Benson Tang & John McGuinness Carve Up the Cash and Call it a Day in Event #1
More than 2,500 entrants in the 2019 Borgata Poker Open Event #1: $600 Deep Stack Kick Off NLH event fell by the wayside and it came down to the final two, Benson Tang and John McGuinness. Tang had a 2:1 chip lead on McGuinness when they got heads-up and an agreement was reached before a single hand was dealt.
Tang, a practicing corporate lawyer, took first place for $200,000 and the BPO trophy. He was the chip leader at the start of Day 3 and although he did not hold it all day, he put on a commanding performance in what became his first-ever tournament win. When away from the day job, he heads for the $5/$10 no-limit hold'em cash games but decided to give the tournament a shot.
Tang relocated to New York from San Jose, CA, to attend law school at Columbia and graduated with his J.D., passing the bar on his first try. He's planning to stick around the east coast since he's gainfully employed, which is why he won't be able to play more tournaments during this series — he's got to get back to his day job.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benson Tang | $200,000* |
| 2 | John Mcguinness | $176,080* |
| 3 | Mitchell Smith | $96,883 |
| 4 | Keith Warren | $82,368 |
| 5 | David Jackson | $68,334 |
| 6 | Panja Lymswan | $54,431 |
| 7 | Frank Marasco | $40,659 |
| 8 | Brittney Barnes | $27,544 |
| 9 | Ilya Dyment | $19,674 |
| 10 | Emanuele Gugliuzza | $13,116 |
*Indicates Adjusted Payouts
Day 3 Action
Second place and $176,080 went to McGuinness, a local tournament grinder who already has four Borgata titles to his credit. Two from DeepStacks Challenge series events and two from Open series events. His most recent was just a couple of months ago during the Summer Poker Open when he took first place and $31,000 in the $500 Black Chip Bounty NLH event.
On his way to the title, Tang took out at least half the players at the final table, catching the cards when he needed them, and using his big stack to push his opponents around when he didn't. When the ten-handed final table redraw took place, 2019 Borgata Spring Poker Open Championship winner David Jackson had edged out Tang for the chip lead. Not long after that, the last woman remaining in the event, Brittney Barnes, took the chip lead when she flopped two pair in a three-way pot with Tang and Mitchell Smith. Her lead was also short-lived, however, as Tang felted Ilya Dyment in ninth place in a blind-versus-blind confrontation holding a dominating ace. That pot took him up to 14 million and he never relinquished the lead after that. Barnes busted out eighth for $27,544.
Following Dyment's demise (ninth for $19,674), Tang went on to felt Frank Marasco (seventh for $40,659); Jackson (fifth for $68,334); Keith Warren (fourth place, $82,368); and Smith (third place, $96,883). After three long days of play, the final two were ready to call it quits and quickly came to an agreement on the division of the remaining prize pool.
World Poker Tour Champions Club member Mike Linster made it to Day 3 near the top of the counts, but ran his pocket queens into a flopped two pair by chip leader Tang and was felted in 15th place ($8,853). Among the other players cashing out on Day 2 were two-time Almighty winner Greg Fisherg (62nd - $2,886); 2018 Spring Poker Open Kick Off winner Rafael Reis (23rd - $5,509) and WSOP bracelet winners David Prociak &James Calderaro, 29th and 34th, respectively, for $4,656 each.
That concludes PokerNews' coverage of Event #1, but there are still plenty of tournaments remaining over the two weeks. Click here to see what other tournaments are currently being live reported from the 2019 Borgata Poker Open.