The $2,700 Borgata Spring Open Championship concluded after four days of the grueling action and 670 entries. The final table had big wigs of poker, including 2015 WSOP Main Event champ Joe McKeehen, John Racener, Kane Kalas, Simon Lam, Wade Meachem, Erick But and Eric Fields, but in the end it was Sam Taylor who outlasted the entire field and ultimately won Borgata Spring Poker Open for a whopping $390,103.
Final Table Story
As the final table began, the first few minutes passed without any incident. Later, two back to back eliminations came in the form Erick But and Kane Kalas, both of them were knocked out by Joe McKeehen who hit an ace on the turn to make a set. The action got once again very slow and three hours passed until John Racener open-shoved holding ace-jack and Joe McKeehen called with pocket tens. The board was dry and McKeehen won the hand to eliminate Racener in the 7th place.
Up next, Ricky Guan went out in 6th place. It was a preflop showdown between Guan with Ac-Tc versus Simon Lam’s Ks-Js wherein Lam won with a flush. The next elimination came in Eric Fields who went all-in with Ace-Ten but lost to Simon Lam who held Ace-Nine. Both of them paired the ace on the flop but the river brought a nine and Lam won with ace-nine in the end. Very soon, Wade Meachem also hit the rail. Meachem’s pocket tens could not hold against Taylor’s ace-king. Going out in 3rd place was Meachem who moved all his chips in pre-flop with ace-eight and Taylor called with pocket fours.
The heads-up play began between Sam Taylor holding 14.8 million and Simon Lam holding 5.2 million. The heads-up battle lasted several hours and in the end, it was Taylor who stole the show. On the final hand on the flop 4d 2d 2s, Lam check-called 400,000. The turn came 4h, Lam bet around 600,000 and Taylor made a quick call. The river came 7h and Lam moved all in for 3.25 million. Taylor thought for a while and called. It was a good call as Taylor tabled Ah-9c for ace-high to win the title, top prize and along with of course the Borgata glass trophy.
A Look at Final Table Payouts:
- Sam Taylor – $390,103
- Simon Lam – $219,341
- Joe McKeehen – $138,104
- Wade Meachem – $112,108
- Eric Fields – $89,361
- Ricky Guan – $73,926
- John Racener – $59,303
- Kane Kalas – $44,681
- Erick But – $30,870