8.31pm
Erick raised to 300K and Grinder moved all in. Erick called. Erick has the A Q and Grinder the 4 4. Mike is all in for 1,470,000. The flop comes the 2 5 Q . The turn is the 5 . The river comes the 4 and Grinder spikes a two outter and doubles through Erick Lindgren


8.36pm

This time Amnon pushed all in and John called him. Amnon has the A T and John the A K . The flop comes the K 8 3 . The turn is the 9 and the river the A . John takes the pot and knocks out Amnon Filippi from New York, NY in 4th for $174,785.

9.03pm
Erick is all in for 100K on the big blind. Grinder and John both call. The flop came the A 7 K John bets 75K and takes the side pot. Erick has the J 8 and John the K 6 .Turn is the 3 . The river is the T and Erick Lindgren from Las Vegas NV takes 3rd for $282,721

Erick folds and we have a two way pot. The J T 8 on the flop with two clubs. John bet 120K and Grinder calls. The A on the turn. Checked. The river comes the 4 . John showed the Q T and won with a pair of queens.


We move to the next level. 15K antes with 60K / 120K blinds.



Button on John. Battle of the blinds. Erick raises to 300K. Grinder calls. J 5 4 Checked. Q on the turn. Erick bets 240K and Grinder raises to 740K. Erick moves all in. Grinder calls. Grinder has the K 3 for a flush and Erick the A 2 for the nut flush draw only. The river comes the 8 and Grinder takes the pot. Erick is considered pretty crippled now.


Erick is on the button. Grinder calls and John checks his option. Flop comes the 3 3 K Grinder bets 80K. John reraised to 300K. Grinder takes it up a notch and makes it 300K more to go. John calls. The turn brings the 4 . Grinder checks and John bets at the pot for 500K. Grinder folds.


Button is on John. He raised to 240K. Erick brings it to 680K and takes the pot.




9.14pm
Linda Johnson is interviewing the two remaining players and Grinder just said that his baby who will be born tomorrow will be named Julie. John D'Agostino announced that his girlfriend Marie will be delivering their baby in September. Goodness gracious. Babies everywhere!




9.26pm
Grinder raised to 300K and John smooth called. The flop comes the K 4 2 . John checks and Grinder bets 50K. John makes the call. The turn comes the 3 . John checks and Grinder bets one million chippies. John folds.


John calls the 60K. Grinder checks. A 9 K . John bets 100K and Grinder raises 100K and takes the pot.




9.28pm
John raised to 300K and Grinder comes over him to 3 million. John leaves again.


9.41pm

Film crew makes a tape change and we take 5.


John raised to 300K and Grinder folds.


Grinder calls and John checks. Flop is the Q 7 6 . John bets 150K and Grinder calls. A on the turn. John checks and Grinder fires 350K out and John folds.





John calls. Grinder checks. Flop is 9 6 3 . John bets 150K and wins it.


Grinder calls. John checks option. FLop is 8 5 4 . John bets 150K and takes it.


John calls. Grinder checks. A K 8 . Grinder bets and wins.


John calls the 60K on the button. Grinder checks. K Q 2 . John bets 120K and wins.



9.53pm

9.55pm

Grinder calls. John checks. J T 4 John bets 150K and wins.


10.01pm
Michael calls and John checks. A 8 8 . Grinder bets 120K and John calls. 6 on the turn. Grinder checks and John fires in 300K. Grinder calls. The river comes the K . Checked. 8 9 for Grinder and he takes it.


John on the button and he raises to 360K. Grinder folds.


Michael raised 500K on the button and John folds.


Johns calls. Grinder checks. Flop is the A 4 2. Checked. A on turn, Grinder bets 150K and John folds


10.03pm

John raises to 360K and Grinder calls. The flop comes the Q J 9 . Grinder moved all in and John hightailed it out of it.



10.07pm


Flop of A 7 2 . John bets 150K and Grinder passes.


John raised to 500K and Grinder folds.




......


last deal..


J 9 6 . Grinder bet 120K, John called. 2 on the turn. Checked to John. Grinder bets 425K. John is all in and Grinder calls. J 6 for Grinder. K T for John. T on river. We have our winner. Grinder takes it with two pair.


