Event 19
Event 19 ‘$1,000 Second Chance Turbo’
Level 22: Blinds 10,000/12,000/3,000 ante
Total Entries: 90
Wen Zhang (Philadelphia, PA)
Wen Zhang caught fire at the final table of this Second Chance Turbo event, felting five of the eight opponents he faced. When the last cards were dealt and the last pot was pushed, Wen came out on top of the field of 90 entrants, earning $30,555 and his first Borgata Open trophy.
Wen Zhang wasn’t planning to come to Borgata for this series. He had been stressed out due to a recent death in the family and had been staying close to home in Philadelphia. He finally decided to make the trip, after the blizzard, and fired two bullets in the Championship event with no success. That all changed in this second-chance event and he not only covered those buy-ins, but will be taking home a nice profit.
“It’s great!” he said, adding he was “happy he came”. This is his third cash here at Borgata, but by far the largest. This score more than triples his lifetime earnings. He doesn’t play many tournaments, preferring to stick to the $2/$5 and $5/$10 No Limit Hold’em cash games, but after today he might start playing more, when his business allows.
He owns a coin laundry and has “two kids and two dogs” to look after back home. He was excited to text a trophy shot to his wife and let the family know it was a successful trip.
Event 19 ‘$1,000 Second Chance Turbo’
Level 22: Blinds 10,000/12,000/3,000 ante
Total Entries: 90
Devon Shalmi (Boca Raton, FL)
Heads-up play didn’t last very long. Devon Shalmi was just looking for a hand to shove with and found it when he peeled {Kd}{Jd} on the button. Wen Zhang called him down with {ah}{9h}.
The board came {th}{5c}{2s}{9c}{2d} and Wen paired his 9, even though he was ahead the who way. Wen took the pot and the tournament. 1st place was good for $30,555.
Devon Shalmi finished in 2nd place, earning $16,587. This was his second cash of this series. He finished 4th in the 40 Big Blinds Bounty event a few days ago, earning $8,485. He’s nearly doubled that in this event.
He’s yet another player who made Day 2 of the Championship event, finding himself on the rail early and looking for a ‘Second Chance’. He certainly found it in this event!
Event 19 ‘$1,000 Second Chance Turbo’
Level 22: Blinds 10,000/12,000/3,000 ante
Total Entries: 90
Players Remaining: 2
Chip Average: 900,000
Ali Alawahdi (Longwood, FL)
Ali Alawahdi got his last chips in good holding {as}{qc} against the monster stack of Wen Zhang, who had {ah}{JC}. Once the board completed A J 3 5 4, Yet another pot went to Wen.
Ali finished in 3rd place, earning $10,476. He was another player who made Day 2 of the Championship with a short-stack and ended up in this ‘Second Chance’ event after busting out.
Heads-up play began with Wen Zhang holding 1.4 million to Devon Shalmi’s 360,000 (4:1 chip lead).
Event 19 ‘$1,000 Second Chance Turbo’
Level 22: Blinds 10,000/12,000/3,000 ante
Total Entries: 90
Players Remaining: 3
Chip Average: 600,000
Zhaoxing Wang (Shanghai, MI)
Zhaoxing Wang shoved with QJ from the small blind and Devon Shalmi called from the big blind holding {ad}{5d}. The Ace-high was good and Devon took the pot.
Wang took 4th place and $7,857. This is his second cash of this series — he finished 52nd out of 525 entries in the January 23rd Saturday Series event. Although he made Day 2 of the Championship event, he busted out early and jumped into this event.
Event 19 ‘$1,000 Second Chance Turbo’
Level 22: Blinds 10,000/12,000/3,000 ante
Total Entries: 90
Players Remaining: 4
Chip Average: 450,000
Chinmay Patel (Huntingdon Valley, PA)
On a flop of A Q 5, Chinmay Patel shoved with A8 (top pair) and ran into Wen Zhang’s AQ (top two). Patel got no help on the last two which fell 6 2. Wen chipped up to more than 1 million chips.
Patel busted out in 5th place, earning $6,111. He’s got a few prior cashes here at Borgata, including a couple of final tables, but this is his highest finish here.
