Nicholas Immekus Wins the Borgata Winter Poker Open's Event 8 ($250,000 Guaranteed Deeper Stack NLHE Re-Entry) for $99,144
After more than 18 hours on the felt today it was Nicholas "Frenzuh" Immekus who eventually accumulated every chip in play, defeating Allyn Marshall to cap off a marathon of a final table. Immekus, who plays under the screen name "Frenzuh" online, pocketed $99,144 for taking down the crown, along with the pride which comes after navigating the minefield of a re-entry event spread out over three starting flights.
Immekus prevailed after an epic head-up match with Marshall, as the two players chipped away at each other for hour after hour, trading the chip lead several times over that span.
A total of 1,392 entries were recorded over Days 1a, 1b and 1c, and just 313 players bagged up a stack to bring back for Day 2. As always here at the Borgata Winter Poker Open, a number of notable names and professionals joined the legions of local grinders, including Andy Hwang, Men Nguyen, James Woods, Amanda Musumeci, Cotton Snuffer, Raj Patel, Dan Heimiller, Matt Lin and Joe Mckeehen. Whether firing multiple bullets but falling short, or making Day 2 and sneaking into a min-cash, these players came and went, but the story of the day was Immekus capturing the biggest haul of the Borgata's ongoing tournament series in his first live tournament triumph.
Allyn Marshall survived hours playing heads up against Nicholas Immekus, but in a series of three hands contested in a matter of minutes it was all over.
For a moment though, it appeared that top honors would be going his way, as Marshall scored a major double up to take the lead before the deck conspired against him.
First, Marshall check-raised for all his chips (about 10 million) on the flop and Immekus snapped him off while triumphantly tabling . Marshall could only muster the for bottom pair, putting him on the brink of elimination, but the dealer burned and turned the to thrust him into the lead. The on the river changed nothing, and suddenly Marshall had Immekus on the ropes.
Just a deal or two after that, Immekus open-shoved with and it was Marshall's turn to snap-call with his . Before he could celebrate, however, the appeared right in the window, and the final board rolled out to swing things back in Immekus' favor.
The finishing blow came minutes later, when Marhsall ran his all-in move against Immekus' . A runout of provided no further miracles, and with that Marshall finished as the runner-up for a $51,318 score.
Nicholas Immekus Has Taken Allyn Marshall's Best Shot, and Now He is the One Throwing Body Blows
After surrendering the chip lead a dozen or so hands into this heads-up contest, Nicholas Immekus has regained control after taking down two big pots back to back.
First, Marshall opened for 1.4 million and Immekus three-bet to 4 million even. Marhsall flatted the reraise and took a flop of . Immekus then c-bet for 3 million and claimed the pot when Marshall mucked. Immekus brought the needed out at that point, showing his opponent the to show him that any two cards are deadly when he decides to deploy them.
A deal or two later the two played a pot to the river on the board, and Marshall decided to call a bet of about 3 million on fifth street. Immekus produced trip sixes with a flourish and another pot laden with bright pink T100000 chips was pushed his way.
After entering heads-up play at a decided chip disadvantage in terms of chips, Allyn Marshall has made a game of it here, and after the last hand he has actually taken over the top spot.
Marshall made aces full on a four-flushed board, and Immekus had to pay off a big bet with what we can only assume was a fifth heart in his hand. The loss tipped the balance of power and now Marshall holds a slight lead.
David Heck's last hand of the night just went down, after he shoved all in over the top of Nicholas' Immekus' 2.5x opening raise.
Immekus, already in possession of a huge chip advantage, went for the jugular and snapped the move off with his .
Heck was ace-hunting with his , and three more spades would suit him just fine, but the final board rolled out with neither and he hit the rail with a 3rd place finish. Despite falling short of the title, Heck took home $36,389 for his deep run here tonight.
Andrew Carnevale made the standard opening raise to 800,000 and heard Nicholas Immekus announce himself all in - a bet which really put Carnevale at risk.
Holding , Carnevale made his stand and actually found himself flipping against Immekus' .
Flop:
Just like that, the coin fell in favor of Immekus and Carnevale's hopes were slashed by a set of deuces. The arrived on the turn to bring the sweat that never fails to arrive, but the wheel fell off for Carnevale when the completed the board on the river.
With his extremely deep run in this event, Carnevale took home $30,556 in prize money.
