At the Borgata in Las Vegas the atmosphere was reportedly electric this week as the forty remaining players from Event 1 ($500 buy-in) in the 2007 Winter Poker Open returned to battle.
The field that began with 1 370 players had been whittled down to three, but kit was eventually Tae Baik of Leonia, NJ, who knocked out the remaining two players to capture the first title of the 2007 Winter Poker Open and the $152 960 in first place prize money.
David Zhu of Scarborough, Canada, was the second place finisher taking home $95 900. The third place finisher, Emad Alabsi of Wickliffe, Ohio takes home $58 225.
Alabsi, a larger than life character who called himself the “The Beast” at the table, had a dominating table personality often singing for the table or laughing it up with the growing crowd. “I always have fun when I’m playing poker here; Borgata offers a great atmosphere to play in,” he said.
Baik, who wore the perfect “poker face” throughout the tournament, was all smiles when he received his prize money and Tag Heuer watch, and commented, “I have played tournaments in Borgata’s new poker room before, but this is my first victory in a tournament of this magnitude.”
Next in the series is the $750 buy-in event which features aces including Men “The Master” and Joseph Brooks, a winner at the 2006 Borgata Poker Open. The surviving 18 players returned to Borgata Event Center on Friday to play for the championship and their piece of the $464 250 prize pool.
There are 28 Super Satellites and Second Chance Tournaments remaining.