Dave Farah Leads Final 6 in WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship
The fourth day of the WPT Borgata Poker Open $3,500 Championship has now come to an end and it is Dave Farah sitting on top of the final six with a considerable chip lead. Farah started the day second on the totem pole out of the 24 runners to begin and he hovered around the same position until the final eleven when he landed a huge pot against Timothy Little that catapulted him into the lead.
Farah continued his dominance during the latter stages of the night, never backing down from a pot en route to bagging 14,325,000 and the lead headed into the final day. Uke Dauti sits second on the leader board with his 8,725,000 stack, after a great unofficial final table performance. Kevin Albers started the day as the chipleader, he lost a few pots late in the day to drop him down to third but he still has a healthy stack of 7,975,000 headed into the final day.
The other three players that make up the final table are Donald Maloney (6,000,000), Jerry Maher (5,550,000), and Victor Ramdin (3,575,000). All three took a different path to make the final six with Ramdin at the top of the food chain throughout the day until the unofficial final table where he lost a large pot to Farah. Maloney and Maher took the path less traveled, sitting near the bottom for the better part of the day until both found two big hands at the end of the night.
WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship Official Final Table
| Seat | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Albers | United States | 7,975,000 | 80 |
| 2 | Jerry Maher | United States | 5,550,000 | 56 |
| 3 | Donald Maloney | United States | 6,000,000 | 60 |
| 4 | Victor Ramdin | United States | 3,575,000 | 36 |
| 5 | Dave Farah | United States | 14,325,000 | 143 |
| 6 | Uke Dauti | United States | 8,725,000 | 87 |
Day 4 Action
The tournament saw 24 runners return for Day 4 of the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship and the action picked up just as it left off on Day 3. Scott Baumstein came in as the short-stack and instantly he found two doubles but failed to find a third as he took an exit shortly after. Femi Fashakin, Aaron Mermelstein, and Derek Bowers also took an exit before the first break of the day, all cashing for $21,784.
Another four players took an exit in the next 90-minutes of play as Jerry Payne, Justin Liberto, Kenneth Stacy, and Qi Hu all hit the rail for a $26,240 payday. The final two tables were formed and it was Ramdin well in front of the remaining 16 players but it was the two short stacks that took part of the first elimination. Peter Vitantonio moved all in with his pair of sixes and Ryan Olisar called with his ten-nine of spades from the big blind. The flop came down with a pair of aces and the river brought another pair of eights, counterfeiting Vitantonio's sixes as he was eliminated by Olisar.
The next two levels saw a flurry of eliminations, including Vanessa Selbst who found herself on the shorter side of things and elected to move all in against Ramdin. Tyler Phillips opened from the button, Selbst called in the small blind and Ramdin three-bet from the big blind. Phillips folded to Selbst who moved all in with ace-jack and Ramdin snapped it off with big slick. Selbst failed to hit as she was eliminated in 14th place for $39,350.
After about a level of play, it was Olisar who would be the unofficial final table bubble boy. Olisar put Nick Pupillo to the test on a wet board and Pupillo called Olisar's all-in on the turn. Olisar had a flush and straight draw, and Pupillo held top pair. Olisar failed to hit as he took an exit in tenth place for $61,618 and the unofficial final table of nine was now set.
Farah started the unofficial final table in the lead and extended his lead instantly after taking down the first hand from Ramdin, increasing his lead. Just a couple of hands after Little moved all in for his remaining chips with ace-king and Farah called, tabling jacks. The board ran out clean for Farah's jacks and Little took an exit in ninth after he failed to hit with his big slick.
Mike Linster was the next to take an exit when he moved all in with ace-jack. Albers called with a pair of nines and Farah called as well with his ace-jack. Nobody improved their hands as Albers pulled in the pot with his pair of nines, eliminating Linster from the tournament. Pupillo lost most of his stack shortly after to Albers when Pupillo three-bet from the small blind and Albers called on the button. Pupillo pushed in a continuation bet for a large portion of his stack and Albers moved all in, Pupillo instantly folded, leaving himself short.
A newly acquired short stack of Pupillo moved into the middle with jack-eight of spades and Maher called with his ace-king. Both players flopped a pair but the remaining runout changed nothing as Maher took down the pot with his flopped pair of kings, sending Pupillo out in seventh for a respectable $100,657 payday.
The final table of six was then set and will return tomorrow at 2 p.m. to play the final day of the tournament. The tournament will resume on level 29 with 58:49 remaining on the clock and blinds of 50,000/100,000 with a big blind ante of 100,000. The levels will drop down to 60-minute in length through the remainder of the final table, with heads-up play switching to half an hour levels. The tournament will play down until an eventual winner takes home the $616,186 first-place prize.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be bringing you all of the action tomorrow as the day unfolds, so stay tuned!