BORGATA WINTER OPEN 2010

Championship Interview

2010-02-05T21:06:00.006-05:00

Jeff Madsen (Las Vegas, NV)
Borgata Winter Open Champion - $625,006

Championship Event Final Table Payouts

2010-02-05T20:00:00.001-05:00

Place-Name-Amount

1. Jeff Madsen $625,006
2. Sirous Jamshidi $367,794
3. Tom Marchese $190,027
4. Barkley Hamilton $165,508
5. Nick Kamen $140,988
6. Al Grimes $116,468
7. Dave Fox $91,949
8. Ross Mallor $67,429
9. Chan Pelton $49,039
10. Matt Matros $31,876

Madsen Wins!

2010-02-05T19:48:00.014-05:00

Championship Event
Borgata Winter Open

Jeff Madsen
1st Place - $625,006

Jeff Madsen (Las Vegas, NV) goes virtually wire to wire to win the Borgata Winter Open Championship Event.

"It feels good," says Madsen after beating Sirous Jamshidi (Broomall, PA) heads up to take the title and the first place prize of $625,006. "It takes a while for it to set in, but in a few days I'll look back on it. It was a really good tournament."

Madsen, who finished Day 2 two with the chip lead, played Jamshidi heads up for more than an hour and a half, controlling the action. He turns virtually even stacks, into a huge advantage by winning small pot after small pot.

With only 10 big blinds left, Jamshidi, who entered the day as the chip leader, shoves his last 1.9 million into the pot with Q ♠ 2 ♠. After a brief count, Madsen calls with K ♥ 10 ♦.

The board is J ♦ 7 ♥ 6 ♣ K ♦ 5 ♣ and Madsen wins with a pair of kings.

"It feels good. I'm happy, but frustrated I couldn't get any cards," says Jamshidi, who takes home $367,794 for second place. "I had no hands, I didn't have a pocket pair the whole time we played (heads up). I had all low cards."

Madsen, who's only been playing professionally for four years, adds the Borgata Winter Open Championship to his impressive resume. Madsen's a two time WSOP bracelet winner, and the 24 year old now has more than $3 million in career tournament earnings.

"I've had success in the past," Madsen says, "but it feels good to get these big wins and to continue to prove myself in the poker world." And while he doesn't feel the need to validate his success, he says winning this championship will build his confidence and, "shows me all my hard work is paying off when it comes to working on my game."

Sirous Jamshidi
2nd Place - $367,794

2010 Borgata Winter Open Champions

2010-02-05T19:40:00.001-05:00

Event 1 Brian Woods (Lutherville, MD) - $350 NL Deep Stack
Event 2 Robert Perry (Highland Beach, FL) - $500 NL
Event 3 John Binns (Ft. Myers, FL) - $350 PLO
Event 4 Daniel Mulhall (Little Neck, NY) - $700 NL
Event 5 Bart Fooden (Port Lookout, NY) - $350 HOSE
Event 6 Mike Beasley (Hollywood, FL) - $1,000 NL
Event 7 William Hine (Bricktown, NJ) - $350 Omaha H/L
Event 8 Anthony Brushi (Pompton Lakes, NJ) - $300 NL, re-entry
Event 9 Kim Findura (Bulter, NJ) - $260 Ladies NL
Event 10 Joseph Cutler (Bay Shore, NY) - $500 Deep Stack
Event 11 Ahmed Mohamed (Scotch Plains, NJ) - $300 Limit
Event 12 Taylor Shpur (Witherbee, NY) - $400 6-handed, re-entry
Event 13 Henry Olszewski (Staten Island, NY) - $350 NL, Seniors
Event 14 Alex Lindh (Goshen, NY) $170, 100k Guarantee, re-entry
Event 15 Chris Reslock (Atlantic City, NJ) - $350 PLO
Event 16 Freddie Najafabadi (Brigantine, NJ) - $2,000, Heads Up
Event 17 James Lee (Ellerose, NY) - $300 NL
Event 18 Daniel Garon (Sunny Isles Beach, FL) - $1,500 NL
Event 19 Allen Kessler (Las Vegas, NV) - $350 Omaha/Stud
Event 20 Jeff Madsen (Las Vegas, NV) - $3,300 NL Championship Event
Event 21 Michael McCarty (Highland Park, NJ)- $400 NL
Event 22 Steven Curtain (Indian Trail, NC) - $350 NL
Event 23 Steven Macchia (Wood-Ridge, NJ) - $300 NL
Event 24 Robert Perry (Highland Beach, FL)- $200 NL, re-entry

Pot After Pot

2010-02-05T19:38:00.004-05:00

Another 35 minutes of heads up play has passed and Jeff Madsen continues to play small ball and dominate Sirous Jamshidi.

