Wendy Freedman Poker
Time flies when you’re having fun and the first week of the Borgata Poker Open has certainly been just that, as nine BPO champions were crowned, along with multiple players making deep runs to notch some of the biggest results of their career. To start this ‘First Weekend Action’ recap with anything other than the opening $2,000,000 GTD event would be criminal. That event saw a massive 3,900 player field come together and in the end, it was Federico Ottenio claiming victory. He earned just over $325,000 for the victory, his second at Borgata after winning a Deep Stacks Challenge event last summer.
Jim Schaaf was unable to continue on fourth street, and David 'ODB' Baker paired his two. On fifth street Wendy Freedman bricked with a king. Baker checked and Freedman bet. Schreiber called, Baker raised, and Freedman re-raised. Schreiber folded, and Baker called. Freedman bet sixth and seventh, and Baker finally folded on seventh. The Canadian got in on an A-Q against the K-J of Wendy Freedman, and hit the rail for $35,374. Al Hencheck then shoved under the gun with an unsuited 9-8, Boggs called with an A-J and an ace on the flop sent the game into three-handed play. Wendy Freedman, who took first in the $365 NLHE WSOP Circuit event this past March and second in the $1,675 NLHE WSOP Circuit event last October, was able to survive even further.
Ottenio claimed victory on Friday and there were two other BPO trophies awarded before the weekend officially started were two of the more experienced players that we’ll see in this series. Harrison Gimbel won a marathon Event 2 ‘Black Chip Bounty’ tournament for a nearly $50,000 score and partypoker Team Pro Scott Baumstein picked up the first mixed trophy of the series, earning just under $13,000 for his Event 3 win.
Kyle Bowker didn’t claim his title on Friday but he’s certainly in the experienced category like the two players mentioned above. Bowker outlasted a stacked Event 4 ‘Super Stack Elevator’ field to take home a $50,000 score and add to an already impressive live tournament resume. That win was Bowker’s best career finish at the Borgata and Frank Rasile also broke through to start the weekend, claiming victory in Event 5 ‘HORSE’ after being extremely short stacked four-handed. He’d earn just over $10,000 and more importantly, took home his first BPO trophy.
The weekend ended with four trophies being awarded yesterday, with Blake Whittington claiming the biggest score of the bunch. Whittington came back from a heads up deficit to take home the Event 6 $100,000 GTD ‘Saturday Series’ for a $48,000 score, which was his first major tournament result since the fall of 2014.
Dennis Zollo finished as the runner-up in this Summer Poker Open’s ‘Heads Up Championship’ and he made good on redemption in Event 7 ‘Crazy Pineapple/NLH’. Zollo also overcame a deficit heads up to claim the title and an over $7,000 score. Event 6 and 7 both returned for Day 2 and crowned champions early enough in the afternoon but it was a long grind for both the Event 8 ‘2nd Annual Mike Sica Memorial Seniors’ and the Event 9 ‘Deep Stack Ladies’.
Anthony Kietrys outlasted a tough Event 8 field to take home his first BPO title along with a $11,000 score, while Molissa Farber bested the Event 9 field to earn her first Borgata score and BPO victory.
There are still over a dozen BPO titles still up for grabs, meaning that the final week and a half of the series is surely going to be just as exciting as the first week. The BPO blog will be here to bring you all of that action but if you want to go back and catch up on what’s happened over the last week, the link at the top of this post will bring you to each event’s individual coverage.
Level 26: Limits 40,000/80,000
Total Entries: 69
Players Remaining: 1
Average Stack: 1,380,000
At the end of this two-day HORSE race, it was Frank Rasile (Staten Island, NY) in the Winner’s Circle. He’ll collect $10,541 for 1st place and this is the second-largest score of his poker career. He’s a frequent flier on the felt here at Borgata, mostly sticking to the non-Hold’em events, but this is his first win and first Borgata trophy!
His largest cash came in 2006 in the World Series of Poker Main Event. Frank finished 322nd out of 8,773 players to collect $34,636. Prior to today’s win, his second largest cash was here at Borgata. He took 2nd place and $8,607 in the 2010 Winter Poker Open $200 No Limit Hold’em event.
