2011 Borgata Winter Poker Open Day 2: Quarto is Numero Uno
The second day of action from the Borgata Winter Poker Open wrapped up on Tuesday in Atlantic City. The Championship Event returned with 539 players for another amazing day of action, with 167 of them moving on to Day 3. At day's end, leading the way was Borgata regular Roz Quarto with over 450,000 in chips.
Quarto is from Edison, New Jersey and entered Day 2 with 61,000 in chips. Her above-average stack was good enough for 85th place on the leader board to begin the day, but she's far removed from that as she sits atop the field coming into Day 3. An attorney, Quarto has made nine final tables in live events. Her most notable finish came back in 2008 at the World Series of Poker where she finished seventh for $36,277 in the $1,000 Ladies World Championship.
One of the largest hands of the day for Quarto came early on when she was able to bust two players at once. Quarto had turned a queen-high flush against two opponents who held sets. The river failed to pair the board and Quarto scooped a pot worth around 150,000 chips. "I was playing well and put out a couple of bluffs and got lucky," Quarto told the Borgata Winter Poker Open blog. "You can't accumulate this many chips without some luck. I only lost one flip all day."
Quarto continued to play well and make hands all day long. Another big hand she won came after she opened with a raise from early position and the small blind called. A flop of Qx9x8x followed and the small blind led into Quarto with a bet of 5,200. Quarto called to see a 9x pair the board on the turn. A bigger bet of 11,200 came from the small blind and Quarto stuck around to see the river, which completed the board with a 10x. Quarto had made a small misstep and checked out of turn, thinking she was to act first. Her opponent paused and then moved all in. Quarto quickly called and tabled the K♥J♥ for the nut straight, rivering her gutshot. Her opponent mucked and Quarto's stack soared to well over 200,000.
She's not the only woman who had herself an amazing day on the felt, as WSOP bracelet winner, NAPT title holder and Partouche Poker Tour champion Vanessa Selbst joined Quarto in the top ten with right around 300,000 in chips to end Day 2. When asked about her day, Selbst told the Borgata Winter Poker Open blog, "A lot better than 20,000," referencing her starting Day 2 chip stack of only 22,225. "Not a bad day."
Other notable chip counts after Day 2 are Jack Schanbacher (400,500), Mike "GoLeafsGoEh" Leah (170,000), PokerNews pro blogger Josh Brikis (164,100) and Will "The Thrill" Failla (64,600). WSOP bracelet winners Gavin Smith (146,00) and Brian Lemke (99,500) will also be moving on to Day 3.
Brikis began Day 2 with 51,850 and got off to a nice start. He was able to bust 2002 WSOP Main Event winner Robert Varkonyi with two aces after fading Varkonyi's flush draw when the money went in. That netted him a boost of about 12,000 before he sent another player to the rail, Tim Finne. After Finne's flush draw missed and Brikis' straight draw got there, Brikis saw himself approaching six figures. That wasn't the only time Brikis got there on Day 2. He found himself drawing to two outs with pocket kings on a 6x5x3x flop against his opponent's pocket threes. A king on the river saved Brikis in the hand and kept his run good going.
Some of the notables who failed to make it through to Day 3 were Dave Fox, Eric Buchman, Ryan Hughes, Farzad Rouhani, Matt Matros, Ronnie Bardah, Al Riccobono, Yevgeniy Timoshenko and Matt Brady.
Day 3 continues on Wednesday with the Championship Event concluding on Friday, February 4. Only 72 players will make the money, which is expected to be reached on Day 3. Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for daily recaps of the event.
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