Level 12 (800/1,600/200)
Total Day 1A Entries: 81
Players Remaining: 23
Chip Average: 105,000

The first portion of the final level of the night played out without much excitement but there were a few big swings over the last few minutes that will certainly change the dynamic of this Day 1A flight as 23 players head into Tuesday’s Day 2 session.

After peaking near the 300,000 mark, Joe Lachiana rode a roller coaster though the final level but recovered after doubling up a short stack to bag the second biggest stack in this Day 1A flight. He’ll return over the quarter-million chip mark and will likely be near the top of the BPPS $100,000 GTD leaderboard. 

Joe Lachiana was hovering near the 300,000 mark before John Yanni rivered a full house to double through him, after Lachiana turned the nut straight on a board of {Jc}{9H}{4h}{Qs}. Yanni held {Jd}{4d} and spiked the {Jc} on the river to move himself up and over the 100,000 chip mark.

Yanni didn’t finish above that mark though, as Craig Stern doubled through him on one of the final hands of the night. Stern cracked Yanni’s pocket kings, flopping the wheel and scoring the double to move himself up the leaderboard late in Day 1A.

Stern finished just under the 200,000 mark, meaning he’ll round out the top three, as Lachiana bagged the second biggest stack with 259,000. The entire field will be chasing Quintin Trammell into Day 2 though, as he finished as the clubhouse leader with 268,000.

Quintin Trammell seems to have picked up where he left off in last month’s Summer Poker Open, bagging the top stack coming out of this Day 1A flight. He’ll return Tuesday with 268,000 which should be near the top of the leaderboard regardless of what kind of stacks develop tomorrow.

Trammell joked that he “didn’t get any bad beats today” and he’ll hope to keep that cleanliness to his game come Tuesday’s restart as he goes for another deep Borgata run.

In all, there were just over a half dozen players that bagged up over the century mark, with those players highlighted below:

Quintin Trammell – 268,000
Joe Lachiana – 259,000
Craig Stern – 191,000
Mickey Woll – 164,000
Abraham Korotki – 153,000
Tom Revello – 148,000
Alan Levin – 141,000
Frank Simone – 132,000
Tom Savistky – 108,000

Level 12 (800/1,600/200)
Total Day 1A Entries: 81
Players Remaining: 27

The remaining Day 1A field has just moved into Level 12, meaning that just 45 minutes separate these players from the end of the night and from bagging up their chips for Tuesday’s Day 2 session.

With just under three full ten-handed tables remaining, it will be interesting to see how many players make it out of this first starting flight, especially since the tournament structure has Day 2 playing to 18 players. We imagine if only that many advance from this first flight, which is near our estimated surviving player number, Day 2 will likely play down to a final table instead.

That won’t be decided for another day or so though, as the main focus for players now is to bag up chips for Day 2, with a complete list of those players who do so being posted once play concludes.

Level 11 (600/1,200/200)
Total Day 1A Entries: 81
Players Remaining: 28

Robson Barbosa (Long Branch, NJ)

The last few levels of every starting flight carry with them an interesting dynamic, as bigger stacks are usually able to push the short stacks around, as players will look to hold onto any type of stack to bag up and make Day 2. That might be exactly the situation that just occurred at a central table, as Robson Barbosa just shoved the river to force a fold and take down a pretty sizable pot.

The action was picked up on a board of {Ad}{Jh}{4h}{Ks}, with Barbosa check-calling a bet of 15,000 from his in position opponent. That player only left himself close to 20,000 behind and Barbosa had him well covered heading to the river.

The {Kh} paired the board and completed a flush draw on the river but Barbosa was undeterred, quickly announcing himself “all-in”. That move put the pressure on his short stacked opponent and it showed, as the player wrestled with the decision for close to a minute and a half before eventually throwing his cards towards the mark.

While his opponent thought, Barbosa gave nothing away, keeping that contained demeanor while he slid his cards to the dealer. Neither player said a word while Barbosa stacked up nearly 80,000 in chips, but the table all seemed to know that whether Barbosa had it or not, his opponent could never call off light for his tournament life this late in the day.

As it stands, Barbosa is now playing well over the chip average midway through Level 11 and looks poised to continue to chip up through the rest of this Day 1A session.

Level 11 (600/1,200/200)
Total Day 1A Entries: 81
Players Remaining: 30

The remaining three tables of this Day 1A flight have returned from their final break and will resume play with Level 11 shortly. That means that there are only two 45-minute levels remaining in this opening starting flight, as players that are still alive at the end of Level 12 will bag and tag their chips for Tuesday’s Day 2 session.

As it stands, another full table should be eliminated by then, leaving us with anywhere from 15-20 players advancing to Day 2. Regardless of where that number ultimately falls, the BPPS blog will track the Day 1A action through Level 12 and bring you a complete list of survivors once play concludes.

Level 10 (500/1,000/100)
Total Day 1A Entries: 81
Players Remaining: 36

Tony Diorio (Staten Island, NY)

In poker, there are plenty of silly superstitions when it comes to all-in encounters.   For some, conceding defeat and walking away before all the cards are dealt is the way to get that perfect two outer to come, with some dubbing that the ‘Rob Brown Pro Walk Away’.

Call it whatever you want, but Tony Diorio just pulled the move off to perfection, finding a double up with pocket queens against another player’s pocket kings to get himself up and over the chip average.

