Excitement grows inside of Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey as the remaining players can now begin to dream of a large payday.
Yesterday, the Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship Event blew surpassed the $3 million guarantee well before registration closed, finishing at $3,445,000 contributed by 689 total entries. Today, 65 players return for Day 3 in the money with their sights set on a big score.
Despite initial reports, Abraham Faroni narrowly claimed the chip lead at the end of the day yesterday, leading the remaining players, he'll return with 1,589,000 good for nearly 160 big blinds. He squeaked by Frank Lagodich who has 1,578,000. The two of them have separated themselves from the pack to begin today's action.
Borgata Championship Event top-10 chip counts
| Place | Player | Chip counts |
| 1 | Abraham Feroni | 1,589,000 |
| 2 | Frank Lagodich | 1,578,000 |
| 3 | Leo Taffe | 1,026,000 |
| 4 | Joseph Reddick | 892,000 |
| 5 | Michael Linster | 876,000 |
| 6 | John Myung | 843,000 |
| 7 | Benedetto Bianco | 811,000 |
| 8 | Carlos Chadha-Villamarin | 785,000 |
| 9 | Brandon Lulov | 741,000 |
| 10 | Alexander Queen | 721,000 |
Defending champion bursts the bubble
If 2023 was the year of Bin Weng, that year started here at Borgata when he won "The Return" here at Borgata for $1,000,000. From the top of the podium last year to the outside looking in, Weng will not be defending his crown in this event.
Deep into the day yesterday, hand-for-hand went into play with a couple of levels of play to go. Bin Weng, never one to play for a min-cash, risked it all on the stone bubble holding ace-king. Unfortunately for the 2023 GPI Player of the Year, his opponent held pocket kings. Weng stone bubbled the event, and he was out the door before the chips could even be pushed to the winner or anyone in the room could cheer.
Payouts, others in the field, and the path to the final table
Plenty of others found bags last night and seek to climb the counts today. That list includes Jeff Gross (678,000), Aaron Massey (637,000), Paul Volpe (573,000), Yunkyu Song (556,000), Anthony Zinno (533,000), Michael Wang (513,000), Brian Yoon (417,000), Michael Rossito (294,000), Nick Pupillo (257,000), and Matthew "Bucky" Wantman (189,000).
Today, they'll come back to play seven 90-minute levels. It's scheduled to be a five-day tournament with the final table scheduled for Friday, January 26.
With about 42 big blinds in play, there's plenty of space for creativity as players look to take the next step toward the streamed final table.
Borgata Championship Event payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
| 1 | $613,063 | 16-18 | $33,784 |
| 2 | $429,863 | 19-21 | $27,669 |
| 3 | $277,123 | 22-24 | $23,358 |
| 4 | $203,473 | 25-27 | $19,682 |
| 5 | $155,387 | 28-36 | $16,040 |
| 6 | $123,875 | 37-45 | $14,135 |
| 7 | $102,589 | 46-54 | $12,498 |
| 8 | $81,670 | 55-63 | $11,161 |
| 9 | $61,319 | 64-72 | $9,992 |
| 10-12 | $50,793 | 73-81 | $9,089 |
| 13-15 | $40,634 | 82-87 | $8,220 |
The action gets underway at noon local time on the East Coast. Catch all the updates at instant.poker.org and across our social platforms.
