27 Sep
David Paredes may not have had the chip lead going into the final table of the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship, but his play throughout the entire event was strong and consistent. That appeared to have made all the difference in the event as Paredes took out the event along with the US$723,227 cash prize.
Despite the dominant win from Paredes, all eyes were on Jim Gilbert, who entered the final table with the chip lead and went on to eliminate the first two players. Paredes wasn’t phased, however, as he finished strong and eventually won the event.
Roman Valerstein was the short stack of the final table, and it proved to be his demise as he was the first player to be eliminated. Valerstein went all-in pre flop with King Ten, and was called by Gilbert, who was ahead with Ace Queen. Gilbert’s hand held up on the Jack high board to knock Valerstein out of the event and put the tournament down to five players.
Fifth place went to Jerry Payne, who became Gilbert’s second straight scalp of the final table. Payne went all-in pre flop with King Nine, and was trailing Gilbert, who called with Pocket Jacks. Gilbert’s Jacks held on the board to win him the hand to consolidate his chip lead.
Next to go was Richard Hawkins, who had to settle for fourth place after being out pocketed by David Paredes. After a series of pre-flop raises and re-raises, Hawkins moved all-in with Pocket Tens and was swiftly called by Paredes, who had Pocket Aces. Although Hawkins picked up a flush draw on the turn, the river was of no help to him and he was knocked out.
Paredes then claimed a second scalp of his own after he knocked Joe Keuther out of the tournament. Kuether went all-in pre flop with Ace King off-suit and Paredes – who once again had Pocket Aces – was more than happy to call. Just like the hand that eliminated Hawkins, the Aces held out on the King High board and Kuether was eliminated in third place.
Keuther’s elimination put Paredes and Gilbert in heads-up play, with Paredes having held a little less than a 2:1 chip lead when play began. That lead slightly increased, although it initially appeared that heads-up play would go for a long time.
That did not happen, though, as Gilbert went all-in preflop with Pocket Jacks on what ended up being the last hand of the event. Paredes snap called Gilbert as he had a better starting hand in Pocket Kings. With neither player hitting anything on the board, Gilbert was eliminated from the event and Paredes was officially crowned the winner of the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship.
