No Saving Grace

$260 + $40 Ladies NL

Grace Ruffino (Little Egg Harbor, NJ)
6th Place - $1,317

Grace Ruffino is all-in for her last 64k with K Q and Josie Pysniak takes a shot with J 10.
When a 10 hits the flop, Ruffino's on the rail.

Pysniak is taking over the table and has the chip lead with 369k.

Bubble

$1,000 + 90 NL

Number of Entries: 153
Players Remaining: 22
Prizepool: $153,000

Big stacks bully while short stacks survive,
we're officially "on the Bubble."

Counting the bustouts, 4 to go...

1K Update

$1,000 + 90 NL

Number of Entries: 153
Players Remaining: 22
Prizepool: $153,000
Avg. Stack: $104,318
Blinds @ 1,200/2,400/300a

A "Chip-Heavy" table holds the four dominant Chip-Leaders,
sharks eating sharks in Event #10.

From Left to Right:
Eugene Fouksman: 290,000
Ilya Soyfer - 175,000
Jack Barnes - 223,000
'Benny Benz' Bianco - 230,000

M-Squared Out in Seventh

$260 + $40 Ladies NL

Mojdeh Moayyed is cripppled by Briana Myers who hits two pairs on the turn after both players flopped a pair on a board of 8d 4h 6d. Moayyed's top pair is no good when Myers hits a 5 to win the 4s and 5s.

Moayyed's left with only 21k and after being blinded down 10k her last all-in is 8 high vs the king high of Alyson Parker.

Crazy, Crazy Hand

$260 + $40 Ladies NL

Melissa Ramos (Newark, NJ)

8th Place - $878

After Josie Pysniak and Grace Ruffino limp in early position, Melissa Ramos shoves 55k from the button and mad chaos ensues. Briana Myers calls for only 21k. Pysniak and Ruffino both call.

Main Pot: 100k
Side Pot: 102k

Flop: 2♥ 6♥ Q♦

Pysniak goes all-in looking to isolate and Ruffino goes in the tank. Ruffino folds and shows 10 10.

Reveal:

Pysniak K♣ K♦ (in the lead)
Ramos A♣ 9♠
Myers 7♦ 7♣

Turn: 5♣

River: 7♥

Myers hits the set to stay alive with the main pot. Psyniak takes the side pot, while Pysniak is out in 8th place.

Hubbard - 9th (Again)

$260 + $40 Ladies NL

Stephanie Hubbard (Hazlet, NJ)

9th Place - $658

Stephanie Hubbard shoves all-in for 60k with QQ, but runs into the KK of Alyson Parker.
The kings hold and Hubbard's out in 9th place for the second straight time.

She finished 9th in the Ladies event in April during the Borgata Spring Poker Open.

Steve Stacks

$1,000 + 90 NL

Steve Cohen

Alive with a healthy stack of chips, he's one of the chip-leaders with 26 players left.

The 1K Field continues to shrink...

Money Time

$260 + $40 Ladies NL

Bubbly Santoli

The bubble breaks after Dawn Santoli (Staten Island, NY) is all-in with A♣ K♠ vs the pocket kings of Grace Ruffin. Santoli picks up a flush draw on the turn, but the river is the 8♥ and Santoli's out in 10th place.

The 9 remaining women are in the money, guaranteeing themselves at least $658.

Art Paints

$1,000 + 90 NL



Art Peters (Bricktown, NJ) has played steady all day long, he's one of the Chip-Leaders with only 3 tables left. Good luck to the Chip Reese look-alike.

Ladies Final Table

$260 + $40 Ladies NL

After Phyllis Borreda (Brookville, MD) is knocked out in 12th place and Farah Fath's (New York, NY) elimination in 11th, the final 10 players are moving to one table.

Unfortunately only 9 make the money, so the the next elimination will be the "bubble" girl.

