Seven Bank Over $150,000 in Record-Breaking Borgata Event
Borgata Poker Open events always drag big, but none has ever drawn quite as big as the $560 No-Limit Hold'em Deep Stack Kickoff event that ended Saturday at Borgata Winter Poker Open.
After six starting flights, a total of 5,512 entries had been logged, about 400 better than the biggest field Borgata had ever drawn, and a $2 million guaranteed prize pool had eclipsed $2.7 million.
When the dust settled, the final seven players agreed to a deal that saw each take home over $150,000 in prize money, with the biggest share of $216,155 going to Aristoteles Neto.
Official Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aristoteles Neto | $216,155* |
| 2 | Robert Nguyen | $205,048* |
| 3 | Ralph Macri | $204,773* |
| 4 | Ilya Dyment | $180,000* |
| 5 | Marlon Pagharion | $171,946* |
| 6 | Moe Farah | $171,244* |
| 7 | Juan Neito Rodriguez | $153,832* |
| 8 | Larry O'Halloran | $47,318 |
| 9 | Lisa Costello | $30,583 |
Reflects final table deal
The massive tournament paid out 500 places, with Michael Esposito, Justin Liberto, Damon Ferrante, Russell Crane, Tom Cannuli, Paul Volpe, Matt Stout and Mike Dentale among those collecting payouts. Ferrante was the subject of a recent PokerNews feature detailing his sponsorship from PokerStars and his efforts spreading awareness and battling a life-threatening condition.
The players went to the final table after Frank Pasquale busted in 10th place. According to the live updates, Neto and Ralph Macri were tied for the chip lead with 24.7 million at 250,000/500,000/50,000, while Lisa Costello brought up the rear with just 1.9 million.
Costello couldn't make those few big blinds last, as she picked up fours in the hole but ran smack into the aces of Marlon Pagharion. Just after that, Larry O'Halloran jammed his last 12 big blinds in with Q?10? and fellow short stack Juan Neito Rodriguez called with K?J? in the small blind. After both missed the flop, Rodriguez turned O'Halloran dead with a king.
That left seven players and they didn't take long to come to an agreement on chopping up the remaining prize money. Each one banked a career-high sum, with Rodriguez's $153,832 representing the lowest payout. Neto, by virtue of his small chip lead over Robert Nguyen, took the trophy and goes down as the official winner.
Photo courtesy of Borgata
