Maine Man Wins Over $200,000 at 2007 Borgata Winter Poker
Open
Elite poker play was on display at Borgata Hotel Casino
and Spa this weekend as the 2007 Borgata Winter Poker Open continued.
Chatter and laughter filled the air as the cards hit the table for
the start of the Ladies Only Tournament on Sunday. The mood was more
subdued Saturday as the 18 remaining players took their seats to resume
play in the $1,500 buy-in event. The field encompassed several elite
pros as well as past winners of the Borgata Poker Open. Leonard Cortellino
of Lewiston, ME, survived the tough field and took home $200,860 in
first place prize money.
Sunday's Final Table featured superb, deliberate play. The players
battled back and forth as if it was a chess match. Jeremy Shor, the
winner of the $1,500 event at the 2006 Borgata Poker Open overcame
a short stack to finish fourth with $47,775. Frank Lupo took home
$54,600 for third place. Cortellino was left heads up with one of
the top players in the world, James Van Alstyne, who earned $105,788
for his second place finish. Van Alstyne's experience and pro status
could not push him past Cortellino. Van Alstyne was drained after
battling heads up noting: "It is disappointing not to win, but
this was a great tournament with great atmosphere and I still won
($105,788)."
Cortellino followed in the footsteps of Louis Esposito,
the winner of Saturday's $1,000 buy-in event, starting the second
day of competition as the short stack. Cortellino commented, "I
think I had less pressure at the start of the day since I was at the
bottom of the chip count. I kept grinding away and my stack grew."
Saturday action featured the Event #3 Final Table, the
$1000 buy-in tournament at Borgata Winter Open. Louis Esposito of
Glen Dale, NY, won the tournament and the $174,466 in first place
prize money. Jonathan Chehanske of Brigantine, NJ, finished in second
place with $96,091 in prize money. Chehanske honed his poker skills
in Borgata's new 85-table Poker Room. "I've played some of my
best poker today, but I'm still happy with second place money."
Akio Ishige, who made a final table during the $500 buy-in event,
finished in fifth place with $37,560 in prize money.
The weekend's poker action also featured the $1,000
buy-in Big Three Super Satellite. Five players won a $10,000 WPT Voucher,
a $5,200 Event #9 Voucher, a $2,650 Event #7 Voucher, and $2,150 in
cash. The winner was Fritz Stoner, the past winner of the $750 buy-in
event at the 2006 Borgata Poker Open. Matt Stout, who made two final
tables during the 2006 Poker Open, finished in third in the Big Three.
Celebrity players such as Steve Danneman began arriving
in larger numbers over the weekend. Many will be playing in Monday's
$2,500 and Wednesday's $5,000 buy-in No Limit events. "Momma"
Mizrachi, the mother of Card Player's 2006 Player of the Year, Michael
Mizrachi, and a celebrity in her own right, competed in Sunday's Ladies
event.
About Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa
Borgata is a joint venture of Boyd Gaming Corporation
(NYSE: BYD - News) and MGM MIRAGE (NYSE: MGM - News). Located at Renaissance
Pointe in Atlantic City, it features 2,000 guest rooms and suites,
161,000 square feet of gaming, 200 gaming tables, 4,100 slot machines,
14 destination restaurants, 11 retail boutiques, a 54,000 square foot
spa, 70,000 square feet of event space, and parking for 7,100 cars.
For more information on Borgata or to obtain a copy of this press
release, please visit http://www.theborgata.com or use AOL keyword:
borgata. Additional news and information on Boyd Gaming can be found
at http://www.boydgaming.com; additional information on MGM MIRAGE
can be found at http://www.mgmmirage.com.
About WPTE
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engaged in the creation of internationally branded entertainment and
consumer products driven by the development, production, and marketing
of televised programming based on gaming themes. WPTE is the creator
of the World Poker TourĀ®, a television show based on a series of high-stakes
poker tournaments that airs on the Travel Channel in the United States
and more than 150 markets globally. With the WPT in its fifth season,
WPTE has launched a second series on the Travel Channel, the Professional
Poker Tour(TM), which focuses on the play of poker's leading stars.
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