Live Tournament Updates
Mike Vela vs. Haralabos Voulgaris
Level 36: 200,000-400,000, 40,000 ante
After a flop of 8
72
, Mike Vela moves all in from late position for 360,000, and Haralabos Voulgaris thinks for more than a minute before he folds from the cutoff. Vela takes the pot.
08:22 AM, 09/19/07
Tom Nguyen vs. Zvi Shiff
Level 36: 200,000-400,000, 40,000 ante
Tom Nguyen raises from early position to 45,000, and Zvi Shiff calls from the button. The flop comes 4
32, Nguyen bets 80,000, and Shiff calls. The turn card is the A, Nguyen bets 200,000, and Shiff goes into the tank for about three minutes -- with only 420,000 left, this call would be for half of his remaining chips. Shiff finally folds, and Nguyen takes the pot.
08:20 AM, 09/19/07
James Lee Eliminated in 27th Place (27,160) Mike Matusow Triples Up
Level 36: 200,000-400,000, 40,000 ante
Mike Matusow moves all in for his last 169,000 and Joe Cassidy makes the call from the small blind. James Lee calls all in from the big blind for his last 162,000 and now neither Cassidy or Matusow like their hand. Matusow sheepishly turns over K
10, Cassidy shows A10 and Lee has QQ. The flop comes 853 and Matusow asks if there is a king in the deck. The turn is a safe J, but the river is the K tripling up Matusow to 540,000 and eliminating James Lee from the tournament. It should go without saying, but Matusow spent a few minutes dancing around the room, screaming about his suckout.
08:19 AM, 09/19/07
Dale Pinchot Doubles Up Through Mike Matusow
Level 36: 200,000-400,000, 40,000 ante
John Hoang raises to 45,000 and Mike Matusow reraises all in. Dale Pinchot calls all in for his last 147,000 and Hoang folds. Pinchot shows AK and Matusow is dominated with A8. The board comes 943AJ and Pinchot doubles up to 360,000. Matusow is knocked down to 172,000.
08:10 AM, 09/19/07
Victor Ramdin vs. Heung Yoon
Level 36: 200,000-400,000, 40,000 ante
In the first hand of the day at Table #2, Heung Yoon raises from the button to 55,000, and Victor Ramdin reraises to 200,000. Yoon taps the table and folds, giving the pot to Ramdin.
Sorted In: Borgata Poker Open, Borgata, Season VI08:09 AM, 09/19/07
Shuffle Up & Deal!
Level 36: 200,000-400,000, 40,000 ante
There are 15 minutes left at the current level, with blinds at 8,000-16,000, and a 2,000 ante. Play will continue today until the field is down to the final six players. Shuffle up and deal!
Sorted In: Borgata Poker Open, Borgata, Season VI08:06 AM, 09/19/07
Day 4 About to Begin
Level 36: 200,000-400,000, 40,000 ante
The players have gathered here in the Borgata Poker Room, unbagging their chips and preparing to play. Stay tuned to WorldPokerTour.com and CardPlayer.com all day for live coverage of all the action. Here are the official seating and chip counts: TABLE #1 1. Mark Weitzman - 1,017,000 2. John Kranyak - 532,000 3. Robert Coppola - 267,000 4. John Hoang - 896,000 5. Loi Phan - 558,000 6. Mike Matusow - 302,000 7. Dale Pinchot - 160,000 8. Joe Cassidy - 455,000 9. James Lee - 164,000 TABLE #2 1. Ken Weiner - 371,000 2. Roy Winston - 1,590,000 3. Brian Strahl - 985,000 4. David Sparks - 495,000 5. Heung Yoon - 700,000 6. Victor Ramdin - 885,000 7. Mike Vela - 352,000 8. Haralabos Voulgaris - 691,000 9. Paul Spitzberg - 537,000 TABLE #3 1. Darrell Hopkins - 981,000 2. Tom Nguyen - 1,700,000 3. Steven Weinstein - 452,000 4. Eugene Todd - 688,000 5. Joe Brooks - 282,000 6. Sang Hwang - 541,000 7. Zvi Shiff - 576,000 8. Abraham Mosseri - 601,000 9. Evlys Gutierrez - 157,000
Sorted In: Borgata Poker Open, Borgata, Season VI07:55 AM, 09/19/07
WPT Borgata: Day 3 Recap
Level 36: 200,000-400,000, 40,000 ante
Day 3 of the WPT Borgata Poker Open started with 127 players, and the goal was to eliminate an even 100, ending the day with three tables (27 players). Along the way, the field would pass the money bubble, where the top 54 players would cross the line from nothing-for-their-trouble to something-for-their-trouble.
