Two with One Blow

No Rough Times for Diamond

The all-in bets have been fast and furious in this Deep Stack Semi Turbo tournament.

Lyle Diamond (Brick, NJ), just took out two players with pocket eights when he hit a set on the river.

Diamond is the chip leader and the first player to crack the 200k chip mark as we're quickly down to four tables.

Three Queens

MacDonald (left), Terry Anderson (2nd from right) & Rebecca Lake (right)

the Final Three Women

The final three woman are unfortunately at the same table with 50 players remaining.

"What are the odds," says Roberta MacDonald, Cabot Senior Vice President of Marketing, who played her first poker tournament in this event two years ago.

She's joined by Terry Anderson (Laurence Harbor, NJ) and Rebecca Lake (Clifton, NJ) who are glad to be at the same table with the "Big Cheese" when it comes to Cabot marketing.

Four Babes

Jessica, Tara, Sherri & Lori

Borgata Babes are keeping everyone's drinks filled as the players sample the Cabot Coop cheese.

Too Hot to Handle

Without question the most talked about cheese on display has been the Habenaro, which has a nice kick and should be enjoyed with a beverage of choice.
 
"There's a reason why Cabot's voted best cheddar," says Bob Schiers, Cabot's Public Relations Manager, as he shares samples of the Habenaro with the players.

Cabot Creamery Cooperative just won five first-place ribbons at the recent American Cheese Society (ACS) Judging & Competition in Raliegh, NC.

Here's a look at some images from today's Put a Bad Beat on Hunger tournament.

Say Cheese!

Margie Makes the Most of Cabot's Spread

Players are on their  first break of the day and taking advantage of the great spread put out by Cabot.

Margie Barnham, Executive Director of the Southern Branch of the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. was the first person in line to sample the Chipolte, Seriously Sharp and Habenaro samples.

The tournament benefits the FoodBank of New Jersey, but the cheese benefits everyone!

Frank Reina, Brian Pizza, Jeremy Press & Rebecca Lake

Sampling Some Seriously Sharp Cheddar

Ace on the River (Oops!)

Tomasz, Lee, & Reina

The spirit of the event, helping others and having a good time, is clearly evident at poker pro Bernard Lee's table.

A player, who is a good sport, but wishes to be anonymous, is all in and who's only hope to stay in the tournament is in a split pot.

Tomasz Gliniecki (Jackson, NJ), who has the nut straight and can't lose, watches his opponent root for an ace.  One problem, the player actually needs a queen to tie Gliniecki's best hand.

The river card is an ace and the table erupts with disbelief because the player called for a meaningless card and got it.  Lee and Frank Reina (Elizabeth, NJ) lead the laughter because of the true irony.

"You want an ace, here you go," jokes Lee.

The rest of the table enjoys the moment as Gliniecki stacks his opponents chips. 

Fortunately for the player this is a re-entry tournament and he quickly heads back to the cage for a fresh starting stack.

Shuffle Up & Deal!

Bernard Lee Kicks Off Tournament

The Put a Bad Beat on Hunger charity poker tournament is underway to benefit the Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

Poker pro Bernard Lee kicks it off by thanking Cabot Creamery Cooperative who is sponsoring this event for the fourth year.

Players are not only excited about sampling the Cabot Horseradish Cheddar, but that the winner, in addition to the prize pool, will gain entry into WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship event which is a $3,500 value.

Cards are in the air!

Game Time

Minutes From the Start of This Year's Tournament

Cabot's "Bad Beat On Hunger" Streak Continues, 4th Consecutive Year at Borgata

Standard Poker Prize Pool, Plus:

Winner Receives Entry into

 WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship

$3,500 Value Courtesy of 
Cabot Creamery Cooperative

When players hit the Borgata Poker Room they're either looking for a big tournament score or hoping for the ultimate bad beat at the cash tables, as in the Bad Beat Jackpot.

But on August 19th players can combine both passions by playing in the fourth annual "Put a Bad Beat on Hunger" charity poker tournament.

“This is a great event and will provide some wonderful support for the New Jersey Food Bank,” says poker pro and media personality Bernard Lee.

This year's tournament is a $300 tournament, where $60 goes directly to the Southern Branch of the Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

Lee and Cabot have partnered together for many charitable efforts over the years and this mission is to combat hunger and break the cycle of poverty for families throughout the greater South Jersey region.

“I think for poker players, these events are a lot like charity golf tournaments,” Lee told the Borgata Poker Blog. 

“It gives you a chance to combine your passion with playing with also doing something for the community. It’s a way to give back and combine it with your passion. People play charity golf tournaments because they love golf.  I love poker and it’s just a great combination.”

