While Mohammed Hakim (Parsipanny, NJ) was busy building a big stack, Mark Wahba (Cleveland, OH) waited patiently for his chance to strike. In the end, it was Mark Wahba who claimed the top prize of $32,267 and the Borgata Spring Open trophy.
The tide turned in Hakim's favor with eight players remaining. Hakim was all-in with pocket Queens and racing against Borgata regular Jerry Callahan's AK suited. Hakim flopped a set and turned a full house to double up, taking the chip lead. Callahan (Oyster Bay, NY) busted out soon after in 7th place ($4,720).
Hakim took out most of the final table with while Wahba took out the rest, including Alex Rocha (S Setauket, NY) who won over $150,000 in the $500 No Limit event during the 2011 Borgata Winter Open. Rocha finished 6th ($5,856).
When Hakim and Wahba got heads-up, the chips were nearly even and it was anyone's game, but Wahba came out on top.
The field of 308 players ponied up $400 + $50 to enter generating total buy-ins of $123,200. Among the field were many Borgata regulars, including Howard Wolper, 'Action' Bob Hwang, Russell Crane, Lee Childs, Eric Siegel, John Hinds, Mark Sykes, Mike Dentale, and Jerry Maher.
Also in the mix, but not cashing, were WSOP bracelet holder Jeff Papola and 2010 Borgata Poker Open Champion Dwyte Pilgrim.
Mark Wahba is a poker pro and comes all the way from Ohio to play the big tournaments at Borgata. "I play cash games, too, but tournaments are what I really love" he said. Now that he's familiar with the Borgata's Spring Poker Open Tournament Leaderboard promotion, "I'm gonna play 'em all!" said Wahba.
Final Table Results:
1. Mark Wahba (Cleveland, OH) $32,267
2. Mohammed Hakim (Parsipanny, NJ) $17,926
3. Phong 'VIP' Nguyen (Fairfax, VA) $11,114
4. Fedor Khrapatin (Brooklyn, NY) $8,963
5. Mario Dragone (Totowa, NJ) $6,931
6. Alex Rocha (S Setauket, NY) $5,856
7. Jerry Callahan (Oyster Bay, NY) $4,720
8. Oren Taylor (Bridgeton, NJ) $3,525
9. Edwin Lau (Philadelphia, PA) $2,390
10. Hoa Nguyen (Fairfax, VA) $1,554
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