The 2011 World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open’s Day 4 play is underway, with the most recent champion on the WPT, Legends of Poker winner Will “The Thrill” Failla, looking to make history by winning back to back WPT events.
At the start of play today, Failla was the only player over the three million chip mark, but there were several threats to his attempt to repeat. 2006 World Series of Poker final tablist Doug Kim was a part of the mix, sitting in second place with his 2.68 million in chips. Also a part of the festivities was Vanessa Selbst, who earned her first cash on the WPT and is looking to become the first woman to win an open event on the tour.
The 27 remaining players wasted little time getting to business this morning, as a short stacked Jim Hwang doubled through Orson Young to get himself back in the game. Holding a K-Q, Hwang was able to outrun Young’s pocket Queens when he picked up a King. This would only be the start for what has been an excellent start for Hwang today.
Young would be the first departure of the day in 27th place, eliminated by Brandon Schaefer only thirty minutes into play. Failla would have his difficulties, as he lost a good chunk of his stack when he couldn’t call Kevin Calenzo’s all in. Even though he has lost a third of his starting stack as of this moment, Failla is still in the running with 2.1 million in chips.
The same cannot be said for Selbst, however. In a stunning hand against Fred Goldberg, Vanessa came along on an A-9-2-A-A board and called a big bet from Goldberg on the river. When he turned up an A-10 for quads, Vanessa mucked her hand without revealing what she held. A few hands later, the duo would lock horns again.
With a rainbow 10-4-3 flop up and a half million chips in the pot, Selbst followed a check from Goldberg with a 200K bet. Goldberg reraised her to 450K, which Selbst called. Once a Jack came on the turn and Goldberg checked again, Selbst put the remainder of her chips in the center. As the dealer looked to determine how big Selbst’s bet was, Goldberg stopped the dealer and immediately announced a call, flipping up pocket threes for a set. All Selbst could muster was a Q-8 of spades for a flush and gutshot straight draw. When blank six of clubs hit the river, Vanessa Selbst was eliminated in 23rd place.
Goldberg has continued to run roughshod over the field in the early hours of play today. He has eliminated two more players following his defeat of Selbst and currently sits as the chip leader. At the moment, the Top Ten look like this:
Fred Goldberg – 6.7 million
Joe Dittmar – 4.1 million
Daniel Buzgon – 3.87 million
Doug Kim – 2.7 million
Jim Hwang – 2.67 million
Ricky Hale – 2.35 million
Jack Schanbacher – 2.3 million
Kevin Calenzo – 2.2 million
Will Failla – 2.1 million
“Miami” John Cernuto – 2.1 million
With eighteen players remaining, the plans are to play down to the WPT six handed final table at some point this evening. The champion will be determined tomorrow, which will be streamed on the WPT website with Tony “Bond_18” Dunst and several guests calling the action. Can Failla accomplish something that has never been done before in WPT history in winning back to back championships? Poker News Daily will keep you posted on the latest from the Borgata as the WPT Borgata Poker Open comes to a close.
