Coming from the second shortest stack at the start of the final table, Ben Hamnett rallied against difficult opposition to take down the championship of the World Poker Tour’s stop at the Borgata Poker Open last night.
At the start of the final table battle yesterday afternoon, Matthew Burnitz was atop the ladder with just under nine million chips, but he was facing stiff opposition. David Diaz, who held the chip lead for part of Day Four, was only roughly 1.5 million chips back and veteran pro Steve Brecher and Tyler Patterson were in the middle of the pack. Hamnett and Ofir Mor rounded out the field as the cards hit the air at the Borgata in Atlantic City, NJ.
It only took three hands for the action to get serious and it also set the tone for the crowning of the champion. On a J-8-4-A-7 board, Burnitz checked his option to Hamnett, who decided to push his remaining chips (almost three million) to the center to build a huge pot. After some deliberation, Burnitz made the call and Hamnett turned up an A-Q for Aces with a Queen kicker. All Burnitz could muster was an A-9 and his inferior kicker cost him the hand and the chip lead as Hamnett picked up the over ten million chip pot to move from the bottom of the leaderboard to the top.
This twosome dominated the early play, clashing with each other as if the action were heads up. Burnitz came back after doubling Hamnett up to take back 2.7 million of those lost chips, but Hamnett would strike back against Burnitz when he rivered a flush versus Burnitz’ runner-runner trip sixes. Meanwhile, the other four players on the baize maintained their positions as Burnitz and Hamnett battled.
It would take almost fifty hands (roughly three hours of play) before the first elimination occurred. After Brecher moved all in from the small blind, Diaz made an immediate call and tabled A-9 against Brecher’s K-8. Everything was running smoothly for Diaz as the dealer unveiled the 7-5-3-4 flop and turn, leaving Brecher searching for a six, eight or King to take the hand. Lighting struck in the form of an eight on the river, reversing the fortunes of the men as Brecher claimed the pot and Diaz left the tournament in sixth place.
Burnitz ramped up the aggression following Diaz’ departure, taking four of the next five hands without a showdown to snatch the lead back from Hamnett. As darkness fell on the Jersey Shore, Burnitz continued to torment some of the remaining players with his 11 million in chips, but Hamnett continued to be a thorn in his side with his 10.2 million in chips.
Hamnett vaulted back into the lead through eliminating Brecher as the clock struck 8PM. In a blind versus blind battle, Brecher and Hamnett saw a 9♦ 8♣ 7♦ flop, where the fireworks went off. After Brecher checked, Hamnett pushed out a half million chip bet and Brecher chose to make his stand with an all-in move.
Hamnett made the call, tabling K♦ 10♦ for a draw at basically the remainder of the deck (open ended straight/King high flush draws, two overs) against Brecher’s 10-9 (same straight draw, pair of nines). The turn brought some more drama with the 8♦ and, even though he had made his flush, Hamnett still had to fade another eight or nine that would give Brecher a boat. The river, alas, brought an Ace to knock out Brecher in fifth and move Hamnett back into the lead.
Down to four players, it was the shorter stacks that took over center stage. Patterson doubled through Mor moments after Brecher’s elimination, leaving Mor’s chip stack depleted, and then would eliminate Mor in fourth place when he nailed a diamond nut flush in a family pot. Even with Mor’s chips, Patterson faced an uphill battle against Hamnett (15.4 million) and Burnitz (13 million) with his 6.9 million stack.
Hamnett and Burnitz would indeed dominate the show from that point on. Patterson’s stack slowly bled away as his tablemates jousted with each other. At one point, the combined chips of Hamnett and Burnitz were ten times what Patterson had on hand, forcing him into action. When he did find a worthwhile hand, a bad beat would take it away.
After a min-raise from Hamnett, Patterson pushed his three million in chips to the center. The normally quick Hamnett paused to contemplate the situation before making the call and showing an A-4. Patterson was in good shape with his A-6 and the J-5-2 flop kept him in the lead. A four on the turn flipped the race, however, moving Hamnett into the lead and leaving Patterson looking for a three (for the straight) or a six to change the game again. The King on the river wasn’t what he needed, knocking out Patterson in third place and setting up a showdown that had basically been brewing throughout the final table play.
Going into the heads up fight, Hamnett held more than a 2:1 lead against Burnitz (24 million to 11 million) but Burnitz didn’t let that slow him down. Burnitz won the first six hands coming out of a short break and was able to pull within four million chips of Hamnett. Just as he would get close, however, Hamnett would take down a big pot to reestablish the advantage.
After an hour of play, Hamnett seemed to find an edge against Burnitz and the chips slowly started working to Hamnett. Holding a 4:1 lead after 25 hands of heads up, Hamnett continued to pound Burnitz, utilizing the all-in move judiciously. On the final hand, Burnitz made a bet to see Hamnett go over the top of him again with an all-in. Burnitz made the call this time, tabling a J-10 against Hamnett’s K-Q, and the board provided some great drama.
Coming down Q-8-2, Burnitz had a draw at a gut shot straight, but Hamnett had taken away pairing options for Burnitz by hitting his Queen. Once a three came on the turn and a five came on the river, however, the tournament was over and Hamnett became the champion of the Borgata Poker Open.
1. Ben Hamnett – $818,847
2. Matthew Burnitz – $488,850
3. Tyler Patterson – $298,950
4. Ofir Mor – $250,065
5. Steve Brecher – $206,065
6. David Diaz – $167,337
