September 20 2011, Donnie Peters

The Borgata in Atlantic City was alive again on Monday with Day 1b of the World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open. It was a record-setting affair with the Day 1b field attracting 853 players, bringing the total field to 1,313. This event was held with a re-entry format and 143 players took advantage of that after busting on Day 1a.

One of those players who did just that turned out to be the end-of-day chip leader. Jeff Madsen busted on Day 1a but came back with a fury on Day 1b to bag up 216,925 in chips. He’s a bit behind the Day 1a chip leader Abe Korotki with 260,100, but he too pocketed $5,000 for ending the day with the most chips.

According to the WPT Live Update Team, Madsen scooped a big pot in Level 3 with the blinds at 75/150 to send two opponents to the rail and move to over 100,000 in chips. In the hand, Madsen opened with a raise to 300, and one player called before another three-bet to 1,125. Two players behind the three-bettor called, Madsen called and the initial caller called, sending five players to the flop. After Madsen checked, the next player bet 2,100. The three-bettor raised to 6,100 and action folded back to Madsen. He reraised and made it 13,000 to go. The player after him then moved all-in for slightly over 20,000 before the third player began to tank. Eventually, that player moved all-in for 26,000 total and Madsen snap-called.

Madsen had flopped a full house with . His two opponents held and , respectively. After the turn brought the and the river the , Madsen won the pot and both players hit the rail.

Madsen wasn’t the only player taking a second chance in the event. A few other notables took advantage of the re-entry format including Allen Bari, Dan O’Brien, Chris Klodnicki and defending champion Dwyte Pilgrim. All fell short once again and will see their double buy-in have no chance of coming back to them.

Pilgrim was all-in on the flop with an open-ended straight draw against an opponent’s set of tens. The turn and river failed to give Pilgrim what he needed and he was sent to the rail, clearing his chances at a back-to-back title.

A few other notables to bust on Day 1b were Brett Richey, Scott Seiver, Ryan D’Angelo, the WPT’s own Tony Dunst, Steve Zolotow, Olivier Busquet, Josh Brikis, Nick Frangos and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi.

While those notables busted, others had solid days on the felt and finished with sizable stacks. They included Matt Affleck, David Williams, Mark Gregorich, Maria Ho and Robert Mizrachi. Jennifer Leigh rounded out the day as a severe short stack with just 5,900 in chips.

A total of 541 players made it through Day 1b and they’ll combine with the 245 survivors from Day 1a to return to play on Tuesday. The entire remaining field of 786 players will begin Day 2 at 1100 EDT (1900 BST) and the top 100 spots will be paid, earning at least $8,386 for cashing. Top prize is $922,441 and everyone will have his or her eyes set on working down to that ultimate goal. Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for the daily recap of the event.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for all your up-to-the-minute poker news.

Follow Donnie Peters on Twitter – @Donnie_Peters

September 08 2011, Crystal Quibell

Day 2 of the second Epic Poker League Main Event has drawn to a close and only 23 players of the 50 who began the day remain. The chip leader heading into Day 3 is Fabrice Soulier, who finished the day with 453,500. Fabrice was involved in a few large pots including one early in the day where he knocked out Greg Mueller. In the hand, Soulier’s held against Mueller’s on a board of . That hand boosted Soulier’s stack to over 200,000.

Near the end of the day, Soulier won a huge pot that sent Andrew Robl to the rail. On a board of , Robl ended up all-in holding against Soulier’s . The on the river improved Soulier’s hand further, sent Robl to the rail, and Soulier’s stack rocketed to 350,000.

Many well-known players were eliminated throughout the day, but some of the most notable included Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, Tom Dwan, Ben Lamb, and Huck Seed.

Of the nine players who won seats through the Pro/Am Qualifier, only three remain in the field: current EPL card holder Nam Le and two “amateurs,” Jaime Kaplan (who began the day as chip leader) and Sean Getzwiller. Kaplan was unable to maintain his momentum from Day 1 and finished the day with 245,000 in chips.

Only 12 of the remaining 23 players will make the money. Five of the players remaining in the field are going for their second EPL Main Event cash. Chino Rheem, the defending champion, and Erik Seidel, who took second in the inaugural event, along with Adam Levy, Isaac Baron, and Matt Glantz who finished in seventh, 10th, and 14th respectively.

Rheem has made an impressive showing in this event, so far. He was able to maintain a decent-size stack throughout the day. but took a hit when his failed to beat Tim West’s a board reading . West doubled up and Rheem’s stack dipped to around 150,000.

Dan O’Brien began the day second in chips and finished with 201,000. O’Brien, who kept a fairly low profile most of the day, was impressive considering that he held the chip lead for a long time. In one notable hand, he and Matt Graham raised back and forth preflop until Graham ended up all-in. O’Brien’s were ahead of Graham’s and the board ran out sending Graham to the rail and boosting O’Brien’s stack to over 325,000. Near the end of the day, O’Brien flopped top two pair with his on a flop of and ended up putting David Steicke all-in. Unfortunately for O’Brien, Steicke had flopped a set with his . The turn and river didn’t improve O’Brien’s hand, and he lost over 200,000 chips.

Day 3 will begin Thursday at 1200 PDT (2000 BST) at the Palms Resort Casino in Las Vegas, and it is sure to be an exciting day because both the money bubble will be broken and the final table of eight will be set! Keep following us here on PokerNews for all the updates.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for all your up-to-the-minute poker news.