Mukharji Uppalapati Leads the 129 Survivors on Day 1A of WPT Borgata Poker Open

By Tim Duckworth

Season XVIII continued on the World Poker Tour with the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey, playing host to the third stop of Season XVIII with the WPT Borgata Poker Open.

Since the second season of the World Poker Tour, the WPT Borgata Poker Open has held a position in the September schedule and has seen a plethora of WPT Legends etch their name on the WPT Champions Cup in The Garden State. Since Noli Francisco hoisted the first WPT title at Borgata when he defeated the field of 235 players, the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Al Ardebili, Mark Newhouse, Roy Winston, Vivek Rajkumar, Olivier Busquet, Dwyte Pilgrim, Bobby Oboodi, Ben Hamnett, Anthony Zinno, Darren Elias, David Paredes, Jesse Sylvia, Guo Liang Chen, and Erukt Yilmaz have all called themselves WPT Borgata Poker Open Champions.

The 17th installment of the WPT Borgata Poker Open would see two starting flights and a whopping $3 million guaranteed prize pool, and on Day 1A here on Sunday, a total of 271 entrants would take a seat throughout the duration of the day. Defending Champion Yilmaz had a late start to the day, and unfortunately would have an early exit as he hit the rails along with fellow WPT Champions Club members Brian Altman, Darren Elias, Shawn Cunix, Daniel Weinman, Mike Vela, and Will Failla. Notable players also eliminated on Day 1A included Maurice Hawkins, Ryan Hughes, Mike Dentale, Jean Gaspard, Ray Qartomy, Kitty Kuo, Curt Kohlberg, and Jake Schwartz.

As the dust settled on the eight-level day, a total of 129 players would survive into Day 2 with Mukharji Uppalapati (pictured above) finishing the day as chip leader with 252,400 in chips. Uppalapati has amassed over $112,000 in lifetime tournament earnings with the majority of his results occurring at Maryland Live! Casino, but he has yet to register a result on the World Poker Tour.

Sitting behind Uppalapati is Asher Conniff (pictured above) with 247,800 in chips. Conniff is no stranger to the Borgata as he won the Season XIII WPT World Championship for $973,683 for his first WPT title. Following Conniff as the only other players sitting with above 200,000 in chips include Ryan Olisar (229,700), Bruce Kramer (211,600), and Larry Ormson (204,600).

Also surviving into Day 2 include WPT Champions Club members Frank Stepuchin (147,200), Victor Ramdin (140,200), David Paredes (96,000), Jonathan Little (95,700), Olivier Busquet (82,900), Tony Dunst (75,500), Chris Leong (59,600), Tony Sinishtaj (51,300), Harrison Gimbel (44,900), and Anthony Zinno (32,400). Also surviving are WPTDeepStacks Champion Justin Liberto (79,600), 2015 World Champion Joe McKeehen (143,500), and BorgataPoker.com Pro Michael Gagliano (105,000).

For Uppalapati and the 129 players putting their chips into bags tonight, they will be fortunate enough to have a day of rest before returning on Tuesday, September 17 at 12 p.m. (ET). However, the WPT Borgata Poker Open is a best chip stack forward venue, so all players have the option to play Day 1B.

Day 1B of the WPT Borgata Poker Open will commence at 11 a.m. (ET) on Monday, September 16. Players will play eight 60-minute levels with no dinner break, and there are unlimited re-entries allowed. Registration for the WPT Borgata Poker Open will remain open until the start of level 11 on Day 2, and the six-handed WPT Borgata Poker Open final table will be live streamed on a 30-minute delay via WPT on YouTube on Friday, September 20, at 2 p.m. (ET).

Stay tuned to WPT.com for continued coverage of the WPT Borgata Poker Open to see who becomes the second WPT Champion of Season XVIII, and the 17th player to collect the WPT Borgata Poker Open title.

Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive

Looking to win your way to a World Poker Tour event for your shot at becoming a WPT champion? Play for your chance on ClubWPT.com, where eligible VIP Members can play for over $100,000 in cash and prizes each month, including seats to WPT events, no purchase necessary.