Darren Elias Wins Second Borgata Championship, Passes $5M Live Cashes
Some call him the "End Boss" and Darren Elias proved why last week when he wrapped up his second Borgata Championship win, taking down the Fall Poker Open $2,700 Main Event for $293,062.
It's just the latest massive result for the three-time World Poker Tour champion in what's shaping up to be a legendary tournament career. Elias surpassed the $5 million mark in live cashes and secured his second year over $1 million. The other was 2014, when Elias won WPT Borgata Championship for $843,744.
Official Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Darren Elias | $293,062 |
| 2 | Mark Kaganovsky | $169,186 |
| 3 | Keven Stammen | $103,232 |
| 4 | Paul Lambrakis | $83,159 |
| 5 | Mickey Woll | $65,380 |
| 6 | Dan Wach | $54,484 |
| 7 | Shankar Pillai | $43,587 |
| 8 | Brett Apter | $33,264 |
| 9 | Patrick Maritato | $22,941 |
The tournament drew 473 entries and paid out 45 places. Christian Harder, Aditya Prasetyo, Joe McKeehen, Nick Schwarmann, Zachary Gruneberg and Mike Wang were among those making the money but falling short of the final table.
Final Table Action
At the final table, Elias came in with a big stack according to the live updates but immediately took total command of things when he opened for a raise with A♠K♠ and got one call before big blind Edgar Lemus-Argueta made a huge overbet shove for 890,000 at 8,000/16,000/2,000. Elias called and had A♥8♣ dominated. A safe runout for Elias gave him north of 200 blinds to work with, a huge stock of ammo.
Next, Elias busted Patrick Maritato. It went to the river three-handed on a board of Q♠10♠6♣2♠J♦. Maritato shoved over a bet from Shankar Pillai holding top two pair, but Elias lay in wait with K♠9♠ for a flush that he played slow on previous streets, calling and busting Maritato.
Pillai, an accomplished player himself with over $1.3 million in cashes, bubbled the streamed table with a seventh-place finish, following Brett Apter in eighth. When Elias busted Pillai with ace-jack against ace-nine, he took about 40 percent of the chips into the final table, with his most accomplished competitor being former WPT World Championship winner Keven Stammen.
Early on the final day, Dan Wach ran a big bluff for nearly all of his chips against Mark Kaganovsky. On a board of 8♦5♥3♥K♥10♥, Wach bet the turn and shoved the river. Kaganovsky tanked until he got a clock called on him and then ultimately decided to call it off with 9♥9♣. Wach could only show down A♣Q♣ and head to payouts after he lost his last crumbs.
Mickey Woll got down to five big blinds but found a couple of doubles. He would still go down in fifth though, running A♦Q♥ into Stammen's A♥K♥. Both paired their kickers but the king stayed the king.
Paul Lambrakis then shoved about 18 big blinds over an Elias open with A♥9♠ but Kaganovsky woke up with A♦J♦ behind him and called, holding on to win unimproved.
Stammen got caught bluffing by Elias and then shoved his last 14 big blinds with deuces on the button. Elias put him at risk with A♣6♣ and after missing the flop, caught running sixes to bust his fellow former Borgata champ.
Elias went into heads-up play holding over 10 million at 50,000/100,000/10,000 to the 4 million of Kaganovsky, but the less-heralded player would prove a tough out. He evened out the stacks with some timely river aggression and then both players made huge hands. Kaganovsky defended his big blind and check-called a flop bet before check-shoving the turn on a board of Q♥10♥10♠9♠. He had 10♦4♦ for trips but Elias turned a straight with K♥J♥. The 5♥ river preserved his edge and forced Kaganovsky to settle for $169,186.
Photo courtesy of Borgata
