A USD3,500 buy-in instead of traditional USD10,000 attracted over 1,000 players to the Borgata Poker Open 2009, a part of the 8th season of World Poker Tour (WPT). The event running September 09 - September 24, 2009 is taking place at luxurious Borgada Casino,Hotel & Spa, Atlantic City.
The USD3,500 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship allows everyone to take a shot at a prize pool guaranteed to be USD2 million. This Championship event is broadcast on TV and features the best structure with 30,000 in starting chips, and blinds begin at 25-50, meaning each player starts with 600 big blinds. Levels last 75 minutes each, with a dinner break after Level 6. Antes kick in during Level 5, when blinds are 100-200. First place will come with a USD1 million payday.
The event was expected to attract a huge number of participants. Action already kicked off with WPT officials proudly promoting the presence of several pros at the Borgata. Many of poker’s greats were in London for the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe festivities. However, among those remaining in the United States for the Borgata Poker Open were were Bill Gazes, Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Bernard Lee, Allen Kessler, Bluff Online Poker Challenge winner Brian “SN8WMAN” Hawkins, and noted poker coach David “The Maven” Chicotsky. Also in the house are Season IV WPT Player of the Year Gavin Smith, Roy Winston, and bracelet winner Brian Lemke.
Here’re the finalists of yesterday:
1. Olivier Busquet - 524,600
2. Tony Moussa - 488,300
3. Danny Illingworth - 480,600
4. Ofir Mor - 452,800
5. Mike Summers - 450,500
6. Bartholomew Mikulski - 441,100
7. Mike Leah - 431,600
8. Barry Tremebetzky - 412,000
9. Allen Bari - 401,500
10. Ben Lin - 385,700
Other notable names remaining in the WPT Borgata Poker Open include:
15. Jason Dewitt – 357,500
26. Bill Gazes – 298,000
36. Kathy Liebert – 260,700
38. Gabriel Aminov – 258,700
50. Jonathan Little – 229,800
58. Steve Brecher – 220,300
72. David Chicotsky – 187,800
75. Chris Reslock – 179,400
146. Michael Binger – 74,000
The four-figure attendance is a welcome sight for WPT officials, who have watched it drop steadily at recent tournaments. Attendance for last month’s Legends of Poker stop in Los Angeles was down 25% year over year to just 279 runners. The Bellagio Cup featured 268 players in attendance, down 40% from the field that took to the felts in 2008.
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