Seat-Name-Count

1. Josie Pysniak (Woodbridge, NJ) 50k
2. Grace Ruffino (Little Egg Harbor, NJ) 95k
3. Liping Zhang (Doylestown, PA) 85k
4. Min Zhuang (Smithtown, NY) 130k
5. Stephanie Hubbard (Hazlet, NJ) 90k
6. Alyson Parker (Plainsboro, NJ) 110k
7. Melissa Ramos (Newark, NJ) 60k
8. Briana Myers (Brooklyn, NY) 65k
9. Dawn Santoli (Staten Island, NY) 35k
10. Mojdeh Moayyed (Princeton, NJ) 170k

The 1K Field Dwindles

$1,000 + 90 NL

Number of Entries: 153
Players Remaining: 27
Prizepool: $153,000
Blinds @ 1,000/2,000/300a

Players are back from Break,
the 1k grind continues...

Go Go Eugene

$1,000 + 90 NL

Eugene Fouksman - 171,000 Chips

We watched when Phil Ivey bullied him on ESPN's coverage of the Main Event, now we watch as he runs over the 1K Field.

The Chip-Leader has been here before, good luck down the stretch Eugene.

1K Stacks

$1,000 + 90 NL

Number of Entries: 153
Players Remaining: 36

Prizepool: $153,000
Blinds @ 800/1,600/200a

Player - Chip Counts:
Eugene Fouksman - 161,000
Jack Barnes - 141,000
'Unknown' Jim - 140,000
David Thur - 118,000
Joe Altomonte - 115,000

Oh Mercy, Mercy, Mercy

$260 + $40 Ladies NL

Hubbard Has Chips

Stephanie Hubbard (Hazlet, NJ) is one of the more compassionate players you'll find at the table. Hubbard has knocked out two ladies since coming back from dinner. "I felt bad," she says after eliminating Crystal Davidson. "I flopped the nut flush when she was the big blind."

Hubbard also takes out Judy Urban (Ocean City, NJ) when Urban open shoves for 25k with J 6. Hubbard calls with A 7 and ends up with trips to bring the field down to 12 players as she now has 90k in chips.

Level 15 (2k/4k/400 ante) continues.

Back from Break

$260 + $40 Ladies NL

Number of Entries: 87
Players Remaining: 14
Total Buy-In: $22,620
Top Prize: $7,679
Places Paid: 9
Blinds @ 1500/3k/400 ante

Dinner Break

$260 + $40 Ladies NL

The 14 remaining players are on a 40 minute dinner break.

The top three stacks are:

Min Zhuang 173k
Farah Fath 113k
Alyson Parker 95k

Remaining Players:

Table-Seat

1-1 Mojdeh Moayyed
1-2 Farah Fath
1-3 Melissa Ramos
1-4 Liping Zhang
1-5 Judy Urban
1-8 Stephanie Hubbard
1-9 Crystal Davidson

2-1 Alyson Parker
2-2 Phyllis Borreda
2-4 Dawn Santoli
2-5 Grace Ruffino
2-6 Josie Pysniak
2-7 Briana Myers
2-8 Min Zhuang

Dinner Break Stacks

$1,000 + 90 NL

Players currently on 1-hour Dinner Break.

Number of Entries: 153
Players Remaining: 46
Prizepool: $153,000
Blinds @ 600/1,200/200a

Name - Chip Counts:

Joe Altomonte - 155,000
John Ciofalo - 151,000
Ilya Soyfer - 107,000
'Benny Benz' Bianco - 104,000
David Thur - 91,000
Ed Corrado - 90,000
Hal Neeman - 78,000
Jack Barnes - 76,000
Casey Peters - 61,000

Truly 17 Ladies Left

$260 + $40 Ladies NL

Without drawing anymore attention to some of the anatomy involved with the Ladies event, let's just say there are now 17 legitimate players left in the field.

Alyson Parker (Plainsboro, NJ) hits a set of 6s to cripple a player who has KK. The same player is done when AA finishes the job.

Parker's now one of the chip leaders after winning the 50k pot with her set.

Level 12 (1k/2k/300 ante) continues.

Event 11: Final 18

$260 + $40 Ladies NL

Seat 5 was all-in holding AK, only to run into Briana Myers' pocket Aces. The Aces held and Briana busted another one.