You can get full details on the tournament here, but these are the basics:

Sunday, August 19th - 11 am
Deep Stack Semi-Turbo No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
25k in chips
15 minute levels (Level 13+ / 25 min. each)
Registration opens at 9 am and ends after Level 8

Past participants include: 

Steve Dannenmann, 2005 WSOP Main Event Runner-up
Bernard Lee, 2005 WSOP 13th Place Finisher
Roy Winston, 2007 WPT Borgata Poker Open Champion
Eric Buchman, 2009 November Niner (4th place WSOP Main Event)

Champion - Ernst

John Ernst (Oakhurst, NJ)  

$19,988

After trading the chip lead back and forth heads-up for 30 minutes, Ernst wins the third annual Put a Bad Beat on Hunger poker tournament, presented by Cabot Creamery Cooperative.  Ernst beat Ivailo Dimov (Astoria, NY) to take home $19,988 and earned a $3,500 seat into the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship event.

"This is great," says Ernst, who's a regular player for Borgata's Wednesday tournaments.  "This is by far my biggest win, and I'm looking forward to coming back in September."

On the final hand, Ernst has 2♠ 2♦ vs A♥ J♦ and wins the coin flip when the flop of 2♥ J♠ 6♥ gives Ernst a set and he avoids runner-runner when the board bricks out.

Ernst is the last man standing in a tournament that featured 283 entries, including pro players Bernard Lee, Roy Winston and Eric Buchman as he grabbed his share of the $73,580 total buy-in.

Ernst and several of the players donated more than $7,500 to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

Full Tournament Results

Praet, Ernst, Lee & Schiers

Jon Praet and Bob Schiers of Cabot and pro Bernard Lee present John Ernst his ceremonial voucher for September's WPT seat, while Margie Barham accepts a $5,000 donation to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey from the cooperative.

Margie Barham, Executive Director of the Southern Branch 
of the Community FoodBank of New Jersey

2nd Place - Dimov

Ivailo Dimov (Astoria, NY)

$11,776

3rd Place - Soleimanlov

Ali Soleimanlov (Falls Church, VA)

$6,780

After knocking out pros Roy Winston and Bernard Lee earlier in the tournament, Soleimanlov rides his good fortunte to a top three finish.  John Ernst cripples Soleimanlov in a 4 million chip pot with A♣ 8♣ vs Soleimanlov K♦ 3♦. 

Ace high wins the hand and Soleimanlov is out a few hands later.  Ernst is playing Ivailo Dimov heads up for the title.

Final 3 Chip Counts

John Ernst (Oakhurst, NJ) 1.3 million
Ali Soleimanlov (Falls Church, VA) 3.1 million
Ivailo Dimov (Astoria, NY) 2.6 million

Blinds are 80k/160k/20k ante

4th Place - Wey

 Charles Wey (Hackensack, NY) 

$5,496

In the biggest hand of the tournament, Wey moves all in UTG for 1.6 million. It folds to Ali Soleimanlov who calls for slightly less.

Wey: 8♥ 3♥
Soleimanlov: A♠ 9♠

The board is clean and Soleimanov doubles to 3.1 million, while Wey is left with 60k and is out the next hand.

5th - Becker

 Tim Becker (N. Tonawanda, NY) 

$4,282

Becker's day ends when his last 300k goes to Charles Wey when Becker's 99 is run down by 8♠ 4♠ when the A♠ gives Wey a flush on the river.

6th - Peterwas

Leszek Peterwas (Philadelphia, PA) 

$3,569

Peterwas is out after his A3 falls short against the AK of John Ernst who scoops a 3-way pot that also involves Ivailo Dimov who takes a 550k hit holding JJ.

7th - Weber

Mark Weber (Sicklerville, NJ) 

$2,855

Weber's pocket 2s lose to Ivailo DiMov's A 10 who hits a 10 on the river.

8th Place - Natishvili

Irakli Natishvili (Hoboken, NJ)

$2,141

Natishvili is on the rail when his AK is run down by the J6 of Tim Becker who spikes a jack on the river.

9th - McGuinness

John McGuinness (Toms River, NJ)

$1,427

McGuinness is out with 55 against the JJ of Tim Becker

Final Table

Seat - Name - Chip Count

1 Charles Wey (Hackensack, NY) 736k
2 John McGuinness (Toms River, NJ) 298k
3 John Ernst (Oakhurst, NJ) 1.1 million
4 Mark Weber (Sicklerville, NJ) 60k
5 Tim Becker (N. Tonawanda, NY) 1.3 million
6 Ali Soleimanlov (Falls Church, VA) 900k
7 Irakli Natishvili (Hoboken, NJ) 405k
8 Leszek Peterwas (Philadelphia, PA) 600,000
9 Ivailo Dimov (Astoria, NY) 1.5 million

Blinds are 40k/80k/10k ante as the average stack is 708k.