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WPT Borgata Poker Classic Final Table Bios
BY: RYAN LUCCHESI | ryan.lucchesi@cardplayer.com
PUBLISHED: Thursday Jan 31, 2008 10:00 AM
Four Professional and Two Amateur Players Square Off to Win Their First WPT Title
Lee Watkinson
Seat 1
Chips: 397,000 (fifth at final table)
Lifetime Winnings: $3,462,025
2008 POY Points: 0
Hometown: Cheney, Washington
Prior WPT Experience: 11 cashes
- Second place at 2004 Legends of Poker
- Second place at 2004 Mirage Poker Showdown
Poker Accomplishments: Eleven WSOP cashes, including five final tables, and one gold bracelet (2006 pot-limit Omaha). Watkinson has also fared well in the WSOP main event, finishing 45th in 2005 and eighth this past year in 2007.
Pivotal Borgata Poker Classic Hands (pulled from live updates):
- Lee Watkinson Busts Jeff Renaud
In a battle of the blinds between Lee Watkinson and Jeff Renaud, the two see a flop of 9 9 7. Watkinson checks, and Renaud bets 9,000. Watkinson calls. The turn is the 10, putting a flush possibility on the board. Both players check, and the river brings the 6. Watkinson bets 25,000, and Renaud raises all in for 72,000. Watkinson calls, and Renaud shows 9-6. But Watkinson shows 9-7, revealing that he flopped a higher full house to send Renaud packing.
- Watkinson Scores Some Chips with a Power Move
Gavin Griffin raises 21,000 preflop, and the cutoff makes the call. Lee Watkinson also calls, and the flop rolls out 10 10 8. All three players check, and the 5 falls on the turn. The cutoff bets 60,000, and Watkinson bumps up the action by moving all in for an additional 70,000. The cutoff tanks for a while and eventually folds.
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Noah Schwartz
Seat 2
Chips: 1,320,000 (fourth at the final table)
Lifetime Winnings: $133,496
2008 POY Points: 0
Hometown: Bay Harbor, Florida
Prior WPT Experience: 74th place at the 2007 Doyle Brunson Classic
Poker Accomplishments: Cashed in the 2007 WSOP main event (252nd place) and made a final table at one of the preliminary events of the Bellagio Cup III that same summer. Most of Schwartz’s success has come online under his screen name “fouruhaters.” Schwartz has won $343,054 online.
Pivotal Borgata Poker Classic Hands (pulled from live updates):
- Life Tilt
Noah Schwartz just stormed by the tournament reporting desk and informed us that he was on "Life tilt." The reason for this most likely has something to do with the fact that he lost a huge pot against John Hennigan. In the hand, he and Hennigan both held a 6 in the hole on a flop of 6-6-2. Hennigan held a 5 kicker to Schwartz's king kicker, and Schwartz was looking good. That was, until a 5 hit the board on the river, and Schwartz was relieved of 160,000 on the hand.
- Men "The Master" Nguyen Eliminated in 10th Place ($63,932)
Gavin Griffin has the button in seat 6, Schwartz raises from middle position to 102,000, Nguyen moves all in from late position for 409,000, and Schwartz calls with J J. Nguyen shows A K, and it's a race situation.
The flop comes J 4 3, and Schwartz flops a set to completely dominate the hand. Nguyen needs a runner-runner miracle, but the last two cards are 7 A. Men "The Master" Nguyen is eliminated in 10th place, earning $63,932.
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Ervin Prifti
Seat 3
Chips: 289,000 (sixth place at final table)
Lifetime Winnings: $2,100
2008 POY Points: 0
Hometown: Broomall, Pennsylvania
Prior WPT Experience: None
Poker Accomplishments: Final table appearance (eighth place) in the seven-card stud event at the 1998 U.S. Poker Championship
Pivotal Borgata Poker Classic Hands (pulled from live upates):
- Jared Hamby Crippled by Ervin Prifti
McEwen raises 60,000 UTG [under the gun], and Prifti raises all in for 312,000. Hamby makes the call, and McEwen folds.
Hamby: Q Q
Prifti: K K
Board: J 5 4 5 7
Hamby is crippled after the hand with 23,000.
- Jared Hamby (17th) and Vadim Trincher (18th) Eliminated by Ervin Prifti
Prifti raises 65,000 preflop, and Trincher makes the call. Hamby calls all in, and Siegel makes the call. The flop rolls out J 9 7, and Prifti bets 200,000. Trincher raises all in, and Siegel folds. Prifti makes the call, and the last three players turn up their hands:
Trincher: A A
Prifti: 9 9
Hamby: A 4
Turn and River: K 7
Both Hamby (18th) and Trincher (17th) are eliminated on the hand, and they will both take home $31,966.
