Online Poker > News Archive
Poker News
September 25th 2006
Mark Newhouse wins 2006 (WPT) Borgata Poker Open
It may not have been a start-studded event, but the final table of the Borgata Poker Open featured a perfect mix of styles and backgrounds. Taking their seats for a shot at the $1.5 million first prize were an amateur, a seasoned pro, a famous pro and author, a wealthy business man, a young limit specialist and a young up-and-coming poker pro.
At 5pm EST the first cards were dealt and the action began with Florida businessman Blaise Ingoglia setting the early pace, catching a queen on the river to double through Chris McCormack with QJ against AK.
Ingoglia had obviously come out to play and was all-in more times than any other player in the first 2½ hours. Eventually however, his earlier luck against McCormack caught up with him and he was finally put to the sword. On the crucial hand Ingoglia moved all-in over the top of a Mark Newhouse raise as he had done many times before, and this time Newhouse made a very questionable call with Js-8s. Ingoglia had A-Q, though Js-8s would have been behind against almost any hand. Still, poker is what poker does, and Newhouse rivered a queen high straight to send Ingoglia to the rail in sixth ($261,901).
Next to go was veteran poker pro Chris Bell. Cheered on in person by the likes of Gavin Smith, Mike Gracz and Erick Lindgren Bell was hoping to join his friends on the WPT title winners’ rostrum, but it wasn’t to be. Having let his stack dwindle to a precarious state Bell needed to make a move, and did so with A4, moving all-in over the top of a Mark Newhouse raise. It was an easy call for Newhouse with A9, as the raise was only double his initial bet, and a nine on the flop spelt the end for Bell. He received $314,280 for fifth place.
The next elimination was probably the harshest of the day and will certainly rank as the worst of Argila’s fledging poker career thus far. K-8 may not exactly be a premium hand but up against K-5 it is as big a monster as you can get. That was the situation that the New York amateur Anthony Argila found himself in against Chris McCormack. A brutal five on the turn sent him packing in fourth ($366,660).
With three players left David Sklansky, one of the most successful poker authors in history, had built his short stack up to over $3 million, mostly by using well-timed all-in moves, and was now a serious contender to win his first ever major title. But those hopes evaporated when he chose a poor time to clash with Chris McCormack, getting all his chips into the middle when his pocket fives were dominated by McCormack’s pocket tens. A ten on the flop made the turn and river a formality and Sklansky exited in third, picking up $419,040.
That win gave McCormack the chip advantage going into the heads-up stage, with $8.6 million to Newhouse’s $4.3 million; it was a situation Newhouse wasted no time in addressing. On a flop showing K-8-5 Newhouse got all his money in with K-5 (two-pair) and was comfortably ahead of McCormack’s K-7. The turn and river helped neither player and the chip counts had been reversed.
From that point on Newhouse, who makes a living playing limit poker, began to throw his weight around, raking in pot after pot and building his lead to over $10 million. A late double up brought McCormack hope, but it was short lived, and Newhouse soon finished the job.
On the deciding hand Newhouse moved all-in preflop with pocket queens and McCormack called with A-J. The Q-T-T flop effectively sealed Newhouse’s victory and a five on the turn made it official. For McCormack the $802,895 second place prize was the biggest of his career but Newhouse was the champion, picking up $1,519,020 along with entry to the WPT Championship event in 2007.
Submitted: 25/09/2006 12:24:16
Page 1 of 1
Monthly Archive