2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Day 1b: Todd Rebello Leads Stacked Field
On Monday, the 2014 $3 Million Guaranteed WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship continued in Atlantic City with players coming out for Day 1b of the prestigious $3,500 re-entry event. A total of 807 entries were recorded throughout the day and roughly 450 survived when play concluded. Todd Rebello bagged up the largest stack at the end of the day with 229,825 in chips, allowing him to return for Day 2 as the second largest chip stack in the room, behind Day 1a chip leader Laz Hernandez (258,175).
The 807 entries on Day 1b, combined with the 422 from Day 1a, add up to 1,229 total entries for this event. That number created a $842,379 first-place prize which is more than $100,000 larger than the $730,053 that Andy Hwang took home last year for his victory.
Unofficial Day 1b Top Ten
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Todd Rebello | 229,825 |
| 2 | Rob Boyko | 209,500 |
| 3 | Mike Linster | 160,225 |
| 4 | Matthew Honig | 132,000 |
| 5 | Julio Belluscio | 130,000 |
| 6 | John Gordon | 125,000 |
| 7 | Cornel Cimpan | 115,000 |
| 8 | Jimmy Kohn | 104,000 |
| 9 | Tanner Millen | 100,000 |
| 10 | Anthony Maio | 99,100 |
With a large turnout that was packed with notable players, it was no surprise that dozens of familiar names progressed on to Day 2. A small sample size of those returning for the second day of play include Todd Terry (98,550), Isaac Baron (95,975), Eric Baldwin (93,850), Caufman Talley (93,275), Kathy Liebert (88,500) Faraz Jaka (82,200), Jeff Madsen (79,650), Andy Frankenberger (56,450), Ebony Kenney (39,500), Jon Aguiar (28,775), and James Woods (16,200).
Also returning for play on Tuesday with a stack of 74,700 was DJ MacKinnon. MacKinnon had a dramatic on Day 1b as he returned from the dinner break to find that his chip stack was missing from the table. Upon review of the security footage and discussion with tournament director Tab Duchateau, the reasoning behind MacKinnon's missing chips came to light.
MacKinnon, who was seated in Seat 1 at his table, stood up and watched the final hand before the dinner break. In this hand, Robert Merulla in Seat 2 moved all in and Allison Schultz in Seat 4 pondered a call. Eventually, she did announce a call and lost the pot, eliminating her from play and allowing Merulla to drag in a massive pot.
According to Duchateau's review of the security footage, the dealer pushed the pot to Merulla and MacKinnon's stack was pulled in with the rest of the pot. After this information was made known, the amount that was in MacKinnon's stack before the dinner break was taken out of Merulla's stack and given back to MacKinnon. A full account of this situation can be read here.
While all of those players will return for Day 2, many notable names found themselves with nothing but felt in front of them by the end of the day. Players like Ryan Eriquezzo, Jonathan Tamayo, Chino Rheem, Jonathan Little, Vanessa Selbst, Brett Richey, and Phil Collins were all among those to fall.
Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews on Tuesday as we provide live updates from the tournament floor for Day 2 of this exciting event!
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