"That's, like, the 5th time I've had Aces today" Briana said as she was stacking her chips. Must be nice.

Over on table 3, there was an all-in and the player with the losing hand disappeared, despite having about 10k in chips left. No one was able to find her and her stack was being blinded off.

On a flop of T 9 8 with two hearts, the small blind checked to Farah Fath who fired 7k. Both the button and small blind called. Turn was an offsuit 3 and it was checked to Farah, who moved all-in. She had both the other players covered and they surrendered. Farah showed QJ for the nut straight as she collected their chips.

Level 11 concluded and they continued into level 12 with blinds of 1k/2k and 300 antes.

Min Zhuang got all-in pre-flop holding pocket Aces, getting action from the player in seat 6, who held A4 suited. The Aces held up again and Min doubled through.

The missing player was finally blinded off and with 18 players remaining, they redrew for seats and moved to the final two tables.

Huh?

$1,000 + 90 NL

The 1K takes the last 10-minute break before Dinner,
green chips taken out of play.

Familiar questions for every tournament,
pretty standard from the Field.

- When's the Dinner Break?
- Where's the Cocktail Waitress?
- What are the Blinds?
- Why no dinner voucher?
- Who's the Big Blind?

Chip Chef

$1,000 + 90 NL

John Ciofalo (Newburgh, NY) - 112,000 Chips

When he's not serving up fresh Italian cuisine in the heart of New York City, he relaxes on the poker table.

The Restaurateur leads Event #10 with only 6 tables left.

Event 11: New Leader

$260 + $40 Ladies NL

Briana Myers

On a Queen-high flop, seat 1 was all-in holding AQ (top/top) but was no match for Briana Myers' (Brooklyn, NY) pocket Aces. The last two were bricks and Briana took the pot. Their stacks were close and had to be counted down, but Briana was ahead and seat 1 was busted.

22 Ladies and one guy remain.

Level 10 ended and the Ladies took a break, so I was able to get some chip counts for the leaders.

Thanks to those pocket Aces, Briana Myers is now the chip leader with ~80k.

Amanda Gurr (Smithtown, NY) is second with 67,600.

Farah Fath is third with ~65k.

Play resumed after the break with level 11, blinds 800/1,600 and 200 antes. Average stack is almost 38k.

Big Stacks

$1,000 + 90 NL

Number of Entries: 153
Players Remaining: 51
Prizepool: $153,000
Blinds @ 300/600/75a

Tournament Chip-Leaders:

'Benny Benz' Bianco (Long Island, NY) - 106,000
- Homebuilder and recreational poker player

John Ciofalo (Newburgh, NY) - 91,000
- Owner of local Italian Restaurant, La Terrazza

Jack Barnes (Bricktown, NJ) - 89,000
Owner/Operator local Coin Store

Also, Still alive in the Field:

Art Peters (Bricktown, NJ) - 63,000
- Book Publisher

Joe Altomonte (West Patterson, NJ) - 61,000
- prototypical Internet grinder

1K Payouts

$1,000 + 90 NL

Number of Entries: 153
Prizepool: $153,000

Official Payouts:
1 - ............... $45,710
2 - ............... $25,230
3 - ............... $14,099
4 - ............... $10,389
5 - ............... $8,905
6 - ............... $7,421
7 - ............... $5,936
8 - ............... $4,452
9 - ............... $3,339
10-12 .......... $2,894
13-15 .......... $2,523
16-18 .......... $2,226

Event 11: Payouts

$260 + $40 Ladies NL

Entries: 87
Total Buy-In: $22,620

Place-Amount

1............ $7,679
2............ $4,169
3............ $2,633
4............ $1,975
5............ $1,536
6............ $1,317
7............ $1,097
8.............. $878
9.............. $658

Event 11: Fath Fades Four

$260 + $40 Ladies NL

At the end of level 8, the Ladies took ten while the staff colored up the green 25 chips.

Mojdeh Moayyed was still out in front with about 70k in chips.

