There was a huge eruption from Table 12 during the late registration period of the $600 Deep Stack Kick Off after four players got all of their chips into the middle.
At the start of Level 7, with blinds of 400/800, Kole Lekic, Daniel Leahy, Ben Weaver and John Dorsey were all all-in, creating a main pot of 42,300, along with side pots of 59,300 and 200.
The action was recapped by Lekic, who described the hand as a "shove fest."
Dorsey opened under the gun before Weaver jammed from the next seat. Leahy called off his stack, and Lekic then committed his last 10,100 from the small blind. Dorsey had everyone covered, but only by a handful of chip, and called.
Kole Lekic: K♦K♣
Daniel Leahy: J♣J♦
Ben Weaver: Q♠Q♥
John Dorsey: A♠4♠
The table erupted when the dealer spread the K♥J♥7♣ flop, giving Lekic top set and Leahy middle set. The 9♣ turn changed little, leaving Dorsey drawing dead while Leahy remained in front for the biggest side pots.
But the drama wasn't over as the Q♦ river gave Weaver a set of queens to leapfrog Leahy, earning him the side pots. Lekic's set of kings remained best in the main pot to earn him the quadruple-up. Leahy was eliminated from the hand, while Dorsey was left on fumes and eliminated shortly after.
With play now midway through Level 6 of Day 1e in the $600 Deep Stack Kick Off ($1,000,000 Guaranteed), the tournament's big stacks are beginning to emerge.
At the top of the counts is Gregory Paverelli, who appears to be leading the field with around 240,000 chips.
Hot on his heels are Rafael Polanco, sitting on approximately 215,000, and Yaohua Bao, who has built his stack to around 212,000.
A handful of other players have also separated themselves from the pack. Eugene Naumovsky has climbed to roughly 150,000, while Thorsten Schlutter (145,000) and Frank Lupi (122,000) are also among the bigger stacks.
With late registration remaining open until the start of Level 13, there's still plenty of time for the leaderboard to change before the race to the money and the Day 2 bags begins.
A packed satellite schedule is running both online at BetMGM Poker and live inside the Borgata poker room, giving players plenty of chances to qualify for the festival's biggest events at a fraction of the regular buy-in.
Qualify Online at BetMGM Poker
BetMGM Poker
BetMGM Poker is running online qualifiers throughout the festival, with buy-ins starting from just $10.
The cheapest option is the $10 Borgata Bounty Shootout qualifier on July 26, where players can win a $160 tournament seat along with $50 in cash.
There are also $50 qualifiers running until July 29 for the Deep Stack Kick Off, Pot-Limit Omaha Championship, Borgata Almighty Stack and Monster Mirror Mystery Bounty. Winners receive their seat plus an additional $50.
Players targeting the festival's biggest event can enter $250 Championship qualifiers through July 28. Packages include a $2,700 seat to the Summer Poker Open Championship and $500 in cash to help cover expenses.
Players should check the BetMGM Poker lobby for start times and any additional qualifiers added during the series.
Live Satellites at Borgata
Borgata Summer Poker Open
There are also several live routes into the action at Borgata, including satellites that award seats across multiple events.
The $500 Borgata Big 4 satellite guarantees five packages, with each package including seats to Events 1, 11, 16 and 22.
The $220 Out the Gate satellite also guarantees five packages, this time awarding seats to Events 1, 11 and 16.
Players looking for more flexibility can enter the $560 $5K Your Way satellite, which awards $5,000 in tournament buy-ins at a one-in-ten ratio and comes with a $15,000 guarantee.
There are also two routes into the $2,700 Championship. The $320 MEGA Championship satellite guarantees 10 seats, while another $320 Championship satellite guarantees five.
If you don't already have a BetMGM Poker account, there's an extra incentive to sign up before chasing a Borgata Summer Poker Open seat.
New players can receive a 100% deposit match up to $1,000, plus up to $75 in tournament tickets, giving them even more opportunities to qualify for the festival's biggest events.
Whether you're taking a shot in a $10 online satellite or trying to win your way into the $2,700 Championship, the welcome offer provides plenty of extra value before you even play your first hand.
While the $600 Deep Stack Kick Off grabbed much of the spotlight on Friday, another Borgata Summer Poker Open trophy was also handed out in the $650 One Shot Freezeout.
The event attracted 52 entries, comfortably surpassing its $25,000 guarantee to generate a $29,900 prize pool, with the top seven finishers earning a share.
When the dust settled, Corrie Samuels emerged victorious after a heads-up deal with Enzo Descalzi. Samuels took home $9,000 and the title, while Descalzi collected $8,125 as runner-up.
Eugene Sumter rounded out the podium with a third-place finish worth $4,250, while Rajath Tangam, Vincent Santagata, Guy Maxtone-Graham and Joseph Siracusa also made the payouts.
The poker didn't stop once the Friday's marquee events wound down, as the $250 Friday Night Super Deep Frenzy wrapped up late with an anonymous player walking away with the title.
A field of 52 entries built a $10,400 prize pool, with seven players finishing in the money.
The player earned the lion's share of the prize pool, collecting $3,690 after defeating Maksim Chepurnov heads-up. Lenard Hebert finished third for $1,480, while Patrick Gooch, William Shaw, Robert Macri and John Kish all ended up in the paid places.
