Event 15 Recap

$500 + $60 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

In his first-ever tournament victory, Collin Whyte (Brooklyn, NY) held the chip lead from before dinner on day one, all the way to the finish.  A player made a move on him with pocket 7s when Collin had pocket Queens.  The ladies held up to give Collin a commanding lead, which he worked aggressively all the way to the end.

The win earned him $25,027 and his first Borgata Poker Open trophy.  He plays $10/$25 games back home and gives props to his friends for getting him started in the game:  Allen Chang, Simon Lim, and Jia Liu, who won the Borgata Spring Poker Open Chamionship ($312k) in April.

Borgata tournament regular Mike Summers (Charlottesville, VA) will pick up $13,764 for his runner-up finish.  The independent businessman got lucky to survive on day one.  Shortly before the dinner break with four tables remaining, Mike was all-in and at risk on the turn with nothing but a flush draw against Raj Patel's Broadway straight.  He made the flush on the river to survive and made it all the way to second place. 

Another Borgata regular, Bob Hwang (Barnegat, NJ) came back from the WSOP in Las Vegas to enjoy some tournament time at Borgata.  He finished 4th for $6,674.

Raj Patel, (Meriden, CT) who won $1.2 million at the 2007 WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals, also made it to the final table of ten, but was short-stacked and the first player to depart on day two, earning $1,668 for 10th place

172 players started on Friday, creating total buy-ins of $86,000.  The final 18 earned a piece of the prize pool.

Cashing on day one of this event were former Borgata Poker Open winners Harry Korotki (Owings Mills, MD)  11th place - $1,668; and James Boyle (Havre de Grace, MD) 14th place - $1,460.

Borgata Summer Poker Open frequent flyers who did not cash in this event include John Hinds, Joe Wertz, Ari Albilia, Franco Bonacci, Jason Henrici, Joe Liberta, Barry Leventhal, Nick Salimbene, Steven Rodriguez, Vladimir Peck, Alyson Parker, Seth Manfield, Howard Wolper, Cuong Phung, Leonardo Palermo, and Tom Pomponio.

Collin Whyte plans to stick around and play the main event, hoping that his good run will continue.  He's parlayed his poker success into his own business, a restaurant called "Brooklyn Wings".  They make "everything from Amazon Garlic to Asian Fusion" chicken wings.   


Final Table Results

1 - Collin Whyte (Brooklyn, NY)  $25,027

2 - Mike Summers (Charlottesville, VA)  $13,764

3 - Paul Shedaker (Croydon, PA)  $7,925
4 - Bob Hwang (Barnegat, NJ)  $6,674
5 - Michael Lapadula (Massapeque Park, NY)  $5,005
6 - Paul Vacchio (Inwood, NY)  $4,171
7 - Brad Loveless (Ellicott City, MD)  $3,337
8 - Gary Schoengold (Olney, MD)  $2,503
9 - Scott Niebling (Cary, NC)  $1,877
10 - Raj Patel (Meriden, CT)  $1,668