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Patrick Martorella Leads The Final Table In The Bar Poker Open Championship
June 12, 2024 @ 05:51 PM
The Bar Poker Open Invite-Only Championship saw a massive uptick from last year's total numbers to see 1,164 entrants from all over the country. This created a prize pool of $349,200, the lion's share of which would be divided by the final 59 players that began the day.
As the dust settled, only eight players remained at close of Day 2 with Patrick Martorella holding a commanding lead over the field with 7,125,000. Martorella came into the day as one of eight stacks that were over 1 million chips. He managed to survive all day, then when the feature table started he began to pull away from the pack. Peaking out at over 9 million chips, Martorella put on a show for the audience, putting massive pressure on the field as it dwindled and the pay jumps increased. The Long Island, NY, resident looks to add to his already massive $194,811 Hendon Mob and collect his first BPO title.
Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Chip Count | Country | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patrick Martorella | 7,125,000 | United States | 44 |
| 2 | Jake Dennehy | 3,710,000 | United States | 23 |
| 3 | Jamie Naftzinger | 2,630,000 | United States | 16 |
| 4 | Jordan Teague | 1,370,000 | United States | 8 |
| 5 | Antonio Tafuto | 3,140,000 | United States | 19 |
| 6 | Miguel Medrano | 4,370,000 | United States | 27 |
| 7 | Steven Morey | 3,780,000 | United States | 23 |
| 8 | Tim Dancy | 2,620,000 | United States | 16 |
Sitting behind him is Miguel Medrano, who bagged 4,370,000. Medrano found himself all in quite a few times in today's tournament, with a key double up through Steven Morey (3,780,000) saving him towards the end of the night. Medrano had flopped top pair on a five-high board and needed to crack Morey's kings to survive, which he did and the young man celebrated with his rail. Now guaranteed his biggest career score, he looks to add another couple of figures to his own burgeoning resume.
Day 2 Action
It was not a day for former BPO champions as both Rafael Jimenez (31st-$1,300) and Thomas Nefcy (22nd-$1,500) found themselves both falling short of the final table. Other bigger stacks throughout the day also fell like Day 1b chip leader Billy Hayes (17th-$1,700), who made a costly bluff against Jamie Naftzinger (2,620,000), and Day 1a1's chip leaders David Muser (13th-$2,300) and Nathaniel McNamara (10th-$3,000).
The day came to a close when Ian Auvil moved all in against Medrano's raise with king-queen, only for Medrano to snap-call with aces. An ace on the flop sealed the deal and the ever-affable Auvil saw a round of applause from friends on the rail. Auvil collected $3,500 from his tenth place finish, another impressive run from the BPO Florida champion.
The final eight players will return to play at 2 p.m., each one of them guaranteed a minimum of $5,000, but eyeing the first place prize of $100,000. Play ended with 38:41 left in the 26th level of play with blinds at 80,000/160,000 with a 160,000 ante. They will continue to play 45-minute levels for the remainder of the tournament until a winner is crowned. There will be a livestream to watch at Bar Poker Open's YouTube channel.
Stay tuned to PokerNews to read all of the updates on the Bar Poker Open Championship.