Play resumed with level 9, blinds 500/1,000 with 100 antes, and 37 players at four tables.

Another three-way pre-flop all-in occurred on table four. Alice Lee was the short stack, all-in holding pocket 2s. Seat 2 held pocket Tens and was the biggest stack. Farah Fath (New York, NY) was out in front with pocket Kings.

Farah had to fade two tens and two fours, not to mention various straight and flush cards. The board ran out J 8 6 4 6 and Farrah scooped the big pot, sending Alice Lee to the rail and crippling the third player.

36 players remain.

Farah Fath is an actress, currently playing Gigi Morasco on the ABC soap One Life to Live. She can also handle herself at the poker table. She finished 10th ($679) in the Ladies event here in April.

Farah Fath

First Break

$1,000 + 90 NLH

9 Tables Left
83 Players Remaining
Blinds @ 200/400/50a

Phillies Baseball and World Cup Soccer hold the players' interest through the early levels.

Players currently on a 10-minute break.

Event 11: Aces for Alice

$260 + $40 Ladies NL

In a three-way pre-flop all-in, Alice Lee was ahead with pocket Aces, seat 5 held pocket 5s and was the shortest stack, and seat 10 held AK suited and was the biggest stack. The board ran out completely dry and seat 5 was busted. Alice nearly tripled up to ~16k.

It didn't last long, however. A few hands later, Crystal Davidson moved all-in on a flop of J 8 2. Alice looked her up with QJ for top pair. Crystal held J2 for two pair and the lead. The last two came 6 A and Crystal doubled up to ~14k.

All three of the notable players I mentioned around the first break, Nancy McLaughlin, Jennifer Keys, and Rosa Lee Klaneski, are gone.

41 Ladies (and one guy) remain.

The Favorites

$1000 + $90 NL

Three familiar faces have proven they're capable,
will the poker pros add to their tournament resume?

Manny Patel
13th - 2009 Deep Stack 500K Guarantee

David Katz
4th - Event #2 - $350 NLH

David Rosenau
2nd - Event #5 - $200 Re-Entry 50K Guarantee

Event 11: Leading Lady

$260 + $40 Ladies NL

After the load roar went up across the room, the rudest dude was seen exiting his table. I went over to see who had the honor of busting him.

Crystal Davidson (Maryland) told me the story. She considers Q3 a "cursed hand" because it is the hand she held when she busted out of the WSOP Ladies event. Because of this, she decided to raise holding Q3. The rude dude called and the flop came 5 4 4. She bet about 1,500, which was more than the dude had left. He called all-in holding A6 for Ace-high. Crystal was actually behind with Queen-high, but fittingly another Lady landed on the turn, giving Crystal a pair of Queens and the best hand. After the river bricked out, dude reported to the rail.

There's still one guy left, but he's behaving himself.

I eye-balled the stacks and Mojdeh Moayyed (Princeton, NJ) is leading the pack with about 47k. Min Zhuang, (Smithtown, NY) has about 31k and is sharing the same piece of felt. There are a few other ladies in the 30k range.

Level 6 wound down and the Ladies are enjoying their second break of the day. They will return in ten for Level 7 and blinds of 300/600 with 75 antes.

Event 10: Chip Leader Emerges

$1000 + $90 NL

Play has resumed with level 5, blinds 150/300 with 25 antes.

Mike Adams (Accokeek, MD) has emerged as the chip leader with about 64k. There are quite a few players in the 40k-range, but none is a clear second.

Mike is going for the hat-trick here today. He finished 8th in event 8, $300 NL, yesterday for $2,191 and also cashed in a survivor event the night before. A cash today would be his third in a row.

Event 10: Sansone "Old-Schools" the Youngsters

$1000 + $90 NL

Alan Sansone

Alan Sansone (Clifton, NJ) told his table that he takes 100, subtracts his age, and that's the percentage of the time he bluffs. On the hand in question, both Adam Gerber and the player in seat 10 folded pocket Tens (yes, they both had wired Tens) to Alan's bet. Alan didn't show.

