Six players were left from a field of 235 players, The 6 players are; Randy Burger, Mickey Seagle, Carlos Mortensen, David Oppenheim, Charlie Shoten, and Noli Francisco.

The first elimination was when, Burger held As Jd and went heads up with Mortensen’s A Ts, the flop came A 6 5 rainbow and Mortensen checked to him, Burger made a $75,000 raise and was called. After the turn brought 9h, Burger went all-in, and Mortensen called. Mortensen caught a T on the river, sending him Burger out in 6th with $41,125 in his pocket.

Seagle picked the wrong time for a stone bluff with 9 4 versus Francisco’s Q 8. After the board went J 8 5 7 K, and Seagle’s attempts to steal were called one by one by Francisco. Short in chips, Seagle moved in with a pair of 3’s against Francisco, but this time he had a pair of 9’s. Francisco’s nines held up, and Mickey left with $52,875 and a 5th place finish.

Oppenheim opened with Q J for $100,000, and Francisco came right over the top for another $200,000 with A J. With pocket 6’s, Mortensen correctly assessed that with his all-in raise, Oppenheim would fold, and the pot odds would be just right at 3-1. Indeed they were, but then again, the game’s not called pot odds, it’s called poker, and the flop came A K 7.

After the board came 9, Q, Mortensen left in 4th $70,500 richer. Oppenheim moved all in with pocket 5’s. Francisco called with A Q and was rewarded with a flop of Qc Jc 6c. When the turn and river came 8s, Qs, Oppenheim left with $117,500 and 3rd place.

Francisco came in with K 5, to Shoten’s 9 6. After a flop of 7h 6h 4c, Shoten bet $50,000 on his middle pair, and Francisco called with the open ended straight draw. When the turn came Kd, Francisco raised a healthy $200,000, and Shoten called, but when the river came Q, Francisco sent Shoten to the rail with $235,000 and 2nd place.

Francisco had become the Borgata World Poker Open’s Champion, and won $470,000 and the $25,000 seat at the main event.

- Thomas Hardy