Event 6
$300+$40 Seniors No Limit Hold’em
Structure Sheet
Level 9: Blinds 500/1,000/100 ante
Entries: 168
Seniors are back from break and registration has closed with an unofficial count of 168 entrants. We must wait for the official numbers to be crunched, but the prize pool should be more than $48,000 and will get paid to the final 18 players.
Istvan Szabo
Istvan Szabo is paying with the Seniors today, working toward his second cash of the series. (He cashed in the Kick-Off Event already.) If he can produce a run like he did back in January during the Winter Poker Open, he’s due for three more cashes this Summer. He cashed four times during the WPO in the Kick-Off, Seniors, Almighty Stack, and the Deep Stack.
$300+$40 Seniors No Limit Hold’em
Structure Sheet
End of Level 8: Blinds 400/800/75 ante
Entries: 160
Seniors are enjoying their second break of the day and registration will close when play resumes, so this is the last chance for players to join the elder statesmen on the felt.
As of the break, it looks like Thomas Koo is our Senior Chip Leader. He’s stacking more than 100,000, five times what he started with.
Thomas Koo
$300+$40 Seniors No Limit Hold’em
Structure Sheet
Level 6: Blinds 200/400/50 ante
Entries: 149
If anyone in this field is ‘over-qualified’ for a Seniors event, it is Attilio Bitondo. He celebrated his 90th birthday last month and he’s been holding his own against much younger fields for many years.
Attilio Bitondo
As proof he’s still got what it takes to hang with the young guns, he won his first WSOP Circuit ring back in March, beating a field of 206 entrants for the top prize of more than $16,000. That final table included some very accomplished regulars like Roland Israelashvili and Andrew Klein.
Attilio made the final table of the Seniors event back in Spring of 2017, but that 4th place finish is as close as he’s come in this event. During the 2014 Spring Poker Open, he finished 3rd in the $600 NLH event for more than $10,000. That’s his highest finish here at Borgata, so he’s overdue for a win.
To say that Attilio has led an interesting life is an understatement — just check out his Wikipedia page.
$300+$40 Seniors No Limit Hold’em
Structure Sheet
Level 5: Blinds 150/300/25 ante
Entries: 145
Seniors returned from their first break of the day and play has resumed. They’ve got 12 tables up and running in a very crowded poker room.
Barry Leventhal
Among the many familiar faces in this crowd is six-time Open Series titleist Barry Levelthal. Two of Barry’s six titles were in Seniors events, Winter of 2015 and Spring of 2018. Gotta figure that makes him the one to beat today.
With more than half-a-million in reported lifetime earnings, Barry’s proven he’s got the right stuff. It’s still early, but so far he’s playing right around the starting stack of 20,000.
$300+$40 Seniors No Limit Hold’em
Structure Sheet
Level 2: Blinds 75/150
Stan Silverman – 1st Place – 2017 BSPO Seniors Event
Last year, 185 Seniors plied their skill on the green felt and in the end it was Stan Silverman who came out on top of a five-way adjusted payout agreement. He walked away with $10,095 and the Borgata Summer Poker Open trophy!
Seniors are still arriving and registration remains open for a few hours, so there’s still plenty of time to get in on the fun.
$300+$40 Seniors No Limit Hold’em
Structure Sheet
Level 1: Blinds 50/100
The Seniors event is a big favorite and one of the more stoic NLH events here at Borgata. They’ve got cards in the air at this extra-early start time of 10am!
Seniors will start with 20,000 chips and levels 1-15 are 30 minutes long; levels 16+ are 40 minutes in duration. Late registration and unlimited re-entries are available until the start of level 9 (about 2:30pm).
This is a one-day event and they’ll play until a new Seniors Champion is crowned!
The start of the 2017 Borgata Summer Poker Open is just a few days away with the Ladies Go First NLH event on Sunday, starting at 11am. Onsite registration opens two hours before the start of the tournament (9am). Then it’s the $1 Million Guaranteed Kick-Off event starting Tuesday at 11am with the first of five starting flights. Online registration is available for all Main Events through Friday, July 6th. Onsite registration begins Monday, July 9th, at 12 noon and will remain open daily from 8am to midnight throughout the series.
The kickoff event and it’s $1 Million Guarantee will bring out big crowds, so there are five starting flights spread across three days. Flight A begins Tuesday, July 10th, at 11am. Flight B runs Wednesday at 11am, overlapping Flight C starting at 4pm. Flights D & E are Thursday at 10am and 5pm, respectively. This event is a Best Stack Forward and Unlimited Re-Entry event, so players are encouraged to register early and register often!
Zachary Schwartz – 1st Place – 2017 Summer Open Kick-Off Event
Last year it was Zachary Schwartz who bested the field of 2,268 entrants to claim 1st place and just over $160,000 in an adjusted payout agreement following a five-hour heads-up battle with Larry Abrams.
The first Saturday Series event is also the Cabot Creamery “Put a Bad Beat On Hunger” charity tournament, raising money for the New Jersey Food Bank – Southern Branch. Last year they drew 421 total entries and raised $4,210 for the New Jersey Food Bank – Southern Branch. Last year they drew 421 total entries to create a prize pool of $142,930. In addition, $4,210 was raised for a great cause. An adjusted payout agreement resulted in Jeremey Barnett taking home $11,915 and the trophy. The $3,500 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship seat went to Mike Machalani. This year, both the 1st AND 2nd place finishers will earn a $3,500 entry in the 2018 WPT BPO Championship, courtesy of Cabot Creamery!
To celebrate Borgata’s 15th Birthday, the Tournament of Champions will highlight the second Saturday of the series, with previous Borgata Open Champions invited to battle for a winner-take-all prize of $25,000.
Of course the $1 Million Guaranteed Borgata Summer Poker Open Championship begins Sunday and Monday, July 22nd and 23rd, with starting flights A and B. Registration for the Best Stack Forward and Unlimited Re-Entry event remains open until the start of Level 11 on Day 2 (July 24th) about 2:15pm.
Abraham Korotki – 1st Place – 2017 Borgata Summer Poker Open Championship
Last year saw a record 600 entrants and the Live-Streamed Championship final table was historic with three World Series of Poker bracelet winners doing battle with Borgata’s winningest regular, Abraham Korotki. 2015 WSOP Main Event winner Joe McKeehen got heads-up with Korotki, but came up short of the win. Korotki claimed his record ninth Borgata title and more than $359,000.
All the information you need can be found on the Summer Poker Open site, so bookmark it and check back often. We’ll be seeing you next week for the start of the 2018 Summer Poker Open and you can follow the action right here in the BSPO blog!
Follow @BorgataPoker on Twitter for news and use #BSPO2018 to connect with us and other BSPO participants.