The 2017 Borgata Winter Poker Open wrapped up last week after handing out millions of dollars in prize money over 25 events with thousands of players competing at their chance at a piece of poker glory. The opening event of the WPO offered a $2,000,000 guarantee at the price point of a $560 buy-in and over 5,500 flocked to Atlantic City to play in the record-breaking event.

When the dust finally settled, the final seven players negotiated a deal where all of them received between $153,000 to $217,000, no better than second place money and no worse than fourth. It was a deal that received a lot of conversation due to the magnitude of the event and the audacity of the numbers in place. Moe ‘moefarah’ Farah received arguably the best end of the deal as the short stack at the time of the negotiation walked away with $171,244, over $18,000 than the lowest figure paid out.

The huge score was a long time coming for Farah, who has had his fair share of near misses before claiming the largest prize of his career. The Bensalem, Pennsylvania native battled hard for three days to reach the final table of the WPO opener and knows that type of opportunity does not come around too often.

“I’ve had so many close calls to that six-figure payday and it just never panned out before so it definitely teaches you to be grateful and humble about it. It also taught me to take no opportunities for granted because you never know when the next one will come knocking.”

The negotiations for the deal took nearly an hour with every player wanting what they thought was their fair share of an over $1,300,000 pie. Farah made his case heard about why he should receive more than what was first offered and eventually heard a number he was unable to turn down.

“When they first started talking about the chop, I wasn’t really interested. I told them that I would take a look at the numbers but probably wouldn’t take the deal. I was last place in chips and I didn’t agree to the ICM numbers. They made me an offer I would be stupid to say no to,” said Farah with a smile.

Farah nearly made it back to another final table to bookend his Event 1 run as he made it to Day 4 of the WPO World Poker Tour Main Event. In a field stacked with professionals and a record 1,312 entrants in attendance, Farah was knocked out in 20th place, only 12 eliminations short of a second finish worth over $100,000.

Despite the close call, Farah maintains a healthy perspective on his poker career and considers himself fortunate to have a strong support system among his family and friends; the latter of whom provided a healthy rail for Farah throughout Event 1. Among the players on Farah’s rail during the final table were Chris Horter, Jamie Kerstetter, and Anna ‘OhUrAPro’ Antimony.

“Family is everything to me. I have a big family and we are very close. Without my family and friend’s support, I definitely wouldn’t be where I am I right now. I’m very lucky and blessed.”

With the Winter Poker Open officially behind him, Farah plans to continue his life the same as he was prior to January with more of his free time consumed by his new hobby of real estate investment.

“This isn’t going to change my life much if any, at all. I’m involved in some investments outside of poker that I’m working on and I’ll continue to play the local tournaments in this area. I’ve never really been a fan of traveling to play poker other than to the Main Event in Las Vegas every year. I’m just [going to] keep doing what I’ve been doing and enjoy time with my family and friends.”