| Report by Daniel Lazerek for PokerPages.com
An extremely tough field of big-name players assembled on the East Coast for the 2004 Borgata Poker Open. The Borgata Poker Open has grown since last year’s inaugural event. This year, first place will pay $1,117,400, more than twice the $470,000 won by last year’s champion. The Borgata, which opened last summer, has a large and impressive poker room with a “tropical villa” motif. The room easily accommodated all 302 players.
The high caliber of player in attendance was on display at Table 31, which boasted an awesome roster of formidable players, including John Hennigan, Chris Ferguson, Kathy Liebert, Ted Forrest and a subdued Scotty Nguyen. It appeared that short stack Forrest would be the first to exit. After being gradually worn down to the verge of elimination, he finally found A-Q offsuit and pushed in his last $1,675. Liebert called with 7-7, but Forrest flopped an ace and rebounded to over $4,000. Forrest began aggressively rebuilding his stack. When he moved all in from middle position, Hennigan, in the cutoff with 8-8, decided to challenge Forrest’s comeback. The eights held up against Forrest’s K-J offsuit, and Forrest was eliminated. Some of the players seemed relieved to see the dangerous Forrest depart. Certainly, they were hoping he would be replaced with a softer target, but when Paul Darden arrived to fill the seat, they sighed and shook their heads in dismay. Likewise, when Ferguson and Scotty Nguyen busted out, they were replaced by WSOP runner-up David Williams and big stack Daniel Negreanu. In the final minutes, short stack Liebert was eliminated when she picked up 10-10 and ran into Negreanu’s A-A.
Table 17 was a reunion of WSOP stand-outs, with Scott Fischman in Seat 7, Greg Raymer in Seat 8, and David Williams in Seat 9. Fischman exited early. In the fateful hand, he held K-10 offsuit, and the flop came 10-4-K. Fischman checked the flop to trap Tony Cousineau, who held 8-8 and made a set on the turn. Raymer accumulated an impressive stack, but busted out later in the evening. Williams and Cousineau both survived to see Day 2.
Throughout the evening, the voice of Mike Matusow could be heard throughout the room, to the amusement of some and annoyance of others. Matusow was seated at a strong Table 11, which included Phil Ivey and Josh Arieh.
Early in the afternoon, Matusow got all in with A-Q against A-K, but hit a queen on the turn and doubled up. (Perhaps Matusow was entitled to this suck-out, considering his tearful elimination from the recent World Series, when he correctly moved all in with A-K against an opponent’s A-Q, only to have a queen spike on the river.) Invigorated by this victory, Matusow redoubled his hyperactivity.
Later, Matusow played an interesting hand against Josh Arieh, in which Arieh made a remarkable laydown. On a board reading 7-K-4-7, Arieh bet the turn and Matusow reraised all in. Matusow had taken a recent beat, and his reputation suggested that he was steaming from the loss. But Arieh declined, and tossed his A-7 into the muck, to the amazement of Matusow, who turned over 4-4. Matusow seemed truly impressed by the laydown, and he complimented Arieh repeatedly. This hand was strongly reminiscent of Arieh’s celebrated fold against John Murphy at the WSOP, when Arieh made a flush on the river, but laid it down after correctly deducing that Murphy had a full house.
As players were eliminated, they migrated across the room to the high-stakes side games. Spectators gathered to watch Los Angeles pro David Oppenheim challenge all comers in a $400-$800 Stud/Hold ‘Em mix game. Oppenheim plays in Larry Flynt’s world-class Stud game, and finished 3rd in this event last year. The game attracted Matusow, Jennifer Harman, Johnny Chan, and John D’Agostino, the 21-year-old who recently distinguished himself with his impressive heads-up play against Phil Ivey at Turning Stone.
Chip leader Michael Buttacavoli ended the day with $194,200, just barely ahead of Stan Goldstein, who ended with $192,500.
Also looking strong is reigning champion Noli Francisco, whose remarkable resemblence to Yoda befits his wise play. Francisco has $82,700.
Other notable front-runners include Daniel Negreanu ($111,500), Phil Ivey ($90,100), Huck Seed ($85,500), Al Krux ($80,700), Ted Lawson ($78,600), Antonio Esfandiari ($72,800) and T.J. Cloutier ($66,300).
