Event 18: Level Last

$2500 + $200 Double Play NL Championship

15 Tables Remain

145 players remain on 15 tables.

We're now into the final Level of the night - Level 11.

Average chip stack is 67,035 and Mark Wahba is up close to 400,000.

Bag and tag at the end of this Level.

Event 18: Wahba Booyah

$2500 + $200 Double Play NL Championship

Mark Wahba - 280,000

Mark Wahba is among the chip leaders after hitting a huge hand that ended with him hugging the dealer. Hint, hint, I think they prefer tips in the form of cash.

Mark, holding 3♠ 3♦ decides to tangle with the table chip leader who has K♥ K♠.

The flop falls J♥ 3♥ 2♥. Mark hits his set but the hearts scare him and his opponent's got a high one.

A non-heart bricks the turn and all the chips tumble in.
We're talking every bit of Mark's 140,000.

If a heart hits the river, it's over for Wahba.

No heart and Wahba wins!

In his true double-up excitement, Mark hugs his female dealer.

Event 19: Final Results

$350 + $50 NL Survivor


Place - Name - Amount

1st Stephen Spence (Monroe, NY) $3,500
1st Jonathan Rago (N. Babylon, NY) $3,500
1st Jeffrey Kaplow (New York, NY) $3,500
1st Robert Israeli (Short Hills, NJ) $3,500
1st Arthur Bressler (Manalapan, NJ) $3,500
1st David Kim (Silver Spring, MD) $3,500
1st Jules Mencher (Long Island, NY) $3,500
8th Brian Minders (Lakewood, NJ) $1,981

Bubble

Farid Ebrahim (Fredricksburg, VA)

Event 18: Ryan Looking For Rally

$2500 + $200 Double Play NL Championship

Ryan Eriquezzo - 90,000

Don't let his intimidating poker face scare you - Ryan is actually a pretty nice guy.

He won the 2011 Borgata Winter Poker Open 6-Max 1K but hasn't gone deep in any of the Championships.

Eriquezzo is hoping this is his year.

He's currently sitting on 90,000 but was questioning a couple calls where he recently dusted off some chips.

Event 18: Glantz Rantz

$2500 + $200 Double Play NL Championship

Matthew Glantz (Lafayette Hill, PA)

After 1% four flushing K-K vs. K-K, Glantz is currently right at the average chip stack of 55,000.

I asked how his table was and Matt responded, "Three good internet kids and a bunch of amateurs...pretty soft table".

Apparently Matt's 2-5 of spades scoop made an impression to the kid on his left. "Ever since I won that hand he's had a condescending comment towards me." The kid defended himself laughing, "No no, I said you played it good."

Glantz was lucky enough to pick up pocket kings yet again. This time his opponent accidentally exposed an ace and still played the hand against him.

"That was interesting" said Matt trying to take down the Championship and tack on to his already impressive career tournament cash earnings totals.

Event 18: Tight Table Ten

$2500 + $200 Double Play NL Championship

After eleven hours of play nine out of the ten original players at table ten are still there.

Only two people have exited the tournament from this super tight table and both came from the same seat.

Tom "Shamrock" Gilligan

Now sitting in that revolving chair is Tom "Shamrock" Gilligan from Jacks Casino - Manor Hamilton in Ireland.

Tom says he's not afraid of the seat, instead he embraces it.

One player had quads and still couldn't get any action.
Then there was what should have been an elimination hand - set over set.

Francis Anderson - Middle Set vs. Top Set

Francis Anderson (Poughkeepsie, NY) is lucky to still be here.

He held 6♠ 6♣ and saw a flop of 10♦ 6♥ 2♦. Both players checked the flop. Turn card K♦ caused Francis to check call the turn. Q♦ on the river froze the action - both fearing the other hit the flush.

"I have a set" said Anderson which caused his opponent to say the exact same thing.

Francis' middle set of sixes lost to opponent's top set of tens.

Francis ecstatic to have only lost the minimum.

Tight table ten just keeps passing chips around.

Most of em can't wait till they get broken up.

One thing is certain, make it through Level 11 and you'll get a new seat for tomorrow.

Event 19: Bubble Breaks

$350 + $50 NL Survivor

Sullivan & Ebrahim

Sean Sullivan (Sayerville, NJ) and Farid Ebrahim (Fredricksburg, VA), go out in 10th and 9th places respectively. The final 8 players are in the money and still playing for the top 7 spots, as 8th place pays $1,981.

Event 18: Eighteen Tables

$2500 + $200 Double Play NL Championship

178 players remain on 18 tables.

Average chipstack - 54,606

Level 9 continues: Blinds 300 / 600 with 50 antes.

After level 11 we'll call it a night.

Event 18: Que Sara Saraceno

$2500 + $200 Double Play NL Championship

John Saraceno Catches Lucky - 85,000

John Saraceno turns the joint and gets paid off!

Over at table one Saraceno holding 10♥ 9♥ picks up a gutterball against a 6♦ 8♦ K♠ flop.

On the turn card 7♦ John ships the rest of his stack all in.

"I have to call" says opponent who senses he's beat. "Do you have a straight?" says opponenet as he flips over 8♠-8♥ for a flopped set.

4♠ on the rivers gives the hand to Saraceno and sends another to the rail.

Event 18: Badda Bing - Badda Busto

$2500 + $200 Double Play NL Championship

My Cousin Vinny Teutonico - Knocks Out Three

Vincent Teutonico enjoys some fine whine while he busts out three players so far.

He's been picking up some pretty good starting hands but one memorable knock-out blow came from a great river call.

