Event 7
The first week of the Winter Poker Open saw six players walk away with WPO trophies and since then, ten more players have walked away with “tiny glass Borgatas”. Those trophies have been awarded through a wide variety of events and the first saw Marc Matz take home the Event 7 ‘Omaha/Stud H/L’ title and an over $6,000 score. That was Matz’s first career tournament win and that kicked off a busy week, with ‘The General’ claiming the next WPO trophy.
That came in the Event 8 ‘Super Stack Elevator’ and prior to the ‘Borgata Million’ starting on Tuesday, James Chen won the Event 9 ‘Pot Limit Omaha High’. The trophies were then kept out of sight for a few days, as that ‘Borgata Million’ played through six starting flights but ‘All-Star Weekend’ did not disappoint, creating plenty of headlines and storylines over the last few days.
The biggest of those storylines was Joe ‘Black’ Reddick claiming his first career title in the $1,000,000 GTD Event 10. Reddick took home just over $215,000 for his ‘Borgata Million’ win and while that wasn’t the first title awarded during ‘All-Star Weekend’, Reddick was the weekend’s highest earner.
Mike Rees was the second biggest earner, after he claimed the Event 11 ‘$1,000 Six Max’ title early Sunday morning. After a nearly seven hour final table, Rees outlasted a stacked field to take home $80,000 and his first BPO title, with Rex Clinkscales doing the same on Saturday night. He won the Event 12 ’40 Big Blind Bounty’ for just over $30,000.
Those two wins bookended Allan Vrooman‘s $100,000 GTD ‘Saturday Series’ win, as he claimed the Event 13 title for his first career Borgata victory. The final trophy awarded on a busy Saturday, saw partypoker’s Jamie Kerstetter take down the Event 16 ‘Charity Series of Poker’ title. That was a win-win for both Kerstetter and the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, as over $13,000 were raised through another extremely successful CSOP event.
While Saturday saw plenty of hardware get handed out, Sunday was a slightly less hectic schedule, with only two players claiming WPO trophies. The first was Alex Benyayev, who outlasted a 75 player field to win the Event 15 ‘Pot Limit Omaha High’, the second event of it’s kind during this WPO series.
The big winner from Sunday though was Matt Emmel, who claimed potentially the most prestigious non-main event title, when he outlasted a 64 player bracket to win Event 14. Emmel, who is a heads up sit & go specialist used that experience to claim the ‘Heads Up Championship’ title and a nearly $50,000 score. Emmel was the last WPO title winner but over the next few days, five more trophies are up for grabs, including the WPT Champions Cup.
The WPO blog will be here to bring you all of that action but if you want to go back and catch up on what’s happened over the last week, the links at the top of this post will bring you to each event’s individual coverage. It should also be noted, that a complete list of results from each event are linked as well.
Event 7 – ‘Omaha/Stud H/L’
Level 21 (Limits 20,000/40,000)
Total Entries: 70
Players Remaining: 1
Average Stack: 1,000,000
Marc Matz – Winter Poker Open Event 7 ‘Omaha/Stud H/L’ Champion
When this final table came together, Marc Matz was under the 100,000 chip mark, playing just a handful of big bets. His stack stayed near that mark through the first few eliminations, with Adi Prasetyo notching most of them and increasing his stack to become an overwhelming chip leader.
Matz joked to Prasetyo, “I’m fine if you knockout everyone here, except me.” and, eventually, that’s what Prasetyo did. He paced this final table to the very end but, at the end, it was Matz who flipped the script. The two entered heads up play with Matz as a slight underdog based on the chip stacks but after a run of cards, he was suddenly the massive chip leader.
Once he got the lead, he didn’t give it up and held that lead all the way to his first career Borgata Poker Open title. He’ll make just over $6,000 for his Event 7 ‘Omaha/Stud H/L’ victory and while Matz joked when play was three handed that he “didn’t care about the trophy”, he was certainly happy to earn his first piece of poker hardware today.
That concludes our coverage of Event 7 and the WPO blog will be here all day, bringing you action from two other trophy events currently playing out in the Event Center.
Event 7 – ‘Omaha/Stud H/L’
Level 21 (Limits 20,000/40,000)
Total Entries: 70
Players Remaining: 1
Average Stack: 1,000,000
Adi Prasetyo (Cambridge, MA)
While Adi Prasetyo cruised through the rest of the final table, heads up play was a bumpy, bumpy road. He started heads up play with a slight chip lead but after losing a few sizable pots in a row, the high bet limits saw his stack dwindling. There were a few strange hands, with Marc Matz catching a flush on the river but miscalling his hand, as he held {10c}{10d}{7h}{4h} on a board of {9h}{8h}{7s}{Qc}{Kh}, without seeing what he hit on the end.
Prasetyo’s {Qx}{8x}{4x}{3x} went into the muck and in the next hand, Mattz won another decently sized pot with {10c}{6c}{6d}{3c}. It was good on the {Jd}{Jc}{2s}{5h}{Qd} board, as Prasetyo couldn’t beat Matz’s pair. That left Prasetyo with just under 60,000 and that short stack got in on the next hand.
