Event 6
The 2016 Borgata Poker Open is a wrap and after 18 days of play, 19 trophies were awarded and more than $8 million in prize money paid to the participants, not including the secondary events and satellites!
![Jesse Sylvia - WPT Borgata Poker Open Main Event Champion [Photo courtesy of Joe Giron and the WPT]](https://borgatapokeropen.blogtheborgata.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/09/29886815375_4414efe8cd_z.jpg)
Jesse Sylvia – WPT Borgata Poker Open Main Event Champion
Photo courtesy of Joe Giron and the WPT
This year’s Open series also saw some other firsts. The Inaugural BPO PokerNews Cup $2,000 NLH event was the first post-championship event and Ryan van Sanford claimed the first PokerNews Cup title awarded on American soil. The first-ever hybrid Live/Online Heads Up tournament was held in the Event Center and online at BorgataPoker.com, “Battleship-style”. Matt Emmel came up just short of repeating at Heads Up Champion, finishing second to New Jersey online player Eric Schwartz.
Another first was the live-streaming of the $1,000 Six Max NLH final table, which ended in a heads-up battle between well-known pro and BorgataPoker.com Ambassador Vinny Pahuja and relatively unknown amateur player George Alberto. Alberto prevailed, claiming his first BPO title and $53,366.
A complete list of Main Events and trophy winners is below. On behalf of Borgata, we would like to thank all the participants for making the 2016 Borgata Poker Open a great success and congratulate all the winners. From the BPO bloggers, @mattclark345, @TKbluffs, @Kaelaine, and @WOCPoker and players, thanks to Borgata tournament staff and the World Poker Tour for another excellent tournament series!
Level 23 (12,000/24,000/3,000)
Total Entries: 164
Players Remaining: 1
Average Stack: 2,460,000
Borgata Poker Open Event 6 Champion – TJ Shulman
TJ Shulman was noted near the money bubble of the Seniors event for his past success in tournaments and how he was a formidable opponent to deal with sitting behind a mountain of chips as he was for much of the event. Shulman came into the final table with the chip lead.
Despite taking a few substantial hits early, Shulman chipped back up and was declared the victor after a five-way deal was discussed. Shulman was not only pleased to take home first place, but to play in honor and memory of Mike Sica, the namesake for this event. Shulman and the other four players agreed to give the trophy to Sica’s family after the conclusion of the tournament.
Shulman has been in action in a few events so far during BPO and we expect to see even more of him for the rest of the series as he looks to take down yet another event.
Level 23 (12,000/24,000/3,000)
Total Entries: 164
Players Remaining: 5
Average Stack: 492,000
The winners of the Mike Sica Memorial Seniors Event from left: TJ Shulman, Bob Piacentino, Alyson Parker, Brad Pulver and Ed Prindiville
Shortly after the elimination of Tom Milmore, the final five players quickly agreed to an adjusted payout. As a result of the deal, TJ Shulman will take the trophy and his first career Borgata Poker Open title along with $8,824. Bob Piacentino will take second place and $7,916. Alyson Parker earns third place for her performance along with $6,415 with Ed Prindiville ($5,463) and Brad Pulver ($4,790) taking fourth and fifth place, respectively. The players made a mutual decision to donate the championship trophy back to Michelle Sica and the Sica family.
We caught up with Parker to talk about how she ended up playing this event and what her finish means to her and the Sica family.
A winner’s recap will be posted shortly.
Level 23 (12,000/24,000/3,000)
Total Entries: 164
Players Remaining: 5
Average Stack: 492,000
6th Place – Tom Milmore
The string of short stacks hitting the rail continued after the elimination of John LoDuca as Tom Milmore could not get the spin he so desperately needed. Bob Piacentino did the deed on Milmore as he did a few others at the final table.
Milmore shoved for 172,000 from the hijack and Piacentino called from the cutoff to put Milmore officially at risk. Piacentino had Milmore crushed with {as}{jh} against Milmore’s {ac}{2h}. The {ah}{8c}{3h} gave Milmore the opportunity to hit a backdoor straight and the {8h} on the turn put some chop outs in play. The {jh} on the river gave Piacentino a higher flush and the pot to send Milmore to the rail.
After his nephew Mike LaTour won yesterday’s “Saturday Series”, Milmore was quite pleased to make another final table run among his family.
Level 23 (12,000/24,000/3,000)
Total Entries: 164
Players Remaining: 6
Average Stack: 410,000
7th Place – John LoDuca
John LoDuca survived playing a short stack through few pay jumps including the two jumps that resulted from the eliminations of John Clifford and Andy Gallagher. LoDuca wasn’t able to get the full double he needed, though, and was eliminated.
Following a raise from TJ Shulman to 60,000, LoDuca called all-in for less from the big blind. Shulman was ahead with {kd}{10c} against the {kh}{5d} of LoDuca. The {ah}{jd}{7h} flop did nothing for LoDuca. The {ks} on the board put a few chop outs in play for LoDuca but the {10h} gave Shulman two pair to send LoDuca out.
