Borgata Winter Poker Open Side Events
Day 9 Completed
2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open
Borgata Winter Poker Open Side Events
Day: 9
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James Kinney's path to a win here this evening was paved with a bit of good fortune, after he took a major gamble with queen-high before the flop, cracking kings with a gutshot straight on the river to build a big stack late in the night.
While that play may have showed why Kinney's friends call him "The Clown Genius of Poker," he was no joke after winning this huge hand, surging to the final table on the strength of pocket rockets, where he then stripped the first two players of their stacks single-handedly.
First, Kinney made what one player who bore witness called "the best call he'd seen all night" by risking his tournament life with 
on the 
board. After tanking for more than two minutes, Kinney correctly analyzed the situation and made the call, watching Joseph Opie's cards go sailing into the muck to confirm his read.
Next, Kinney caught a queen in a cooler situation involving big suited aces, and it was Jeffrey Barnhart who bit the dust next. Kinney won a coin flip against Vincent Conte to notch another knockout, and from there he was able to cruise into a heads-up contest with longtime tournament pro Amanda Musumeci.
Despite trading his 2 million chip advantage for a similarly-sized deficit early on in heads-up play, Kinney persevered and found a few fortunate cards to dispatch the experienced Musumeci in short order. As a reward, "The Clown Genius of Poker" took home $30,988 in prize money, a shiny trophy to tote around, and the pride which comes with taking on (and taking out) an experienced poker pro to claim every chip in play.
After mounting an impressive comeback to take the chip lead early in their heads-up contest, Amanda Musumeci saw the title taken from her courtesy of two especially brutal beats.
First, with momentum on her side after a flurry of wins to begin heads-up play, Musumeci finessed Kinney into committing the rest of his 3.7 million stack before the flop holding just 
against her 
. The flop would not cooperate, however, coming 
to put Kinney out in front with a pair of eights. The turn came 
to give Musumeci an open-ended straight draw - and a total of fourteen outs to take down the tournament - but the river came 
to improve Kinney's hand rather than her own.
Just three hands later and it was all over for Musumeci, as she open-shoved for her last 2 million or so holding 
. Kinney held an ace as well with his 
, and Musumeci's superior kicker looked to be the difference, especially after there were no fours to be found on the 
flop.
When the turn came 
Kinney added a gutshot straight draw to his repertoire of outs, and now he needed to spike any four or five to claim the crown.
River: 
Musumeci could only watch as the deck denied her the win, and she headed off to the payout desk to collect the the $17,214 awaiting her. With the runner-up finish Musumeci inched ever closer to the coveted $1 million mark in live tournament earnings, although considering the small cashes not recorded by the major databases, she may have just crossed that milestone off the list tonight.
After starting head-up play with a 2 million chip disadvantage, Amanda Musumeci has quickly reversed the situation against James Kinney.
She took a sizable pot down when her jack kicker played in a pair-on-pair showdown, then took down another with the board reading 
by the river. Musumeci called a 500,000 chip wager on the turn, and then claimed the pot with a 580,000 bet after Kinney checked.
An all-in reraise on the next deal forced Kinney off of his 250,000 open, and with that Musumeci moved above 5.45 million chips early in the one-on-one contest.
The cards are back in the air and heads-up play is now underway.
Here are the chip counts for Amanda Musumeci and James Kinney, as the two enjoy a short break before their heads-up contest begins.
| Player | Chips |
|---|---|
| James Kinney | 5,100,000 |
| Amanda | 3,450,000 |
J.J. Tozzi decided to play his 
on the slower side, raising to 300,000 before the flop and allowing James Kinney to enter the pot.
When the flop rained down 
to give him top two pair, Tozzi's enticement appeared to have done the trick. He made another small wager of 300,000 and Kinney insta-called to see the drop on the turn. When Tozzi shoved all in on fourth street, he heard Kinney snap him off with authority in his voice, and the strength suggested he was beat.
"Dang it!," was Tozzi's response when he heard Kinney call him down. "You got the flush don't you?"
"Straight!" replied Kinney, as his 
was tabled with a flourish.
The river came 
and Tozzi failed to fill up, leaving him to head for the payout desk in 3rd place for a $10,706 payday.
Amanda Musumeci just put herself in prime position for a win here at the Borgata Winter Poker Open, after she pushed J.J. Tozzi off a big pot.
Musumeci began the action by opening from the button, making it 260,000 to play. Tozzi flatted the raise to take the 
flop, and he tapped the table for a check when he saw the first three board cards.
With weakness in the air on the other side of the table, Musumeci c-bet for 280,000, only to see Tozzi ramp the betting up with a raise to 725,000. Musumeci wasted no time in announcing herself all in, and Tozzi winced visibly before tossing his cards away.
With the win, Musumeci now sits on about 3.7 million, and she is nearing the threshold for holding more than half of the chips in play (8.45 million)
The tournament clock just ticked back over to 25:00, meaning blinds are now set at 50,000-100,000 with a 10,000 ante.
The average stack at this point is 2.86 million, so the stacks are definitely beginning to shrink a bit with average now holding just under 30 big blinds.
Amanda Musumeci was all in for her last 1.2 million or so with , but she was dominated by James Kinney's .
"Nice hand..." said Musumeci, her words an offering to the poker gods in return for a miracle.
The flop of 
left Musumeci drawing rather thin, but the 
on the turn was her gin card. When no king came on the river (
), Musumeci moved to 2.7 million or so, while Kinney dropped down to the low stack with just under 1.8 million.