MIKE BROWN ELIMINATED IN 7TH ($117,579)

Mike Brown is the unfortunate TV table bubble boy. After losing a bunch of chips with an interesting call with 6's versus TripJax, he survived for awhile but will be our 7th place finisher.

With just a little of 1,000,000 in chips, he shipped them in with 88 and was racing against Jeremy Brown and his AK. The Q T x flop didn't hit him but gave him Jack outs to go along with his overcards. The turn card Jack ended his night and sends him home with $117,579.


Mike Brown finishes 7th
in the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship

EVENT #21 UPDATE

While the final 7 players grind it out in the Championship event, 49 players remain in Event #21. The bubble breaks at 45 and there's a couple of notables still alive, including Antonio Walker.

Also remaining is Luis Nargentino who finished 29th in the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

37th-45th places collect $447 ($350 buy-in), the top prize is more than $34,000.

WAITING GAME

WPT BORGATA POKER OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

We're still waiting for our final bustout of the evening. We've had several all-in and calls over the last level but the shortstack has won each one. Both Yanick Brodeur and Keith Crowder found themselves all-in only to survive.

They are finishing up Level 31 at 50,000-100,000 with 10,000 ante.

Chip counts:

Seat 1 - Yanick Brodeur - 5,775,000
Seat 2 - Mike Brown - 1,950,000
Seat 4 - Keith Crowder - 1,600,000
Seat 5 - Jeremy Brown - 2,900,000
Seat 8 - Olivier Busquet - 9,000,000
Seat 9 - Kenny "SuperTuan" Nguyen - 1,560,000
Seat 10 - Ivan Mamuzic - 5,875,000

OLIVIER BUSQUET DOUBLES

WPT BORGATA POKER OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

Olivier Busquet doubles through Mike Brown, and gains the chip lead when he and Brown see a flop after Busquet flat calls Brown's raise of 300k pre fllop.

The flop comes [J 5 2].

Brown bets 500k and Olivier calls. The turn comes [J] and Brown leads again. This time for 1 million. Olivia flat calls again.

The river comes a [4] only this time Brown checks. Olivier takes his time and finally announces an all-in. Brown nearly snap calls and Olivier shows A J for trips. Brown shows pocket sixes and throws them in disgust.

Olivier picks up nearly 9 million in chips and Brown goes down to just under 2 million.

We are down to 7 players and only need one bust out to complete the day and have the final 6 for the TV table tomorrow.

We'll have it as soon as it comes.

EVENT #21 PAYOUTS

$300 + $50 NL Hold'Em
Entries: 403
Prize Pool $120,900

Place - Amount

1 $34,601
2 $18,739
3 $9,672
4 $8,463
5 $7,254
6 $6,045
7 $4,836
8 $3,627
9 $2,418
10-12 $1,572
13-15 $1,149
16-18 $834
19-27 $665
28-36 $508
37-45 $447

KENNY "SUPERTUAN" NGUYEN DOUBLES

WPT BORGATA POKER OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

It didn't take long for us to witness another hand that had players and spectators jumping out of their seat.

Kenny Nguyen was the shortstack with just over 1,000,000 chips and the possibility of going out on the "televised table" bubble. Nguyen raised it up pre-flop to 167,000 and Mike Brown made the call. The flop ran out J 6 8 and the chips went in the middle.

Nguyen was way behind holding KJ to Brown's AJ. The flop was a meaningless 4 but the roar went up when the King hit the river.

Kenny Nguyen is now back up to 2,700,000 in chips while Mike Brown is now around 5,300,000.

ERIC BLAIR ELIMINATED IN 8TH ($87,345)

WPT BORGATA POKER OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

The first huge roar of our final tabled happened in a hand between Eric Blair and Olivier Busquet and Eric Blair. The preflop action once again saw all the chips going in the middle. Busquet was way behind with AK versus the AA of Blair.

The first cheer went up when Blair flopped the case Ace to take a huge lead and double up. The second sound from the players and stands when a Queen hit the turn giving Busquet the gutterball chance. Two players stated they folded Jacks preflop.

Jack on the river and Blair is dealt a nasty little beat to send him home in 8th place.

We are now just one elimination away from forming the WPT televised final table. Kenny "SuperTuan" Nguyen is the shortstack.


