Championship: Esposito Leads Day 1B

$2500 + $200 Championship Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) 

Michael Esposito

Day 1B Chip Leader

Octo-niner Michael Esposito (Seaford, NY) is the Day 1B chip leader with 336,800, earning him the $3,000 bonus.  He was well ahead of second place Wu Zhou (State College, PA) who bagged 278,100 and the $2,000 prize.

"It's nice," said Esposito, but I wasn't playing for it."

Case in point, on the final hand of the night he showed his generosity by sending a double-up to Christine Brewer (Port Momouth, NJ), who was all in with pocket 5s.  Esposito's A 9 didn't connect and he lost 30k on the hand.

Esposito has played numerous tournaments at Borgata, but this is his first big event since winning $1.3 million with his 7th place finish last month at the WSOP Main Event.

"I've never had any luck at Borgata," said Esposito, who said he built his stack with a set of 8s in a 230k pot after the dinner break. "I've gone deep many times, but haven't had the luck. But I love playing here."

The race for second place was much tighter and went to Zhou who is on Thanksgiving break from Penn State University.  He just edged out a handful of players including Mike Shasho (Ramsey, NJ) who had one of the big stacks most of the day.

Approximately 129 players finished Day 1B and will join the 58 players from Day 1A for 187 players returning for Day 2.

Play resumes noon Tuesday with Vinny Pahuja (Hicksville, NY) leading the way as the Day 1A chip leader with 412k (206 bb).

The average stack at 103k (52 bb) with blinds beginning at 1k/2k/200 ante.

Day 1B Big Stacks

Michael Esposito336,800
Wu Zhou 278,100
Abe Korotki 260,000
Mike Melkersen 256,200
Mike "Mad Dog" Shasho 247,300
Dan Walsh 230k
Brock Parker 219,400
Brian Morgan 215,300

Check back after 9 am for chip counts and Day 2 seat assignments

Wu Zhou

Day 1B Second in Chips