Alan finished 13th in event 2 last week ($1,074). He's not happy about being called a "Grizzled Vet" in the blog. He's more like a "Snappy Senior" the way he's holding court over on table one.

Another accomplished Senior, Ed Corrado, has been moved to table one to join Alan and Adam.

Another table has broken so 11 tables remain with 110 players. Abraham Korotki has busted out.

Level 4 is winding down and the players will be rewarded with another ten minutes away from the felt.

Event 11: Eight Tables

$260 + $40 Ladies NL

The Ladies event is down to 8 tables about half-way through level 4 (100/200 blinds).

A crowd had formed around one of the tables which featured one of the rude dudes. Apparently he is feeling 'picked on' and was complaining to the floor. The crowd was basically booing him, figuring he deserves what he was getting. "I know it's bad karma" he said.

He's making himself scarce between hands, leaving the table if he has folded. The other rude dude one table over is keeping his head down and his mouth shut.

Event 10: Dobrilovic Rivered

$1000 + $90 NL

I noticed that Tom Dobrilovic's seat was occupied by a new face, so I hunted Tom down to find out what happened.

In the 75/150 level, a player opened for 400, then Tom kicked it up to 1,600. A third player cold-called and the opener opted out. On the flop of 8 6 5, Tom led out for 2,500 and his opponent shoved for ~15k.

Tom gave it some thought, then made the call all-in with his pocket Aces. His opponent was trailing with 87 off for top pair with open-ender, but had a lot of outs (any 9, 8, 7, or 4). A 9 on the river sealed Tom's fate. He'll be back to play the $2k event next weekend.

A couple more players spotted: Abraham Korotki and Eric Panayiotou are sharing the felt on table 4. Eugene Fouksman is over on table 10.

Abraham Korotki (far left) and Eric Panayiotou (far right)

Ironically, with the Ladies Event going on across the room, it was Abraham Korotki (Ventnor City, NJ) who entered and won the Ladies Event here in September 2009. Thankfully today he opted to play in the open event.

Event 11: Ladies take a Break

$260 + $40 Ladies NL

The Ladies (and two rude dudes) are taking their first break of the day after completing three levels of play.

Familiar Faces in the crowd:

Nancy McLaughlin (Broomall, PA) finished 6th in the Borgata Spring Poker Open Ladies event ($1,741) then went on to finish 25th ($1,264) in the $500 NL Deepstack event.

Jennifer Keys

Jennifer Keys (Norristown, PA) took 2nd in the Borgata Spring Poker Open Ladies event ($5,921).

Rosa Lee Klaneski (Farmington, CT) claimed 3rd in the 2009 Foxwoods Poker Classic Ladies event ($11,201) and finished 11th in the 2010 Borgata Winter Open $200 No Limit event ($2,358). Rosa Lee is Executive VP and CIO of PokerFokus.

After the break, play will resume with level 4, blinds 100/200.

Event 10: Gerber in the House

$1000 + $90 NL

Adam Gerber

2007 USPC Champion Adam "baby poker" Gerber (Moorestown, NJ) has taken his seat at table 1. Then promptly left to "get something to eat". No need to sweat the small stuff. His blinds will be posted until he returns.

Except that level two has ended and players are taking off for a ten minute break.

Adam's first big tournament score was here at Borgata in September 2007 when he finished 2nd in the $5,000 buy-in No Limit event, earning $248,500. He then topped that a couple of weeks later when he took top honors in the US Poker Championship $10k buy-in No Limit event, earning over $606,000. Last summer here at the Borgata Summer Poker Open, Adam took 5th in the $3k event, good for $74,700. Adam is involved in his family's business, (no, it is not baby food) so he only plays tournaments on the east coast. That seems to be working out well for him as his lifetime earnings are approaching the million-dollar mark.

After the break, play will resume with level 3, blinds 75/150.

Event 11: Ladies in Action

$260 + $40 Ladies NL

The Ladies Event is underway and despite the title, one guy (who shall remain nameless and photo-less) has taken a seat.

