Summer Poker Open Blog
Now another Open Series is in the books and 19 Borgata Summer Poker Open trophies have new homes. In fact, two of them went to the same home. Adam Reese etched his name in the record books when he won two main events during this series, the $260+$40 Deeper Stack NLH ($14,805) and the $400+$50 Almighty Stack NLH ($68,806.). The $1 Million Guaranteed 2019 Borgata Summer Poker Open Championship fielded 514 entrants and created a prize pool in excess of $1.2 million. The final table was Live Streamed on Twitch TV and Borgata’s Facebook page and the audience watched as Jackob Datashvili made the right reads and caught the cards when he needed them.
$540+$60 Deep Stack NLH
$1.5 Million Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Bar Poker Open
Level 3:Blinds 100/200
Entries: 125
Jetmir Sulaj’s stack is soaring to new heights early. He’s more than doubled his starting stack and is playing more than 60,000.
In an earlier hand, his pocket Queens held against pocket 4s. Then more recently, three players got all-in on the turn with a board of K J T 2 with three hearts. After the river bricked, Jetmir’s J2 (two pair) had beat both AK and AJ.
$540+$60 Deep Stack NLH
$1.5 Million Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 2:Blinds 75/150
Entries: 104
One of Borgata’s most familiar regulars is Andrew Klein and today he’s playing injured. He ruptured his achilles playing basketball and is wearing a boot and riding a knee walker scooter to get around.
He’s confident he’ll be able to rehab it and get back on the court. For now, it’s not affected his ability in this game, as he was stacking chips when I went by.
Andrew’s got five Borgata titles, three of which were in Open series events. His most recent win was in the 2017 Summer Poker Open $260 Deep Stack NLH event, earning $28,500 in an adjusted payout agreement.
$540+$60 Deep Stack NLH
$1.5 Million Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 1: Blinds 50/100
The 2018 Borgata Poker Open Kick-Off Event is officially underway with Flight A! We’re in the temporary tournament area situated between the Poker Room and the Signature Room.
There are five starting flights in this event, spread out over three days:
1A: Today, 11am
1B: Wednesday, 11am
1C: Wednesday, 5pm
1D: Thursday, 10am
1E: Thursday, 7pm
With Labor Day Weekend in the rear-view mirror, it’s time for some serious poker. Players in Flight A are staring down the barrel of seventeen 30-minute levels before they bag up for the night (about 8:30pm). Those lucky enough to get the infamous plastic bag today will be able to take two days off before returning for Day 2 on Friday.
All players begin with 25,000-chip Deep Stacks and this is an unlimited re-entry and best-stack-forward event. Registration for each flight closes at the start of Level 13 — for this flight that will be at about 5:45pm.
As you may or may not have heard, the 2018 Borgata Poker Open will be running in a new temporary tournament area. Instead of the Event Center where we have been in the past, BPO tournaments will be running on tables in the Signature Room, the Poker Room, and a new Tournament Area in between.
The slot machines have been removed from this area and poker tables are in. This new setup is just for this series and in January we’ll be back in the Event Center for the 2019 Winter Poker Open.
This new tournament area is perfectly situated between Bread and Butter on one side and the escalator to the Marketplace Eatery on the other, giving players quick and easy access to refreshments. It’s also just a few steps to the Race and Sports Book for those who need to place a bet and the North Entrance, for those who need to step outside for some fresh air.
Online registration is closed, but on-site registration begins at 12 noon Monday, September 3rd and will remain open until midnight. Beginning Tuesday, registration will be open from 8am to midnight daily throughout the series at the Cashier windows across from the entrance to Bobby Flay’s.
Click here and bookmark this site for links to all the information you need to navigate the 18-day Borgata Poker Open, which begins Tuesday at 11am with the first flight of the $1.5 Million Guaranteed Kick-Off Event!
The 2018 Spring Poker Open concluded in the early hours of Saturday morning with the final trophy event. Over the previous 18 days, 19 coveted Borgata Hotel replica trophies were awarded and more than $4.6 million was paid out to players participating in the 22 scheduled Main Events.
Rafael Reis won the $1 Million GTD Kickoff Deep Stack NLH event, earning more than $216,010 and his first Borgata Open title. There were 2,370 entrants over five starting flights and the guarantee was well covered with the final prize pool exceeding $1.2 million.
Barry Leventhal wins two main events during 2018 SPO
Barry Leventhal added his name to the short-list of players to win two events during a single Open series. He took 1st Place and $10,000* in the Seniors event, a tournament he also won back in the 2015 Winter Poker Open, then a couple of days later won the Pot Limit Omaha event for $9,676. These were his fifth and sixth Borgata Open series titles and with six wins, he’s now third on the list of most reported wins at Borgata, trailing only Abraham Korotki (9) and Will ‘the Thrill’ Failla (7).
The $1 Million GTD Spring Poker Open Championship pulled 519 entrants, covering its guarantee and paying out more than $1.25 million in prize money. The final table of six was Live Streamed and can still be watched on YouTube.
It came down to a heads-up match between two established pros and coincidentally, both were Day 2 entrants. Farid Jattin held the chip lead for the entirety of Day 3 and a couple of hours into the final table before Almedin ‘Ali’ Imsirovic picked off a turn semi-bluff-shove to double-up and claim the chip lead, which he held until the end.
Almedin ‘Ali’ Imsirovic – 1st Place – 2018 SPO Championship
Heads-up play began with Ali holding more than a 5:1 chip lead over Farid, but Farid managed to double-up twice, pulling close to even with Ali. Once the stacks evened out, the final two agreed on adjusted payouts. Ali took 1st place and $246,066*. Farid finished 2nd for $243,521*.
