Event 19 Recap

$200 + $30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

The fourth time was a charm for Cuong Phung (Atlantic City, NJ) who put the re-re-re in re-entry to win his second Borgata trophy.  He defeated Pofuk Ying (Seattle, WA) heads up on his fourth chance (third re-entry) to take home the title and the $33,573 top prize.

"I played better," said Phung, who had pocket aces cracked on the first hand he played and started his parade to the cashier's window.  "I was on tilt," he added about his fourth entry, "but knew I wouldn't have enough time to enter again."

On the final hand, Phung barely had Ying covered and when his A♦ 9♠ hit a nine for a pair it was the end of a long day.

For Ying it was his second career Borgata runner-up after finishing second in the 2010 Borgata Poker Open for $26,000.

"He was tricky to play against," said Phung.  "It was hard to tell when he had a hand."

The tournament also featured a subplot that revolved around the Borgata Leaderboard.

Phung began the day second in the points race for the seat into September's WPT Championship Event. "That's been my motivation the whole time," said Phung. "I'm very competitive and am trying to play every tournament."

Once Phung settled down with his fourth entry, the hand that propelled him to the final table was a flopped set of queens versus a turned set of 6s for chip leader Andy Knee.  The hand crippled Knee who finished 17th.

Phung watched Ying buzz through the final table by getting knockouts with 6 high (vs 5th place finisher Joe Demone) turning two pairs against a pair of aces on the flop (vs 4th place finisher Robert Pellegrino) and hitting the river against third place finisher Chris Grove.

Ying's unpredictable play also saw him victimize Keith Crowder (23rd) when Ying hit a three outer.  But Ying's luck ran out when Phung overcame a 3 to 1 chip deficit heads up to win the title.

The day began with 746 entries that created a total buy-in of $33,573.  A long list of Borgata notables made the money and included Ted Geier (56th and currently 11th in Leaderboard points),  John Del Rossi (44), Frank Richardone (37) and Lisa Pickell (28).

Phung's first Borgata trophy game in the 2011 Borgata Poker Open, a $17,000 payday to go along with his recent $131,000 Deep Stack win in March.

He's a 32-year-old professional player and a family man who expects to play in the final two main events to earn those valuable  Leaderboard points.

And yes both of those tournaments are re-entry, something Phung isn't shy about taking advantage of.

Final Table Results

Position-Name-Amount

1 Cuong Phung (Atlantic City, NJ) $33,573
2 Pofuk Ying (Seattle, WA) $19,538
3 Chris Grove (Brooklyn Park, MD) $11,940
4 Robert Pellegrino (Nanuet, NY) $9,841
5 Joe Demone (Freehold, NJ) $7,960
6 Glenn Wilkins (Freehold, NJ) $6,513
7 John Ciofalo (Newburgh, NY) $5,210
8 Joe "Black" Reddick (Bronx, NY) $3,980
9 Mitchell Mantin (Atlantic City, NJ) $2,750
10 Jeff Gross (Wall, NJ) $1,809