They started with 10,000 chips and blinds of 25/50. Levels last 30 minutes and entries will be accepted through the first two levels.

Eleven tables are in action so far.

Danielle Medvetz and Michaelann Moser

Twins? Sisters? Nope, just a fashion coincidence. Random seating has resulted in Danielle Medvetz (Carteret, NJ) and Michaelann Moser (Chambersburg, PA) sitting next to each other with matching couture.

Only the Ladies Event would contain a fashion report along with the poker report, right?

Event 10: Familiar Faces

$1000 + $90 NL

Despite the fact that the Ladies event starts at noon today, a handful of Ladies have opted to play this event instead. Among those is Joanne Monteavaro, (Bronx, NY) a regular on the tournament scene here at the Borgata.

Joanne finished 4th in the Double Play event here last month ($6,783) and has lifetime tournament earnings approaching $190,000. No wonder she chose to play in the bigger buy-in event!

Tom Dobrilovic

Also spotted in the crowd today is Tom Dobrilovic (West Nyack, NY). Tom has lifetime tournament earnings over $800,000 including 6 cashes and one final table at the WSOP.

Ed Corrado (Naples, FL) is back again today taking another shot at the much younger field. He failed to cash in yesterday's event, but doesn't let that stop him!

Event 10: Cards Fly

$1000 + $90 NL

Cards are in the air as players scramble to find their seats. They began with 15,000 chips and levels will last 50 minutes. Level 1 blinds are 25/50.

15 Tables are in action now, with some empty seats scattered around. Entries will be accepted through level 2.

Saturday, June 19

TODAY IN THE POKER ROOM

11AM - Event 10: $1000 + $90 No Limit Hold'em

• 15,000 in starting chips
• Levels last 50 minutes
• 2-day event

12pM - Event 11: $260 + $40 LADIES No Limit Hold'em

• 10,000 in starting chips
• Levels last 30 minutes
• 1-day event

Event 8: $300+$50 NLH Final Results

Borgata Summer Poker Open 2010
Event 8: $300 + $50 No Limit Hold'em
June 18
Entries: 251 Total Buy-In: $75,300

FINAL RESULTS
1. ERIC O'CONNOR (NORTH WALES, PA): $21,912
2. KEVIN DONOHUE (DUNDALK, MD): $12,417
3. MARK DEVITIS (EAGLEVILLE, PA): $6,829
4. MICHAEL BELLON (BROOKLYN, NY): $5,113
5. RAMATI AMIR (NEW YORK, NY): $4,382
6. MICHAEL NIFOSI (YONKERS, NY): $3,652
7. CARMEN DIMARIA (WESTFIELD, NJ): $2,922
8. MICHAEL ADAMS (ACCOKEEK, MD): $2,191
9. DAVID ARSHT (RADNOR, PA): $1,461
10. MARK BERNSTEIN (MOORESTOWN, NJ): $950
11. SETHLAMONT SOVIDARAY (ARLINGTON, VA): $950
12. ROBERT GROSCH (RIDGEFIELD PK, NJ): $950
13. TED GIOVANNIELLO (MANALAPAN, NJ): $803
14. ALEXANDER GENTILE (BOHEMIA, NY): $803
15. SHAWN HINDY (LEHIGHTON, PA): $803
16. CHARLES BONCICH (N MASSAPEQUA, NY): $657
17. JAMES SCHAEFER (SHILLINGTON, PA): $657
18. JOHN RAPCHINKI (PHOINEXVILLE, PA): $657
19. ANTHONY CARUSO (MEDFORD, NJ): $548
20. JACK BATTAGLIA (STATEN ISLAND, NY): $548
21. ROBERT FLORENCE (MARTINSBURG, WV): $548
22. MICHAEL BLATT (BROOKLYN, NY): $548
23. MURAT SIYAM (ROCKVILLE, MD): $548
24. CHRISTOPHER FISHER (WEST CHESTER, PA): $548
25. MARK VOGLER (DEER PARK, NY): $548
26. MATTHEW CHANG (ROCKVILLE, MD): $548
27. PETER BRONZINO (BRICK, NJ): $548