A complete list of Main Event winners is below and that wraps up the 2018 Spring Poker Open! Mark your calendars now and make plans to join us for the Summer Poker Open, to be held July 10-27. Follow @BorgataPoker on Twitter for updates on the tournament schedule when it is released.
*indicates adjusted payout
$500+$60 Super Survivor NLH
Total Entries: 202
Total Buy-In: $101,000
Total Prize Pool: $97,970
Final Results
| PLACE | NAME | FROM | WINNINGS |
| 1 | MICHAEL FORCA | BABYLON, NY | $5,000 CASH |
| 1 | ANTHONY WEISS | BOURBONNAIS, IL | $5,000 CASH |
| 1 | BRANDON HIMES | ALTOONA, PA | $5,000 CASH |
| 1 | SPENCER SALIS | BRIGANTINE, NJ | $5,000 CASH |
| 1 | TRAVIS HARTSHORN | SARVER, PA | $5,000 CASH |
| 1 | STEPHEN SILVERMAN | MILLWOOD, NY | $5,000 CASH |
| 1 | RICCARDO FIGUEROA | STATEN ISLD, NY | $5,000 CASH |
| 1 | ROBERT EVANS | TENAFLY, NJ | $5,000 CASH |
| 1 | SOHEB PORBANDARWALA | STAMFORD, CT | $5,000 CASH |
| 1 | KAMEEL JUMAN | RICHMOND HILL, NY | $5,000 CASH |
| 1 | VINOD MOORJANI | LANSDOWNE, VA | $5,000 CASH |
| 1 | ERIC DOERR | NEWARK, DE | $5,000 CASH |
| 1 | BILL KONTARATOS | LAVAL, | $5,000 CASH |
| 1 | SEMSETTIN ILYAS | FAIRFAX, VA | $5,000 CASH |
| 1 | MARK PISAENO | BETHLEHEM, PA | $5,000 CASH |
| 1 | TODD BEARDSWORTH | TRUMBULL, CT | $5,000 CASH |
| 1 | EVERTON TAYLOR | BRIDGEPORT, CT | $5,000 CASH |
| 1 | CHASE STEFFY | WASHINGTON, DC | $5,000 CASH |
| 1 | RICHARD LARDNER | MASSAPEQUA, NY | $5,000 CASH |
| 20 | BRANDON CUFF | NAZARETH, PA | $2,970 CASH |
$560 Super Survivor NLH
Level 11: 800/1,600/1,600 BB Ante
Total Entries: 202
Players Remaining: 70
While the $400 Deep Stack Saturday NLH event is on the money bubble in the Signature Room the $560 Super Survivor is moving right along in the poker room.
There are now 70 players remaining and there are plenty of familiar faces in the field including Shaotong Chang, Mike Nye, Joe Gola, Travis Hartshorn and Lyle Diamond just to name a few.
Shaotong Chang
Shaotong Chang just got her stack of about 50,000 all in preflop holding and to her surprise her opponent held the other two . They chopped the pot but not before her opponent go a sweat when a third spade hit the turn.
The players are all looking to survive and the final 20 will be taking home $5,000 in cold hard cash.
$500 + $60 Super Survivor NLH
Level 1: Blinds 50/100
The $500 Super Survivor has just started and all players get 20,000 chips with which to play. Levels 1-10 last 30 minutes, then levels 11+ last 40 minutes.
Approximately 1 in 10 players will earn $5,000 each and play will continue until only 10% of the field remains. They will be our ‘Super Survivors’!
During last year’s Spring Open, the $500 Super Survivor drew 224 entrants and 22 players walked away with $5,000 in cash!
It’s officially the first day of Spring, (despite the weather forecast calling for snow) so it’s time to make plans for the 2018 Borgata Spring Poker Open! The Kickoff begins in just under three weeks and it will launch a terrific series. With more than $3.2 million in total guarantees and 19 trophy events spread across 18 action-packed days, this series should bring out some huge fields. Room rates starting at $95 are available now. Reserve your room by calling 609.317.1000. Click here for the schedule of Main Events.
As always, the series begins with a big bang. The $1 million guaranteed $540+$60 NLH Deep Stack Kickoff tournament begins Tuesday April 10th at 11am with the first of five starting flights. With unlimited re-entries, this best stack forward event will surely see more than enough entrants to crush the guarantee. Last year, Borgata regular Soukha Kachittavong came out on top of the field of nearly 3,000 entrants to take home $127,637 in a nine-way adjusted payout agreement.
Soukha Kachittavong – 1st Place – 2017 BSPO Kickoff
Summer Poker Open Blog
All your favorite tournaments will be returning including the Seniors, Ladies, SixMax, Almighty Stack, and the $150,000 GTD Black Chip Bounty. A couple of newer events which are sure to become player favorites are back as well. The 40/40 Monster Stack leads off the second week of the series, giving players 40,000 chips and 40 minute levels. The $200 Frenzy Re-Entry makes its second appearance in a Open Series as well, with re-entries at half the price of the first buy-in. Of course the highlight of the series is the $2,500 + $200 NLH Championship, which carries a $1 million guarantee on total buy-ins.
Last year Sam Taylor bested the field of 670 entrants to take down the Championship and collect more than $390,000. That star-studded final table included WSOP Main Event Winner Joe McKeehen, John Racener, Kane Kalas, Ricky Guan, Wade Meacham, and Simon Lam. The finale will be Live Streamed again this year, letting the poker world watch as a new Spring Poker Open Champion is crowned.
Video Poker Blogs
Sam Taylor – 2017 Borgata Spring Poker Open Champion
Get the Spring Poker Open dates on your calendar and don’t forget to enter for a chance to win a FREE seat in the Championship event. Just click here and complete the form. All the details and links you need for this series can be found on the Spring Poker Open Micro-site, so bookmark it now and we’ll see you next month!