Thursday, May 8, 2008

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Huge field for Borgata $500k guarantee

Alan Engel, better known as Bodog Ari, was one of the many players to take part in the Borgata's $500k guarantee tournament.

By Arthur Crowson

May is a bit of a slow month for major poker tournaments, but that didn't stop 775 players from making the trip to Atlantic City for the Borgata's first-ever $500,000 guaranteed tournament.

The incredible attendance meant that guarantee was smashed, and the actual prize pool contained an impressive $1.55 million.

The final table saw a number of well-known poker players like John Racener, Alan "BodogAri" Engel and Erik Siegel competing for the $750,000 available at the final table. In the end the final four decided to shop, with the largest portion going to Schuyler Twaddle of Chesterbrook, Penn. Twaddle took down a cool $395,095 for his poker efforts.

The event was a huge success, according to Borgata Director of Poker Marketing Ray Stefanelli.

"We had an overwhelming response to our first $500,000 Deep Stack Poker Tournament," said Stefanelli. "The tournament attracted a mix of amateurs, professional players and bold-faced names, all of whom tried their hand at the first place prize of nearly $400,000 and the 500k Poker Champ' bracelet."

The tournament garnered the attention of a number of big name poker pros like Joey "The B" Brooks, Steve Dannenmann, Chris Bell, Bill Blanda, Will "The Thrill" Failla, Amnon Filippi, Davidson Matthew, Roy Winston and actress Cheryl Hines.

Related Articles:

• WPT ready to hit the boardwalk at Borgata
• Borgata poker tournament draws WSOP stragglers

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