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Gavin Griffin
Seat 4
Chips: 5,105,000 (second at Final Table)
Lifetime Winnings: $3,036,944
2008 POY Points: 0
Hometown: Darien, Illinois
Prior WPT Experience: 20th Place at 2007 Legends of Poker
Poker Accomplishments: Nine WSOP cashes, three final tables, and one gold bracelet (pot-limit hold’em in 2004). Won the European Poker Tour grand final in 2007 and took home the EPT-record $2.4 million first-place prize.
Pivotal Borgata Poker Classic Hands (pulled from live updates):
- Eric Buchman Eliminated in 22nd Place ($25,573)
Eric Buchman raises all in from the small blind for over 300,000 with K J, and Gavin Griffin quickly calls with A 8. The board runs out 6 6 2 9 Q, and Buchman is eliminated.
After a couple missteps by Griffin, he has regained his composure and started to build a huge stack. He is now sitting with approximately 1,450,000.
- Gavin Griffin Takes a 1 Million Pot Against David Tran
Gavin Griffin raises from middle position to 50,000, David Tran reraises from the cutoff to 225,000, and Griffin calls. The flop comes 9 7 6, Griffin checks, Tran bets 250,000, and Griffin moves all in for 977,000. Tran folds, and Griffin takes down a very nice pot worth nearly 1 million.
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Thomas Hare
Seat 5
Chips: 2,851,000 (third at final table)
Lifetime Winnings: $7,263
2008 POY Points: 0
Hometown: Haverford, Pennsylvania
Prior WPT Experience: None
Poker Accomplishments: Final Table (eighth place) appearance in event No. 16 at the 2006 Trump Classic
Pivotal Borgata Poker Classic Hands (pulled from live updates):
- O-No!
Thomas Hare raises 60,000 preflop, and Onofrio Reina reraises to 160,000. Hare makes the call, and the flop rolls out 7 7 5. Hare moves all in at this point for 200,000, and Reina thinks for a moment before making the call. They then turn up their hands:
Hare: 9 9
Reina: A K
Turn and River: Q Q
Hare doubles up on the hand and survives to fight another day.
- Scott Blackman Eliminated in 9th Place
Scott Blackman has the button in seat 3, Hare raises under the gun to 80,000, Blackman reraises from the button to 380,000, Hare moves all in, and Blackman calls all in for about 780,000 with 10 10. Hare shows A K, and it's a race situation.
The board comes K 4 2 K 2, and Hare wins the pot with a full house, kings full of deuces. Scott Blackman is eliminated in ninth place, earning $98,359.
- Thomas Hare Doubles Up Through Justin Bonomo
Justin Bonomo has the button in seat 9, Hare raises from late position to 100,000, and Bonomo calls from the button. The flop comes A 6 5, Hare bets 200,000, Bonomo raises to 775,000, and Hare moves all in for 1,148,000. Bonomo calls with 7 4 for an open-end straight draw, and Hare flips over 9 9. The turn card is the 4, giving Bonomo additional outs with a pair, but the river card is the 10, and Hare's pocket nines hold up to double his stack.
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David Tran
Seat 6
Chips 5,271,000 (first at final table)
Lifetime Winnings: $1,039,423
2008 POY Points: 39 (446th place)
Hometown: El Monte, California
Prior WPT Experience:
- 26th place at 2008 World Poker Open
- 20th place at 2006 Borgata Poker Open
Poker Accomplishments: Four WSOP cashes, including 14th place in the 2007 WSOP main event, where he took home $429,114, which is his largest cash to date.
Pivotal Borgata Poker Classic Hands (pulled from live updates):
Bill Kontaratos Eliminated in 30th Place ($20,655); David Tran Over 2 Million
David Tran acts from the small blind (we're not sure of his initial action), and then Bill Kontaratos raises to 100,000. Tran calls. The flop comes 10 9 9, Tran checks, Kontaratos bets 200,000, Tran moves all in, and Kontaratos goes into the tank for several minutes. Kontaratos has about 250,000 left behind, and he eventually decides to call with A K. But Tran shows A A, and Kontaratos will need a runner-runner miracle to stay alive.
The turn card is the 3, the river is the 9, and Tran's pocket aces hold up to give him the pot and 2.285 million in chips.
Bill Kontaratos is eliminated in 30th place, earning $20,655.
Tran Held the chip lead throughout day 4 and further increased his stack by eliminating:
- Joe DiMartino in 25th place
- Adam Lippert in 21st place
- Dan Shiff in 19th place
- Nam Le in 16th place
- Robert Hwang in 13th place
- Shane Labounty in seventh place
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