Event 17: Recap

$1,000 + $90 Deep Stack Six-Max No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)

Will "The Thrill" Failla got his third Borgata Open win (and fourth overall Borgata tournament win) and the first of this Borgata Fall Poker Open, after outlasting a field of 229 entries in a marathon tournament that lasted two very long sessions.

And it was no surprise that Failla and Borgata newcomer Dilip Ravindran ended up locked in a long heads-up battle after the marathon tournament. But the die was cast after one critical hand.

Failla went all-in with AK suited against Ravindran's pocket 10s. Failla thought he had Ravindran crippled when an Ace came on the flop, but a 10 on the turn gave Ravindran 2.5 million in chips, and cost Failla an almost two to one chip advantage.

But Failla fought his way back and the two were almost even in chips at the end.

"I was surprised about how long we went heads-up. I thought it would go a lot faster," Failla said. "It was a good match. But I really thought I had him on the ropes and then the 10 comes on the turn. But it was a great match-up."

The $58,865 win was Failla's first of the Borgata Fall Poker Open and his fifth final table of this series. Failla is currently second on the Borgata Leaderboard and likely to move up. And, of course, expect him in the Championship Event Field on Monday (Nov. 19).

For Ravindran, it was his third cash and second final table of the BFPO. He finished third in Event 1 ($53,118).

"I'm really not a tournament player," Ravindran said. "But I've really enjoyed this and I appreciate the hard work they do here." He earned $34,985. "I got lucky in a few spots even to make the final table," he said. "And I thought I was drawing dead with those 10s. But it's been really enjoyable and I loved playing with Will and Paul (Volpe) there at the end.

The $1,000 + $90 Deep Stack Six-Max No Limit tournament started at 11 am Saturday, but didn't see the bubble break on the final 24 until about 2am. Sunday's session, with 20 players returning, went from 1pm to 1am.

Total buy-ins for the tournament was $229,000 with 229 players at $1,000 a head.

Throughout the final table, Ravindran was pushing much of the action. In the end he moved all in more than 10 times, getting called only about three times (once knocking Volpe out in third place). Still, Failla was the clear chip leader most of the way, grinding down the table's chip stacks and sending more than a few to the rail.

There's a reason poker players are called grinders and this was the tournament to understand why.

Final Table Results: 
1 - Will Failla (Smithtown NY), $58,865
2 - Dilip Ravindran (Jersey City) $34,985
3 - Paul Volpe (Westchester Pa.) $26,656
4 - Kyle Bowker (Walton NY) $21,102
5 - John Del Rossi (Manuta) $16,660
6 - Ian Searing (Smithtown NY) $12,217 

7 - David Inselbeg (Long Beach NY) $9,441

FINAL RESULTS