Madsen has nearly 20 million of the 23 million chips in play. Nearly every yellow, 100k chip in play is in Madsen's stack.

Not only is Madsen's dominating play, he's getting help from the deck. On a board of 3 ♣ 4 ♥ 5 ♥ 7 ♦ 7 ♣, Madsen leads out for 725k and Jamshidi calls.

Madsen 7 ♥ J ♥
Jamshidi 7 ♠ 9 ♣

Both players with trip 7s, but Madsen's better kicker takes the pot.

There's yet to be an all-in bet called in the last 90 minutes.

Still Grinding

2010-02-05T19:04:00.003-05:00

After one hour of heads-up play Jeff Madsen's taken a 2-1 chip lead over Sirous Jamshidi.

Madsen has 15 million chips, to Jamshidi's 7 million.

Blinds are up: 100k/200k/20k (Level 33).

Marchese - 3rd Place

2010-02-05T17:59:00.005-05:00

Heads Up Underway

Tom Marchese $190,027

On the first hand of three-handed play, Tom Marchese (Boonton, NJ) is eliminated when his pocket 9 ♠ 9 ♣ are beaten by Jeff Madsen's A ♠ Q ♥.

Marchese from the button raises to 375k
Madsen three bets from the SB and makes it 1.75 million
Marchese is all in for 4.6 million total
Madsen calls

Flop: 7 ♠ J ♣ Q ♣ (Madsen, pair of queens)
Turn: A ♣ (Madsen, two pairs)
River: 10 ♥.

Madsen's two pairs sends Marchese to the rail.

"I'm pretty happy with the results," he says, after cashing for $190,027. "Third place isn't a bad consolation prize."

After 5 long days of play Marchese's confident, even cocky about how he played. "For the entire tournament I destroyed the field," he says, adding, "I was always the best player at the table."

Jeff Madsen and Sirous Jamshidi begin play heads up even in chips.

Madsen (left) & Jamshidi Playing Heads Up

3 Handed

2010-02-05T17:30:00.000-05:00

(l-r) Madsen, Jamshidi & Marchese

Chip Counts as three-handed play begins:

Sirous Jamshidi 11 million
Jeff Madsen 7 million
Tom Marchese 5 million

Barkley - 4th Place

2010-02-05T17:15:00.009-05:00

Set Over Set

Barkley Hamilton ($165,508)

To put it simply, it's a big hand between Barkley Hamilton and Jeff Madsen.

Madsen (4♦ 4 ♥) from the cut off bets 375k
Barkley (3 ♣ 3 ♦) in the big blind raises to 900k

Flop: 9 ♦ 3 ♥ 5 ♣

Barkley check
Madsen check

Turn: 10♥

Barkley bets 900k
Madsen calls

River: 4 ♠

Barkley bets 1.3 million
Madsen raises all in for 800k more

Barkley calls and tables his flopped set of 3s, only to see Madsen's set on the river. The hand cripples Barkley and leaves him on life support.

"I played it perfectly," says Barkley after staggering from the table in disbelief. "I checked the flop and I'm crushing him until he hits a two outer on the river."

Barkley's eliminated from the tournament on the next hand when his Q ♠ J ♦ runs into the K ♥ K ♣ of Sirous Jamshidi.

"I'm extremly happy with how I played," says Barkley who takes home $165,508. "I played the best poker of my life."

Jamshidi, Madsen and Tom Marchese are playing three-handed. Jamshidi has nearly half the chips in play with 11 million chips. Madsen's next with 7 million, while Marchese has 5 million

35 Big Blinds

2010-02-05T17:12:00.002-05:00

The 4 remaining players have an averge stack of 5,745,000. The blinds are 80k/160k/20k ante, putting the big blinds remaining at 35.