The biggest potential story was Lee Markholt, who has had an amazing run in World Poker Tour events in 2007 -- he has reached the money in seven out of the nine WPT tournaments that he's played (earning more than $290,000), including the last three in a row (Bellagio Cup III, Legends of Poker, Gulf Coast Poker Championship). With a cash here at the Borgata, Markholt would tie Daniel Negreanu and Kirk Morrison for the record with four straight WPT cashes. Unfortunately, Markholt busted about 30 spots away from the money. While he missed that goal, he's still working on a record for most cashes in a calendar year, and his 70% cash rate is remarkable in any case.
As the rest of the field approached the bubble, play tightened up a bit more than usual. During hand-for-hand play, one player folded A-K suited face up to a standard preflop reraise, saying, "The only hand I can call with is aces." (His opponent showed A-K offsuit as he took the pot.) The short stacks kept doubling up rather than busting out, sometimes in dramatic fashion by catching outs on the river -- one player cheered while 54 others moaned.
The scheduled dinner break passed, and they kept playing. When Steve Brecher was finally eliminated in 55th place (his A-Q couldn't overcome A-K), the field had spent more than an hour and a half on the bubble. The surviving 54 players were guaranteed at least $13,580, and they immediately celebrated by going to dinner. When play resumed around 9:00 pm, 30 minutes were added to the level to compensate for time lost to hand-for-hand play.
Those 30 minutes added to the clock would be just enough for the field to shrink from six tables to five, as the short stacks quickly loosened up. An hour after that, there were just four tables remaining (36 players).
Through it all, Alan Goehring was looking down on most of the field. He started the day second in chips, quickly moved into the chip lead, and was the first player to cross the million-chip mark (when an average stack was below 300,000). At one point, Goehring was moved to a new table, only to wake up with pocket aces and pocket kings in his first two hands -- and he busted a player each time. But when the field reached the final four tables, Goehring's luck took a turn for the worse.
With about 32 players left, Heung Yoon was all in preflop with J-J against Goehring's A-A. But the board came 10-9-3-Q-8, giving Yoon the runner-runner queen-high straight to win the pot and double up. That knocked Goehring down to about 300,000, which was his lowest point on Day 3 (he started the day with 376,800). Goehring continued to leak chips, and ultimately busted in 29th place when his A-5 couldn't overcome A-J.
Around 12:30 am, Bernard Brock was hit with a cooler -- his KK was up against the AA of Day 1 chipleader Brian Strahl. The aces held up, and Brock was eliminated in 28th place, officially bringing Day 3 to a close.
The survivors quickly bagged and tagged their chips, eager to leave after a long day. Here are the top five chipleaders, along with a few notables. (The average stack is 622,222.)
1. Tom Nguyen - 1,700,000
2. Roy Winston - 1,590,000
3. Mark Weitzman - 1,017,000
4. Brian Strahl - 985,000
5. Darrell Hopkins - 981,000
7. Victor Ramdin - 885,000
9. Haralabos Voulgaris - 691,000
10. Eugene Todd - 688,000
22. Mike Matusow - 302,000
Victor Ramdin is currently on the cover of Card Player magazine, profiled for his philanthropic work in the country of Guyana. Haralabos Voulgaris, Eugene Todd, and Mike Matusow are three of the funniest professional players in the game -- definite fan favorites that would spice up any televised final table.
But there are only six seats, and 27 players left to fight for them. With more than $3.8 million waiting at the final table (including more than $1.5 million for first), even chipleader Tom Nguyen faces an uphill battle. Who will make it? Return to WorldPokerTour.com and CardPlayer.com on Wednesday at 11:00 am for live coverage of all the action.
02:31 AM, 09/19/07
Day 4 Seating Assignments
Level 36: 200,000-400,000, 40,000 ante
The official seating assignments and chip counts have been released. This is how the player's will start Day 4 on Wednesday morning at 11:00 am EST: TABLE #1 1. Mark Weitzman - 1,017,000 2. John Kranyak - 532,000 3. Robert Coppola - 267,000 4. John Hoang - 896,000 5. Loi Phan - 558,000 6. Mike Matusow - 302,000 7. Dale Pinchot - 160,000 8. Joe Cassidy - 455,000 9. James Lee - 164,000 TABLE #2 1. Ken Weiner - 371,000 2. Roy Winston - 1,590,000 3. Brian Strahl - 985,000 4. David Sparks - 495,000 5. Heung Yoon - 700,000 6. Victor Ramdin - 885,000 7. Mike Vela - 352,000 8. Haralabos Voulgaris - 691,000 9. Paul Spitzberg - 537,000 TABLE #3 1. Darrell Hopkins - 981,000 2. Tom Nguyen - 1,700,000 3. Steven Weinstein - 452,000 4. Eugene Todd - 688,000 5. Joe Brooks - 282,000 6. Sang Hwang - 541,000 7. Zvi Shiff - 576,000 8. Abraham Mosseri - 601,000 9. Evlys Gutierrez - 157,000
Sorted In: Borgata Poker Open, Borgata, Season VI12:06 AM, 09/19/07
