Event 22 Recap

2013 Borgata Poker Open $350 Buy-In + $50 Entry No Limit Hold'Em (Re-Entry)
Entrants: 250
Prize pool: $84,875

FINAL RESULTS

Trevor Deeter is a tournament circuit grinder with several big wins to his credit. He took 1st in a Venetian Deep Stack event for over 45K and a 1st in a WSOP Circuit event for 10K. He can now add a $23,763 payday and Borgata Poker Open win to his poker resume. After winning a key hand against former WPT Champion Sean Cunix when there were 10 players remaining, Deeter came to the final table with the chip lead and never looked back. The final hand saw him knock out his heads up opponent, Pablo Alvarez-Montoy, when his A♥J♥ was able to hold on against Pablo's A♣T♣. In addition to the prize money, Deeter wins a beautiful Borgata Poker Open trophy and a unique, custom framed photograph provided by IMPDI.
 

Trevor Deeter, Winner, Event #22

The final nine, their seating assignments and approximate chip counts were as follows:

Seat 1: Mitchell Mantin (Atlantic City, NJ) - 180K
Seat 2: Mike McEvoy (Ryebrook, NY) - 210K
Seat 3: Brad McClure (Roanoke, VA) - 285K
Seat 4: Darryl Ien (Newark, NJ) - 260K
Seat 5: Zeke McCurdy (Charlotte, NC) - 520K
Seat 6: Trevor Deeter (Langhorne, PA) - 925K
Seat 7: Dale Hartzell (Leavittsborg, OH) - 300K
Seat 8: Joseph "Mush" Galazzo (Union, NJ) - 490K
Seat 9: Pablo Alvarez-Montoy (Queens, NY) - 500K 

Chip leader Trevor Deeter got off to a hot start. First, Mike McEvoy re-raised Deeter, committing a significant amount of his stack. This prompted Deeter to say to McEvoy "you aren't folding" which was able to draw a smile from McEvoy. The flop came J-T-9 and McEvoy moved all in. "I call," Deeter said without hesitation, turning over pocket queens. McEvoy had A-K and when the turn and river did not improve his hand he was the first player eliminated from the final table.

Mike McEvoy (Ryebrook, NY) finished in 9th place winning $1,698

Deeter would win another sizable pot when he re-raised with jacks and induced his opponent to fold. "I'm running hot," an almost sheepish Deeter said as he added to his chip lead. It wasn't all about Deeter though. Mitchell Mantin sucked out on Brad McClure when he got it all in pre-flop with A-Q against McClure's kings and was able to hit an ace. Mantin apologized to McClure and then added "that it was all skill." The good natured McClure shook it off and was ready to play some more poker.

One of the biggest pots of the night then took place. With the blinds at 10K/20K/3K, Joe Galazzo opened the action for 40K. Pablo Alvarez-Montoy made it 130K to go. Mitchell Mantin then moved all in for 397K. Joe, after some thought, also moved all in. Pablo's eyes lit up like a kid coming downstairs on Christmas morning. He quickly placed his stack in the middle indicating that he too was all in. The hands:

Mitchell Mantin A♥K♦

Joe Galazzo J-J

Pablo Alvarez-Montoy Aces

The board would run out T♣7♣5♦9♠5♠ to give the triple up to Pablo as he was the shortest stack. Galazzo won the side pot with Mantin, and having him covered that meant Mantin was done for the day. After the hand Pablo was up over a million, trailing only the 1.4 million that Deeter had.

Mitchell Mantin (Atlantic City, NJ) finished in 8th place winning $2,546

Crippled after that loss to Pablo, Joe Galazzo looked down at pocket tens and decided they were good enough to go with and moved all in for his last 120K with the blinds at 10K/20K with a 3K ante. He was called by Brad McClure who held A-J. The flop came 4-3-2 giving McClure a gutshot straight draw and it would be that gutshot that would deliver the knockout blow to Galazzo as an ace hit the river. "Straight? Oh my gosh," said McClure. "I put my glasses on just in time to see it.". Galazzo caps off another fine evening to go with his 2nd place finish earlier this week. And with that, we were down to six.

Joseph "Mush" Galazzo (Union, NJ) finishes in 7th place winning $3,395.

Dale Hartzell had been aggressive throughout the final table, often moving in either first to act or over the top of his foes. After having just moved all in over the the top of a McCurdy opening raise, Hartzell continued his aggressive ways. He opened for 40K and had two callers, one of them being McCurdy. The flop came 9-4-2 and the two callers checked to Hartzell who proceeded to move all in for 173K. McCurdy studied Hartzell carefully and decided he had the best of it. "I call," he said and turned over J-9 for top pair. Hartzell would need some hope to remain alive as all he had was Q-J. The turn was another deuce and the river was a ten and Hartzell was eliminated.