Eric Blair finishes 8th
in the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship

RAY HENSON ELIMINATED IN 9TH ($63,828)

WPT BORGATA POKER OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

Two quick knockouts have us down to 8 players.

Ray Henson was our next to hit the rail. He was the short stack with only around 500,000 to start the hand. He raised it up and faced a re-raise all in from Olivier Busquet. Henson quickly called and we had another race, Henson's AK versus Busquet's QQ. Bricks filled up the board and Henson is sent home with $63,828 for his 9th place finish.


Ray Henson finishes 9th
in the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship

STEVE BRECHER ELIMINATED IN 10TH ($39,976)

WPT BORGATA POKER OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

In a blinds versus the blinds situation, Mike Brown limps in the small blind to Steve Brecher sitting in the bb. Brecher checks his option and they see a flop of [J 9 2].

Brecher leads out and Brecher shoves. Brown quickly called. They show J 6 and 9 4 giving Brown top pair and Brecher drawing to a nine or 4 to carry on.

Brecher bricks ending his run and going out in tenth place. He will now hop a plane to try his luck in the World Series of Poker Europe.

Brecher earns $39,976 and Brown now has over 7.2 million.


Steve Brecher finishes 10th
in the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship

MIKE BROWN DOUBLES UP

WPT BORGATA POKER OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

In a hand that pitted Brown vs. Yanick Brodeur, we pick the action up on the flop.

[T Q J] comes and Brown fires out $300k. Yanick asks Brown how much he has total, and Brown replied "about 2.5 million". Yanick shoved and Brown tanked for a bit, ultimately calling.

Brown showed QT for two pair, and Yanick showed KJ for a pair of jacks and an open ended straight draw.

The board ran out blank and Brown won the hand. Yanick made a bit of a stink when he found out that the total price was 3.2 million to pay off the loss. "I asked him how much and he said 2.5. If he actually tells me the truth, I might not make that bet."

Tab, the tournament director explained that all he needed to do was ask for a count. Brown replied that he thought he was being asked how much he had behind. To no avail however. Yanick ships the pot to Brown and now Brown is sitting on just over 6 million and is second in chips.

Yanick is down to 1.9 mil in chips as we continue the final table. With 10 players remaining and the blinds still at 30k/60k with 8 minutes left in the level, we should see at least one or two fo the shorties having to make moves soon.

ERIC BLAIR DOUBLES UP

WPT BORGATA POKER OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

It doesn't take long for us to see some fireworks.

Steve Brecher opened for 180,000 and it folded around to Eric Blair who moved all in for around 1,200,000. After thinking it over for a healthy amount of time, Brecher called with 66. Blair showed AKc and they were flipping once again.

Brecher was looking solid on the Q 9 5 flop but the Ace on the turn was good enough without the added Ace on the river.

Blair moves up to approximately 2,500,000 and Brecher gets chopped down to just over 1,000,000.

BACK FROM DINNER BREAK

WPT BORGATA POKER OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

The players have returned from break and the cards are in the air. We will see if they pick up the pace with their bellies full of food. The stands are beginning to fill with friends and family hoping to see something big.

Blinds are 30,000-60,000 with 5,000 ante. The 1,000 chips have been retired.

FINAL TABLE CHIP UPDATE

WPT BORGATA POKER OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

The official chip counts are done and they have been swapped out with the WPT chips. Ivan Mamuzic continues to lead the field with Ray Hansen sporting the "short stack". With the slow structure it's still anyone's game.

The players will return to Level 29 with blinds at 30,000-60,000 and 5,000 ante. Average chip stack remains just over 3,000,000.

By Seat:

Seat 1 - Yanick Brodeur - 2,952,000
Seat 2 - Mike Brown - 2,512,000
Seat 3 - Steve Brecher - 2,500,000
Seat 4 - Keith Crowder - 3,829,000
Seat 5 - Jeremy Brown - 4,260,000
Seat 6 - Ray Henson - 977,000
Seat 7 - Eric Blair - 1,231,000
Seat 8 - Olivier Busquet - 3,652,000
Seat 9 - Kenny "SuperTuan" Nguyen - 1,318,000
Seat 10 - Ivan Mamuzic - 7,376,000

By Rank:

1st - Ivan Mamuzic - 7,376,000
2nd - Jeremy Brown - 4,260,000
3rd - Keith Crowder - 3,829,000
4th - Olivier Busquet - 3,652,000
5th - Yanick Brodeur - 2,952,000
6th - Mike Brown - 2,512,000
7th - Steve Brecher - 2,500,000
8th - Kenny "SuperTuan" Nguyen - 1,318,000
9th - Eric Blair - 1,231,000
10th - Ray Hensen - 977,000

EVENT #21 NEWS & NOTES

The final event of the Borgata Poker Open continues in the main area of the Poker Room.

