Paul Volpe Wins 2016 Borgata Spring Poker Open Championship for $356,255
For all the success Paul Volpe has had over his poker career, he's never won a large live tournament at what he refers to as his home casino. That all changed Thursday night, though, as Volpe emerged victorious in the 2016 Borgata Spring Poker Open $2,700 Championship to take home the $356,255 first-place prize.
"Amazing," Volpe told reporters how he felt with the win. "I've always wanted to win here."
A resident of West Chester, PA, Volpe now boasts career live tournament earnings of over $4.5 million, according to the Hendon Mob database.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Volpe | West Chester, PA | $356,255 |
| 2 | Aaron Mermelstein | Philadelphia, PA | $200,305 |
| 3 | Michael Gagliano | Glen Garden, NJ | $128,768 |
| 4 | Bart Dowling | New York, NY | $102,299 |
| 5 | Jonathan Borenstein | Teaneck, NJ | $80,122 |
| 6 | Mike Michnik | Voorhees, NJ | $65,815 |
| 7 | Jack Duong | S. Plainfield, NJ | $52,222 |
| 8 | Ken Smaron | Philadelphia, PA | $40,776 |
| 9 | Jeff Izes | Washington Crossing, PA | $28,615 |
| 10 | Mark Steinberg | Woodmere, NY | $18,600 |
Volpe entered the final day of play second in chips between two-time World Poker Tour winner Aaron Mermelstein. Fittingly, those two found themselves heads up for the title following the elimination of Michael Gagliano in third place.
According to reports from the event, Gagliano was all in for his last 1.5 million or so with the blinds at 40,000/80,000/10,000 from the small blind with the 6♥6♣. Volpe called from the big blind with the K♥10♣ and a stack a little over 9 million. Although the J♦8♦2♠ flop was clean for Gagliano, the K♣ on the turn vaulted Volpe to the lead before the A♦ sealed the deal on the river.
With that, Gagliano took his leave with a $128,768 payday, the third largest score of his live poker career and one that moved him over $860,000 in career live tournament earnings, according to the Hendon Mob database.
Heads-up play began with Volpe in the lead by a solid margin. It was his 10.855 million up against Mermelstein's 6.865 million, and the match didn't take very long to be completed.
Although Mermelstein began to close the gap early in the match, Volpe's power was too much to overcome and about an hour in Mermelstein was down around 3 million in chips when the final hand played out.
With the blinds up to 50,000/100,000/10,000, Volpe informed PokerNews that Mermelstein had limped the button before he raised to 300,000. Mermelstein moved all in quickly, and Volpe made the call with the 9♥9♣. Mermelstein had the A♣5♦.
Mermelstein picked up a straight draw on the 7♠6♦4♣ flop, but nothing materialized with the K♠ on the turn and the 10♥ on the river, giving Volpe the victory.
The result also represents the third largest score of Volpe's live poker career and his seventh live tournament victory.
*Image courtesy of SpringPokerOpen.Blog.TheBorgata.com.
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