WPT Borgata Poker Open, Day 3 Recap

By BJ Nemeth

Day 3 of the WPT Borgata Poker Open began with 170 players, though only 100 of them would finish in the money. By the end of the day, they would reach the final three tables, with the televised WPT final table (and the $922,441 first prize) clearly in their sights.

Here’s a look back at some of the highlights from Day 3:

Will Failla, winner of the WPT Legends of Poker in Los Angeles last month, finished Day 3 as the chipleader with 27 players remaining. Like David Williams the day before, Failla packed his chip bag to the limit.

David Williams began the day as the chipleader, and his stack towered over the others for most of the day.

Eric Haber, more famously known as "Sheets," presumably backed himself into this tournament. While Haber didn’t make it to Day 3, he did survive the money bubble, finishing in 67th place to earn $10,482.

Maurice Hawkins (center) was the center of attention for much of the day, though he had to share the spotlight when Royal Flush Girls Melyssa Grace (left) and Melissa Fisher stopped by to check the action. Unfortunately for Hawkins, he busted in 44th place, earning $14,675.

Fred Goldberg (right) fared considerably better, finishing the day fifth in chips with 2,176,000.

With 101 players remaining, hand-for-hand play began on the money bubble. As you’d expect, any all-in action would attract a crowd. In this situation, an otherwise tight player moved all in on the turn. His opponent tanked for a while before folding, and Matt Glantz (seated, blue shirt) said he would’ve folded bottom set there, knowing it was no good.

The player showed 9-9 for a set of nines, proving Glantz correct. The money bubble continued.

When the money bubble finally burst, the short stack in the field, Stephen Ekin, survived long enough to finish 96th and earn $8,386. After collecting his money, Ekin bought Borgata gift cards for the other players at his table, and also gave one to David Williams. Why? Williams eliminated the bubble boy, allowing Ekin to squeak into the money. (The Borgata gift card can be seen leaning up against Williams’s chip stack.)

On his phone, Williams calls up a photo of his chip stack from the end of Day 2 (which you can find in yesterday’s photo recap) to show the other players at his table what a chip bag looks like when it’s filled to maximum capacity.

Will Failla and Doug Kim can be seen in the top left of the photo, with much smaller chip stacks.

There was an unusual hand right before a break involving Vichien Siprajim (seated, far left) and Dan Colman (standing, striped shirt). Colman verbalized a bet of one million on the river, and then tossed in a token 1,000 chip to show that he had made a bet. Siprajim, confused, thought the bet was 1,000, and tossed a 1,000 chip of his own into the pot.

Colman showed top pair to win the pot, and Siprajim mucked. Then there was an argument over whether Siprajim was all in, or only owed the 1,000. It took more than 10 minutes to resolve, but since everyone else clearly heard Colman’s verbal bet of one million, the call was deemed binding for the entire amount.

Siprajim was eliminated in 58th place, earning $11,740. To read the full details about the hand, click here.

Former November Niner John Racener was in the hunt for his second televised WPT final table, but fell short, finishing in 35th place to earn $16,352.

By the time the dinner break rolled past, David Williams (center) had run into a few cooler hands to lose the bulk of his chips. Williams wasn’t in any immediate chip danger, but his stack was no dwarfed by those of Joe Dittmar (left) and Darren Elias (right).

There’s an extra level of excitement in the room when WPT Commentator Mike Sexton (standing, right) shows up to check out the action.

Late in the day, David Williams moved all in after the flop with top pair. Unfortunately, Vanessa Selbst had an overpaid (pocket queens), and her hand held up to eliminate Williams from the tournament. Williams seemed to be in shock for a little while, and was still scratching his head when he went to the payout desk to collect his $16,352 for 31st place.

Vanessa Selbst (left) smiles at Matt Glantz (foreground, right) as she picks up a pot with 28 players left late on Day 3.

A few moments before play ended, Will Failla (foreground, right) was moved to a new table, finding himself directly across from Vanessa Selbst (left). Failla would bag the most chips at the end of the day with 3,255,000, and Selbst finished with a roughly average stack of 1.55 million.

Here are the official chip counts for all 27 players as they begin Day 3:

1. Will Failla – 3,255,000 (108 BBs)
2. Doug Kim – 2,686,000 (89 BBs)
3. Ricky Hale – 2,554,000 (85 BBs)
4. Darren Elias – 2,547,000 (84 BBs)
5. Fred Goldberg – 2,176,000 (72 BBs)
6. Joe Dittmar – 2,067,000 (68 BBs)
7. Ryan Eriquezzo – 2,007,000 (66 BBs)
8. Matt Glantz – 1,962,000 (65 BBs)
9. Dan Colman – 1,800,000 (60 BBs)
10. Kevin Calenzo – 1,723,000 (57 BBs)
11. Miami John Cernuto – 1,642,000 (54 BBs)
12. Vanessa Selbst – 1,551,000 (51 BBs)
13. Bobby Oboodi – 1,481,000 (49 BBs)
14. Jack Schanbacher – 1,450,000 (48 BBs)
15. Anthony Rivera – 1,385,000 (46 BBs)
16. Alexander Queen – 1,301,000 (43 BBs)
17. John Hinds – 1,174,000 (39 BBs)
18. Daniel Buzgon – 1,133,000 (37 BBs)
19. Richard Marshall, Jr. – 933,000 (31 BBs)
20. Brandon Schaefer – 830,000 (27 BBs)
21. Howard Mann – 784,000 (26 BBs)
22. James Johnston – 762,000 (25 BBs)
23. Chris Martin – 641,000 (21 BBs)
24. Orson Young – 626,000 (20 BBs)
25. Wade Woelfel – 581,000 (19 BBs)
26. Dipen Patel – 485,000 (16 BBs)
27. Jin Hwang – 346,000 (11 BBs)

Day 4 begins today at 11:00 am ET. Stay tuned to WPT.com for live coverage throughout the day.