CLOSE OF BUSINESS

WPT BORGATA POKER OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

Busquet's Big Bag

As they play the final 5 hands of the night, one towering chip stacks stands out. It's on table 16 right in front of media row and it belongs to Olivier Busquet (New York, NY).

"I had two big hands, one early and one late," he says while bagging 525k, the unofficial chip leader. During the second level he hit a set of kings against two pairs to build his stack to 300k.

The second big score is during the last level. Busquet is a heavy underdog, but not at risk with (A K) vs. (K K). He's fortunate to hit an ace on the flop, but he's not apologizing for the play. "He wasn't three betting his big hands, so when he did there I didn't think he was that strong."

Busquet's 200k score puts him over the 500k mark, setting himself up for Day 3. "We've got a long way to go for the money, but I'm hopefully going to get a good night's sleep. I'm just going to try and keep running well and playing well. They usually go hand in hand."

As players bag and tag for the night, Busquet barely fits his stack into one bag as it's bursting at the seams.

The unofficial count is 169 players returning Tuesday at 11 AM to resume play with the average stack at 181k. The bubble breaks with 100 players left and they'll continue until 27 players remain before shutting down Day 3.

As Tournament Director Tab Duchteau says while players are leaving the Even Center, "get here early, it's going to be a long day."

Official chip counts will be posted sometime after 9 AM.