The retiree spends his spare time playing poker and intends to keep adding to his $91,000 in lifetime earnings.
Level 26: Limits 40,000/80,000
Total Entries: 69
Players Remaining: 1
Average Stack: 1,380,000
When the final two got heads-up, Frank Rasile had the chip lead and it was over quickly.
Wendy Freedman finished in 2nd place, earning $5,723. Wendy started Day 2 as the chip leader and Frank was second in chips, but seven hours later they had swapped places for the finish.
Wendy is a professional poker player currently living in Las Vegas. She frequently travels to Borgata for the great tournament action. She has a couple of WSOP Circuit wins to her credit and career earnings close to $450,000.
Her largest single cash came right here at Borgata in the 2012 Borgata Poker Open $500 NLH event. She finished 6th out of 3,705 entrants for more than $75,000.
Level 26 (Limits 40,000/80,000)
Total Entries: 69
Players Remaining: 2
Average Stack: 750,000
Wendy Freedman Poker
We talked about the large blind and antes putting pressure on the short stacks and after doubling Wendy Freedman, Andrew Chapman was the shortest left at this Event 5 final table. He managed to get a double up in Omaha H/L but that wasn’t enough to get himself out of the danger zone.
Eventually, he was all-in for less than two big bets, with both Wendy Freedman and Frank Rasile calling to put him at risk. The two players checked down the {10d}{7d}{6d}{8s}{5s} board, with Rasile turning over nothing more than one pair and Freedman tabling {8h}{6c}{3c}{2d} for two pair and a low.
Chapman hadn’t looked at his hand and turned over {Ax}{4x}{Kx}{Jx}, which was no good as Freedman had a superior low. As a result, Chapman was officially eliminated in 3rd place, good for a $3,600 score.
Freedman and Rasile are now heads up for the Event 5 title, with Rasile holding a close to 3:1 chip lead.
Level 26 (Limits 40,000/80,000)
Total Entries: 69
Players Remaining: 3
Average Stack: 460,000
The remaining three players at this Event 5 ‘HORSE’ final table are now on a 15 minute break and will return to Level 26 shortly. When players return the pressure will be on not only the two shorter stacks, but all the players, as the blinds and antes will cost close to 200,000 chips per orbit depending on the game.
Here are the remaining three-handed chip counts:
- Frank Rasile – 200,000
- Andrew Champman – 825,000
- Wendy Freedman – 325,000
Level 25 (Limits 30,000/60,000)
Total Entries: 69
Players Remaining: 3
Average Stack: 460,000
Wendy Freedman was cut down during the last Hold’em orbit but is now back up to a workable stack after doubling and picking up some good pots during Omaha H/L.
Over the course of the last half hour, Wendy Freedman has been on a roller coaster ride at this Event 5 final table. She started the Hold’em portion of the level nicely, picking up a few pots but then Frank Rasile intervened. Rasile took two sizable pots off Freedman, one where he rivered two pair and forced a fold on a river.
After calling the flop and putting in two bets on the turn, Freedman check-folded to a bet on a board of {Js}{8s}{4s}{7h}{Qh}, with Rasile tabling {Qd}{8d} before taking in the pot. In one of the very next hands, Rasile was at it again, turning a flush and taking close to the maximum from Freedman to leave herself with just a few big bets.
Wendy Freedman Poker
Once the game changed to Omaha H/L, Freedman recovered, doubling through Andrew Chapman and then picking off Frank Rasile’s “first bluff of the tournament”, calling with just one pair on an extremely wet board. She’s still short but with the high blinds and antes, she could just be one pot away from turning the dynamic of this Event 5 final table.
Level 24 (Limits 25,000/50,000)
Total Entries: 69
Players Remaining: 3
Average Stack: 460,000
David March managed to work his short stack for a few orbits but eventually, he was cut down in back-to-back Razz hands against Andrew Chapman. The first hand doubled Chapman up and the next eliminated March in 4th place.
