Riding a tremendous rush that extended over the final two days of the tournament, Bobby Oboodi captured the championship early Saturday morning of the World Poker Tour’s latest stop at the Borgata Poker Open in Atlantic City, NJ.
Coming to the final table on Friday afternoon, Oboodi held a slim 60,000 chip lead over veteran grinder Fred Goldberg. These two men were both over the eleven million chip mark, leaving the remaining four players – Darren Elias, Daniel Buzgon, Ricky Hale and Jim Hwang – facing the daunting task of catching the two chip leaders. In the end, one of the four men on the lower rung of the leaderboard was almost able to seize the championship.
Only eleven hands into play, the first casualty of the final table occurred. After a raise from Oboodi, Ricky Hale decided to make his stand, pushing his remaining two million chips to the center of the felt. Oboodi made a quick call, tabling his suited A-K, and Hale was dominated with his meager A-10 off suit. A ten on the flop momentarily turned the tables, pushing Hale into the lead, until a King came on the turn. After a Jack fell on the river, Ricky Hale was out of the tournament in sixth place.
Over the span of the first forty hands, Goldberg used his wealth of skills to pass Oboodi for the chip lead. That lead would disappear, however, as Goldberg first doubled up Daniel Buzgon and then lost a five million chip pot against Oboodi. After losing that pot, Goldberg would never be a threat in the tournament again.
Oboodi continued to catch excellent cards and was responsible for the next elimination. After almost four hours of play, Darren Elias put in a 500K raise, only to see Oboodi push it up to 1.1 million. After a brief respite of thought, Elias put his tournament on the line and moved all in, which was immediately called by Oboodi. With his pocket Kings, Oboodi was in a dominant position over Elias’ pocket Jacks and, once the board came ten high, Darren Elias was out in fifth place.
Down to four players, Oboodi held almost half the chips in play, while Daniel Buzgon had moved into second, Jim Hwang had battled up to third and Goldberg was on the short stack. It was at this point that a disturbance in the tournament that seemed to distract Goldberg from his purpose of winning.
After a hand, Goldberg approached a group of supporters – seemingly for Oboodi – and asked them to calm their raucous cheering. What started as a calm discussion soon escalated, however, with the railbirds getting involved in a verbal altercation with Goldberg that resulted in security being called twice to quell. After the disagreement, an irritated Goldberg attempted to come back in the tournament, but he was eliminated in fourth by Oboodi after 102 hands of play.
Kudos in the tournament have to be handed out to Jim Hwang, who came to the final table as the short stack. He expertly maneuvered his way through the carnage and was responsible for the elimination of Daniel Buzgon in third place when his Big Slick hit a turned straight against Buzgon’s pocket sevens that rivered a set. Down to two players, the formerly short stacked Hwang had a shot at taking down Oboodi.
It took two hands of heads up play for Hwang to eliminate a six million chip disadvantage and seize the lead. The twosome would continue to swap the lead back and forth over the next fifteen hands before Oboodi would capture the championship. After a button limp from Oboodi, Hwang reraised and was called. After both players checked a 7-6-6 two-spade flop, a Jack of spades on the turn ignited the fireworks.
Oboodi pushed out a 1.6 million chip bet, leading Hwang to say, “Let’s gamble, I’m all in.” Oboodi made the call and tabled a Q-2 of spades for the made flush against Hwang’s K-J for two pair. An innocuous three of spades hit the river and earned the championship for Bobby Oboodi.
1. Bobby Oboodi – $922,441
2. Jin Hwang – $554,303
3. Daniel Buzgon – $335,433
4. Fred Goldberg – $280,925
5. Darren Elias – $230,610
6. Ricky Hale – $186,585
After seeing a record field for the Borgata Poker Open, the WPT will head to Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut on October 27 for the World Poker Finals. This tournament will be the first test of the “New World Order” of poker as it will feature a single $10,000 buy in. Other stateside WPT events, such as the Legends of Poker and the Borgata Poker Open, have featured lower buy ins (both tournaments were $3500) and one optional reentry. As such, the World Poker Finals will demonstrate what condition the tournament poker world is in following the turmoil of this year.
