Event 11 Recap

$450 + $50  Deep Stack Semi-Turbo Pot Limit Omaha High (Re-Entry)

Of the final four players, two were looking for their first Borgata trophy, while the other two were going for their second piece of hardware. In the end it's Anothony Caruso (Medford, NJ) who won his second title by defeating Jiaqi Xu (Clarksburg, MD) heads up.

"I'm beyond ecstatic," said Caruso, who won $9,778, "the trophy is way more important than the first place money."

"I wanted the trophy," said Larry Wolf (Annapolis, MD) who was also going for his second title only to be knocked out by Caruso in third place.

Wolf was disappointed on how the cards fell after the dinner break when he lost the chip lead and nearly 200k on two hands to 4th place finisher Eddie Blumenthal.

Blumenthal, who picked up his third cash of the series and second final table, was frustrated as well.

After he seized the chip lead from Wolf, Blumenthal had 800k, half the chips in play. But two Caruso double-ups and some bad luck ended Blumenthal's quest for his first trophy.

Xu's bid for a trophy came up short after making his third Borgata final table. His previous best finish was third place in a 2009 PLO event, a game that he loves.

"It's more fun (than NL), you get to play more hands," said Xu who won $5,308 as runner-up.

64 entries were in the field for a total buy-in of $28,800. The field featured three-time Borgata trophy winner and WSOP bracelet holder Chris Reslock and two-time Borgata trophy winner Mike Dentale, but neither cashed.

Wolf, who was on the cusp of his second title, won his trophy in a $560 NL event in 2007.

Caruso won his first trophy in a 2010 six-max event and nearly got his second in June's Borgata Summer Poker Open when he was runner-up in the $660 tournament. But the business owner and serious recreational poker player, wasn't going to let another title slip away at what is truly his home casino.

"I love it here," says Caruso who has 15 career tournament cashes, all at Borgata.  "They run the best tournaments and I'll always play here."

Final Results

Entries: 64
Total Buy-In: $28,800

Place-Name-Payout

1st Anthony Caruso (Medford, NJ) $9,778
2nd Jiaqi Xu (Clarksburg, MD) $5,308
3rd Larry Wolf (Annapolis, MD) $3,352
4th Eddie Blumenthal (Madison, WI) $2,514
5th Sardor Gaziev (North Brunswick) $1,956
6th Timm Schneider (New York, NY) $1,676
7th Jermaine Reid (Brooklyn, NY) $1,397
8th Michael Clark (Kearny, NJ) $1,117
9th Lisa Lisberger (Finksburg, MD) $838