He doubled with {10h}{8d}{7h}{7c} against {10c}{7s}{3c}{2d} on a board of {Kc}{10s}{4s}{9s}{Ks} and felt good, saying he “only needed one more”, referencing another double. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t get another, as the two got six bets each in pre flop, with Prasetyo holding {Ax}{8x}{5x}{2x} to Matz’s {Ac}{Jh}{6s}{4h}.
The flop hit both players, as the {Jd}{4s}{3h} board gave Matz two pair and Prasetyo straight and low outs. Neither came though, as the {Kc} and {Kh} completed the board and ended this one-sided heads up match.
Prasetyo couldn’t seem to catch a break when this final table got down to it’s final two but he will be able to take home just over $3,300 for his runner-up finish.
Event 7 – ‘Omaha/Stud H/L’
Level 21 (Limits 20,000/40,000)
Total Entries: 70
Players Remaining: 2
Average Stack: 500,000
Daniel Amar (Atlantic City, NJ)
After the elimination of Jinglin Chen, there were a few sizable pots that played out and they left Daniel Amar wondering what was going on around him. Adi Prasetyo and Marc Matz each put dents in Amar’s stack, before he was finally playing just a few big blinds.
He got a full double through Prasetyo in one of the final hands of Omaha H/L, as Amar hit a wheel with {Ac}{9c}{3s}{2d} to best Prasetyo’s {Kh}{Jd}{4c}{3h} on a board of {Jh}{5c}{2c}{4h}{10s}. The short stack scooped but he couldn’t make it out of the Stud H/L portion of play.
He was eventually all-in with {Ac}{Jc}{Jh}{6h}{6h}{3c} already tabled and Prasetyo held {Ah}{Ad}{5h}{5c}{2s}{2c}. The big stack’s final card was the {Qh}, which changed nothing and Amar couldn’t find one of four full house outs on seventh, as the {2h} confirmed his 3rd place elimination.
Prasetyo will now enter heads up play with a slight chip lead, while Amar will make just over $2,000 for his podium finish.
Event 7 – ‘Omaha/Stud H/L’
Level 20 (Limits 15,000/30,000)
Total Entries: 70
Players Remaining: 3
Average Stack: 330,000
Jinglin Chen (Brooklyn, NY)
Jinglin Chen stayed alive for much longer than anyone at this final table expected him to, with Adi Prasetyo even calling Chen “immortal”. Eventually, that immortal run came to an end in an Omaha H/L hand, with Daniel Amar finishing what he started after he crippled Chen before the last break.
That hand was picked up with Amar making it two bets from the button, with Adi Prasetyo calling in the small blind before Chen moved all-in for 66,000 from the big.
Both players called and then checked down the {10c}{6d}{4s}{2d}{As} runout, with Amar turning over {Ah}{Ks}{5s}{2c} for two pair and a low.
Prasetyo thought they were chopping before he noticed Amar’s two pair, meaning his {Ad}{Kh}{Qd}{7d} went into the muck and Chen couldn’t beat either of Amar’s made hands, as his {Jh}{8h}{8d}{2c} was turned over as well.
He’ll make just over $1,500 for his final table run and Daniel Amar is now playing close to 550,000, with half the chips in play three-handed.
Event 7 – ‘Omaha/Stud H/L’
Level 19 (Limits 12,000/24,000)
Total Entries: 70
Players Remaining: 4
Average Stack: 250,000
Daniel Amar won a huge pot to move himself up the leaderboard but also cripple Jinglin Chen right before break. Amar will now head into Level 20 second in chips, while Chen has just one big bet.
The last few orbits have been pretty uneventful but that all changed in one of the final hands of Level 19. That hand saw the two big stacks get involved with Jinglin Chen, in a pot that crippled Chen and left him with just 2,000 chips.
On a board of {Jh}{10s}{4h}, Adi Prasetyo checked and Chen bet, before Daniel Amar and Prasetyo called. The {3d} fell on the turn and the same betting pattern occurred, with Chen’s bet leaving him just 2,000 behind. The {Qc} fell and all three checked, with Amar tabling {Ac}{Js}{8c}{4d}.
His two pair was good to scoop the pot and even though Chen was short, he’s still alive heading into Level 20. He doubled up twice before break and will come back with less than one big bet, as the field is almost ready to restart play.
A complete list of the remaining counts are listed below:
- Jinglin Chen – 24,000
- Marc Matz – 325,000
- Daniel Amar – 310,000
- Adi Prasetyo – 405,00
Event 7 – ‘Omaha/Stud H/L’
Level 18 (Limits 10,000/20,000)
Total Entries: 70
Players Remaining: 4
Average Stack: 250,000
Kenneth Ball (New York, NY)
The first few eliminations at this final table have come in the Omaha H/L portion of this event but the structure also includes Stud H/L and, you guessed it, Adi Prasetyo just sent another player to the rail. This time, it was in the seven-card version of poker, with that action picked up on forth street.