The Lights Are Dimming Here at the Borgata Winter Poker Open
The four players left in contention are now entering their 17th hour of poker play, and no matter how much each of them loves the game, the wear and tear of such a lengthy session is evident on each one's face.
Simply put, the intense pressure of tournament poker for such high stakes is magnified as the minutes bleed away one by one.
The human body is dependent on sleep and sustenance, neither of which are coming any time soon at this pace, and with every 50-minute level that passes by, the final four are becoming punch drunk.
General Rule #8 on the Borgata's structure sheet for this event says "This is a two-day tournament." But at this rate, during a Winter Poker Open defined by strange scenarios, suspensions and even a trash can fire that set off alarms, history might be made again.
This could be the first "two-day" tournament to last more than 48 hours.
David Heck Has Allyn Marshal Cussin' and Carryin' On
More than 3 million chips were just transferred from David Heck's stack to the increasingly massive castle built by Nicholas Immekus.
The board read by the turn and Heck fired out a cool million, but Immekus was game and he came along to see the float down the river.
When Heck slowed down by tapping the table, Immekus made it 1.9 million and Heck called fairly quickly, only to muck when he saw Immekus reveal the for a runner-runner flush. Heck flashed the to show he wasn't getting out of line with his turn bet, and the pot was pushed to the chip leader.
Shortly thereafter, Heck open-shoved for the remainder of his now shortened stack, and he was snapped off by Allyn Marshall and his .
"I got ten-eight," Heck announced while tabling , much to Marshall's surprise.
"Why you gotta make a move with that?" responded Marshall, obviously perturbed that he did not have a weak ace dominated.
The flop of was safe enough for Marshall, but the on the turn had him shouting obscenities as only a New Jersey native can. When the completed the board on the river he continued cursing his bad luck, before retaking his seat and returning to the fray.
Nicholas Immekus Just Chipped Up With a Well-Timed Value Bet
After dozens of hands with not a flop to be found, as the final four continue to raise and take, three board cards have been spotted on the felt.
Nicholas Immekus opened for 625,000 in the cutoff and flatted when Andrew Carnevale three-bet to 1.45 million.
When the flop was spread, Carnevale continued with a bet of 1.375 million, and Immekus came along to see the arrive on fourth street. Both players then slowed down by tapping the table, and the completed the board on the river.
After another check by Carnevale, Immekus announced a bet of 1 million and stared silently at his man, who went into the tank for a minute or so before ultimately making the crying call. Immekus tabled the with authority and his hand was indeed good enough to claim the pot.
After open-shoving three times in the last five, claiming uncontested pots each time to add more than a million chips to his stack without seeing a flop, Dan Gerard tried the power play one too many times.
Nicholas Immekus opened for a raise of 500,000 and once again Gerard slowly slid his entire stack forward without saying a word. This time, however, rather than forcing a fold, Gerard ran smack dab into the held by Immekus.
"That's not good..." said Gerard when he heard the authoritative snap call. "A flush would be good I guess."
Rather than bringing diamonds to the board, the flop paired Gerard up. The on the turn provided eight additional outs to a chop, as either a deuce or seven would result in a split pot with players playing the straight on board.
River:
Gerard's miracle card failed to arrive, and he went around the table shaking hands with his former tablemates before heading the payout desk to collect a $25,425 payout. Immekus, meanwhile, chipped back up to over 10 million after falling back a bit during the last level.
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flop and Immekus snapped him off while triumphantly tabling 
. Marshall could only muster the 
for bottom pair, putting him on the brink of elimination, but the dealer burned and turned the 
to thrust him into the lead. The 
on the river changed nothing, and suddenly Marshall had Immekus on the ropes.
and it was Marshall's turn to snap-call with his 
. Before he could celebrate, however, the 
appeared right in the window, and the final board rolled out 
to swing things back in Immekus' favor.
all-in move against Immekus' 
provided no further miracles, and with that Marshall finished as the runner-up for a $51,318 score.
. Immekus then c-bet for 3 million and claimed the pot when Marshall mucked. Immekus brought the needed out at that point, showing his opponent the 
.
.
completed the board on the river.
on the turn had him shouting obscenities as only a New Jersey native can. When the 
arrive on fourth street. Both players then slowed down by tapping the table, and the 
with authority and his hand was indeed good enough to claim the pot.
on the turn provided eight additional outs to a chop, as either a deuce or seven would result in a split pot with players playing the straight on board.