Event 16: Recap

$2,000 + 150 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em

Borgata's version of "September Madness" was in action, and although there were no office pools handing out blank brackets to fill out, everyone who walked into the Event Center took time to look at the bracket.  We started with 64 spots and now have our winner, Kyle Frey (Cheshire, CT).  Kyle defeated Joshua Templeton (Cleveland, TN) and took home $40,352 and the coveted Event 16 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em trophy.  "I planned on arriving here to play in this event in particular," said Frey, and his scheduling was right on point.

Frey had a bye in the first round, and then swept his next two matches against Alan Schein and Jesse James.  Kyle came back this afternoon with his first match against Panayiotou Erades, in which he lost the first game in the best of three, but came back to win the next two.  It was a mirror image against his next opponent, David Diaz.  In the finals Frey would face Joshua Templeton, whom Frey said was his toughest opponent of the day.

Throughout the final the two were very talkative, learning that they had some history playing each other online.  Kyle even mentioned a story from the WSOP where he was sitting with an old basketball coach of Templeton this past summer.  Although the mood may have seemed light, the play in the finals was the furthest from carefree.

Frey took a 1-0 advantage to begin the final match, but Templeton had been down in both his previous match ups, and he managed to win both of those.  This wasn't strange territory for Templeton, and he played the second game very composed.  Joshua had Frey in a 2-1 and 3-1 chip disparity at certain points, but could not put Kyle away.  When Kyle was down to 4,000, he managed to double up, and then took the chip lead a few hands later when he again doubled through.  Now sitting with the upper hand, Kyle put Templeton all-in, with both players holding an ace.  Kyle (A 2) flopped a wheel draw while Templeton (A 7) was still ahead on the flop.  Frey turned the wheel and Joshua's only hope was to chop.  Frey watched as the river brick meant that he would be this year's heads up champion.

Event 16 had 52 entrants and held a total buy-in of $104,000.  The field was stacked with solid players like Christian Harder, Michael Marder, Orson Young, Elon Diamond, Jamie Kestetter, and Alex Phahurat.

Kyle Frey made sure he arrived in time for this event, and now we can be sure that we will see his face as the Borgata Poker Open continues.  With this win Kyle's live career earnings reach the $200,000 mark, and only the future can tell what that number will be once this series is over.

FINAL PAYOUTS:
1. KYLE FREY (MILFORD, CT): $40,352
2. JOSHUA TEMPLETON (CHATTANOOGA, TN): $20,176
3. SHAWN BUSSE (MAASAPEQUA, NY): $10,088
4. DAVID DIAZ (BARTLETT, TN): $10,088
5. JEFFREY COON (JACKSON, NJ): $5,044
6. ERACLES PANAYIOTOU (TOMS RIVER, NJ): $5,044
7. AARON MASSEY (ELMWOOD PARK, IL): $5,044
8. ALEX PHAHURAT (ROGERS, AR): $5,044