Event 6 Recap

$200 + $30 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Accomplished players with a lot of hardware took a back seat to seven players who all earned their largest career cashes, including two who had never cashed prior to make this final table of the Borgata Fall Poker Open.

Sal Popolo (Brooklyn, NY) outlasted a final table that featured Borgata trophy winner Alex Rocha (9th), WSOP circuit ring winner Rocco Luciano (8th) and WSOP bracelet holder Chris Tryba (7th) to win the title and his own trophy.

Popolo defeated Reece Lightner (Hollywood, FL) heads up with AQ vs A6, but not without some drama.  Lightner flopped a 6 to take the lead, but a Queen on the river gave Popolo the title.

"This is nice," said Popolo, who earned $44,495, his largest career cash. "I don't care how good you are, you've got to hit a couple of rivers to keep going."

"I'm happy with my play," said Lightner, who is an aspiring pro, "It's been a rough year and this is my biggest score."  Lightner earned $26,738 and is hoping he can eventually give up his restaurant job to play poker full time and added, "this will definitely help."

Ileana Ehrengerg (Brooklyn, NY) was the most chatty at the final table and enjoyed the moment as this was just her fourth career tournament. She earned her first career cash for $16,179 and said, "I feel okay. I would've liked to win $44,000 (for first place), but I'll take it," she says. "I learned a lot."

The next three spots, Jim Andrade (4th), Alec Miller (5th) and Tom Tylek (6th) also earned the highest cashes of their careers and it was the first for Miller.

Margaret Martin finished in 10th place for a career best payday and said it was the first time she had ever made Day 2 of a two-day event.

The field began with 1,058 entries for total buy-ins of $211,600, more than double the $100,000 Guarantee. 100 players made the money and those in the top 50 included recognizable names Mike Kalfa (46th), Cathy Dever (33) Michael Bonita (30th), Joe Liberta (27th) and Joe Liberto (17th).

But it was a new crop of players who added to their bankrolls.

Popolo is a business owner who plays at Borgata, "as much as I can."  And the extra money convinced him to return for the Poker Fall Poker Open Championship Event (Nov. 24-27).


Final Table Results

Entries:  1,058
Total Buy-In:  $211,600

Place-Name-Amount

1st Sal Popolo (Brooklyn, NY) $44,495
2nd Reece Lightner (Hollywood, FL) $26,738
3rd Ileana Ehrengerg (Brooklyn, NY) $16,179
4th Jim 'Snax' Andrade (Nesconset, NY) $13,550
5th Alec Miller (Berwick, PA) $11,123
6th Tom Tylek (Marlboro, NJ) $8,999
7th Chris Tryba (Las Vegas, NV) $7,179
8th Rocco Luciano (Philadelphia, PA) $5,460
9th Alex Rocha (S. Setauket, NY) $3,741
10th Margaret Martin (Staten Island, NY) $2,427

Final Results