Rafael Reis Wins Another Big One: $216K at Borgata
Rafael Reis took turned a $600 entry into $216,010 over the weekend at Borgata Spring Poker Open Event #1: $600 Deep Stack $1 Million Guaranteed. He got through a field of 2,370 to do so, finishing the win on Saturday night.
It's not the first massive-field win for the Brazilian by way of Washington, either. In November 2016, he topped a field of over 5,000 in a multi-way chop at Seminole Hard Rock, winning a previously career-best $155,962 in the process. Reis now has over $800,000 in live cashes.
Official Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rafael Reis | Kent, WA | $216,010 |
| 2 | Anthony Tonzelli | Philadelphia, PA | $140,279 |
| 3 | Timothy Conrow | Fredericksburg, VA | $91,864 |
| 4 | Brandon Hall | Jersey City, NJ | $78,209 |
| 5 | Chi Yo Yim | Birmingham, AL | $65,174 |
| 6 | Tyler Rogers | Manahawkin, NJ | $52,760 |
| 7 | Dustin Ryan | York, PA | $40,966 |
| 8 | Nachman Berlin | Brooklyn, NY | $29,794 |
| 9 | Joseph Liberta | Berlin, NJ | $21,725 |
The massive, multi-flight turnout produced a prize pool north of $1.2 million to surpass the guarantee on the event rather easily. Joe Palma, Asher Conniff, Ted Forrest, and John Myung were some of the notables who made the penultimate day of play but fell before the final table.
Final Table Action
The most recognizable name advancing to the final table was Dan Buzgon, who has won two Borgata trophies in events similar to this and two more WSOPC rings in his native New Jersey. However, he'd be first out when, according to the live updates, he got his stack in blind versus blind ahead with A♦8♦ and fell to the K♦2♥ of Tim Conrow, who paired his deuce.
Joe Liberta held the chip lead going into the final table but would bust ninth due mainly to a savage beat at the hands of Tyler Rogers. Rogers four-bet shoved for just over 20 big blinds but ran his A♦J♦ smack into Liberta's aces. Rogers was fortunate enough to run a diamond flush though, and the unfortunate Liberta got his last nine big blinds in with ace-queen against ace-king to lose the rest.
Reis then went to work and chipped up into the chip lead, knocking out a short-stacked Dustin Ryan on the way after Nachman Berlin busted.
After the dinner break, Rogers went bust running A♥10♥ into Conrow's kings.
Brandon Hall then doubled through Chi Yo Yim with ace-five against king-three in a blinds battle. He got Yim's last 13 big blinds when Yim jammed with Q♠4♠ in another blind battle and Hall woke up with A♣9♥, fading a flush draw and live cards to win with ace-high.
Hall's success would be short-lived. He got his 22 big blinds in preflop after a raising war with Reis. The Brazilian's A♠Q♠ dominated A♦9♦ and made the nut flush to boot to send Hall out in fourth and give Reis two-thirds of the chips.
Conrow shoved his last 12 bigs in with king-eight and was called but live against Reis' ace-queen. The big ace would prove to be the ticket again for Reis as neither player hit the community cards, sending him heads up with Tony Tonzelli with over 120 big blinds and nearly a 7-1 lead.
Tonzelli had a chance to make a fight of it when he called off with king-seven to a button shove, and he was ahead of queen-six. Neither player hit the flop but a queen fell on the turn and Tonzelli had to settle for second place and a still-handsome payout of $140,279.
