By
MattW |
Published
Sep 24 2007, 03:53 PM
After four long, arduous days, a champion was finally decided on in this years Borgata Poker Open Main Event. The winner, Roy Winston, who is a poker pro as well as a medical doctor sliced and diced his way to first place and $1,575,280. He also received a silver watch and a buy-in to the WPT World Championship in April.
This tournament delivered on its expectations, offering aggression and excitement throughout. Unfortunately, no PocketFivers made the final table. However, Steve "Thorladen" Weinstein (pictured) finished 11th, securing $70,616. JOEYTHEB also finished deep, outlasting 536 other hopefuls for 23rd place. For much of the time, JOEY had an M of 5 or less but was able to play the shortstack well.
KoolKeith13 was the victim of a nasty beat when his AA was no good vs. AK all-in preflop on day 1. If this hand held, Keith would have been one of the chipleaders going in to day 2, but he was sent to the rail shortly after instead.
The final table included some great characters, one of which is known for his big mouth. Here are the final 9 with payouts:
1. Roy Winston ($1,575,280)
2. Heung Yoon ($832,725)
3. Haralabos Voulgaris ($434,560)
4. Mark Weitzman ($380,240)
5. Eugene Todd ($325,920)
6. Mike Matusow ($271,280)
7. John Kranyak ($217,280)
8. Zvi Shiff ($162,290)
9. Loi Phan ($108,640)
John Kranyak, aka 'JohnnyKran,' a 23yr old from Cleveland, Ohio, served as the T.V. bubble by going out in 7th (pictured). Interestingly enough, though, he out-placed his mentor Thorladen by 4 spots. This re-affirmed the fact that Kranyak belongs in the poker spotlight, especially after dominating the game of Bridge for several years on an international stage.
I would like to thank Wein for bringing everyone updates on PocketfivesLive.com, giving us all the opportunity to follow the action as it happened. Job well done.
The next tournament being covered is the Aruba Classic, which begins at the start of October. You can check out all the action in the form of live updates on PocketFivesLive.com.