In what turned out to be a two-man battle, Darren Elias derailed a powerful run by Kane Kalas to take down the 2014 World Poker Tour’s Borgata Poker Open on Friday night.
The two men were sitting atop the standings as the final table started on Friday afternoon, with Kalas holding more than a six million chip lead over Elias. Lurking behind the duo was Blake Bohn (7.705 million), who had been hovering in the upper echelons of the leaderboard throughout the tournament, while Aaron Overton (3.245 million), Jose Serratos (2.05) and a short stacked Ray Quartomy (1.795 million) were looking for any chance to get back in the fight. With more than $2 million in prize money to divvy up, the players wasted little time in getting to action.
Quartomy, who had the unfortunate situation of Kalas on his immediate right, was eliminated only four hands into the day’s festivities. After Kalas raised in front of him, Quartomy decided to make a stand and pushed his remaining chips to the center of the felt. Kalas wasted no time in making the call when the action came back to him, tabling pocket Aces to go to war against Quartomy’s A-J off suit. Quartomy would find a Jack on the flop but nothing else, sending him home in sixth place and adding to the massive stack of Kalas.
Kalas didn’t slow down as, on the very next hand, he chopped the table to only four players. Overton opened up the betting and Kalas fired out a three-bet of 755K. Bohn, from the small blind, four-bet the action and, after Overton dropped his hand in the muck and some though, Kalas moved all-in. Bohn made the call, tabling pocket Queens, but was dismayed to see that Kalas had again picked up pocket rockets for the second consecutive hand (a 48,400:1 occurrence). An Ace on the river only added insult to injury as Kalas took the hand to move over the 24 million mark in chips and Bohn headed to the cage to pick up his fifth place earnings.
The table settled down a bit after the flurry of the two eliminations. Fifteen hands would elapse before a battle between Kalas and Elias changed the table dynamics. After calling a raise from Kalas in the big blind, Elias saw a K♥ 5♣ 2♥ hit the felt. Kalas fired out and Elias smooth called to see an 8♥ come on the turn. Kalas fired another bullet and Elias smooth called once again. The 10♣ on the river brought a third bullet out of Kalas with an all-in move, but Elias stunned him in calling immediately. Kalas’ 10♥ 4♥ had made a baby flush, but Elias had him topped with his Q♥ 6♥ for a bigger one. After the chips were counted down, Elias earned the double up and took over the lead by about two million chips over Kalas.
While Overton and Serratos fought valiantly, they were too low on ammunition to keep up with Elias and Kalas. Kalas would reestablish himself as the chip leader by knocking out Overton in fourth place (Kalas rivered a Jack for a set over Overton’s flopped A-2 two pair) and Serratos on the very next hand (Kalas’ pocket sevens standing over Serratos’ K-9 on a Queen high board). As heads up action began, Kalas held more than a 2:1 lead over Elias (24.8 million to 12.025 million).
Over the first 20 hands of heads up action, Elias slowly whittled some of the chips from Kalas’ stack before taking the lead on Hand 74 of the final table. The two contenders would then play another dozen hands, virtually neck-and-neck with each other before the final hand brought some drama and a new champion.
After a 10-7-4 flop, Elias check-called a 1.525 million bet from Kalas and saw a King come on the turn. Elias once again checked and, after a strong 3.225 million bet from Kalas, pondered for a bit before moving all-in. Not wasting a minute, Kalas made the call and tabled Big Slick for top pair/top kicker. Elias, however, had sneakily drawn Kalas into a trap as he tabled his K-4 for two pair and the lead. Once the river three came down and the chips were counted, Kalas was found to be the one at risk and the tournament was over.
1. Darren Elias, $843,744
2. Kan Kalas, $500,364
3. Jose Serratos, $308,067
4. Aaron Overton, $259,012
5. Blake Bohn, $213,999
6. Ray Quartomy, $174,637
By far the largest tournament score of his poker career (he previously final tabled this same event in 2011 for a $230,610 payday), Elias now has over $2.5 million in career tournament earnings. He also has his name on the WPT Champions’ Cup and a seat at the 2015 WPT World Championship as the victor of the WPT Borgata Poker Open.