Players Remaining: 111
Chip Leader: Michael Buttacavoli ($194,200)
Average Stack: $54,414
Next Level: $800-$1600 blinds, $200 ante
Chip Counts and Table Positions end of Day 1 WPT Borgata
Last First Stack Table Seat
Buttacavoli Michael 194200 31 2
Goldstein Stan 192500 25 4
Hung Tommy 151600 27 7
Carson Michael 137500 31 5
Moran Brandon 129700 25 9
Defrancis John 118000 27 5
Negreanu Daniel 111500 31 3
Pierce Brock 111000 26 6
Leckey Paul 103000 34 3
Chandler Larry 102000 33 9
Hanley Robert 101800 34 6
Porter Ralph 96200 24 9
Ivey Phil 90100 32 2
Aglialoro John 88800 24 5
Abreu Jesus 86100 27 2
Kline Keith 86100 34 2
Seed Huckleberry 85500 28 5
Myung John 84700 25 5
Cha Jimmy 83700 25 3
Cipolla Gerald 83100 32 3
Francisco Noli 82700 24 10
Krux Al 80700 30 9
Lawson Ted 78600 22 7
Spee Arnold 78200 32 10
Kumar Senthil 74400 25 2
Esfandiari Antonio 72800 25 10
Panayiotou Eracles 68500 32 8
Pino Michael 68100 34 1
Truong David 67300 29 4
Cassidy Joseph 67200 34 7
Cloutier T.J. 66300 33 6
McCormick Tony 66200 27 6
Sebastiano Jimmy 63500 22 9
Juanda John 61600 26 5
Vallario Michael 61500 28 9
Mortensen Juan Carlos 60400 32 9
Shoengold Gary 59900 30 10
Nguyen Van 59400 30 8
Goehring Alan 59300 34 8
Urpsis John 59200 31 8
Esposito John 56700 33 7
Hennigan John 56200 31 1
Markholt Lee 56100 26 8
Perry Robert 55700 33 3
Giambrone S.J. 55400 34 10
Arieh Josh 54000 29 9
Franklin Tom 53500 28 10
Weisberger David 52000 30 5
Wang Lin 51900 28 7
Militello Anthony 50400 33 5
Kelly Patrick 50200 26 7
Cousineau Tony 50100 29 1
Russomanno Frank 49000 24 1
Hoang Anh Son 48900 31 10
Faltinsky Ron 48000 29 10
Tatalovich Richard 47800 27 8
Fratzola Frank 45500 31 6
Laak Phil 44600 29 6
Bonyadi Farzad 44500 28 8
Harrington Daniel 44400 24 6
Anderson Davin 44100 27 10
Raza Ahmad 44000 24 2
Johnson Ben 43400 32 7
Livia Thomas 42800 30 3
Sunar Surinder 42800 27 1
Camillery Anthony 42600 34 9
Yamron Bruce 42600 24 7
Miller Andy 42200 25 1
Boston Alan 42000 29 5
Leveson Stephen 41400 22 5
Fiorito Mike 41200 33 10
Frommer Carl 41200 30 1
Roy Mike 39400 22 4
Ayre Shawn 39200 26 2
Bibb Curtis 38900 33 2
Montalbano Herb 38900 28 6
Lilie David 37900 33 1
Fox Jr. Nathaniel 37500 33 4
Ruscingno Thomas 35900 29 7
Bittan Michel 34400 26 4
Ehrenworth Alan 33700 32 5
Nguyen Men "The Master" 33700 25 7
Bjorin Chris 33300 29 8
Lombardo Paul 32800 27 3
Tsipraildis Chris 31900 22 6
Glantz Matt 30400 32 1
Seidel Erik 26100 25 6
Chopra Rohit 25800 30 2
Pollaro Ronald 23900 30 6
McMullen Michael 23200 27 9
Turk Greg 22300 30 4
Besserman Richard 22100 22 2
Zimmet Jay 22000 25 8
Hirsch Yakov 21900 28 4
Cunningham Allen 21700 22 10
Rothstein Jeff 21500 32 6
Williams David 21200 31 4
Appleman Mickey 20500 24 4
Nagel Rufus 18600 28 1
Rubin David 17500 26 3
Haveson Brian 15000 24 3
Daugherty Brad 14700 29 3
Bell Christopher 14500 29 2
Strzelecki Mike 11900 22 8
Napolitano Vincent 11400 22 1
Ford Tim 11200 26 10
Finn Michael 9600 30 7