Event 8: $300+$50 NLH Recap

Borgata Summer Poker Open 2010
Event #8 - $300 + 50 No Limit Hold'em
June 18

While some people were interested in the USA/Slovenia World Cup match, 251 players entered Borgata's Poker room Friday morning with the mission to take home the Borgata Summer Poker Open trophy and first place prize money. Fortunately for Eric O'Connor (North Wales, PA), the insurance salesman from California who recently moved east, he was the last man standing with all the chips, outlasting 250 other players and winning his share of the $75,300 prize pool. O'Connor, who refined his poker skills playing in home games in California, took home $21,912. Kevin Donohue (Baltimore, MD) came in second for $12,417.

This No Limit Hold'em event kicked off the weekend at Borgata, which will see $1000 NLH on Saturday, along with the popular $260 Ladies NLH event. Sunday and Monday are Day 1A and Day 1B, respectively, of the $500 Deep Stack NLH.

Familiar faces in the field included Gregory Bock, Matt 'Muffins' Mazzeo, Joanne Monteavaro and Ed Corrado, who last month took home $59,000 for finishing 4th in the WSOP Circuit Bayou Poker Championship.

Event 9: $300+$50 PLO Final Results

Borgata Summer Poker Open 2010
Event 9: $300 + $50 Pot Limit Omaha High
June 18

Entries: 79 Total Buy-In: $23,700

FINAL RESULTS
1. FRANK PUGLIESE (TENAFLY, NJ): $8,046
2. KEVIN WOLBACH (MACUNGIE, PA): $4,368
3. MARK STEITZ (MARLTON, NJ): $2,759
4. STEVEN BUCKLEY (TURNERSVILLE, NJ): $2,069
5. MICHAEL DIFILIPO (MARLTON, NJ): $1,609
6. DARREN SYLVIN (MORRIS PLAINS, NJ): $1,379
7. PETER HARMON (DAMASCUS, MD): $1,149
8. TIMOTHY DALESSANDRO (WEST CHESTER, PA): $920
9. MARK JONES (PHILADELPHIA, PA): $690

Event 9: $300+$50 PLO Recap

Borgata Summer Poker Open 2010
Event 9: $300 + $50 Pot Limit Omaha
June 18

Frank Pugliese (West Patterson, NJ) was the last man standing in the Pot Limit Omaha tournament as he earned $8,046 in Event 9 of the Borgata Summer Poker Open.

79 players competed for the $23,700 prize pool as Pugliese defeated Kevin Wolbach (Macungie, PA) heads-up to win the title after some crazy and erratic four-handed play.

Pugliese, in trouble as he bets pot with K-J-8-9 against Kevin Wolbach's K-K-6-7, but when the board runs out 5-J-10-J-Q, the queen high straight gives Pugliese the championship.

"It was a great tournament," says, Pugliese who takes home $8,046 for first place.

Wolbach, playing in his first live PLO tournament, was thrilled to finish second while cashing for $4,368.

The field featured many Borgata PLO regulars, but the most notable player in the field was Joe Simmons (Philadelphia, PA). Joe made his mark on the poker world in 2007 when he final-tabled the $10k WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship event, finishing 4th for $387,709. His lifetime tournament earnings are now more than $740,000, but Simmons did not cash in this event.

Done for the Day

$300 + 50 NL

Number of Entrants: 251
Prizepool: $75,300

CHAMPION
Eric O'Connor (North Wales, PA)
1st Place - $21,912

"I'm on a hot streak, running really good, making good reads and great laydowns," says the hard working Insurance salesman.

"I learned poker from homegames in California, moved East and brought my love for poker with me."

Our Champion is between jobs, hope first place prize money helps with the bills, well played Eric.

Kevin Donohue
2nd Place - $12,417

The man runs poker clubs in Baltimore and spends half the year in Sweden, nice life... and congrats on the 2nd place score.

