$350 + $50 + $100 Black Chip Bounty NLH (Re-Entry)
It was "Open Mike" night at this final table of the Borgata Winter Poker Open. With four players named Michael, it was inevitable that Mike Linster (Island Park, NY) would be heads up against Michael Matrone (Morganville, NJ) for the title.
Linster not only won the battle, but he also claimed his second title of the series.
"I'm playing well, seeing all the hands, and am really focused right now," said Linster who earned $38,801 for the win. On the final hand both players were nearly dead even in chips when Linster eliminated Matrone with J♣ J
♥.
"We got tight at the end," says Matrone who earned his second highest career cash at $21,984 as runner-up, "and I pushed with [garbage] cards."
The other two Mikes in the final ten were Mike Esposito (East Hanover, N), who finished 6th and
Mike Dentale (Brooklyn, NY) who was 8th. This was Dentale's second straight final table after he finished 7th in Event 6 ($1k).
Day 2 of this bounty tournament started off with a bang as there were two double-knock outs and eight eliminations in the first hour to set the final table. At the time, Abraham Korotki (Oceanview, DE) was the chip leader, but incredibly didn't have any knockouts.
Korotki got his only bounty when he eliminated Cody Custer (Dover, DE) in 7th place with a flopped flush, but couldn't hold the lead when he lost a two million chip pot. The chips went to Kelly Petrucci-Holes (Uniontown, PA), who finished third as the last woman standing.
"This was the most fun I've had playing poker in a long time," said the mother of two, who earned her largest career cash of $13,414.
Petrucci-Holes finished ahead of Nick Palma (New Rochelle, NY) who had an impressive 15 bounties which included one of the double knockouts. Palma also knocked out Korotki in 5th place and Jen Lin (Freehold, NJ) in 9th before he finished 4th.
Lin began Day 2 as chip leader of the final 18 players returned for their shot at the remaining portion of the $153,650 prize pool.
There were 439 entries in the tournament that saw several notables make the final 45 and the money.
They include Dave Zeitlin (29th), Event 7 runner-up Gordon Eng (32nd), Adam Lippert (36th) and
WSOP women's bracelet holder Marsha Wolak (45th).
Marty Lang (Smithtown, NY) was the first player eliminated at the final table before Linster slowly made his way to the chip lead.
"I had some good spots," said Linster who also won Event 4 (PLO) for $28,225, "but I never had a big stack. I was just grinding and got hands in a few spots and was lucky when I needed it."
This was Linster's third cash of the series, for a combined $60,000, and is in position to make a run at winning the Tournament Leaderboard standings.
Final Table Results
1st Mike Linster (Island Park, NY) $38,081
2nd Michael Matrone (Morganville, NJ) $21,984
3rd Kelly Petrucci-Holes (Uniontown, PA) $13,414
4th Nick Palma (New Rochelle, NY) $10,805
5th Abraham Korotki (Oceanview, DE) $8,495
6th Mike Esposito (East Hanover, NJ) $7,079
7th Cody Custer (Dover, DE) $5,664
8th Mike Dentale (Brooklyn, NY) $4,322
9th Jen Lin (Freehold, NJ) $2,981
10th Marty Lang (Smithtown, NY) $1,938
FINAL RESULTS