The unofficial count is 403 players, projecting to 45 places paid for a top prize in the neighborhood of $36,000, as this is the last chance for players to take home a championship and the coveted trophy.

Familiar faces include James Boyd, Howard Wolper, Don Matusow, Scott Neuman and Bradley Utz.

As we stroll by the table, Matusow hits quad jacks to push him to 50k. He's giving a shout out to "Pepe."

Neuman's giving love to the "PPI guys and Chip Me Up."

Boyd says to his fans, "I haven't cashed yet, but I'm ready to take it down."

Level 8 (400/500/75 ante) continues.

DAY 4 DINNER BREAK

There has been very little movement among the final 10 players outside the Henson/Brown double up. Very few flops and the occasional rare turn card.

The players are heading off on their 75 minute dinner break while the floor staff is coloring up the chips, swapping them out for the official WTP tournament chips, and gathering the counts.

Back shortly after the color up and counts are complete.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION

WPT COVERING THE FINAL 10

HENSON DOUBLES THROUGH BROWN

The first major hand of the final table saw short stack Ray Henson double through Mike Brown.

Brown raised pre-flop followed by Henson shipping in his chips. After tanking for awhile and asking for a count, Henson eventually called and was holding AT. He was counting on one overcard against the KK of Henson. The board ran out 8 9 3 Q Q moving Henson up to 1,800,000 in chips and chopping Brown down to 1,900,000.

FINAL TABLE CHIP COUNTS

WPT BORGATA POKER OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

If history is any indicator, we are now at the point in the tournament when things really slow down. The field has been reduced to just one table of 10 players. They can now see the end of the tunnel, a chance for the televised final table, and nearly $1,000,000 in prize money. Flops will be few and far between, most pots taken down with a single pre-flop raise or the occasional 3-bet.

Average chipstack is now just over 3,000,000 and here are the final table counts:

1 - Ivan Mamuzic - 7,100,000
2 - Jeremy Brown - 5,000,000
3 - Olivier Busquet - 4,000,000
4 - Yanick Brodeur - 3,100,000
5 - Steve Brecher - 2,700,000
6 - Keith Crowder - 2,400,000
7 - Mike Brown - 2,100,000
8 - Eric Blair - 2,000,000
9 - Kenny Nguyen - 1,400,000
10 - Ray Henson - 890,000

FINAL TABLE SEAT ASSIGNMENTS

The final table is set and here are the seat assignments:

Seat 1 - Yanick Brodeur (Fleurmont, OT)
Seat 2 - Mike Brown (West Islip, NY)
Seat 3 - Steve Brecher (Reno, NV)
Seat 4 - Keith Crowder (Elkins Park, PA)
Seat 5 - Jeremy Brown (Medford, NJ)
Seat 6 - Ray Henson (Houston, TX)
Seat 7 - Eric Blair (West Hartford, CT)
Seat 8 - Olivier Busquet (NY, NY)
Seat 9 - Kenny "Super Tuan" Nguyen (Lynswood, IL)
Seat 10 - Ivan Mamuzic (Toronto, OT)

RESLOCK ELIMINATED AND CROWDER CRUISES

WPT BORGATA POKER OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

Keith Crowder doubled through Ray Henson when his A J outlasted Henson's KQ after flopping a K. The turn and river brought two aces and Crowder Doubled to about 2 million leaving Henson with just about a million.

The next hand, Chris Reslock shoved his remaining $480k and Crowder called again, this time showing AQ. Reslock showed Qc Jc and Crowder's AQ won when they both hit the Q on the flop, but Crowder pulled an A on the turn.

Crowder now sits at just about $2.6 million as the floor condenses the final ten into one final table. We are 4 bust outs to ending the day.

Chris Reslock takes 11th place and earns $39,976.