Jason Ritchie just picked up a nice pot in Day 1C of the Deep Stack Kick Off.
He opened to to 4,000 in the cutoff, before calling when the small blind moved all-in for just under starting stack.
The small blind turned over A♣8♣ but was crushed by Ritchie's A♠K♣. The K♠7♠2♥ flop had the small blind out of his seat, and then he headed to the exit after Ritchie made aces up on the A♦ turn ahead of the [td[ completing the runout.
Day 1C $600 Deep Stack Kick Off is alive and well, with more than 380 entries recorded, making it the biggest starting flight so far.
Shad Murphy looks to be leading the field. He has a nice collection of T-25,000 chips, and looks to be weilding a stack of around 320,000. Saker Alatrach is also among the big stacks, holding 230,000 chips.
Over in the Freezeout, the field has risen to 26 entries, with notables such as Brandon Mueller, James Lauer and Mike Gallo among the entrants.
As it enters its third level of play, it looks like Kyle Olesco has built an early lead, turning his 30,000 starting stack into 68,000.
The first nightly winner of the Borgata Summer Poker Open powered by BetMGM Poker has been crowned, with Alex Ortiz Vazquez coming out on top in the $250 Monster Stack Turbo Nightly.
The fast-paced event attracted 37 entries, creating a $7,400 prize pool that paid the top five finishers.
Ortiz Vazquez defeated Florida's Zachary Zaffos heads-up to earn $3,035, marking his first recorded live tournament victory since 2024 and the sixth title of his career. The result adds to a resume highlighted by a fourth-place finish in the 2021 World Series of Poker $500 Reunion, where he outlasted all but three of the 12,973 entries to bank $185,281, which is still the largest score of his $415,617 in recorded live tournament earnings.
Scott Bradley rounded out the podium in third place, while Jon Neyir, a familiar face in the Borgata winner's circle with seven tournament titles at the venue—five in No-Limit Hold'em and two in Double Board Bomb Pot events—finished fourth.
John Phelps claimed the final paid spot after Artour Melkumov bowed out as the bubble.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Ortiz Vazquez | United States | $3,035 |
| 2 | Zachary Zaffos | United States | $1,815 |
| 3 | Scott Bradley | United States | $1,145 |
| 4 | Jon Neyir | United States | $815 |
| 5 | John Phelps | United States | $590 |
One of the best-value tournaments on Thursday's Borgata Summer Poker Open schedule wrapped up with eight players locking up $5,000 packages.
The $5K Bankroll Builder had a $550 buy-in for every 10 entries, one player wins $5,000 in tournament buy-ins to use throughout the festival.
The event attracted 80 entries, comfortably exceeding its $30,000 guarantee and increasing the number of available packages from the guaranteed six to eight.
The eight players who turned their $550 buy-in into $5,000 were:
| Player | Prize |
|---|---|
| Shadi Ahmed | $5,000 Package |
| Vittorio Abbate | $5,000 Package |
| Peter Macchia | $5,000 Package |
| Michael McGuinness | $5,000 Package |
| Michael Testa | $5,000 Package |
| Besnik Dudu | $5,000 Package |
| Jean Brillant | $5,000 Package |
| Zeno Thomas | $5,000 Package |
Players looking for a tournament where every decision carries a little more weight won't have to look far on Friday afternoon.
The $650 "One Shot" Freezeout ($25,000 Guaranteed) gets underway at 3:15 p.m., offering something a little different from the re-entry events dominating the opening days of the Borgata Summer Poker Open.
As the name suggests, players get exactly one shot. Once you're out, you're out.
Each entrant begins with a 30,000-chip starting stack, with 30-minute levels throughout the day. Late registration remains open through the start of Level 9, giving players a few hours to jump into the action, but unlike most events on the schedule, there are no re-entries once your tournament life comes to an end.
The tournament is expected to pay approximately 12.5% of the field and will play down to a winner in a single day.
The players were sent on their first 20-minute break of the day, with play resuming in around ten minutes time.
Unlike yesterday, there's no runaway leader just yet. Justin Leeds is possibly holding the biggest stack in the room, sitting on around 95,000.
There have been 244 entries so far, with late registration open for another eight levels.
The first two starting flights of the $600 Deep Stack Kick Off ($1,000,000 Guaranteed) are in the books at the Borgata Summer Poker Open powered by BetMGM Poker, and there's a familiar face sitting atop the chip counts.
Defending champion James Lauer has picked up right where he left off last summer, bagging a tournament-leading 1,140,000 chips after cruising through Day 1a. Lauer spent much of the day among the leaders before finishing well clear of the rest of the field as he looks to make another deep run in the event that produced the biggest score of his career 12 months ago.
Lauer wasn't the only player to build a mountain of chips on Day 1a. Leo Saiag finished second in the flight with 758,000, while Scott Lesh rounded out the top three with 625,000.
The opening flight attracted 378 entries, with 48 players reaching the money and locking up a $1,200 min-cash. By night's end, just 31 players remained to advance to Day 2.
Joining Lauer among the Day 1a survivors are James Lillis (563,000), Brandon Mueller (449,000) and Bijay Lama (222,000), who burst the money bubble by eliminating Hector Santucci in a flip to guarantee the remaining players a payday.
Day 1b drew another healthy crowd, with 189 entries taking their shot at the seven-figure guaranteed prize pool. Robert Elias emerged as the chip leader after bagging 955,000, narrowly ahead of Steven Petitte, who finished with 930,000. Omar Taveras completed the podium with 468,000.
A total of 24 players cashed in Day 1b, with 16 players surviving to bag chips for Sunday's Day 2.
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