Level 2 (75/150)
Total Day 1B Entrants: 93
Total BPPS Entrants: 174
Robert Saladin has gotten off to a white hot start in this Day 1B session, already quadrupling his starting stack to take control of the early chip lead.
This Day 1B flight is about to be sent on their first break of the day and will return to Level 3 after a short break. As it stands, just under 95 players are currently registered in this second and final flight and while Day 1B has yet to eclipse the century mark, Robert Saladin has already crushed that number.
In just two levels, Saladin has nearly quadrupled his starting stack, as he’s currently playing close to 115,000. While it’s a little early to start with the whole chip leader conversation, with these long blind levels, Saladin has afforded himself a luxury that many others would kill for.
It will be interesting to see how Saladin handles his early advantage, as he can likely tread carefully through the next few levels and stay near the top of the leaderboard or continue to attack his table and contend for the overall Day 2 lead.
Judging by Saladin’s past successes in major guaranteed tournaments at the Borgata, he’s likely going to go with the later option and will try to continue to build his stack over the next few levels.
Level 2 (75/150)
Total Day 1B Entrants: 73
Total BPPS Entrants: 154
Andrew Zhu has come close to notching another tournament title over the last few months but instead, has watched his friends claim some of their best career cashes. He’ll look to break through this week as he goes for a second straight BPPS deep run.
Over the last few months, Andrew Zhu has put together some of his best career results, including a 4th place finish in the ‘Player’s Series’ event during April’s Spring Poker Open. He followed that up with a podium finish in the SugarHouse Showdown Main Event, with those two scores earning him nearly $20,000. While Zhu has been churning out results, he’s yet to break through and earn another major tournament win. His friends on the other hand, have.
Throughout the last two Parx Big Stax series, Zhu has been on the rail as his two friends, Thai Ha and Daniel Bak make serious runs and scores, with Ha chopping up an event in the May series and Bak winning the most recent 500 event outright.
Zhu has his own poker hardware, as he’s won two Borgata Poker titles through the last few years, but he’s come extremely close to a third title winning performance over the last few months. He’ll try to break through and claim trophy number three this week and judging by his recent runs, he’s a serious threat to do so.
Level 1 (50/100)
Total Day 1B Entrants: 63
Total BPPS Entrants: 144
Through the first level of yesterday’s Day 1A flight there were just over 40 players registered and while the number today is ahead of that pace, it’s still slow going through the first 45 minutes of Day 1B. So far, just over 60 players have registered for this second and final flight and that number has put the $100,000 guarantee that this event boasts at risk of being missed.
It’s a little early to completely write off that number, as these ‘championship-like’ structures usually see players late register. That means that the bulk of this flight could come in through the later levels but as of now, it looks like this flight is going to be on the lighter side of the 200 player mark we talked about earlier.
Level 13 (1,000/2,000/300)
Total Day 1A Entries: 81
Players Remaining: 23
Chip Average: 105,000
Before we begin coverage of the Day 1B flight of the $100,000 GTD Borgata Poker Player’s Series, we wanted to highlight and update the survivors of yesterday’s Day 1A flight. In total, 23 players, from the original 81 entrants, bagged up chips for Tuesday’s Day 2 session.
Quintin Trammell will be the clubhouse leader heading into tomorrow, with Joe Lachiana being the only other player over the 200,000 chip mark. In total, nine players bagged over the century mark. Mickey Woll, Abraham Korotki and Tom Savitsky are included in that number and will not only be bringing a big stack to Day 2 but also loads of experience and past results making them all serious threats to take down this title.
Perhaps the most surprising member of the top half of the leaderboard is Alan Levin, who hovered near the starting stack for the better part of Day 1A before picking up pocket aces on back-to-back hands. He scored two doubles in quick succession and then managed to continue to chip up to finish just over the 140,000 mark.
That quick multiplication of chips should be encouraging for the players under the chip average, as they’ll all return tomorrow on either side of the 20 big blind mark.
A complete list of the Day 1A survivors is provided below:
| PLACE |
FIRST NAME |
LAST NAME |
CHIP COUNT |
| 1 |
QUINTIN |
TRAMMELL |
267,800 |
| 2 |
JOSEPH |
LACHIANA |
259,800 |
| 3 |
CRAIG |
STERN |
191,200 |
| 4 |
MICHAEL |
WOLL |
164,500 |
| 5 |
ABRAHAM |
KOROTKI |
153,700 |
| 6 |
THOMAS |
REVELLO |
148,800 |
| 7 |
ALAN |
LEVIN |
141,200 |
| 8 |
FRANK |
SIMONE |
132,300 |
| 9 |
THOMAS |
SAVITSKY |
108,200 |
| 10 |
BRUCE |
AHMES |
98,300 |
| 11 |
ANTHONY |
DIORIO |
84,100 |
| 12 |
MICHAEL |
LYDON |
83,000 |
| 13 |
WESLEY |
SCARBROUGH |
78,700 |
| 14 |
DONALD |
ABRAMSON |
72,300 |
| 15 |
FRANK |
INGARDIA |
68,600 |
| 16 |
STEPHEN |
MOY |
62,300 |
| 17 |
GUO |
CHEN |
62,100 |
| 18 |
JOHN |
YANNI |
55,400 |
| 19 |
BRADLEY |
CAMMARANO |
51,200 |
| 20 |
MOSHE |
DAHAN |
45,700 |
| 21 |
ASA |
BERGER |
40,100 |
| 22 |
GARY |
ROSENZWEIG |
38,200 |
| 23 |
ALYSON |
PARKER |
34,600 |
Level 1 (50/100)
After 81 players came together for the opening flight of this $100,000 GTD Borgata Poker Player’s Series, it’s expected that this second and final flight is going to be massive. The early predictions are that it will eclipse the 200 player mark but regardless of how big it does get, the BPPS blog will be here to follow all the action.
This second flight will follow the same structure as yesterday’s Day 1A flight, as players start with 30,000 in tournament chips and play 12 levels with each level lasting 45 minutes in length, with an increase to hour long levels coming in Day 2 and 3.
Late registration and unlimited re-entry will be available through the end of Level 8, giving players plenty of time to get into the BPPS action. There will also be NO dinner break during this Day 1 flight, with play concluding around 9:30 PM.
The BBPS blog will track this field up to that point, with coverage beginning as soon as cards get in the air and the tournament tables begin to populate.
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.