"I had K-9 and the guy goes all in on the river. I called him and he was on a flush draw that missed" said Teutonico whose now up to 80,000.

Angelo Modica is to Vincent's right and worried he might be next even though Vinny is calling him his "good luck charm".

Event 18: Senior Champ In The House

$2500 + $200 Double Play NL Championship

Seniors Champion Harvey Layton (Devon, PA)

So many of our Event Champions are playing in the Championship so this field really is the 2011 Spring Poker Open best of the best.

I asked Harvey how he's been keeping up with all the youngster?

"They're definitely more aggressive than the Seniors who are more conservative and go at a slower pace" explained Layton.

Harvey is happy with the structure. He's below average in chips but still feels he has a chance to come back thanks to the long levels.

When I took this picture for the blog, a young gun shouted out "Hey, are you a star?" to which Harvey quickly replied, "I'm one of the best players in the world."

Seniors may play slower, but Harvey's wit is still very quick.

Event 19: Final Table

$350 + $50 NL Survivor

Here's a look at the remaining 10 players, as the final 8 cash in this the final Survivor tournament of the Borgata Spring Poker Open.

Seat-Name

1 Stephen Spence (Monroe, NY)
2 Jonathan Rago (N. Babylon, NY)
3 Farid Ebrahim (Fredricksburg, VA)
4 Jeffrey Kaplow (New York, NY)
5 Robert Israeli (Short Hills, NJ)
6 Sean Sullivan (Sayerville, NJ)
7 Brian Minders (Lakewood, NJ)
8 Arthur Bressler (Manalapan, NJ)
9 David Kim (Silver Spring, MD)
10 Jules Mencher (Long Island, NY)

Event 19: Cotton Snuffed

$350 + $50 NL Survivor

Survivor Final Table

After Cotton Snuffer is eliminated in 11th place, the remaining 10 players are drawing for seats at the final table. Snuffer is still alive in the Championship Event after bagging 87,900 in Day 1A as he awaits for Tuesday's Day 2 play.

"I'm disappointed I didn't cash, but I'm glad it's over and can focus on tomorrow," says Snuffer, who has a 5th place finish ($6,635) in Event 17 ($1k - 6 max). "I lost with pocket kings, but I misplayed it, It happens."

Two more eliminations and players hit the money. The top 7 players take home $3,500, while 8th place finishes with $1,981.

Event 18: Moore Fun With Joanne

$2500 + $200 Double Play NL Championship

Star Moore & Joanne Monteavaro

Whereas some players are very serious, contemplating every move, never breaking their poker face, Star Moore and Joanne Monteavaro are joking, laughing, and having a lot of fun.

Right before dinner Joanne won two nice pots to climb up to 44,000 which spawned Moore to say, "It was like an appetizer before dinner".

But Joanne is looking to get to the dessert. She already has her eye on the cash.

Event 18: They'rrrrrrrre Back!

$2500 + $200 Double Play NL Championship

Dinner break is over and everyone is filtering back into their seats.

We began the day with 324 players each starting with 30,000 chips.

So there are 9,720,000 chips up for grabs.

The 215 players on the 22 remaining tables are all trying to survive through Level 11 so they can return tomorrow.

Average chip stack: 45,209

Blinds: 250 / 500 with 50 antes.

Event 18: Chip Leaders at Dinner

$2500 + $200 Double Play NL Championship

Andrew Brown

A look at some of the chip leaders who are on dinner break until 8 pm

Andrew Brown 185k
Joseph Brattole 153k
Jeremy Stein 135k
Bart Dowling 125k
Saad Ghanem 112k
Bob Santilli 105k
Wayne Lewis 102k

Event 18: Big Hand Before Break

$2500 + $200 Double Play NL Championship

Lewis Looks to Dentale for the Double Up

On the penultimate hand before dinner break, Mike Dentale (Brooklyn, NY) is in a hand with Wayne Lewis (Wayne, NJ) who's all in for nearly 50k.

"You got aces?" Dentale asks, and Lewis shows him the bad news.

Lewis: A♠ A♥
Dentale: A♦ K♣

The board runs clean for Lewis who doubles to 102k, while Dentale is mad at losing half his stack, saying he made "one mistake," all day. Dentale is down to 50k as players are now on a one hour dinner break.

Dentale (center) About to see Pocket Aces, while big stacks
Jeremy Stein & Bob Santilli look on

Event 18: Childs Cut

$2500 + $200 Double Play NL Championship

After a player opened for 1,500, Lee Childs moved in his last 10k with pocket Tens.  He was in bad shape against pocket Queens. 

The flop came  9 8 7, giving Lee some hope and more outs with an open-ender, but the last two came 7 5 and were no help.  Lee hit the rail.

Down to 22 tables (220 players) remaining on day 1B,

Event 19: Two Tables

$350 + $50 NL Survivor

They're down to 2 tables as 20 players remain. Notables Leanne Rosenblatt and Cotton Snuffer are still in the mix to finish in the money.

Place - Amount
1st - 7th $3,500
8th - $1,981

Event 18: Hook Gets the Hook

$2500 + $200 Double Play NL Championship    
 
On a flop of 7 6 3 with two clubs, Steve Russell (Coolville, OH) led out for 1k and Chalie Hook (Philadelphia, PA) moved in for his last ~4,600.  Steve called, showing 73 of spades for two pair. 

 Sirous Jamshidi and Steve Russell

Chalie held T8 of clubs for the flush draw.  It was all over when a 3 came on the turn, giving Steve a full house.

Steve is up to 105k and is making the most of his second day one in this event.