Greenberg Steve 8700 28 2
Rich Andy 7800 22 3
Moore Chad 5500 34 4
Tafuri Michael 3200 26 9
Ackerman Christopher - out - Day 1
Adams Scott - out - Day 1
Alspach Dan - out - Day 1
Ammirato Daniel - out - Day 1
Anderson Dennis - out - Day 1
Anthony Richard - out - Day 1
Argila Anthony - out - Day 1
Awada Joe - out - Day 1
Azen Arthur - out - Day 1
Baker David Lloyd - out - Day 1
Barretto Lou - out - Day 1
Baum Tristan - out - Day 1
Berman Lyle - out - Day 1
Bigler Christian - out - Day 1
Bloch Andrew - out - Day 1
Boich Wayne - out - Day 1
Brecher Steve - out - Day 1
Brodie Richard - out - Day 1
Brooks Joseph - out - Day 1
Brunson Doyle - out - Day 1
Brunson Todd - out - Day 1
Buchman Eric - out - Day 1
Cabrera Marcello - out - Day 1
Caller Mark - out - Day 1
Cardoza Avery - out - Day 1
Carnes Wilson - out - Day 1
Carpenter Scott - out - Day 1
Cernuto Miami John - out - Day 1
Chan Johnny - out - Day 1
Cheung Yee Mau - out - Day 1
Chiriac Michael - out - Day 1
Cicconi Guy Louis - out - Day 1
Cohen Richard - out - Day 1
Colon Alan - out - Day 1
Cook James - out - Day 1
Corkins Hoyt - out - Day 1
Cowart Richard Allan - out - Day 1
Crockett Stephen - out - Day 1
Cruess-Callaghan Frank - out - Day 1
Dagostino John - out - Day 1
Darden Paul - out - Day 1
Deberardinis Randy - out - Day 1
Deeb Kassem - out - Day 1
Derei Asher - out - Day 1
Derosa Charles - out - Day 1
Devito Richard - out - Day 1
Dickstein Mark - out - Day 1
Djokovic Avdo - out - Day 1
Dulisse Anthony - out - Day 1
Dvorkis Alan - out - Day 1
Ethier Denis - out - Day 1
Faltinsky Ray - out - Day 1
Feoli Nicholas - out - Day 1
Ferguson Chris "JESUS" - out - Day 1
Ferrigno Joseph - out - Day 1
Filippi Amnon - out - Day 1
Fink III Charles - out - Day 1
Fischman Scott - out - Day 1
Fitoussi Bruno - out - Day 1
Flack Dee - out - Day 1
Floyd Russell Andrew - out - Day 1
Forrest Ted - out - Day 1
Francoeur Louise - out - Day 1
Frangos Nick - out - Day 1
Freedman Jeff - out - Day 1
Furey Charles - out - Day 1
Ganz Simon - out - Day 1
Gelwarg Stuart - out - Day 1
Germano Carl - out - Day 1
Giang Chau Tu - out - Day 1
Goldberg David - out - Day 1
Gordon Phil - out - Day 1
Greenstein Barry - out - Day 1
Haber Eric - out - Day 1
Halpern Chaim - out - Day 1
Hanna Nick - out - Day 1
Hansen Gustav - out - Day 1
Hofeld Michael - out - Day 1
Hollander Walter - out - Day 1
Hrisafinis Vasillios - out - Day 1
Hua Can - out - Day 1
Huston Randy - out - Day 1
Ibrahim Mohamed Mahmoud - out - Day 1
Israelashvili Roland - out - Day 1
Jensen Randy - out - Day 1
Jett Charles - out - Day 1
Jordan Edward - out - Day 1
Josephy Cliff - out - Day 1
Kandris Athanasios - out - Day 1
Karlins Marvin - out - Day 1
Kaufmann Jess - out - Day 1
Kessler Louis - out - Day 1
King Robert - out - Day 1
Kohlberg Curt - out - Day 1
Kramer James - out - Day 1
Lang Grant - out - Day 1
Lederer Howard - out - Day 1
Lester Jason - out - Day 1
Levi David - out - Day 1
Liebert Kathy - out - Day 1
