Borgata Winter Poker Open Day 10: Amanda Musumeci Denied Second Title at Borgata

January 24, 2014

The 2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open Thursday with two more events on the schedule. Event #13: $350+50 Deep Stack Black Chip Bounty No-Limit Hold'em came to a close, and the Event #14: $1,500+150 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em played down to the Elite 8 after three rounds of action were completed.

The big story of the day was the deep run of poker pro Amanda Musumeci in Event #13. Musumeci was attempting to claim her second title in a Borgata Poker Open event (she won a $260 event at the 2011 Borgata Fall Poker Open), but she fell just shy after losing to James Kinney heads-up. Kinney went on to claim the $30,988 top prize for first place.

Here's a look at the highlights from Day 10 of the 2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open:

Event #13: $350+50 Deep Stack Black Chip Bounty No-Limit Hold'em

James Kinney emerged victorious in Event #13, a $350+50 tournament in which a $100 black chip was awarded for each elimination. Kinney took the lead into the final table and put his big stack to use effectively, eventually defeating Amanda Musumeci for the victory.

Kinney's path to a win in Event #13 was paved with a bit of good fortune after he took a major gamble with queen-high before the flop, cracking kings with a gutshot straight on the river to build a big stack late in the night.

While that play may have showed why Kinney proudly calls himself "The Clown Prince of Poker," he was no joke after winning this huge hand, surging to the final table on the strength of pocket rockets, where he then stripped the first two players of their stacks single-handedly.

First, Kinney made what one witness called "the best call he'd seen all night" by risking his tournament life with 8♦8♥ on a 3♥6♦2♦9♥3♣ board. After tanking for more than two minutes, Kinney correctly analyzed the situation and made the call, watching Joseph Opie's cards go sailing into the muck to confirm his read.

Next, Kinney caught a queen in a cooler situation involving big suited aces, and it was Jeffrey Barnhart who bit the dust next. Kinney won a coin flip against Vincent Conte to notch another knockout, and from there he was able to cruise into a heads-up contest with Musumeci.

Despite trading his 2 million chip advantage for a similarly-sized deficit early on in heads-up play, Kinney persevered and found a few fortunate cards to dispatch the experienced Musumeci in short order. As a reward, "The Clown Prince of Poker" took home $30,988 in prize money, a shiny trophy for his wife - who played in the same event - to tote around, and the pride which comes with taking on (and taking out) an experienced poker pro to claim every chip in play.

FINAL TABLE RESULTS

Event #14: $1,500+150 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em

The heads-up tournament is one of the premier events on the Borgata Winter Open schedule, featuring one of the biggest buy-ins and toughest fields during the series. Among the big names taking part in this event were Christian Harder, WPT champions Kevin Eyster, Anthony Zinno and Andy Hwang, and three-time WSOP bracelet winner Matt Matros.

The Elite Eight was reached after three rounds of action early Friday morning. Brian Hewitt, James Routos, Matt Stout, Steve Sarmiento, Adam Shulman, Ernie Lewis, Torrey Korsog, and Joseph Stiers each won three matches to advance to Day 2. Each of the final eight will take home at least $4,656, but the winner will receive $37,248.

Here's a look at how each of the remaining eight players got there:

The Borgata Winter Poker Open continues Friday with the conclusion of Event #14, which recommences at noon local time. Two new events will also get underway: Event #15: $1,090 Six-Max No-Limit Hold'em Re-Entry (200,000 Guaranteed), and Event #16: $450 Deep Stack Pot Limit Omaha. As always, be sure to follow the PokerNews Live Reporting blog for up-to-the-minute coverage of each event!

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