Level 18 (3,000/6,000/500)
Total Entries: 37
Players Remaining: 1
Chip Average: 1,100,000
Vince Ciarrocchi – Borgata Poker Player’s Series 1500 Champion
Vince Ciarrocchi peaked late in yesterday’s Day 1B session and while he was quiet through the early portion of this Borgata Poker Player’s Series 1500 Final Table restart, he eventually found his footing and after the money bubble burst he seemingly never looked back, winning every massive, decisive hand he was apart of en route to his first ever major tournament win.
At a six handed Final Table that boasted three Borgata Poker champions, it was eventually Ciarrocchi and George St. Lawrence, heads up for the title, with Ciarrocchi coming out on top to claim the victory and the $22,000 first place prize.
It was only fitting that these two would meet to determine the winner of the BPPS 1500 as they easily played the most interesting hand we saw throughout this series, as St. Lawrence folded the bottom end of a straight to Ciarrocchi’s flop four bet and we are now able to report that it was the correct fold, as Ciarrocchi said he held 
for the nuts.
“I should have showed them but I didn’t want everyone to know he made the right fold.” Ciarrocchi would laugh, with both players admitting that their friends and families were following the action on the BPPS blog and needed to know if that hand actually happened.
It did and it would eventually lay the foundation for an amazing Final Table, one that Vince Ciarrocchi will certainly remember forever as he would make his biggest tournament score since this past summer’s WSOP Main Event and claim his first major tournament title here in the final Borgata Poker Player’s Series event.
That concludes our coverage of the BPPS 1500 and we’d like to thank everyone who played in any Player’s Series event or followed the action over the last few weeks and we look forward seeing everyone at next month’s Borgata WPT Spring Poker Open.
Level 18 (3,000/6,000/500)
Total Entries: 37
Players Remaining: 1
Chip Average: 1,100,000
George St. Lawrence rode an up and down stack through Day 2, peaking at the right time to notch a runner up finish in the BPPS 1500 making just under $14,000, the biggest score of his tournament career.
Level 18 (3,000/6,000/500)
Total Entries: 37
Players Remaining: 2
Chip Average: 560,000
Dennis Thurman would double up once after getting crippled while holding pocket Aces but would unable to find another double, eventually bowing out in 3rd place.
After getting crippled in the second of his three straight pocket Aces hand, Dennis Thurman was extremely short stacked and while he was able to get a small double up, he couldn’t get a second as he moved all-in over top of the pre-flop open of George St. Lawrence, with the big stack finishing what he started a few hands earlier, scoring the knockout with the “hot hand of the day”.
That hand would be 
, which Vince Ciarrocchi won a decently sized pot with early in the day and then admitted that that was his “favorite hand” and we’ve seen it pop up a few times since then and it would be those speculative cards that would send Thurman to the rail, as he held 
and would be out flopped.
St. Lawrence flopped nearly everything as the board came down 
and even though the 
paired Thurman on the turn, it wouldn’t be enough as he could not find a river to save his tournament life, ending his BPPS 1500 run in 3rd place, making just over $8,000 for his efforts.
We are now heads up for the Borgata Poker Player’s Series 1500 title, with both Vince Ciarrocchi and George St. Lawrence playing nearly identical stacks.
Level 18 (3,000/6,000/500)
Total Entries: 37
Players Remaining: 3
Chip Average: 380,000
George St. Lawrence (Goshen, NY)
When you’re at a Final Table three handed, pocket Aces might are more or less gold but somehow, Dennis Thurman has been dealt 
in three consecutive hands and he’s now sitting under the 100,000 chip mark after getting them cracked in a massive pot with George St. Lawrence.
The action was picked up pre-flop in the second of the three Aces hands for Thurman with St. Lawrence opening from the button to 18,000.
Thurman would then bump the action to 43,000 and St. Lawrence would just call, in position to see the flop.
Thurman would check the 
flop, allowing St. Lawrence to fire out a bet of 45,000, only for Thurman to quickly click it back to 100,000 even.
Almost just as quickly, St. Lawrence declared himself all-in, with Thurman swiftly sliding his stack across the line for a call.
St. Lawrence would table 
and Thurman would throw down 
and say, “I had ’em last hand too, pair the board dealer!” only to see the turn and river brick out with the 
and 
.
No one, including ourselves realized how close the two were in chips, as St. Lawrence has recovered since stumbling out of the gate in Level 18 and when the counts were finalized, it was St. Lawrence looking like the new chip leader and Thurman crippled well under the century mark, playing less than 20 big blinds.
On the very next hand, Thurman would open shove from the button and after both players folded their blinds, he would throw over 
screaming, “No one thinks I’m on tilt, come on and call.”
St. Lawrence hesitated in folding his big blind and he eventually was glad he did, as Thurman has been dealt pocket Aces three times in a row and is now somehow the shortest stack remaining with less than 10 % of the total chips in play.
Level 18 (3,000/6,000/500)
Total Entries: 37
Players Remaining: 3
Chip Average: 380,000
Vince Ciarrocchi (Stoney Creek, NC)
Vince Ciarrocchi went into the pseudo dinner break with a decent chip lead on the other two players remaining at this BPPS 1500 Final Table and he’s returned from the dinner break picking up where he left off, increasing his stack up and over the 600,000 chip mark.