All the players say they love the structure and the fact that there's still able to play poker as the blinds continue to climb.

What They're Playing For

2010-02-05T17:08:00.002-05:00

Buy-In: $3,300 + $200 NL
Entries: 766
Total Buy-In $2,527,800

1st: $625,006
2nd: $367,794
3rd: $190,027
4th: $165,508

Back From Break

2010-02-05T16:58:00.002-05:00

Blinds are up to 80k/160k/20k ante (Level 32).

Seat-Name-Amount
(count in millions)

2. Jeff Madsen 7
4. Sirous Jamshidi 5.4
7. Tom Marchese 4.1
8. Barkley Hamilton 6.4

Jamshidi Bleeding a Bit

2010-02-05T16:49:00.004-05:00

Sirous Jamshidi's been involved with a lot of pots, including two recent loses to Jeff Madsen.

On a board of Q ♦ 2 ♥ 7 ♣ K ♣ 8 ♦, Madsen, from the BB leads out for 725k. Jamshidi mulls it over and makes the call.

Madsen tables K ♥ 7 ♣ for two pairs, while Jamshidi mucks.

Jamishi who, at one time was close to 8 million chips, is down to 5.4 million.

Chip Counts

2010-02-05T16:31:00.000-05:00

Seat-Name-Amount

(count in millions)

2. Jeff Madsen 7.1
4. Sirous Jamshidi 7.2
7. Tom Marchese 3.7
8. Barkley Hamilton 5.0

Level 31 (60k/120k/10k) continues with 15 min. left on the clock.

Madsen vs Marchese

2010-02-05T16:05:00.004-05:00

Jeff Madsen

From the button Jeff Madsen raises 275k
Marchese reraises to 650k
Madsen calls

Flop: 7 ♦ 5 ♠ 4 ♣

Marchese leads out for 410k
Madsen shoves
Marchese folds

Kamen - 5th Place

2010-02-05T15:48:00.004-05:00

Nick Kamen ($140,988)

Nick Kamen begins the day third in chips, but never really gets anything going to finish in 5th place of the Championship Event.

"I'm estatic," he says after earning $140,988. "But there was a lot of soft play today (Friday), so I'm also kind of disappointed with my result."

Kamen goes out when he's all in for 2.1 million with A ♠ 8 ♥, but runs into the K ♠ K ♣ Barkley Hamilton.

Hamilton, who dropped as low as 800k is around the chip average of 5.8 million.

Grimes - 6th Place

2010-02-05T15:31:00.003-05:00

Al Grimes ($116,468)

The miracle comeback for Al Grimes (Miller Place, NY) is over and the man who crippled him earlier in the day, ends Grimes' tournament.

Grimes (SB) completes the betting and sees a flop with Jeff Madsen (BB) in a blinds vs blinds battle.

♥ ♦ ♠ ♣

Flop: 10 ♦ 5 ♣ 10 ♥
Grimes leads out for 300k
Madsen calls

Turn: Q ♥
Grimes checks
Madsen bets 750k
Grimes shoves and is all in for 1.5 million
Madsen calls.

Grimes: J ♥ 9 ♣ (open ended straight draw)
Madsen: 8 ♠ 10 ♣ (trip 10s)

River: 5 ♠

Madsen wins the hand with a full house 10s full of 5s.

Grimes is pleased with his play, but can only wonder what could've been after losing a 7 million chip pot to Madsen, when Madsen went runner-runner to flush Grimes K-K.

"I thought I had him," he says. "That's the worst beat I ever took. I win that, I win the tournament.

Grimes was as low as 300k after the big pot, worked it back to 2.5 million, but isn't able to recover from the bad beat.

6 Max - Chip Counts

2010-02-05T15:18:00.003-05:00

Coming Down the Stretch

Seat-Name-Amount

(count in millions)

1. Al Grimes 2.3
2. Jeff Madsen 4.5
4. Sirous Jamshidi 7.3
6. Nick Kamen 3.0
7. Tom Marchese 3.7
8. Barkley Hamilton 2.5

Blinds are up: Level 31 (60k/120k/10k ante)

Fox - 7th Place

2010-02-05T14:27:00.004-05:00

Dave Fox ($91,949)

Dave Fox (Coram, NY) is out in 7th place when he loses a three handed pot to Al Grimes.

