Event 14 Recap

$350 + $50 Deep Stack Semi-Turbo NLH (Re-Entry)

A stacked final table came down to one of the hottest players at the Borgata Poker Open and
a cook who served up the win.  Antonio Amato (Downingtown, PA) defeated Andrew Jeffrey (Mansfield, OH) heads up to take title, trophy and $18,128 first place prize.

On the final hand, Amato held A♠ 8♣, flopped an 8 and rivered trips against Jeffrey's pocket 5s.

"It feels really good," said Amato who works as a cook and is a Borgata regular.  "Of course you need luck, that's the number one thing. It's not me, it was the cards."

Luck played a big role for Amato heads-up when Jeffrey was one card from winning the tournament.  Amato hit a gutshot straight on the river in a 3 million chip pot to double-up and flip the count into his favor before winning.

"It sucks," said Jeffrey, who finished runner-up for the second time in the series, "to get this close and not get the trophy."

Jeffrey earned $9,971, after he won $67,000 in Event 8 ($560 entry) for finishing second, the top two tournament cashes of his career.

Also at the final table were Borgata standouts Wade Woelfel (Mankato, MN) and David Inselberg (Long Beach, NY).

Woelfel finished third for his 7th Borgata top 5 finish in the last three years, while Inselberg earned his 16th Borgata cash with a fourth place finish. The two have a combined $1.2 million in career tournament earnings (Inselberg $700,000) with Woelfel earning $140,000 of his $500,000 at Borgata.

178 entries combined for $62,300 in total buy-ins and 18 players got their piece of the prize pool.  Recognizable names to make the money included Zaur Mamedov (6th), Joe Opie (10th), Amir Genzel (11th) Grace Sun (13th), who picked up her second cash of the series, and Kori Hunter (17th).

Amato said he recently returned to the game a few months ago after a five year break. He comes to Borgata "a few times a week," for the daily tournaments and loves the semi-turbo format.

Final Table Results

Entries: 178
Total Buy-In: $62,300

Place-Name-Amount

1st Antonio Amato (Downingtown, PA) $18,128
2nd Andrew Jeffrey (Mansfield, OH) $9,971
3rd Wade Woelfel (Mankato, MN) $5,741
4th David Inselberg (Long Beach, NY) $4,834
5th Mark Vogler (Deer Park, NY) $3,626
6th Zaur Mamedov (Cherry Hill, NJ) $3,022
7th Chris Capone (Palmyra, PA) $2,417
8th Bill LaPointe (Whippany, NJ) $1,813
9th Diego Lomanto (Stony Brook, NY) $1,360
10th Joe Opie (Fair Haven, NJ) $1,209

FINAL RESULTS