Event 1: 2nd Place - Abi-Yaghi

$500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Tanios Abi-Yaghi (Toms River, NJ)

$209,158 

Tanios Abi-Yaghi loses a pivotal 65 million chip pot to Joe Stiers heads up on his way to a runner-up finish.

On a board of A♦ 5♥ 5♣ J♣ 7♥ Abi-Yaghi calls a 22 million chip river bet and mucks his A 8 when he sees Stiers K♥ 5♦ for trip 5s.

"What are you going to do," says Abi-Yaghi, "he hit his card. When you hit an ace heads up it's tough to get away from."

After crippling Abi-Yaghi, Stiers wins the title a few hands later.

"It feels great," says Abi-Yaghi as he earns the biggest payday of his career.  "I had a great rail and we had a good time."

Supporting the full time auditor were Borgata regulars Vinny and Mukul Pahjua and Leonardo Palermo.

Abi-Yaghi says if he can clear his calendar he'd love to come back to play the Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship event.