Flop come the 2 T 8 > Grinder bets and John leaves.


John D'Agostino takes 2nd for $591,312


Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi takes 1st for $1,173,373








reported by our friend Sharla Lehrmann at Poker Pages

Welcome to the Borgata Winter Open Final - Main Event with the First prize of $1,173,373


Payout Structure


The winner of this event also earns a $25,000 seat into the WPT Main event. ALSO....he will drive home a brand new 2006 Cadillac Escalade.

Our final 6 start to battle at 5pm EST

Josh Spiegelman is the only contender playing at todays event who has no big win under his belt. He comes to the final table with a very healthy chips stack. Stay tuned for the excitement !


The room is beginning to fill with people, theatrical smoke, the "brass" and the players. The TV crew is busy with their last minute corrections and fine tuning.


5.25pm

We have three action the first hand out of the chute. Grinder raised to 85K, Amnon called as well as Stuart. The flop comes the K Q 8, two spades. Checked around. 4h on the turn. Amnon checked, Stuart bet 110K, Grinder called and Amnon folded. 7s on the river and Stuart fired 135K at the pot and Grinder called showing a 7 8 of heart for two pair and Stuart an A T. Grinder takes the first one.


Cards are in the air!


3K ante with 15K / 30K blinds.....Josh has the button...


5.31pm
Erick takes it to 120K. Folded around to Josh, he called. Flop came the J 6 2 with two diamonds. Checked. Turn is the 3 . Josh fires 125K at the pot and Erick folds.


Button on Erick. Battle of the blinds. Grinder calls the 15K and John checks his option. The Q 9 2 rainbow on flop. Grinder bets 60K and takes it.


John raised to 90K. Josh called as did Stuart. Erick reraised to 420K losing Grinder, John and Josh, taking the pot with the bet.


5.36pm

Grinder UTG. He raised to 87K. Folded to Erick in the big blind and he bumps it to 320K. Grinder thinks for a bit and decides to fold.


Button on Josh. Erick takes it to 110K, folded around to Stuart and Erick takes the blinds and antes.


John called a 90K bet made by Erick and around to Stuart, he called too. The A 9 5 rainbow on flop. Erick bets and takes the pot.


5.39pm
This time Josh raised to 125K and it is folded around to him for a blind and ante scoop.


Stuart has the button now. Erick limps for 15K and Grinder checks his option. Heads up. 7 5 3, two diamonds on flop. Checked. K , checked again. J , Erick checked and Grinder makes it 55K to play. Erick says no.


5.45pm

Stuart calls the 15K from the small and Erick checked. Q J T with two clubs. Checked. 8 on turn, Stuart checked and Erick bet 40K taking it down.


Grinder raised to 87K...Amnon called the 87K. Heads up. The flop comes the A K 5 . Checked. J on turn. Checked by Amnon, Grinder bets 100K, Amnon called. Q on river. Checked. Amnon shows KQ and Grinder showed an Ace. Amnon takes the pot.


John raised to 90K, Amon took it to all in status. Boo! John couldnt fold fast enough


5.50pm
Erick raised to 110 again. No action.


Erick raised to 110K, Grinder calls and it is heads up between Erick on the button and Grinder in the small blind. 4 9 3, all clubs on flop. Grinder bets 112K and Erick folds. Grinder madness ensues in the gallery.


Josh raied to 85K, Stuart moved all in for 380K and he gets no callers....except for al his buds in the gallery chanting "Dont mess with the DO NA TOR!!!!"


6.02pm

Erick on the button. Josh is first to act. He takes it to 87K. Erick calls. 8 6 5 with two diamonds. JAosh checks, Erick bets 135K and Josh raised to 350K. Erick called. Turn came the A . Josh thinks for quite a while since he is first to act and then decides to check. Erick checks behind him. River card is the Q . Josh checks and Erick "edog" bet 175K. Josh called. Erick shows a pair of queens and Josh a pair of Aces with the A 9 and takes the pot.


Stuart takes the button. Between Josh and Erick. Flop come T 6 6. Checked. 3h. Checked. 4s. Josh shows an A 9 and takes it with the ace.