Prasetyo: {9h}{8h}/{8s}{5c}{7d}{Js}/{9c}
Chen: (x)(x)/{7c}{4c}{3s}{6h}/(x)
Ball: {7h}{7s}/{4s}{3h}{3s}{4h}/{Qh}
Prasetyo led forth, with Chen and Ball calling to see fifth. Ball improved to a pair, giving him first action and he moved all-in, for 13,500. Prasetyo and Chen called before checking it down to seventh, where Prasetyo announced “two pair”.
Ball had two pair showing and Prasetyo turned over his down cards to reveal a better two pair. Chen laughed and said, “Good for you.” before admitting he missed his low and mucked. Ball couldn’t muster anything on his final down card and he was eliminated in 5the place.
He’ll make just over $1,200 and we are now four-handed with Adi Prasetyo continuing to steamroll this final table.
Event 7 – ‘Omaha/Stud H/L’
Level 18 (Limits 10,000/20,000)
Total Entries: 70
Players Remaining: 5
Average Stack: 200,000
Tim Margolis (Silver Spring, MD)
The Adi Prasetyo Show has continued into Level 18, as he just scored two back to back eliminations to bring this Event 7 field down to just five players. Tim Margolis came back for this Day 2 session with just 6,500 chips and on the first two hands, he managed to find doubles. That gave him some more room to work and allowed him to ladder but eventually, he ran his short stack into Prasetyo.
Margolis was all-in on a hand of Omaha H/L with {Ac}{9c}{6s}{3s} and the big stack held {Js}{5h}{4s}{4h}.
Margolis flopped two pair on the {9h}{3d}{2s} flop but Prasetyo hit the {Ad} on the turn, to give himself a straight. The short stack needed to hit on the river but his full house didn’t come in, as the {8h} completed the board.
Jerry Yavner (Atlantic City, NJ)
He’ll take home $883 for his 7th place finish and a few hands later, in another game of Omaha H/L, Prasetyo was hitting another straight to send Jerry Yavner to the rail.
That hand was picked up on the turn, with Prasetyo leading for a 20,000 chip bet from the blind on a board of {Kc}{9d}{7s}{5h}. Yavner moved all-in as the next player to act, for just 35,500 and Daniel Amar folded on the button.
Prasetyo got a count and ran some numbers and then called, exclaiming, “Put a jack out there.” as he saw Yavner table {As}{8c}{6c}{2d}. Prasetyo held {Ad}{Qh}{10h}{7d} and he got what he asked for on the river, as the {Js} gave him a bigger straight and the entire pot.
Yavner will make $1,059 for his 6th place finish and Adi Prasetyo is now playing close to 550,000, over half the total chips in play.
Event 7 – ‘Omaha/Stud H/L’
Level 18 (Limits 10,000/20,000)
Total Entries: 70
Players Remaining: 7
Average Stack: 142,000
Raj Desai (Randolph, NJ)
The swings at these high blind levels are going to create some serious swings over the next few levels and through the first 45 minutes of Day 2, Raj Desai experienced those swings.
Desai came back second in chips but after running into the red hot Adi Prasetyo in Level 17, he was short stacked when the blinds went up. Eventually, he was all-in in a multi-way pot, with Marc Matz and Daniel Amar, who just sat down, seeing a flop of {Qc}{4h}{3d}.
Matz check-called a bet and then the two checked it down as the {Kh} and {10d} completed the board. Amar tabled {Ah}{5h}{2s}{2d} and couldn’t believe that his low didn’t come in for at least half the pot, as Matz turned over {7h}{5c}{4c}{3s} for two pair.
That was good, as Desai could only muster {Ax}{9x}{6x}{3x} and he was officially eliminated in 8th place.
Event 7 – ‘Omaha/Stud H/L’
Level 17 (Limits 8,000/16,000)
Total Entries: 70
Players Remaining: 8
Average Stack: 125,000
Caneralkin Mandal (Troy, MI)
The first half hour of this Event 7 restart has been all Adi Prasetyo. He came in fourth in chips but he’s now playing a sizable chip lead on the player in attendance, and we say in attendance because Day 2 chip leader Daniel Amar is still absent from the final table.
Prasetyo opened his account winning a decent pot against Raj Desai and then scored the first final table knockout, sending Caneralkin Mandal to the rail in 9th place in an Omaha hand. That action was picked up on a board of {Jc}{8s}{6h}, with Mandel leading and Prasetyo raising in a blind versus blind encounter.
Mandal then made it three bets to put himself all-in and the cards were tabled. Mandal held {Ad}{As}{9h}{3c} and he needed help, as Prasetyo held {Kh}{Qs}{Jh}{6d} for two pair. The {9c} and {Qh} completed the board and Mandal’s aces were no good, as Prasetyo scooped the pot and notched the knockout.
He then picked off another pot, as his aces up bested Raj Desai’s smaller two pair in a Stud H/L hand, to move him up near the 450,000 chip mark. Desai is now down to under 50,000.