Pat Knoll claimed victory in the $300 buy-in Ladies Deep Stack No-Limit Hold'em tournament here at the Borgata Winter Poker Open. She took down a field of 134 to win a $10,138 first-place prize. She adds those winnings to a recorded career total of $1,672.
The one-day tournament lasted from noon until just after 5 a.m., when Knoll's held up against runner-up Megan Milburn's . Heads-up play was quickly reached from the final six players, as stacks were relatively short throughout the final table. Once there, Milburn ran up a dominating stack before fizzling out heads up.
Megan Milburn shoved over a button raise from Pat Knoll, and Knoll made the call.
Milburn:
Knoll:
"That's how tilted I am," Milburn said with a laugh.
Knoll had her opponent dominated, and that lead only increased when the flop came , giving Knoll top pair. The turn opened up the chance of a backdoor flush for Milburn, but she found only an inferior pair on the river.
Teresa Sexton pushed all in when action folded to her small blind, and Valerie Novak asked what the blinds were going up to. When told the next level was 40,000-80,000 with a 10,000 ante, she decided to call most of her stack off.
Sexton:
Novak:
"Yesss," Novak said, when the flop came . Her excitement was short-lived, however, as the turn brought an , giving Sexton a straight and ending the hand.
Novak was left with less than the small blind, and she busted the next hand.
Action folded to Denise Ronca in the small blind, and she moved all in. Megan Milburn called from the big blind with , and she was a favorite over the of Ronca. The board came down , and Milburn claimed another victim.
Megan Milburn opened to 140,000 under the gun, and Rose Ann Musillo shoved her small stack in from the blinds. Milburn's held up against Musillo's despite a five on the flop to send Musillo out in sixth.
Richard Gargel outlasted a field of 271 runners to claim a $22,080 first-place prize in the $340 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em event. The tournament began at 9 a.m, and Gargel finished it off here at about 3:30 a.m. with king-jack against jacks. With the win, he nearly tripled his live tournament career winnings of $8,235.
Gargel eliminated the final three opposing runners one by one to bag both the trophy pictured and the top prize.
Gargel now has some ammo to both pursue his poker goals and treat his family, as detailed in our earlier profile.