2019 Bar Poker Open
Event 1
$200+$30 Big Friday Monster Stack Kick Off
$30,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 166
Prize Pool: $32,204
October 25, 2019

Christopher Shum

The 2019 Bar Poker Open kicked off with a nice Big Friday Monster Stake tournament that easily surpassed its $30,000 guaranteed prize pool. The tournament drew 166 entries and Borgata regular Christopher Shum took home the top prize of $5,712 along with the trophy after a five-way adjusted payout deal.

The 166 entries created a prize pool worth $32,204 with the last 18 spots paid out. They quickly played down to the money after registration closed but slowed once they hit the final table. Several other regulars went deep including Lucas Braga, Kathy Waterhouse, and Anthony Anastasi.

After Braga was eliminated in sixth place, the five remaining players quickly agreed to divide up the remaining prize pool and call it a night.

Congrats to Christopher on his first tournament victory and thanks to everyone for a great start to the series.

Event 1 results:

1st: Christopher Shum – $5,712 *
2nd: Gregory Witsch – $5,493 *
3rd: Glen Passin – $4,068 *
4th: Chuck Crong – $3,868 *
5th: Kathy Waterhouse – $3,401 *
6th: Lucas Braga – $1,610
7th: Pietro Maniscalco – $1,288
8th: Anthony Anastasi – $966
9th: Patrick Keller – $725
10th: Jim Quinn – $644
11th: Mohamed Kahia – $644
12th: Kenneth Roberts – $644
13th: Dee Pakkumar-Prajapatz – $564
14th: Rocco Nigro – $564
15th: Ilya Vasserman – $564
16th: Diane Lepera – $483
17th: John Germano – $483
18th: John Imperiale – $483
* – denotes results a five-way adjusted payout deal

$200+$30 Big Friday Monster Stack Kick Off
$30,000 Guarantee | Payouts
Level 22: 12,000/24,000 with a 24,000 ante
Players Remaining: 10 of 166

Ilya Vasserman

The final table players are taking their first break of the day so we can catch up on some business. We tracked down the first set of results with eight players already making some money this evening including Borgata Bar Poker Open regulars Diane Lepera, John Germano, John Imperiale, and former Bar Poker Open Championship final table member Ilya Vasserman.

Results so far:

11th: Mohamed Kahia – $644
12th: Kenneth Roberts – $644
13th: Dee Pakkumar-Prajapatz – $564
14th: Rocco Nigro – $564
15th: Ilya Vasserman – $564
16th: Diane Lepera – $483
17th: John Germano – $483
18th: John Imperiale – $483

$200+$30 Big Friday Monster Stack Kick Off
$30,000 Guarantee | Payouts
Level 21: 10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining: 10 of 166

After a slight slowdown in the action, Event 1 played down to its final ten-handed final table with $9,500 waiting up top and Greg Witch leading.

Seat 1: Glen Passin – 475,000
Seat 2: Greg Witch – 735,000
Seat 3: Anthony Anastasi – 325,000
Seat 4: Kathy Waterhouse – 480,000
Seat 5: Chuck Cronk – 150,000
Seat 6: Christopher Shum – 380,000
Seat 7: Jim Quinn – 290,000
Seat 8: Lucas Braga – 465,000
Seat 9: Patrick Keller – 680,000
Seat 10: Pietro Maniscalco – 350,000

Remaining payouts:

1st: $9,500
2nd: $5,314
3rd: $3,220
4th: $2,576
5th: $1,932
6th: $1,610
7th: $1,288
8th: $966
9th: $725
10th: $644

$200+$30 Big Friday Monster Stack Kick Off
$30,000 Guarantee | Payouts
Level 14: 2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 Big Blind Ante
Players Remaining: 18 of 166

Event 1 quickly played down to the bubble but things slowed once they got there. It took a half dozen rounds of hand-for-hand action to put them in the money and it was a cooler with nines running into aces. Tournament staff broke Table 3 and the remaining 18 players are now in the money with them all shooting for the $9,500 top prize.

