Event 12 Recap

$400 + $50 H.O.R.S.E.

A quality field of thoroughbreds came to the wire and provided an exciting HORSE race. At the finish line it was Joe Palma (Bensalem, PA) making his second trip to the winner's circle in this year's Borgata Poker Open.

Palma nips Sal Pipitone (Paramus, NJ) at the wire when he scooped the final pot in Omaha H/L with A♠ 7♥ 4♦ 7♣. Palma's pair of 7s wins the high, while A-4 takes the low.

"It's been a tremendous week," said Palma who wins the title and the $13,038 first prize. "Getting a second trophy is pretty cool."

The win comes on the heels of Palma winning Event 3 (PLO) for $17,000 and prevented Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler (Las Vegas, NV) and Chris Reslock (Atlantic City, NJ) from winning their fourth Borgata trophies.

"I held my own again," said Kessler, who won a HORSE title in January's Winter Open. "I won it last time I played and now a third, I'll take it."

"It was a tough field," said Palma, who pointed to those two as just some of the quality players who were left on Day 2.

15 players of the 112 total entries returned for their piece of the $44,800 total buy-in and most had impressive resumes.

The stalwarts included two-time Borgata trophy winner Mark Sykes (10th), Bo Toft (8th), who made his fourth Borgata HORSE final table appearance and Anthony Zinno (14th), who finished third in Event 6 ($1K entry) of the series.

Also making a deep run was Reslock's wife Joy who finished 5th and knocked Chris out in 11th place. Joy's five Borgata cashes have all been final tables.

Palma says he'll take a few days off and look to complete the triple crown when he returns for the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship Event (Sept. 15-20).

Final Table Results

Entries: 112
Total Buy-In: $44,800

Place-Name-Amount

1st Joe Palma (Bensalem, PA) $13,038
2nd Sal Pipitone (Paramus, NJ) $7,171
3rd Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler (Las Vegas, NV) $4,128
4th Norm Michalek (Westfield, NJ) $3,476
5th Ming "Joy" Reslock (Atlantic City, NJ) $2,607
6th Frank Alger (Colonial Beach, VA) $2,173
7th David Rosenau (Absecon, NJ) $1,738
8th Bo Toft (Yardley, PA) $1,304
9th Sang "Steven" Lim (Flushing, NY) $978
10th Mark Sykes (Margate, NJ) $869

FINAL RESULTS