Manh Nguyen almost walked right by his five-figure score.
"I busted the main, and I was steaming out the door," he said. "My friend told me to buy in with 10 minutes left in registering."
For whatever reason, Nguyen took the advice, and he took first-place as part of a three-way deal at the final table with Terry Ryan and Assaf Sinai. Nguyen had roughly half of the chips in play when the deal was made. Here are the official payouts:
Place
Player
Prize
Manh Nguyen
$24,716
Terry Ryan
$14,565
Assaf Sinai
$8,386
Nguyen topped a field of 260 entrants, including notables such as Amanda Musumeci, Trevor Deeter, Luis Vazquez (finished fourth), Matt Kelly, Greg Candido, and Anthony Caruso.
"I'm glad my friend talked me into playing," Nguyen said. "He's gonna want a tip for sure."
mnuwwarah
Luis Vazquez at the Final Table in Event #20 at the 2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open
Luis Vazquez shoved all in for 116,000 after Manh Nguyen raised to 60,000 from the button. Terry Ryan called in the big blind, and Nguyen called as well.
Both players checked until the river, when Nguyen bet 150,000 with the board reading . Ryan folded, and Nguyen turned over for quad eights.
Vazquez laughed about sweating out a straight draw with that was drawing dead the whole time.
Zaid Shamoon just got all in preflop with , but Travis Marion had him in bad shape with . The board brought no help for Shamoon, and he headed for the payout desk.
Anthony Caruso got all in with with his last seven big blinds, and Rich Murnick got it in with on an even shorter stack. Manh Nguyen picked up and busted both opponents when he outraced them.
[user253757]
Amanda Musumeci is Still Grinding on the Event 20 Money Bubble
With the Borgata Winter Poker Open WPT Main Event Championship still on dinner break, one expect the action in the room to have come to a halt, but with Event 20 ($400 Big Stack No-Limit Hold'em Re-Entry) still underway there is plenty on the line to sweat.
The money bubble is set to burst at any moment with just 28 players left from the 260 entrant field.
The cash would have been reached a moment ago, with chip leader Luis Vazquez calling a short-stacked player's all-in bet with and having dominated. Both players flopped aces, but a dropped on the turn to keep the bubble intact. Vazquez remarked "what a turn card that was... I'm glad I have chips," while paying off the bet, and with 400,000 at his disposal, he is still the leader at the moment.
Amanda Musumeci is still surviving with a 64,000 stack, and as she put it "grinding" to score yet another cash here at the Borgata Winter Poker - just days removed from a runner-up performance which earned her a $17,214 payday.
. Ryan folded, and Nguyen turned over 
for quad eights.
that was drawing dead the whole time.
, saying, "If you have a pair, you're good."
and was dominated. The board brought no improvement for Moody, and he was out fifth.
, and Nguyen came out on top with 
when the board ran out 
.
. Nguyen made aces and fives to take the pot and bust Marder.
, but Travis Marion had him in bad shape with 
and busted both opponents when he outraced them.