Fox shoves 375k UTG.
Grimes re-shoves, making it 790k.
Sirious Jamshidi tanks, can't resist the opportunity to knock out two players, and calls.

Fox: A-7 off
Grimes: K-Q off
Jamshidi: K-3 ♠

The flop brings a king & Grimes leads Jamshidi with the better kicker. The river is a queen and Grimes two pairs gives him a triple-up. The hand sends Fox to the rail and lamenting his bad luck of running wired tens into Barkely Hamiton's pocket jacks.

"He shoved three straight times," says Fox who wins $91,949, "and something like 7 of the last 16 hands. I'm disappointed that I got hit with a cold deck."

Earlier in the tournament Fox was down to 20k on Day 2 and is pleased with his final table run.

"I have mixed feelings. If you had told me I'd be cashing for $90,000 when I had 20k coming back from dinner on Day 2, I definitely would've taken it. But once you get to a final table, you want to try and take it to the wire."

Grimes who was down to 250k, now has 2.1 million chips.

Huge, Huge Pot

2010-02-05T13:50:00.000-05:00

Al Grimes opens for 1.1 million (11x) and Jeff Madsen comes over the top, all in, for nearly 3.3 million. Sirous Jamshidi briefly tanks and folds.

Grimes calls the bet and has Madsen covered.

Grimes: K ♣ K ♦
Madsen: A ♥ K ♥

Flop: 4 ♥ Q ♣ 9 ♦
Turn: 3 ♥
River: Q ♥

Runner, runner flush gives Madsen the hand and the chip lead, close to 7 million chips.

"That's a mistake on my part," says Madsen. "I should've thought it through more. You made such a big bet I didn't think you were that strong," he says to Grimes who's down to 600k.

"I saw it coming," says Grimes, who was trying to dodge the ace as the hearts sneaked up on him. "I knew he was suited."

Shove, Shove, Shove - Double Up

2010-02-05T13:42:00.002-05:00

Barkley Hamilton announces to the tables that he's in shove mode as the short stack looks to make a move with 1 million chips.

On the first two hands back from break, Hamilton shoves, but doesn't get any takers. The third straight shove gets a call from Dave Fox.

Fox: 10 ♥ 10 ♦
Hamilton: J ♠ J ♦

The board run cleans and Hamilton's all-in bet is 1.355 million, the double up, plus the blinds and taking him to 2.9 million chips.

Fox is down to 600k.

Keep Climbing

2010-02-05T13:38:00.003-05:00

Players are back from a 10 minute break. 7 players remain with an average stack of 3.3 million.

Level 30 (50k/100k/10k) is underway as the ante's have just doubled.

Chip Counts

2010-02-05T13:35:00.001-05:00

Seat-Name-Amount

(Count in Millions)

1. Al Grimes 3.9
2. Jeff Madsen 3.7
4. Sirous Jamshidi 6.5
5. Dave Fox 1.8
6. Nick Kamen 3.7
7. Tom Marchese 1.8
8. Barkley Hamilton 1.2

Puffing Their Chests

2010-02-05T13:10:00.003-05:00

Two of the big stacks collide, but neither is worse for the wear. Sirous Jamshidi raises to 220k UTG and Al Grimes comes over the top and makes it 850k.

Both players stand and posture with Jamshidi saying, "At this stage of the tournament, there's only two things I can do." After contemplating a shove or fold Jamshidi continues, "I can't believe I'm second best and that I have to lay this down."

Jamshidi folds and shows A ♥ K ♣.

"Don't show me one card," he says. "I know you have an ace."
Grimes shows only the A ♦ and rakes the pot. "Come on," says Grimes, "you've played with me long enough to know I'm not betting with nothing."

Level 29 (40k/80k/5k ante) winding down.

Barkley Hamilton only has 400k and is the short stack.

Mallor - 8th Place

2010-02-05T12:53:00.003-05:00

Ross Mallor ($67,429)

The third final table short stack is out after Ross Mallor's 8th place finish. "I had something like an M of 6," says Mallor, who ships K Q for his final 770k. Al Grimes from the cutoff calls with A 10 and flops two pairs to win the hand.

"Just making it this far and making it to a final table is always fun," he says.

Mallor began the day the second shortest stack and picks up $67,429.