Level 22 (10,000/20,000/3,000)
Total Entries: 164
Players Remaining: 7
Average Stack: 351,000
9th Place – Andy Gallagher
8th Place – John Clifford
Two of the aforementioned short stacks, John Clifford and Andy Gallagher, we in shove or fold mode having less than 10 big blinds between them. In the end, the short stack magic that benefitted players in the last level, would not save either player.
Gallagher was the first to exit with Bob Piacentino doing the deed. Gallagher moved all-in for 73,000 and Piacentino raised to 175,000 on Gallagher’s direct left. All other players released and Gallagher saw the bad news when he showed {ac}{3c} against the {jd}{js} of Piacentino. The {ks}{qc}{9d}{10d}{4d} was a slight sweat to Gallagher, but not enough and he will earn $1,074 for his finish.
Clifford was not far behind Gallagher when he moved all-in for 152,000 and found a caller in TJ Shulman. It was a flip for Clifford with his {as}{kd} trailing the {jh}{js} of Shulman. The {qh}{10d}{7h} flop was a glimmer of hope for Clifford, but the {8d} turn and {3c} river sent him out earning $1,432.
Level 21 (8,000/16,000/2,000)
Total Entries: 164
Players Remaining: 9
Average Stack: 273,000
After the elimination of Denny Gross, the pace of play slowed down. Despite being all-in on a few occasion, the short stacks have survived and living to climb the pay ladder one step at a time. With the average stack being only 14 big blinds when players start the next level, we expect to see the action pick up over the next few orbits.
Bob Piacentino is once again the chip lead after winning a series of medium size pots without going to showdown. Alyson Parker and TJ Shulman are deadlocked in second in what should be a dog fight to the finish.
An updated list of chips is below.
- John LoDuca – 110,,000
- Andy Gallagher – 95,000
- Bob Piacentino – 505,000
- Gregg Miller – 80,000
- John Clifford – 100,000
- TJ Shulman –400,000
- Brad Pulver – 320,000
- Alyson Parker – 400,000
- Tom Milmore – 240,000
Level 20 (6,000/12,000/2,000)
Total Entries: 164
Players Remaining: 9
Average Stack: 273,000
10th Place – Denny Cross
Denny Cross came into the Seniors final table as one of the short stacks and saw his stack plummet to the point of having to shove nearly all hands that came to him.
Down to his last 90,000, Cross moved all-in from under the gun. Action folded to TJ Shulman in the big blind who thought for a second but called to put Cross at risk. Cross would be behind and drawing to three immediate outs with {kd}{10h} against the {ks}{qh} of Shulman.
A {as}{5s}{4d}{9h}{4s} runout was safe for Shulman as he is now back over the 500,000 chip mark. The new short stacks at the table who will likely be moving all-in sooner or later are John LoDuca and John Clifford.
Level 19 (5,000/10,000/1,000)
Total Entries: 164
Players Remaining: 10
Average Stack: 246,000
Alyson Parker is closing in on the chip lead following a massive double up through TJ Shulman.
TJ Shulman was the overwhelming chip leader coming into the Seniors Event final table but has lost nearly half of his stack after being on the wrong end of two all-in confrontations.
The first hand saw Tom Milmore double his short stack. After getting his final 90,000 in the middle with {as}{ks}, Milmore would see he was behind the {kh}{kc} of Shulman. The {8s}{7s}{2h} flop gave Milmore a flush draw and the {10s} on the turn gave him the flush to secure the double up.
The next recipient of a Shulman double up was Alyson Parker who is now over 400,000. Shulman opened to 30,000 from the hijack and Parker moved all-in for 201,000 from the small blind. Shulman wondered aloud why Parker was shoving for so much but eventually called to put Parker at risk. Shulman was in bad shape as his {jd}{js} trailed the {qd}{qh} of Parker.
The {ac}{9h}{8h}{2s}{8c} runout was clean for Parker and she doubled up to near the chip lead and Shulman is now down to 450,000 after taking those two blows.
Level 18 (4,000/8,000/1,000)
Total Entries: 164
Players Remaining: 10
Average Stack: 246,000
TJ Shulman called correctly on an over-bet all-in from Philip Sorge and will now bring nearly a third of the chips in play to the final table.
TJ Shulman didn’t gain his chips by accident over the course of today’s tournament. As we noted earlier today, Shulman has a long history of poker success and showed once again why he has over $500,000 in career earnings.
Shulman opened the action to 18,000 from early position before being three-bet by Philip Sorge to 45,000 from the big blind. Shulman confirmed the amount and called to see a {jd}{8d}{2d} flop. Sorge wasted little time open shoving for 165,000. Shulman thought long and hard about his decision for nearly four minutes before announcing a call.
Sorge rolled over {ac}{8c} for middle pair and Shulman showed {jc}{10h} for top pair, meaning he would only have to dodge an ace or an eight as opposed to the many hands Sorge could have been moving all-in with. The turn and river were bricks and Sorge hit the rail to bring the field down to 10 players. A full redraw and updated chip counts are below.
- John LoDuca – 203,000
- Andy Gallagher – 153,000
- Bob Piacentino – 180,000
- Gregg Miller – 205,000
- John Clifford – 90,000
- TJ Shulman – 800,000
- Denny Gross – 120,000
- Brad Pulver – 350,000
- Alyson Parker – 270,000
- Tom Milmore – 102,000