Things didn’t start too well for the World Poker Tour (WPT) Borgata Winter Poker Open, but now that the counterfeit chip scandal is at least partially in the rearview mirror, it’s time for bigger and better things. Day 1B of the Main Event concluded Monday as 806 players bellied up to the tables after 423 tested their skills the day before. Todd Rebello ended the day with 229,825 chips, good enough to both lead the Day 1B field and all of the Day 1 survivors as a whole.
The total entries for the tournament ended up to be 1,229, making the 2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open the second largest event in the history of the World Poker Tour. The largest was this same tournament back in 2011, when it fielded 1,313 players. Because of the massive field, the first place purse will be $842,379 and everyone at the six-handed televised final table, plus the final table bubble boy will all make six figures. The tournament will pay down to 120 places, with a minimum $6,739 payout.
The chip leader, Todd Rebello, appears to be the classic regional player. Hailing from Massachusetts, he has a solid resume of live tournament cashes, mostly with buy-ins of less than $1,000 and most in Atlantic City and at Foxwoods. He has one WPT cash, coming way back in 2006 when he finished 36th at the WPT Mandalay Bay Poker Championship for $16,800. His largest cash was for $75,600 when he won a $300 No-Limit Hold’em Event on the World Series of Poker Circuit in 2008. All told, Rebello has nearly $370,000 in lifetime earnings.
While we prefaced this report by saying one scandal was behind us, another one, again involving chips, almost happened. On the last hand before dinner last night, Robert Merulla, sitting in Seat 2, busted Allison Schultz, who was in Seat 4. When the hand was over, the players at the table who had been watching left for dinner. Upon their return, one of those players, DJ MacKinnon, who was in Seat 1, saw that he had no more chips. He explained what was going on to Tournament Director Tab Duchateau, who in turn called security to review security footage. As it turned out, Merulla accidentally (everyone is assuming – there was no reason to think Merulla did this on purpose) pulled in MacKinnon’s stack along with the pot. Merulla did not argue and gladly gave MacKinnon his chips. Both players made it to Day 2.
2014 World Poker Tour Borgata Winter Poker Open – Day 1B Chip Leaders
1. Todd Rebello – 229,825
2. Robert Boyko – 209,500
3. Mike Linster – 160,225
4. Brian Lemke – 134,750
5. Julio Belluscio – 130,000
6. John Gordon – 123,500
7. Matt Stout – 122,175
8. Dave Inselberg – 120,000
9. Charlie Hook – 117,000
10. Cornel Cimpan – 111,500
2014 World Poker Tour Borgata Winter Poker Open – Combined Day 1 Chip Leaders
1. Laz Hernandez – 258,175
2. Todd Rebello – 229,825
3. Robert Boyko – 209,500
4. John Racener – 186,250
5. Barry Ostad – 185,000
6. Calvin Lee – 169,050
7. Jordan Cristos – 169,000
8. Mike Linster – 160,225
9. Randy Pfeifer – 150,100
10. George Lambert – 146,000
