Atlantic City is witnessing exciting poker action during the Deepstacks Challenge over the span of this entire week and there appear to be more and more participants making their way towards the poker tables at Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa. This Tuesday brought the second event of the festival from which Carmine Russolillo emerged victorious claiming the trophy and some $3,095 for his excellent performance.
Just like in the first tournament of this long-anticipated poker congregation, a deal was arranged among the top positions on the official rank list. This time it covered the best eight players surviving all the way to the top and the end of poker action. Being a single-day event, they had to opt for a quick pace of action which was guaranteed by the 25-minute levels throughout the event. Starting with three Deep events, going through one Deeper tournament, and ultimately reaching the two Deepest ones, players at the Borgata are in for a treat.
This second single-day event featured a non-refundable buy-in reaching some $150. As a result, it provided for some generous cash prizes for the lucky 18 participants who made it that far. The guaranteed prize pool initially announced reached $15,000, but the total amount managed to cross the mark and reached $22,552. The official beginning of poker action brought a total of 186 players whose joint efforts elevated the prize pool to this level.
Throughout the entire day eliminations significantly reduced the player pool and right before the dinner break there were only 26 participants left on the felt. Minimum cash payout for the 18th spot on the official leader board amounted to $338 and was claimed by the fortunate to make it to the cash prizes Robert Pellegrino. They had some time to recuperate and return to their seats with a new perspective on the action.
Sal Anastasio who managed to reach the throne in Event 1 of this festival was among the survivors who made it this far. It could be recalled, that this Monday granted him a fair share of cash as he claimed $3,259 following the deal arranged among the top seven players. He was bracing for a second impressive cash payout at the end of this tournament, but managed to reach only the 8th spot.
Progressively Deeper Stacks Available at Borgata
According to the original plan the big winner had to receive $6,654 for their impressive run in the second tournament at Borgata, but following the deal arranged among the top eight positions, this amount was sliced nearly in half. The Final Table for this event was set for ten players and the chip leader at the very beginning of it was Tom Stasio who had some 1,300,000 in chips to his name placing a significant gap between himself and the remaining player pool.
Russolillo had a total of 425,000 in chips at that point, struggling to make it through the table. However, shortly after action commenced there was a long-anticipated double elimination taking place which sent Al White and Ramon Liriano out of the event. They received cash rewards of respectively $451 and $507 for their deep run after the eventual champion eliminated them both.
Once they were both out of the picture, the remaining players settled for an eight-way deal taking into account their chip stacks at that given point. A chip stack of 150,000 ranked Anastasio lowest with some $1,236 for the 8th spot. The runner-up position on the official leader board was claimed by Stasio convincing with 860,000 in chips that he deserves the $2,900 consolation prize.
Russolillo managed to gain 980,000 in advance to his name and this reserved him the top position at the end of this second tournament. This Wednesday would bring the third Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em event of this festival which would feature a guaranteed prize pool of $20,000. The buy-in required for registration amounts to $180, progressively increasing both prizes and prize pools leading up to Saturday and the last event.