The action was picked up in the middle of a pre flop leveling war, with Diorio eventually moving all-in for his final 35,000, only to see his opponent call and table {Kd}{Kh}. Diorio could only roll his eyes as he threw over his own {Qc}{Qh}, pushing his stack into the middle and himself away from the table.

After the {8h}{7d}{5d} flop fell, he began to stand and walk away from the table, only to shoot back after seeing the {Qd} fall on the turn to save his tournament life.

The {Jc} completed the board and the miracle survival for Diorio, who joked that “he’s usually the one losing with kings in that spot”. It was a role reversal this time around though and the ‘RBP Walk Away’ strikes again, keeping Diorio alive as this Day 1A flight is about to head towards their final break of the day.

Level 10 (500/1,000/100)
Total Day 1A Entries: 81
Players Remaining: 39

Mickey Woll finds himself near the top of another BPPS starting flight and now he’ll look to best his 6th place finish from the first ever BPPS event in March.

Three-quarters through this flight, there are a handful of players over the century mark, but it’s Mickey Woll that is in pole position to end the day as Day 1A chip leader. Woll’s stack is weighing in at nearly 150,000 and the experienced grinder likely can’t wait until the color up, as he has more small denomination chips than some players have in total.

This isn’t the first time that Woll has led a Borgata Poker Player’s Series event, as he paced the field through much of the opening BPPS 500 during it’s inaugural series in March. Woll was able to parlay that early advantage into a final table appearance and a 6th place finish, earning just over $8,500 for his deep run.

That’s a solid result but for the former Borgata Poker champion, who has just under $160,000 in career earnings to his name, he’s looking like he’s trying to best that finish this week.

With just three hours remaining in this Day 1A flight, it will be interesting to see if Woll can hold his spot near the top of the leaderboard and continue that run into Tuesday’s Day 2 session.

Level 9 (400/800/75)
Total Day 1A Entries: 81
Players Remaining: 50

Craig Stern (Crompond, NY)

The same table that delivered us pocket aces vs. kings vs. queens vs. jacks just brought us another massive hand, as Craig Stern just went runner-runner to hit a royal flush and score a knockout to move himself near the 100,000 chip mark.

The early action was missed but on a board of {Ad}{Jd}{10s}{Ks}{As} a player in early position bet just under 2,500 before Stern, who was in late position, raised to 7,000. Another player on the button folded and the initial better announced himself “all-in”. Stern snap called and before his opponent could show his hand, Stern threw over {Qs}{Js} for the absolute nuts.

Stern has his opponent well covered, as the short stack had just under a starting stack in front of him. After the pot was shipped across the table, the dealer, by Stern’s request, tabled his opponent’s hand, {Qh}{10d} for a inferior straight.

When the dust settled, the player on the button claimed to fold an ace, a disciplined fold as he was beat in both spots and fortunate to get out of the way of the royal flush.

Two massive, bloggable hands have come from this table through the last few levels and it will be interesting to see if the action continues around Craig Stern, who is now playing one of the bigger stacks in the room.

Level 9 (400/800/75)
Total Day 1A Entries: 81
Players Remaining: 53

The pace of entrants over the last few levels has slowed considerably and it’s left this Day 1A flight with a frozen field of 81 entrants. While that isn’t a small field, it certainly leaves a lot to be desired in terms of the guaranteed prize pool.

So far, only a third of that prize pool is accounted for, meaning that the possibility of an overlay in this $100,000 GTD Player’s Series event will linger throughout the early levels of tomorrow’s Day 1B session.

It should also be noted, that there are just over 50 players currently remaining in this Day 1A flight. Anywhere from 15-20% of the total field is likely to advance to Tuesday’s Day 2 session, meaning that more than half of those 50 players will be sent to the rail over the next four levels.

The BPPS blog will track the action and elimination over the final three hours of play, as Level 9 is about to begin.

Level 8 (300/600/75)
Total Day 1A Entries: 79

Frank Ingardia (Staten Island, NY)

With these big starting stacks and long levels, it’s going to take some massive hands running into each other to get all the chips in the middle pre flop. That is exactly what just happened at an outer table, with four players holding supreme starting hands but Frank Ingardia having the best of it from start to finish.

The action opened with a raise to 1,200 from early position and after a call, Frank Ingardia, in middle position, three-bet to 3,000. A player in late position then four-bet to 10,000 and after the initial raiser folded, the caller flatted the raise again.

After some thought, Ingardia five-bet shoved all-in, having both players covered. The four-better disappointingly folded his hand but after the flatter called for a third time, he was happy with his decision, as he claimed to hold {Kc}{Kd}. He was happy as Ingardia turned over {As}{Ah} and was in great shape to score the knockout against his opponent, who held {Qc}{Qd}.

He did, after the board ran out clean for the pocket rockets and once the dust settled, the player that started all the action with a pre flop raise said that he held pocket jacks while the player with pocket queens was sent to the rail.

Pocket aces, kings, queens and jacks likely fit our above definition of ‘massive hands’ and while Ingardia is certainly happy with his haul, if the players with kings and jacks didn’t sniff out his rockets he’d likely have a lot more. As it stands, he’s playing just over 80,000 and finds himself near the top of the Day 1A leaderboard midway through Level 8.