Event 8: Recap

$260 + 40 Ladies No Limit Hold'em

It was the ladies who were front and center for Event 8, and this was no easy field.  Ruth Ruffman (Colts Neck, NJ) took home the trophy and $10,518 for her first major tournament win.  When she started heads up play with Irene Perrakis (Foster City, CA), it was pretty much an even playing field.

Ruffman began to chip away as the blinds continued to grow, and although both Ruffman and Perrakis both flopped a pair of sixes on the final hand, it was the turn which would seal Ruffman's fate.  Ruth turned two pair to take the lead, and all the chips made it into the middle.

Event 8 had 139 entrants and carried with it a total buy-in of $36,140.  The field was filled with a ton of Borgata regulars and familiar faces that added to their lifetime earnings.  Helen Ellis (New York, NY) made her second final table of this Borgata Poker Open, and followed her 6th place finish in Event 2 (HORSE), with a 5th place finish tonight.

Other notables to make the final table were Grace Sun (Merrick, NY), Marguerite Spagnuolo (Staten Isalnd, NY), Nancy Martin (Washington Crossing, PA), and Sarah Wasch (Philadelphia, PA).  Claire Chiang held a dominant chip lead one the bubble burst, but ended up finishing in 12th place.

Ruffman's biggest prior live cash was at last year's Borgata Summer Open where she collected $3,740 for a 7th Place finish in a $200 + 30 Deepstack No Limit event.  Ruth says she only plays at Borgata, and can now add this five figure cash to her lifetime earnings, bringing them up to $15,000.

She is a busy woman with a husband and three kids, on top of running a business back in Colts Neck, but she said we can expect to see more of her throughout this Borgata Poker Open.