The second starting day of the 2013 World Poker Tour (WPT) Borgata Winter Poker Open was anticipated to be a big one and a big one it was. 645 players shelled out the $3,500 to test their skills in the first WPT Main Event of the year, a sizeable jump from the 397 who showed up Sunday. The resulting 1,042 players in the tournament made it the largest Borgata Winter Poker Open of all time. Mark Ketteringham emerged as the Day 1B chip leader with 193,775 chips, enough to also give him the overall chip lead.
The total field almost doubles the largest field of any Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event on the World Poker Tour, but one must remember that this tournament has not always been a part of the WPT. It joined the Tour during Season IV and only lasted three years before being taken off the schedule until this season, Season XI. The largest tournament of those three years (Season V in 2007) saw just 571 players enter, but the big difference is that the buy-in back then was $10,000. The buy-in was reduced to $3,000 after the Borgata Winter Poker Open left the WPT, resulting in a then-record field of 1,017 in 2009.
The 1,042 entries created a prize pool of $3,335,442, promising $730,053 to the winner. The televised six-handed final table participants plus the television bubble boy will all collect six-figure checks. Payouts will start at 100th place with the min-cash being $6,637.
Like the Day 1A chip leader Luis Vazquez, Mark Ketteringham could be considered a regional tournament player, though unlike Vazquez, Ketteringham hails from the West Coast. The San Diego resident has a number of live tournament cashes on his resume dating back to 2004, all coming in either Las Vegas or California. He has cashed twice on the World Poker Tour and eight times at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), including a final table bubble in the $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em event in 2005 ($28,395). His largest cash came in the 2008 WSOP Main Event when he placed 52nd for $135,100. Over the course of his live tournament career, Mark Ketteringham has won just over a half million dollars.
The WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open resumes Tuesday at noon EST as the 567 survivors from the two starting flights merge into a single field for Day 2. The plan is to play eight more 75-minute levels before calling it a night.
2013 World Poker Tour Borgata Winter Poker Open – Day 1B Chip Leaders
1. Mark Ketteringham – 193,775
2. Chris Barnes – 189,500
3. Filippo Bonura – 172,275
4. Nimer Ltaif – 163,725
5. Travis Williams – 155,575
6. Dean Marco – 155,000
7. Panayote Alafoyannis – 141,300
8. Jeff Treadway – 139,800
9. Nathan Tuthill – 133,450
10. Simone Zaino – 130,175
2013 World Poker Tour Borgata Winter Poker Open – Overall Chip Leaders
1. Mark Ketteringham – 193,775
2. Chris Barnes – 189,500
3. Luis Vazquez – 182,075
4. Filippo Bonura – 172,275
5. Nimer Ltaif – 163,725
6. Martin Matranca – 166,350
7. Ray Qartomy – 160,500
8. Travis Williams – 155,575
9. Dean Marco – 155,000
10. Panayote Alafoyannis – 141,300
