Roy Winston Wins the 2007 Borgata Poker OpenThe Doctor Operates on the Final Table, Beats Out Matusow, Voulgaris |
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Seat No. 1: Heung "Scott" Yoon - $3,090,000
Seat No. 2: Roy Winston - $5,355,000
Seat No. 3: Haralabos Voulgaris - $1,465,000
Seat No. 4: Mark Weitzman - $1,750,000
Seat No. 5: Mike Matusow - $2,965,000
Seat No. 6: Eugene Todd - $2,190,000
The players took little time to decide the fate of sixth-place finisher and crowd favorite Matusow. Winston raised under the gun to $230,000 and Matusow called on the button. The flop came A
Q
4 and Winston checked. Always the showman, Matusow stared down Winston for 15 seconds before he bet $325,000. Winston, who was looking to improve on his 26th-place finish at the 2007 World Series of Poker main event, reraised to $1.2 million. Matusow moved all in and Winston quickly called, tabling A 7 for a pair of aces with the nut-flush draw. Matusow showed A
Q for two pair, and, according to the CardPlayer.com Poker Odds Calculator, held a 65 percent to 34 percent edge.
However, if you ask Matusow, he was drawing dead. The turn card brought the 2, and Winston hit the flush to take the lead. The river was the K, and Winston took the pot with an ace-high flush, eliminating Matusow, for a $271,600 sixth-place payday.
On the next hand, Todd was eliminated by amateur Yoon. Todd, earlier crippled after running into Voulgaris' aces, said, "Since I just made some money, I'm all in," and pushed his last $470,000 into the middle. Yoon called from the small blind with A K. Todd tabled 3 3 and needed to win the coin flip to stay alive. Things looked good for Todd when the flop came J
9 7, and the turn was the 2. However, the river was the harbinger of doom as it surfaced the K. Todd's fifth-place finish was good for $325,920.
Twenty-year professional Weitzman was the next to be eliminated on the 42nd hand of the final table. Winston raised $300,000 on the button and Weitzman moved all in from the big blind for his last $1,890,000. Winston quickly called with A Q and had Weitzman's A 8 dominated. The board ran K J 6 7 5, and Winston scooped the pot with a heart flush. Weitzman was eliminated in fourth place, earning $380,240.
With Weitzman's departure, Voulgaris was the only pro remaining, though he would survive just eight more hands. Voulgaris raised to $250,000 on the button, and Winston reraised to $750,000. Voulgaris moved all in for around $2.2 million, and Winston immediately called with A 4. Voulgaris showed Q 9. The board ran out J 7 3 4 4, and Winston took down the pot with trip fours. Voulgaris was sent to the rail in third place for a $434,560 cash, and play was now heads up.
Entering heads-up play, the chip counts were:
Roy Winston - $13,370,000
Scott Yoon - $3,445,000
Heads-up play took 84 hands and saw both players use caution in picking their spots. There were numerous times when seemingly huge hands were checked down, and it was clear neither player wanted to make a mistake. In the end, Winston was too much, and on the final hand he limped for $300,000 on the button. Yoon raised to $1 million, and Winston made the call. The flop came Q
6
4, Yoon checked, and Winston bet $1 million. Yoon tanked for a minute and then raised to $3 million. Winston moved all in, and Yoon immediately called with A
K for ace high. Winston showed 4 4 for a set of fours, and Yoon needed a jack and a 10 (for a straight) to survive. The turn card brought the 2, and Yoon was drawing dead.
In his first major poker tournament, Yoon finished in second place, earning $832,725. Winston won the WPT Borgata Poker Classic, earning $1,575,280, a silver watch, and entry into the $25,000 buy-in season VI WPT World Championship in April, 2008.
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