March rode an up and down Day 2 session and at one point peaked at the final table chip leader, he couldn’t hold that standing though, eventually falling when he was drawing to a seven high on the river, with Chapman holding {8d}{6c}{4s}{3d}{2c}{10h}{6c}.
That action got all-in pre flop and Chapman is now playing close to 300,000 three-handed. March will make just over $2,700 for his Event 5 final table run and with the high blinds and antes, we expect to see the stacks to swing and the action to continue over the next few levels.
Level 23 (Limits 20,000/40,000)
Total Entries: 69
Players Remaining: 4
Average Stack: 345,000
After getting cut down for a few orbits, John Holley met his downfall when he got involved in the all of a sudden chip leader Frank Rasile in a Hold’em hand.
That action was picked up on a board of {Kc}{Jc}{9s} flop, with Holley leading and Rasile putting in two bets. Holley called and the same betting pattern occurred after the {Jd} fell on the turn, except this time, Holley was calling all-in for his tournament life.
Rasile quickly turned over {9c}{9h} and Holley was left looking for only a few outs, as he held {Ac}{Jh}. The {Qd} completed the board and after bossing this final table for the better part of the last few levels, Holley would hit the rail in 5th place, making just over $2,000 for his Event 5 run.
After working a short stack for much of this final table, Franke Rasile is now the chip leader, playing the better part of 600,000 with this table now playing four-handed.
Level 23 (Limits 20,000/40,000)
Total Entries: 69
Players Remaining: 5
Average Stack: 275,000
Andrew Chapman has chipped up extremely well over the last level. He’s now the chip leader heading into the break with Event 5 still five-handed.
It’s been a swingy last level, as Wendy Freedman has fallen back from the lead and Andrew Chapman has taken her place. Chapman’s accent up the leaderboard has been a slow and methodical one, picking up small pots throughout the last few orbits with some of his best play coming during the Razz portion of play.
The other player seeing a decent increase to his stack, Frank Rasile, who picked up a triple up and then a double up during the Omaha H/L section, which is when Freedman lost most of her stack.
It will be interesting to see how the remaining five players approach the next level, as the blinds and antes are about to go up again, with Level 23 starting after a short 15 minutes break.
Wendy Freedman Poker Player
A complete update of the chip counts are provided below:
- Frank Rasile – 270,000
- Andrew Champman – 420,000
- David March – 110,000
- John Holley – 400,000
- Wendy Freedman – 260,000
Level 22 (Limits 15,000/30,000)
Total Entries: 69
Players Remaining: 5
Average Stack: 275,000
John Holley is the most experienced player at this Event 5 final table and it’s showing, as he’s pushed himself to the top of the leaderboard and is now working towards another major tournament title.
It’s been slow going through the last few games, as the players have just been trading chips. John Holley has come out with the best of it from those uneventful rounds, putting himself atop the Event 5 ‘HORSE’ leaderboard, as he and Wendy Freedman are starting to turn this into a, pardon our pun, two horse race.
That’s not surprising, as both Holley and Freedman are the most experienced players remaining at this final table, as Holley has just over $1,100,000 in career tournament earnings with some of his best results coming in mixed game events.
He’ll try to continue to apply pressure to the shorter stacks over the next few levels, putting his big stack to use as he works towards another major tournament title. The remaining players chip stacks are provided below:
- Frank Rasile – 60,000
- Andrew Champman – 200,000
- David March – 270,000
- John Holley – 470,000
- Wendy Freedman – 455,000
Stud Hi-Lo
Wendy Freedman completed and Nicolas Milgrom called. Freedman let Milgrom bet on fourth and then raised. Milgrom called.
Milgrom called again on fifth and he got fourth card to a straight on his board on sixth. Nonetheless, Freedman bet and Milgrom raised. Freedman called and she called again on the river. Milgrom showed the among his whole cards for the seven-high straight and Freedman mucked to continue with only 2,000.
Freedman: / /
Milgrom: /
Freedman lost the remaining shrapnel on the next hand with Jesse Hollander making nut eight and a pair of kings.