Borgata Winter Poker Open Side Events
Day 2 Completed
2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open
Borgata Winter Poker Open Side Events
Day: 4
Joe Villella pocketed $18,334 for outlasting a field of 140 runners in the $500 Pot-Limit Omaha Eight-or-Better event. He won a gigantic hand against Hamid Kashvari when both had hefty stacks, which propelled Villella to a chip lead he never came close to relinquishing.
Villella can now accomplish his main goal for the day: drive three hours home to his child's birthday party and avoid the wrath of his wife.
Meanwhile, 89 players remain in the $560 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold'em Re-entry tournament, and 54 will cash when the tournament resumes at noon. Alan Dworetsky leads the way with 478,600, while Abdul Amer is in a distant second with 403,300. Other large stacks include Edgardo Rosario (394,800), Tony Sinishtas (316,500), Stephen Knoble (278,700) and Sung Kim (275,300). Notable players who bagged up include Andy Hwang (261,000), Coleem Chestnut (165,300), Erik Cajelais (156,800), Dan Buzgon (155,400), James Woods (110,900) and Amnon Filippi (46,400).
Joe Villella and James Donald got it all in preflop.
Villella: 
Donald: 
Villella muttered something about setup hands, but he got another good flop: 
, giving him a flush draw and a pair. A 
arrived on the turn, and now Villella's two pair was best for high, plus he had the nut low draw. The river was the 
, and Villella had secured the tournament.
Yuebin Guo and Joe Villella got all in before the flop.
Guo: 
Villella: 
Villella wasn't happy to see Guo turn over double-suited aces, and he seemed resigned to doubling his opponent up. That all changed when the flop came 
. Now, Villella was in complete command with a straight and a six-low, and Guo could only throw his hands in the air helplessly. A 
and 
completed the board, and Villella apologized for delivering the beat.
Villella now has an overwhelming chip lead heads up.
All three players saw a recent flop of 
. James Donald potted from first position, and Joe Villella repotted. Yuebin Guo got out of the way, and Donald called all in.
Donald: 
Villella: 
"S***," Villella said.
Both had top two, but Donald had a flush draw. The turn brought an 
, and Villella called for an ace. He didn't get it, but he did get a deuce, giving him a low and three-quarters of the pot.
"That's lucky," Donald said.
Joe Villella raised to 50,000 under the gun, and Joseph Astorina reraised pot from the small blind. Villella moved all in when it was back to him, and Astorina called.
Astorina: 
Villella: 
The flop was a grim one for the shorter Astorina: 
, giving Villella queens. The turn was the , giving Astorina a chance at survival if a low card came one, though he'd lose a chunk of his chips by getting quartered. Another queen hit the river though, and Villella collected another KO.
Villella now has a vast majority of chips in play three-handed, and blinds are currently 10,000-20,000.
Joseph Astorina raised to 80,000 from the cutoff, and Greg Drobnis pushed his last 100,000 from the small blind. The big blind folded, and Astorina made the call.
Astorina: 
Drobnis:
The two held similar hands, and the 
flop gave each a pair, though Drobnis held the lead with kings. The turn was a 
.
"No diamond," Drobnis said, not realizing Astorina now had jacks up. An 
fell on the river, and Drobnis thought for a fleeting moment he'd doubled up until Astorina pointed out his two pair. Instead, Drobnis is out.
Joe Villella limped into the pot, and Hamid Kashvari raised to 75,000 from his immediate left. Everyone folded back to Villella, who reraised pot for 174,000 more. Kashvari made the call.
Villella and Kashvari then got it all in on the 
flop.
Villella:
Kashvari:
Kashvari had bottom pair and the nut low draw, while Villella needed his aces to stand up through two more cards. They did just that when the 
and 
hit the board, and Villella now has about 1 million.
Players have left for a short break and will be playing with blinds of 20,000-40,000 when they return.
Jim Stansbury raised to 64,000 from an early position, and Hamid Kashvari on the button was the only caller. Stansbury put his last 40,000 or so in on the 
flop, and Kashvari obliged him.
Kashvari:
Stansbury: 
Stansbury's middle two pair was inferior to Kashvari's top two, and Kashvari had a low draw to go with it. The turn and river were and 
, and aces and queens took the whole pot for Kashvari, who now has 410,000.
In a hand we didn't catch, Robert Renner was eliminated by Yuebin Guo, who now has 460,000.