Lifschitz Phil - out - Day 1
Lin Ray Ho - out - Day 1
Lohr James - out - Day 1
Lucci Anthony Michael - out - Day 1
Lund Hans - out - Day 1
Magriel Paul David - out - Day 1
Malenski Thomas - out - Day 1
Maloney William - out - Day 1
Maniotis Vassilios - out - Day 1
Marianik Charles - out - Day 1
Martchenko Alex - out - Day 1
Matros Matthew - out - Day 1
Matusow Mike - out - Day 1
Maxfield Paul - out - Day 1
McGee Kevin - out - Day 1
Miller James - out - Day 1
Miller Sidney - out - Day 1
Minter Jake - out - Day 1
Montgomery Mark - out - Day 1
Mosseri Abraham - out - Day 1
Muller Shmuel - out - Day 1
Muscarello Shane - out - Day 1
Nguyen Hung - out - Day 1
Nguyen Scotty - out - Day 1
Nicoles Fotios - out - Day 1
Oppenheim David - out - Day 1
Overman James - out - Day 1
Patel Hirenbhai Ramesh - out - Day 1
Pham David Dung - out - Day 1
Phan Bon John - out - Day 1
Phillips Palu - out - Day 1
Phillips Rupert - out - Day 1
Pino Michael - out - Day 1
Rabbini Madjid - out - Day 1
Rahim Rick - out - Day 1
Ramdin Annand - out - Day 1
Raymer Greg - out - Day 1
Raymond Steven - out - Day 1
Reilly John - out - Day 1
Reyers Cecilia - out - Day 1
Richardson Chris - out - Day 1
Roazzi Vincent - out - Day 1
Rogers Edward - out - Day 1
Rosa Michael - out - Day 1
Rosen Bruce - out - Day 1
Rosenbaum Myron - out - Day 1
Rosenblum Russell - out - Day 1
Rothstein Bill - out - Day 1
Rothstein Craig - out - Day 1
Rothstein Jeffrey - out - Day 1
Rouas Philippe - out - Day 1
Savino Michael - out - Day 1
Scala Tracy - out - Day 1
Schein Alan - out - Day 1
Schoenfeld Adam - out - Day 1
Seif Mark - out - Day 1
Serata David - out - Day 1
Shak Daniel - out - Day 1
Shamloo Kavon - out - Day 1
Sica Michael - out - Day 1
Singer David - out - Day 1
Skyllas Pete - out - Day 1
Smurfit Peter - out - Day 1
Spadavecchia John - out - Day 1
Speilman Steven - out - Day 1
Stoner Fritz - out - Day 1
Sukonik Michael - out - Day 1
Tanguay Norman - out - Day 1
Tirone Carmine - out - Day 1
Todd Eugene - out - Day 1
Tomko Dewey - out - Day 1
Tosti Nicola - out - Day 1
Townsend Charles - out - Day 1
Tran Thithi - out - Day 1
Traniello Jennifer - out - Day 1
Trincher Vadim - out - Day 1
Turner Craig Alan - out - Day 1
Vahedi Abdol Amir - out - Day 1
Van Alstyne James Gibson - out - Day 1
Vandriesen Roger - out - Day 1
Veach John - out - Day 1
Vera Phillip - out - Day 1
Vinh Qouc - out - Day 1
Violette Cynthia - out - Day 1
Viriyayuthakorn Jason - out - Day 1
Walther Keith - out - Day 1
Watkinson Lee - out - Day 1
Wilds Mark - out - Day 1
Yancey Edwin - out - Day 1
Young Phan - out - Day 1
Zewin Don - out - Day 1
Zillmer John - out - Day 1
Zoldak John - out - Day 1
Zolotow Stephen - out - Day 1
Prize Pool
1st $1,117,400
2nd $573,800
3rd $286,900
4th $181,200
5th $135,900
6th $105,700
7th $75,500
8th $60,400
9th $48,320
10th-12th $36,240
13th-15th $30,200
16th-18th $24,160
19th-27th $18,120
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