Friday's pair of starting flights in the $600 Deep Stack Kick Off ($1,000,000 Guaranteed) at the Borgata Summer Poker Open powered by BetMGM Poker wrapped up with Pavel Kim ending the day as the overall chip leader through four flights.
Kim dominated Day 1d, bagging 1,511,000 chips to become the first player to surpass the 1.5 million mark and move to the top of the leaderboard heading into the final day of starting flights.
Earlier in the day, Day 1c drew 410 entries, with 52 players finishing in the money before the field was trimmed to 33 Day 2 qualifiers.
Leading the survivors was Bartholomew Golik (pictured), who bagged 971,000, while Dale Capuano (879,000) and Joseph Cutler (818,000) rounded out the top three.
Cutler's biggest moment came on the money bubble. Facing a three-bet shove, he called with ace-jack and found himself flipping against the bubble boy's pocket sevens. Cutler filled up to send his opponent to the rail and guaranteed the remaining players a payday. The pot pushed Cutler beyond the one-million-chip mark, although he surrendered some of those chips before the bags came out.
Also advancing from Day 1c with healthy stacks were Craig Robertson (719,000), Saker Alatrach (625,000), Anthony Nastasi (612,000), Ketan Pandya (599,000), Daniel Ilijeski (588,000) and Josue Vazquez (581,000).
The evening Day 1d added another 239 entries, with 30 players earning the $1,200 min-cash before the field played down to 20 survivors.
James Goldblatt
Kim was comfortably clear of the chasing pack, while James Goldblatt (634,000) and Roberto Pagano (624,000) completed the top three from the flight. David Di Lorenzo (490,000) and Matthew Parnes (405,000) were the only other players to bag more than 400,000 chips.
Day 1cd Chip Counts
Player
Chip Count
Flight
Pavel Kim
1,511,000
D
Bartholomew Golik
971,000
C
Dale Capuano
879,000
C
Joseph Cutler
818,000
C
Craig Robertson
719,000
C
James Goldblatt
634,000
D
Saker Alatrach
625,000
C
Roberto Pagano
624,000
D
Anthony Nastasi
612,000
C
Ketan Pandya
599,000
C
Daniel Ilijeski
588,000
C
Josue Vazquez
581,000
C
Philip Saracino
507,000
C
David Di Lorenzo
490,000
D
Stephen Rozanski
457,000
C
Matthew Parnes
405,000
D
Joseph Kent
402,000
C
Justin Leeds
373,000
C
Michael Surick
324,000
C
Boris Kravets
324,000
D
Jonathan Coyle
316,000
C
Robert Gaudio
316,000
C
Arihanth Anugu
298,000
D
Joseph Galazzo
297,000
C
Werner Muller
291,000
C
Carlos Rosal
289,000
C
Leonid Kaziyev
289,000
D
Eric Frank
285,000
D
Eric Riley
281,000
C
Anthony Mancini
247,000
D
Jake Dynes
245,000
D
Steven Juricek
235,000
D
Changfeng Fan
232,000
D
Wooyang Lin
232,000
D
Alexander Rocha
226,000
C
Eugene Zaslavsky
226,000
C
John Dagostino III
219,000
D
Nicholas Poulos
219,000
D
James Geron
217,000
C
Gordon Wasserman
213,000
D
Piyush Mittal
193,000
D
Michael Nifosi
175,000
D
Paul Spitzberg
174,000
C
Deepal Nawab
167,000
C
Rishi Tangri
159,000
C
Terence Beaman
148,000
C
Phillip Phan
143,000
C
Harry Davis
135,000
C
Gary Purpura
132,000
C
Dimitrios Sotiriou
129,000
C
Craig Gould
94,000
C
Shad Murphy
93,000
C
Matthew Vacon
93,000
D
Busy Saturday Expected
The two Friday flights added 649 entries, bringing the tournament total to 1,216 entries through the opening four flights. So far, 100 players have secured a seat in Sunday's Day 2.
The $1 million guarantee is now well within sight. A total of 1,924 entries are needed to cover it, leaving 708 entries still required. With Day 1e already attracting a huge field and Day 1f still to come on Saturday evening, the tournament is on course to comfortably eclipse the seven-figure guarantee.
The Borgata conference center is filling up fast, with tables about to spill into the main poker room on the casino floor as players continue to arrive for the final two starting flights of the Deep Stack Kick Off.
Saturday marks the final chance for players to secure a spot in Day 2 of the $600 Deep Stack Kick Off ($1,000,000 Guaranteed) as the Borgata Summer Poker Open powered by BetMGM Poker continues in Atlantic City.
After four opening flights on Friday drew another wave of players to Borgata, the last two starting flights — Day 1E and Day 1F — will play out on Saturday. By the time the bags come out tomorrow night, the full Day 2 field will be set, with everyone still in contention for a share of the seven-figure guaranteed prize pool.
With players able to fire several bullets before Sunday's restart, expect another pair of busy flights as locals and visitors alike look to join the growing list of Day 2 qualifiers.
For those in the mood for something different after the Hold'em action, the evening schedule also features the $250 Double Board Bomb Pot PLO, with a $10,000 guaranteed prize pool.
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