonton, NJ)
There hasn’t been much time in between eliminations, as the pace of Event 11 is going by much, much faster than we originally thought.
These players have been playing for close to 18 hours now, and play is now three handed as Tony Robideau was just sent packing in 4th place.
Robideau would move all-in over top of the pre-flop open of Aaron Mermelstein for just over 1,500,000.
Aaron would call, and again eliminate a player at the Final Table, as he held {Qd}{Jd}, to Robideau’s {Kd}{Qc} on a board of {6s}{Qs}{Js}{Ad}{2c}.
Robideau would get unlucky for the first time today, and at the worst time, as the next three payouts come with a sizable difference.
Nevertheless, he will make just over $11,000 for his efforts.
While reporting Robideau’s elimination, Alex Tsimikalis doubled up James Kinney, pocket {10x}’s beating pocket {7x}’s and would then tripled up as his {Kc}{4d} would beat Aaron’s {Ah}{10s} after Kinney called the all-in and then Aaron shoved over the top.
Chalk it up to a small net loss for Alex, who is playing just over 2,500,000.
Kinney is second in chips with close to 2,700,000, with Aaron Mermelstein holding a massive advantage with just over 9,500,000.
Level 28 (Blinds 50,000/100,000/10,000)
Total Entries: 655
Players Remaining: 5
Chip Average: 3,100,000
Brian Mooney (Middle Village, NY)
The blinds and antes went up after the break, and it is eating into the shorter stacked players, as Brian Mooney (Middle Village, NY) was cut down to under 15 big blinds and forced to move all-in for 1,200,000 over top of the under the gun open of Aaron Mermelstein.
Mermelstein got the count and quickly made the call, turning over {7c}{7d}.
Mooney held {Ah}{7s} and was now just drawing to an Ace.
He wouldn’t get there, as Mooney’s roller coaster day ended as the board ran out {4h}{9s}{4c}{Kh}{10d}.
Mooney was one of the shorter stacks in the field when the money bubble burst and then managed to run up a stack and be one of the first players over the 1,500,000 chip mark.
He then continued to ride the coaster, peaking and valley-ing, doubling twice at the Final Table to make some valuable pay jumps.
Mooney is sent to the rail, scoring another four figure score, taking home $9,086 for his 5th place finish, moving him just under the $100,000 career earnings mark.
Event 11 is now four handed with Aaron Mermelstein holding close to 7,500,000 of the 15,000,000 chips in play.
Level 27 (Blinds 40,000/80,000/10,000)
Total Entries: 655
Players Remaining: 6
Chip Average: 2,800,000
Lauren Biaglow
In the last hand before break, Lauren Biaglow would be eliminated in 6th place.
The action was picked up with James Kinney limping in middle position and he’d be raised by Aaron Mermelstein from the cut off to 300,000.
Lauren was next to act on the button and would move all-in for just over 1,200,000.
Kinney would fold and Aaron would snap call, turning over {Qs}{Qd}.
Lauren would need some help, as she was holding {8s}{8d}.
She wouldn’t get any as the board would run out {7c}{7h}{3c}{Ac}{5d} and the final woman standing would be sent to the rail with a 6th place finish, good for just over $7,500.
We thought there could be another female champion during this Fall Poker Open, as it wasn’t meant to be, but there will be a deserving one none the less, as we have two players, Alex Tsimikalis and James Kinney who have already Final Tabled events during this series, and Aaron Mermelstein and Brian Mooney, who both have podium finishes to their names here at Borgata.
Level 27 (Blinds 40,000/80,000/10,000)
Total Entries: 655
Players Remaining: 6
Chip Average: 2,500,000
Aaron Shapiro
After marvelously working a short stack for the last hour and a half, Aaron Shapiro is going home, but was very unlucky to be sent to the rail in 7th place.
The action was picked up with Alex Tsimikalis raising to 170,000 and Shapiro would move all-in for just over 1,100,000.
Tony Robideau would flat call on the button, putting Alex in a tough spot.
He’d eventually fold and “guarantee” that he would have hit his set on the flop, as he held pocket sixes.
He wouldn’t and he’d be glad he folded as Shapiro turned over {As}{Ac} and Robideau turned over {Ad}{Kd}.
The board ran out {9d}{5d}{10h}{2d}{Qs} giving Robideau the diamond he “deserved”.
Shapiro would graciously accept defeat, but after being short for the majority of the Final Table, he deserved better, and it would have been very interesting to see what he would have done with an above average chip stack.
He is sent to the rail in 7th place, making just over $6,000.
Level 27 (Blinds 40,000/80,000/10,000)
Total Entries: 655
Players Remaining: 7
Chip Average: 1,900,000
Vishal Patel (Rockaway, NJ)
To be honest, the only reason we post the “nothings going on” post at a Final Table, it to coax the “Poker God’s” into moving along the action, as each time it seems an elimination immediately follows that post.
Add Vishal Patel to the “nothings going on” casualties, as he was severely short stacked and forced to move all-in with {Kh}{10h}.
Aaron Mermelstein seems to have regained his footing, as he held {Ac}{Qd} and would score the knockout as the board ran out {9h}{3c}{7d}{7c}{4s}.
Patel was one of the biggest stacks after the dinner break, but seemed to just be near average as the field started to thin.
While players around him were chipping up, he was trending downwards, eventually out in 8th place, for just over $4,500, the biggest live tournament score of his career.
Aaron Mermelstein is currently playing just under 4,000,000.