Federico Ottenio Wins 325k at the Borgata Open

Federico Ottenio was the surprise winner of the Borgata Open’s first event, lifting the title and $325,127 in a dramatic final hand.

The $2,000,000 guaranteed, $560 buy-in opener to Borgata’s 17-day long poker extravaganza in Atlantic City had attracted almost 4000 entries, but it was Ottenio who excelled at the final table – his victory worth almost 10 times his previous best cash.

After reaching the final table short-stacked, Ottenio looked unlikely to repeat his success of last July when he won the Borgata Deep-Stacks Challenge title for $35,000, but a number of key hands clawed him back into contention in the early part of the last day of play.

Table of ten

The unusually large final table of ten players had already been whittled down to just seven when Ottenio made his first hit of the day, shortly before the first break, tabling J♣J♦ against Will ‘The Thrill’ Failla’s pre-flop all-in.

His 2♠2♦ was drawing to 2 outs and some vague backdoor draws after the J♠6♠5♣ flop appeared, and the 5♠ gave Ottenio an unbeatable full house, eliminating seven-times Borgata title winner Failla.

Huge blinds and antes

With the huge blinds and antes forcing the action, Jessica Dawley’s 9 million chips were still only 15 BB when she announced all-in against Ottenio’s UTG raise. Ottenio asked for a count but called before it was completed, showing the Q♦Q♣ against Dawley’s A♥10♠. The board ran out K♣8♣2♠3♦9♣ and Dawley hit the rails for $90,000.

When Joseph Silva was knocked out shortly afterwards, the 3 remaining players settled down to sort out the title. It didn’t take long, as a dramatic hand developed just after the break.

Dramatic final hand

With Ottenio opening for 3million chips on the button, and Sirious Jamshidi calling in the SB, the table erupted when Orlov shoved in the big blind.

Ottenio asked for a count and found he had both players covered, eventually calling the all-in – which Jamshidi also called - and all 74,000,000 chips were in the middle of the table!

Orlov’s 7♣7♠ were at risk when Ottenio tabled the A♣Q♥ especially as Jamshidi’s surprising A♦7♦ left Orlov drawing to one out should an A or Q appear. When the flop came K♥10♣8♣ Ottenio’s bid for the title was in doubt, but the turn brought the much-desired Q♦ and put him way ahead.

With the river falling 6♦, Ottenio had locked up the double-knockout and the title, sprinting to his friends on the rail, before returning to congratulate Orlov and Jamshidi – all three players seemingly happy at the outcome. Jamshidi took home $139,376 for his 3rd place while Orlov earned $211,005 for 2nd.

Ottenio now has his sights set on a 3rd Borgata title – the $3500 buy-in WPT Borgata Championship starts in a week’s time, with a guaranteed $3,000,000 prize-pool and a title which holds huge kudos in the poker world.

The festival runs until the 25th September and full details can be found at http://borgatapokeropen.theborgata.com/.