Event 19 ‘$1,000 Second Chance Turbo’
Level 21: Blinds 8,000/16,000/2,000 ante
Total Entries: 90
Players Remaining: 5
Chip Average: 360,000
Loukas Michael (Silver Spring, MD)
Loukas Michael got all-in holding pocket Tens in the big blind against Zhaoxing Wang’s K8 suited. The board fell A Q 5 7 4 and Loukas’ pair was good for a double-up to about 230,000. Wang’s stack dropped to ~260,000
The on the next hand, Loukas (small blind) engaged in a battle of the blinds against Wen Zhang (big blind). Wen had the lead with {ad}{kd} and Loukas made an “uh-oh” sound when he rolled over {Qh}{ts}.
The board came {9s}{6s}{2c}{ah}{5h} and Wen took the pot with nut-no-pair. He chipped up to 950,000 taking a huge chip lead on the table — he’s got more than half the chips in play.
Loukas Michael finished in 6th place, earning $5,238. This cash will take his lifetime earnings over the $50,000 mark.
Event 19 ‘$1,000 Second Chance Turbo’
Level 21: Blinds 8,000/16,000/2,000 ante
Total Entries: 90
Players Remaining: 6
Chip Average: 300,000
Viet Vo (Pearland, TX)
Viet Vo found himself all-in and drawing with AK against Devon Shalmi’s pocket 7s. Vo got no help from the board and reported to the rail. He’ll collect $4,365 for his 7th place finish.
Vo has more than $647,000 in reported tournament earnings, including one WSOP Circuit ring win from August of last year.
His largest single score was from a 2014 Circuit event in Indiana where he finished 2nd, earning $193,935.
Event 19 ‘$1,000 Second Chance Turbo’
Level 20: Blinds 6,000/12,000/2,000 ante
Total Entries: 90
Players Remaining: 7
Chip Average: 257,000
Justin Reibschied (Manalapan, NJ)
Justin Reibschied ran his AK into Zhaoxing Wang’s pocket Kings. When he board failed to improve Justin’s hand, he exited the tournament in 8th place, earning $3,492.
With that pot, Wang became the clear chip leader with ~360,000.
Event 19 ‘$1,000 Second Chance Turbo’
Level 19: Blinds 5,000/10,000/1,000 ante
Total Entries: 90
Players Remaining: 8
Chip Average: 225,000
Victor Ramdin (Bronx, NY)
Victor Ramdin got his short-stack in from the button holding pocket 9s, but ran in to Wen Zhang’s pocket Kings (small blind). The Kings held up and Victor hit the rail in 9th place ($2,619).
With more than $4 million in tournament earnings, Victor is one of the most recognizable pros around. He won the 2006 Foxwoods Poker Classic for more than $1.3 million. He’s also well know for his charitable work.
He was born on a small Guyanese island just north of the mouth of the Essequibo river. Back in 1995, Victor joined a small medical outreach program called Guyana Watch. The charity workers travel to Guyana once a year and treat thousands of patients in underprivileged communities. With his help, the charity has grown every year and now provides the people of Guyana with life saving procedures that had never been an option before, including open heart surgery.
Event 19 ‘$1,000 Second Chance Turbo’
Level 19: Blinds 5,000/10,000/1,000 ante
Total Entries: 90
Players Remaining: 9
Chip Average: 200,000
Levels are now 30 minutes long for the duration of the event.
Here’s the final table lineup and some rough chip counts:
- Viet Vo – 300,000
- Victor Ramdin – 135,000
- Wen Zhang – 190,000
- Justin Reibschied – 185,000
- Chinmay Patel – 220,000
- Ali Alawadhi -275,000
- Zhaoxing Wang – 185,000
- Devon Shalmi – 110,000
- Loukas Michael – 240,000
Here’s what they’re playing for:
$1,000 Second Chance Turbo NLH
Total Entries: 90
Total Prize Pool: $87,300
- $30,555
- $16,587
- $10,476
- $7,857
- $6,111
- $5,238
- $4,365
- $3,492
- $2,619