Zarko Mandic Takes Down 2020 Borgata Winter Poker Open Deepstack Kick-Off ($342,967)
Table Of Contents
The 2020 Borgata Winter Poker Open crowned a champion for Event #1: $600 Deepstack Kick-Off $2,000,000 Guarantee after three days of action-packed tournament play. The opening event brought in a total of 4,375 entries and when the last chance saloon had closed for business it was Zarko Mandic emerging as the victor after taking the heavier end of an adjusted payout worth $342,967, along with a prestigious Borgata trophy.
Mandic started playing poker just a year ago and had accumulated just over $15,000 in live cashes thus far with all of his earnings coming in Atlantic City.
"I just played aggressively, played all-in and that's why he was getting angry at me."
"I started playing about a year ago but back in college I played a different type of poker (Five-Card Draw) which was basically bluffing, you could play it without looking at the cards," he explained.
The Manhattan, New York resident started the final table with just over two million but quickly fell into a six-figure stack and then elected to bring his aggressive style from college back into play. "I was going up and down on the final table then bluffed their brains out. I bluffed the chip leader and then the Canadian in seat ten [Constantinos Psallidas] so I went from six to fourteen million," he said with a laugh.
Soon after piling up his new chips, Mandic sought out for more as he brought an amount of aggression that was too much for his opponents to handle en route to his victory. "I just played aggressively, played all-in and that's why he (Ricardo Eyzaguirre) was getting angry at me," Mandic said with a smile and he also noted, "I am going to rest up and will be here next week for the main."
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zarko Mandic | Manhattan, New York | $342,967* |
| 2 | Ricardo Eyzaguirre | Orlando, Florida | $290,000* |
| 3 | Constantinos Psallidas | Montreal, Quebec, Canada | $164,539 |
| 4 | Brian Morgan | Montreal, Quebec, Canada | $135,206 |
| 5 | Kirkwood Saccardo | Rockport, Connecticut | $108,852 |
| 6 | Leonard Sande | West Haven, Connecticut | $83,644 |
| 7 | Jerry Maher | Warren, New Jersey | $59,582 |
| 8 | Ryan Teixeira | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | $42,945 |
| 9 | Patrick Luu | Camden, Delaware | $27,500 |
Final Day Action
The third and final day saw 31 players return and many players quickly bit the dust including Joe Cappuccio (31st - $6,302), Frankie Greever (30th - $6,302), and Christopher Frigon (29th - $6,302), who all hit the rail in the first few hands of the day.
Chips started flying soon after the early departures and after just four levels into the final day, the tournament had ten players remaining. Emanuele "Manny" Gugliuzza started the day near the top but saw his stack slowly chip down to the danger zone. Gugliuzza moved his remaining chips into the middle with king-ten and the at the time chip leader, Kirkwood Saccardo, called with his ace-seven. An ace came down on the flop, eliminating Gugliuzza in tenth place and the official final table was set.
One of the heavy hitters on Day 2 was Patrick Luu, who dominated the better part of that day and unfortunately for him, he was the first to take an exit from the official final table. Luu shoved his chips into the middle from under the gun with a pair of nines and Mandic woke up with a pair of ladies. The board ran out dry and Mandic took down the pot, sending Luu out the door.
During the next round of play, it was runner-up Ricardo Eyzaguirre sending someone home. Ryan Teixera moved all in from the small blind with a pair of sixes and Eyzaguirre called in the big blind with king-queen. The first four cards were of no interest to Eyzaguirre but the king on the river shifted the lead in his direction and he scooped in the pot, eliminating Teixera from the tournament in eighth place for $42,945.
Jerry Maher had a rollercoaster of a day leading up to his elimination, starting as the leader and then short-stack. Maher managed to run his stack back up before the dinner break but upon their return sent all of his chips to eventual winner Mandic. Maher opened from the hijack, Mandic called and the two-spade queen-high flop hit the board. Mandic called a continuation-bet from Maher to see the third spade hit the felt. Maher jammed and Mandic snap-called with his flush. Maher tabled top pair and was drawing dead to the river, taking an exit in seventh place.
Mandic did not stop there as he sent Leonard "LJ" Sande out just a few hands after. Mandic opened from under the gun and Sande moved all in, Mandic called and the two were racing. Sande had ace-jack and Mandic a pair of sixes. Sande took a commanding lead when he flopped a bullet but the turn came down a six, giving Mandic a set and Sande was drawing dead as he took an exit in sixth place for $83,644.
The steamrolling Mandic continued his elimination spree three hands after when he limped the button with a pair of queens and saw Saccardo move all in from the small blind with a pair of tens. Brian Morgan called from the big blind with his johnnies and Mandic then moved him all-in as well, Morgan obliged and the three tabled their cards. The flop was dry and a queen on the turn had his two opponents drawing dead as they were eliminated in fourth and fifth place with Morgan taking the better of the two as he had more chips to start the hand.
Three-handed play was short and Canadian Constantinos Psallidas was the odd man out. Mandic opened from the button and Psallidas three-bet all of his chips into the middle. Mandic called and the two tabled their hands. Psallidas showed ace-seven and Mandic had king-ten. The four-high flop left Psallidas in the lead but a dime on the turn pushed Mandic well in front and an eight on the river did not change a thing as Mandic sent Psallidas out in third place.
When the final two found themselves heads-up it was quickly decided that an adjusted payout deal was the best decision between the two. Mandic took $342,967 for his first-place finish along with the Borgata trophy and Eyzaguirre took second, collecting $290,000 for his efforts, bringing his career earnings to almost $800,000.
PokerNews coverage of the 2020 Borgata Winter Poker Open continues throughout January. Click here to discover which tournaments are playing out right now.
