Aaron Massey Takes Down $400 Almighty Stack for $137,000!
The 2019 Borgata Poker Open has now seen another tournament come to an end in Event #10: $400 Almighty Stack NLH.
A total of 2,760 entry slips were sold for this event, which fell short of the 2,791 field of last year but still cruized by the $750,000 guarantee that was set.
Just 21 returned for the final day of action and after seven hours of play, only three remained. Once the final three were set, the talks of a deal came up and one was agreed upon within minutes.
The adjusted payout saw Aaron Massey take home the biggest piece of the pie with a $137,000 cash, along with a BPO trophy. The remaining prize pool was dealt out to Patrick Ibrahim and Yingxin Chen. Ibrahim pulled in $115,918 for his part of the deal, leaving Chen with an $85,000 payday.
Event #10 Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aaron Massey | Elmwood Park, IL | $137,000* |
| 2 | Patrick Ibrahim | Cedar Grove, NJ | $115,918* |
| 3 | Yingxin Chen | Thornton, PA | $85,000* |
| 4 | Dean Curreri | Morganville, NJ | $58,845 |
| 5 | Harry Korotki | Owings Mills, MD | $48,819 |
| 6 | Chris Mailhot | Unknown | $38,886 |
| 7 | Eric Siegel | Dix Hills, NY | $29,048 |
| 8 | Jimmy Le | Ballston Spa, NY | $19,667 |
| 9 | Arthur Nelson | South Amboy, NJ | $14,055 |
Final Table Action
The unofficial final table began with the final ten and it was Lucas Braga taking an exit first. Braga lost a large pot just a moment before reaching the last ten players, and found an early double up soon after with snowmen. Braga seemed to be on his way back but his ace-jack could not hold against the ace-ten of Ibrahim who went runner-runner flush to end his day. Next person to take a trip to the payout desk was Arthur Nelson, who moved all in with a pair of nickels against the ace-queen of Ibrahim. Nelson couldn't fade the board as Ibrahim landed an ace, ending Nelson's day.
Ibrahim was scorching hot and continued his heater just a few hands later against Jimmy Le who opened with pocket nines. Ibrahim shoved all in with his pair of dimes and Le called. The board ran out clean for Ibrahim as he sent Le on his way. Chris Mailhot took part in the eliminations as he raised from the small blind with sixes and Eric Siegel shoved ace-seven. Mailhot called the all-in and the dealer fanned out a board that didn't change a thing, eliminating Siegel from the tournament in seventh place.
Six-handed play lasted about half an hour before anyone saw an all-in called, and the first one just happened to ship a player home. Mailhot opened with big slick, Massey shoved all in and Mailhot called. Massey flopped a set of eights and the rest is history as Mailhot took an exit in sixth place. Just hands after five-handed play begun it was Massey who continued the onslaught of eliminations.
Massey opened from the button and Harry Korotki defended his big blind. The flop came queen-high with two diamonds and both players checked to the turn that brought a third diamond. Korotki announced all in and before he could push his chips forward Massey called. Korotki tabled top pair but was drawing dead as Massey had turned the nut-flush, sending Korotki out in fifth.
Dean Curreri was the short stack as only the final four remained and was faced with a decision in the big blind. Massey jammed all in from the small blind and after a moment Cerreri called in what would be the last hand of the night. Massey held king-jack of heart to the ace-nine off of Curreri and the dealer fanned out a jack-high flop. The turn and river were bricks and Massey sent Curreri out the door in fourth place for a respectable $58,845.