The 2008 World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open was one for the ages. Vivek Psyduck Rajkumar stormed through the six-man final table in just 48 hands, the shortest in the history of the WPT. He made short work of table mates Dan Heimiller, Andrew Knee, Mark Seif, Jason Strochak, and Sang Kim. Rajkumar’s win was worth $1.4 million, adding to his already impressive poker resume. Another PocketFiver to excel at the Borgata was Thayer THAY3R Rasmussen, who finished 12th and took home $65,000. Let’s check out the results from the Borgata in Atlantic City.
On Hand #18 of final table play, Rajkumar pulled away from the pack. He won a massive pot off Seif holding pocket tens against Seif’s pocket aces. The Rajkumar flopped a ten and Seif would never improve. The PocketFiver ended up with 60% of the chips in play after that hand, setting him up to coast to victory. Twenty-three hands later, Rajkumar bounced Heimiller from the Borgata Poker Open in third holding A-5 against Heimiller’s Q-3. The flop came K-5-4, preserving Rajkumar’s lead in the hand. To add insult to injury, the turn and river both came fives, keeping Rajkumar’s heater alive and sending Heimiller to the exit.
Entering heads-up play, Rajkumar held 16.8 million chips to Kim’s 3.9, or about a 4:1 chip lead. On the 48th hand of final table play, Kim moved all in over the top of a raise by Rajkumar, who called. Kim flipped over A-Q and Rajkumar showed A-J. The flop came J-10-7, giving Rajkumar the commanding lead in the hand and leaving Kim desperate for a king or queen. The turn came an ace and the river came an eight, sealing the win for Psyduck. He won $1.4 million and a $25,000 buy-in to the WPT Championship in April.
Online, Rajkumar finished sixth in the PokerStars Sunday Million in March for $32,335. He took second in the $100 rebuy on that site in July for $15,640. He recorded three cashes at the 2008 World Series of Poker, capped off by a $26,470 payday for finishing 24th in the $10,000 buy-in World Championship of Pot Limit Hold’em. In 2007, he made the final table of a $3,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em event for $36,763 and sixth place. He won a $2,500 buy-in WPT preliminary event at the L.A. Poker Classic for $113,000, defeating a final table that included Noah Jefferson (who he beat heads-up), Dutch Boyd, Toto Leonidas, and Brandon Cantu.
Thayer Thay3r Rasmussen was bounced from the Borgata Poker Open in 12th place by Rajkumar. Rasmussen pushed with K-5 after being short-stacked and was called by Rajkumar, who held A-4. Ace high won the pot and Rasmussen was sent packing, $65,000 richer. Rasmussen sits at #96 in the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings and recently made the final table of the WCOOP Second Chance for $33,107. He won the $100 rebuy in May on PokerStars and piled up 45 total cashes in tournaments that are tracked for the PocketFives.com Rankings in August for nearly $90,000.
Rasmussen finished fourth in the WPT Mandalay Bay Poker Championship during Season VI for $131,170. He made a deep run in the 2008 WSOP Main Event, finishing 321st and taking home $32,166. He has seven career WSOP cashes for a grand total of $68,375.
Here were the final six at the Borgata along with their paydays:
1st Place: Vivek "Psyduck" Rajkumer - $1,424,500
2nd Place: Sang Kim - $750,000
3rd Place: Dan Heimiller - $387,500
4th Place: Jason Strochak - $337,500
5th Place: Mark Seif - $287,500
6th Place: Andrew Knee - $237,500
Congratulations to Vivek Psyduck Rajkumar for winning the 2008 WPT Borgata Poker Open. We look forward to more big things in the future.
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