1st: $9,500
2nd: $5,314
3rd: $3,220
4th: $2,576
5th: $1,932
6th: $1,610
7th: $1,288
8th: $966
9th: $725
10th – 12th: $644
13th – 15th: $564
16th – 18th: $483

$200+$30 Big Friday Monster Stack Kick Off
$30,000 Guarantee | Payouts
End of Level 14: 4,000/8,000 with a 8,000 Big Blind Ante
Players Remaining: 22 of 166

Players are currently on a fifteen minute break. They are three players away from the money bubble. The final 18 players will score a min-cash worth $483.

$200+$30 Big Friday Monster Stack Kick Off
$30,000 Guarantee | Payouts
Level 14: 2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 Big Blind Ante
Players Remaining: 58 of 166

The numbers were crunched and we have the official payout information. Event 1 drew 166 entries to create a prize pool worth  $32,204 and the last 18 spots will walk away with some money. A min-cash is worth $483 but all eyes are on the first place prize of $9,500 along with the first 2019 East Coast Bar Poker Open trophy.

1st: $9,500
2nd: $5,314
3rd: $3,220
4th: $2,576
5th: $1,932
6th: $1,610
7th: $1,288
8th: $966
9th: $725
10th – 12th: $644
13th – 15th: $564
16th – 18th: $483

$200+$30 Big Friday Monster Stack Kick Off
$30,000 Guarantee
Level 10: 800/1,500 with a 1,500 Big Blind Ante
Enrants: 166

Manny Avila – Eastern Poker Tour

The second break is complete and registration is officially closed on the opening event of the series. The tournament clock shows 166 entries but we will wait for the official number. The prize pool moved over $32,000 and the last 18 players will make some money, the payout information will be posted as soon as it is available.

A few more familiar faces popped up including Manny Avila back trying to improve his Championship run in 2017 year. But he can only go up by one spot. Avila of the Eastern Poker Tour finished second out of 706 entries in 2017’s Championship and took home more than $14,000 for the run.

$200+$30 Big Friday Monster Stack Kick Off
$30,000 Guarantee
Level 7: 400/800 with a 800 Big Blind Ante
Enrants: 151

Time is flying by and Event 1 cruised right on past its $30,000 guarantee. With 151 entries so far, every new entry will push the prize pool higher until registration closes around 5pm this evening. If players don’t make it that far, we have a $130 Deepstack tournament running at 6pm for the late arrivals.

$200+$30 Big Friday Monster Stack Kick Off
$30,000 Guarantee
Level 3: 100/200
Enrants: 101

Event 1 is off and running with over 100 entrants quickly.  We have a fine mix of players split between our familiar local faces and the Bar Poker Open players coming to town. 2018 Bar Poker Open National Champion Basil Congro and Jimmy Quinn who won a trophy at last years BPO, both representing EPT are in the field.

Another famous face is Abraham Korotki (pictured), who happens to be Borgata’s winningest player. Korotki has close to $2,000,000 in earnings and will certainly be one to watch.

$200+$30 Big Friday Monster Stack Kick Off
$30,000 Guarantee
Level 1: 100/100

It’s that time of year and the Borgata is proud to host the Bar Poker Open series with the East Coast National Championship set to start tomorrow morning. Until then, we have two warmup preliminary events on Friday’s schedule to get everyone set for the headliner.

Event 1 is ready to roll in the Signature Room and the first tournament features monster stacks with a nice prize pool. The $200+$30 buy-in tournament has a $30,000 guaranteed prize pool and players start out with 30,000 starting stacks. Blinds levels will last 20 minutes until the start of Level 17 when they increase to 30 minutes long. Late registration is available until the start of Level 9 at approximately 5pm with unlimited re-entries available during that time.

Cards go in the air a 2pm and we will bring you all the action.

• $30,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 30,000 in chips
• Levels 1-16 last 20 minutes; Levels 17+ last 30 minutes
• Late registration available until start of Level 9