Dale Hartzell (Leavittsborg, OH) finished in 6th place winning $4,244

With the blinds at 12K/24K with a 3K ante, Zeke McCurdy open raised to 55K. Trevor Deeter re-raised to 120K and Zeke made the call. The flop came A♠K♥2♣ prompting a check from Zeke. Deeter bet 79K and McCurdy check raised to 200K. A quiet Deeter shuffles chips in his right hand, peeks back at his cards, takes a quick glance at McCurdy and announces that he is all in. Zeke doesn't call immediately. His hand is over his mouth as he replays the hand in his head. He looks intently at Trevor and says "I call." Zeke has a made a good call, a key one, as he holds A♦T♣, while Trevor only has K♦J♠. The turn is the 3♥ and the river is the 8♠ leaving Trevor to shake his head twice, and then looks up into the bright lights as if he is searching for answers to what just happened. That double up put McCurdy over a million in chips. After the tournament was over, Trevor explained that he was a bit confused by McCurdy's play in the hand and that was what led him to moving all in. "I didn't think he would flat my three bet there with Ace Ten," Deeter said. "That and there were two other short stacks who would bust before him so I thought he would play a little more conservatively if his tournament life was on the line."

Darryl Ien had bided his time patiently but with only five big blinds in his stack he knew he had to make a move and make it soon. He did just that by moving all in with K-3. One person, Pablo, called. Pablo held A-4 and was ahead of Darryl's K-3. At least Darryl was live and he would hit one of his hole cards when a king flopped. The river is a cruel, sadistic mistress, however, and that ace that came would be enough to send Ien packing.

Darryl Ien (Newark, NJ) finished in 5th place winning $5,093

It was a battle of the blinds that would do Brad McClure in. With the blinds at 15K/30K, McClure moved all in from the big blind after Pablo Alvarez-Montoy opened from the small blind. Pablo made the call, showing A-Q, which put McClure in terrible shape since he held K-Q. No cards came to save McClure's day and we were now three handed.

Brad McClure (Roanoke, VA) finished in 4th place winning $6,535

Over the course of the final table, Trevor Deeter had handed over the chip lead to Pablo Alvarez-Montoy due in large part to Pablo's big triple up with aces and Deeter losing that big pot with second pair when Zeke McCurdy called with top pair. That would change when Deeter and Pablo would tangle in an all in pre-flop confrontation that saw Deeter's A♥Q♥ going up against the pocket 9's of Pablo. The flop came K♥7♥2♦ giving Deeter a flush draw to go with his two overs. The turn was the 2♣ and Pablo was one card away from knocking out Trevor and holding a massive chip lead heading into heads up play. The oh so cruel river did it again though... the A♠ and Deeter scored a massive double up to over 1.7 million.

Pablo would get some of those chips back from Zeke McCurdy when he moved all in over the top of Zeke's 80K opener with the blinds at 20K/40K with a 4K ante. Zeke decided to look him up for the additional 477K with deuces, which were actually ahead. Pablo held A-J that would hit a jack on the flop to take him up over a million in chips.

After scoring a double up to bring his stack to 800K, Zeke and Trevor got it all in pre-flop for a 1.6 million chip pot that saw Zeke crushing Trevor with A-T against A-9. The domination didn't last long, however, as a 9 flopped and another 9 came on the turn leading to a big sigh from Zeke as he knew his tournament was over.

Zeke McCurdy (Charlotte, NC) finished in 3rd place winning $8,063

Going into heads up action, Trevor held a comfortable 2.5:1 chip lead over Pablo. The two would go back and forth for over fifteen minutes, with no big swings in chip position. On the tournament's final hand, Pablo would open the action leading to a Deeter all in. Pablo made the call with a very strong hand, A♣T♣, but it wasn't quite strong enough as Deeter held A♥J♥. The jack kicker would end up playing on the A-Q-8-5-7 board and the tournament was over! Deeter had won...

 Pablo Alvarez-Montoy (Queens, NY) finished in 2nd place winning $14,004

Trevor Deeter is the winner of Event #22! "It's always a great feeling to win a tournament," said Deeter who added that he loves coming to Borgata. "I always tell people that Borgata run's the best tournaments across the country. The structures are good, there are a lot of events, and the venue is fantastic." Deeter had failed in his attempt in the WPT Championship event, busting earlier in the day but decided to use that as motivation to enter this event. Now he can end his trip knowing it was a good one.

 Trevor Deeter (Langhorne, PA) wins the tournament and $23,763