The majority of Ciarrocchi’s additions have come at the hands of George St. Lawrence, with Ciarrochhi taking a decently sized pot with 
to make the short stack even shorter, as he’s dropped well below the 200,000 chip mark, playing close to half the chip average.
All eyes will be on St. Lawrence over the next few orbits as the larger blinds and antes will force him to make a move sooner rather than later, while Ciarrocchi and Dennis Thurman are still well stacked controlling close to 85% of the total chips in play.
As we we’re writing and about to publish this post, Ciarrocchi continued his hot run and now it looks like he’s playing just under 700,000 chips.
Level 18 (3,000/6,000/500)
Total Entries: 37
Players Remaining: 3
Chip Average: 380,000
After an uneventful end to Level 17, the three remaining players have elected to take an extended half hour long break and will return to Level 18 around 6:10 PM.
This is a much needed break as players have been playing for close to six hours already today, after a grueling 14 hour day yesterday and when they return, a BPPS 1500 champion will eventually be crowned.
Here are the updated chip counts for the remaining three players:
- George St. Lawrence – 205,000 (35 BB)
- Dennis Thurman – 385,000 (65 BB)
- Vince Ciarrocchi – 545,000 (90 BB)
Level 17 (2,500/5,000/500)
Total Entries: 37
Players Remaining: 3
Chip Average: 380,000
While the remaining three players are just over 20 minutes away from the end of Level 17 and the next break, the next hour of play should be very telling as the pay jumps get very steep and the blinds and antes will be increasing shortly meaning that the two shorter stacked players will feel a little more pressure, onto of the pressure already being applied by the big stacked Vince Ciarrocchi.
Ciarrocchi has done nothing but chip up since this BPPS 1500 Final Table got down to the final three players and he now has a close to 2:1 advantage over both George St. Lawrence and Dennis Thurman.
A complete list of the three handed chip counts are listed below:
- George St. Lawrence – 225,000
- Dennis Thurman – 275,000
- Vince Ciarrocchi – 600,000
The remaining BPPS 1500 payouts are also listed below:
- $22,115
- $13,823
- $8,294
Level 17 (2,500/5,000/500)
Total Entries: 37
Players Remaining: 3
Chip Average: 380,000
Joe Gola (Philadelphia, PA)
We had a feeling that there would be a fast pace to Level 17 and it’s continued as the other short stack at this Final Table, Joe Gola, has just been sent to the rail in 4th place.
Gola entered today as the biggest stack and was the leader for nearly all of yesterday’s Day 1B session but he just couldn’t find any traction after the six handed restart, eventually getting his final 125,000 chips all-in from the small blind overtop of the pre-flop button open of Dennis Thurman.
The two would be more or less flipping as Thurman held 
against Gola’s 
and while neither player would get a piece of the 
flop, Thurman would pick up a pair with the 
turn card, with Gola giving himself a little more equity with an up and down straight and flush draw.
The 
completed the board missing out on any and all draws and Gola would be sent to the rail in 4th place, making just over $6,000 for his BPPS 1500 efforts.
The remaining three players are all well stacked so this fast pace that we’ve seen over the last 45 or so minutes should slow before the next break which is a half hour away.
Level 17 (2,500/5,000/500)
Total Entries: 37
Players Remaining: 4
Chip Average: 285,000
Alex Rocha (Brigantine, NJ)
After an uneventful start to Level 17 we finally lost a player a few orbits in, as Alex Rocha would be all-in and flipping for his tournament life in a “classic” spot with Vince Ciarrocchi.
The action was picked up pre-flop with Joe Gola opening to 15,000, only to see Ciarrocchi move all-in from the button.
Ciarrocchi has everyone at this Final Table covered and after the small blind folded, Alex Rocha would move all-in for less from the big blind, forcing a quick fold from Gola.
The two players would be racing with Rocha holding 
, needing to hold to keep his BPPS 1500 run alive against the big stack’s 
.
The race would be more or less over on the flop, as Ciarrocchi paired up as the board ran out 
.
Rocha, who had an up and down Day 2, would be the first player eliminated in the money, making just under $5,000 for his efforts.
This Final Table is also starting to lean to Vince Ciarrocchi’s side, as he controls well over half the total chips in play.
Level 17 (2,500/5,000/500)
Total Entries: 37
Players Remaining: 5
Chip Average: 230,000
We’ve gone over an hour and a half without an elimination at this Final Table as five players still remain heading into the next break.
While we haven’t had any knockouts during that time period, there has been some big swings on the BPPS 1500 leaderboard, with two shorter stacks now sitting well below the chip average and the other three players controlling over three quarters of the total chips in play.
That should make for an interesting next level of play as the blinds and antes are now the highest they’ve been and the average stack isn’t as deep as it was when this Day 2 session first started.
The complete updated counts heading into Level 17 are listed below:
- George St. Lawrence – 315,000
- Alex Rocha – 95,000
- Dennis Thurman – 270,000
- Joe Gola – 105,000
- Vince Ciarrocchi – 335,000