Out in Third

$300 + 50 NL

Event #8
Number of Entrants: 251
Prizepool: $75,300

Mark Devitis
3rd Place - $6,829

Final Table Bubble

$300 + 50 NL

Number of Entrants: 251
Prizepool: $75,300

Play went from rock tight super nitty to quick and over,
chips were flying, play ended abruptly.

Here's how they finished:

4. MICHAEL BELLON (BROOKLYN, NY): $5,113
5. RAMATI AMIR (NEW YORK, NY): $4,382
6. MICHAEL NIFOSI (YONKERS, NY): $3,652
7. CARMEN DIMARIA (WESTFIELD, NJ): $2,922
8. MICHAEL ADAMS (ACCOKEEK, MD): $2,191
9. DAVID ARSHT (RADNOR, PA): $1,461
10. MARK BERNSTEIN (MOORESTOWN, NJ): $950
11. SETHLAMONT SOVIDARAY (ARLINGTON, VA): $950
12. ROBERT GROSCH (RIDGEFIELD PK, NJ): $950
13. TED GIOVANNIELLO (MANALAPAN, NJ): $803

More Busts

$300 + 50 NL

Number of Entrants: 251
Players Remaining: 13
Prizepool: $75,300

Place - Name - Prize Money

14th - Alexander Gentile - $803
15th - Shawn Hindy - $803
16th - Charles Boncich - $657
17th - James Schaefer - $657
18th - John Rapchinki - $657

Event 9: Pugliese Takes it Down

$300 + $50 PLO

Frank Pugliese (West Patterson, NJ)
PLO Champion - $8,046

After some crazy and erratic play four handed, Frank Pugliese finally takes down the Event 9- PLO Championship of the Borgata Summer Poker Open.

Pugliese bets pot with K-J-8-9 and is in real trouble against Kevin Wolbach's K-K-6-7, but when the board runs out 5-J-10-J-Q, the queen high straight gives Pugliese the championship.

"It was a great tournament," says, Pugliese who takes home $8,046 for first place. "At the final table all the short stacks kept doubling up, so I'm glad I was able to outlast them."

For Wolbach it's his first live PLO tournament and is thrilled with finishing second, "I loved the structure and I loved the play," Wolbach says while cashing for $4,368. "I was short stacked early in the day, tightened up and here I am."

Kevin Wolbach (Macungie, PA)
2nd Place - $4,368

Chip Leader

$300 + 50 NL



Lamont Sovidaray leads Event #8, the big stack stops to pose in front of his mountain of chips.

Bo Shinawatra sweats his boy, good luck kids...

Event 9: Steitz Stopped in Third

$300 + $50 PLO

Mark Steitz (Marlton, NJ)
3rd Place - $2,759

Frank Pugliese cripples Mark Steitz on a big hand and then finishes him off a few hands later.

The pivotal hand is Steitz's 2♦ 5♣ A♦ 9♠ vs Pulgiese's A♣ Q♠ K♠ 7♦.

Flop: 7♣ 5♦ 3♠
Turn: 8♥
River: 7♠

Pulgiese's trip 7s takes it down, giving him the chip lead. After eliminating Steitz, Pugliese faces Kevin Wolbach heads up.

Out in Front

$300 + 50 NL

Number of Entrants: 251
Players Remaining: 18
Prizepool: $75,300

Blinds @ 4,000/8,000/500a

The Chipleaders:

Lamont Sovidaray (Lorton, VA) - 341,000
- IT guy for Airport Security

Eric O'Connor (North Wales, PA) - 251,000
- Insurance Sales

Mike Bellon (Brooklyn, NY) - 205,000
- Studio Manager for New York city artist

Event 9: Bucked Out in 4th

$300 + $50 PLO

Steven Buckley (Washington Township, NJ)
4th Place - $2,069

Steven Buckley and Mark Steitz tangle one last time and it's Steitz who gets the best of it, eliminating Buckley in 4th place.

Steitz is holding A-10-2-6 vs Buckleys pair of 9s, double suited, but when an ace flops Buckley doesn't recover.