Button on Amnon. Grinder, UTG, raised to 87K. No action.


Dealer change.


6.11pm
Erick raised to 110K. Grinder called. Two players. Flop is the K 4 2 . Erick bets 120K, Grinder called. Turn is the 8 . Erick "edog" checked and Grinder did too. River came the 3 . Edog bet 230K and Grinder has to make a decsion. He thinks for a bit and after playing with a stack of chips for bit, finally (staring at Erick intensly) lets his cards go.


Between Josh and Amnon this time. Flop came the J T 8. Turn the 7 Josh checks and Amnon bets 80K. Josh folds.


Griinder makes an 87K raise and no one elects to play with him.


6.17pm

Grinder limped in preflop and John raised to 130K. John called. Between John and Grinder this time. A Q 7 on flop. Grinder checked. John bet 230K Grinder came over the top and moved all in. John does call.Grinder has the 4 2 John has the K K. The 3 comes on the turn and the 7 on the river. The kings hold up. NO heart for Grinder.


6.25pm
Players take a break. Back in 15 minutes. 5K ante, 25K / 50K blinds.


We have a 6 way flop. The Q{mosca rdsuit:ds} 9 T on the flop. Erick bet 85K and Amnon was the only caller. Turn is the 7 Checked. K on the river. Amnon bets 150K, Erick goes to the tank and calls. Chop. They both have only Ace high.


Current Chip Counts

6.42pm
Stuart "Donator" Paterson moved all in and gets a call from Grinder. Stuart shows the A T and Grinder big slick, the A K . The flop is good to Grinder and puts a lot of pressure on Stuart. It comes the K 7 6 . The 5 came on the turn and Stuart is drawing dead. Another K, the K comes on the river and we lose Stuart "Donator" Paterson from Boca Raton FL in 6th for $110,871.


7.06pm

A bet and three callers. The T on the flop. Grinder bet 80K, John called and Josh folded. Amnon called. The A on the river. Amnon checked, Grinder bet 175K, Amnon folded and John called. Both show a flush but John has the Q 8 for the bigger one. Grinder had the 65.


Amnon raised to 175K and is called by John. Flop came the K 5 7 Checked. 7 on the turn. Checked. 3 . Checked. A6 for Amnon and mucky fo John.


Both blinds are in for 150K each. T 8 5 4 8 . Erick bet 65K and gets no call.


Grinder raised to 155K. No callers.


Josh called Erick raise to 125K. The K Q 7 on the flop. Josh checked and Erick bets. Josh folds.


7.15pm
Dealer change.


Amnon called the 50K, Grinder called, John called the 25K and Josh checked his option. K 5 4 . Checked to Amnon, he bets 150K and gets no callers.


Erick rasied to 175, Grinder called and John reraised to 500K. Erick folds and Grinder made a balk at at moving all his chips and then smiled. John stayed stoic. Grinder is having to really think here. He finally folded.


7.30pm

Erick calls the 50K. John takes it to 200K and Erick called. Heads up. The flop comes the 7 4 5 . Erick checks and John bets 350K. Erick moves all in. John requests a chip count. This could be serious. Erick has about 2.2 million total. John rubs the back of his neck and goes to the tank for a bit. He has to readjust his chair and we can see he is a bit unnerved. Erick has a very very straight face and isnt moving a muscle. Time ticks on. John takes another look at his cards..just for safety or good tv or maybe he forgot them. ...NOT .....The WPT releases some of its television smoke into the room. Eeerie....... He finally makes the move to fold. Erick takes a nice pot


Folded around to Amnon, he called and Erick checks his option. On the flop, Amnon bet and Erick folded.


Threeway action. Q 8 7 on the flop. John bets 100K and Grinder calls as does Josh. 5 on turn. John bets 300K . Josh folds as does Grinder.



7.40pm

We move to a 10K ante with 40K / 60K blinds. Step it up!!!!


Button on Josh. Grinder raised to 150K. John takes it to 500K. Folded back to Grinder and he is in the same place Erick was the last hand. Decisions decsions. No call by Grinder.


John has the button. Erick made it 150K and Grinder came over him to 500K. Erick folds.


Battle of the blinds. John limps for 25K and Josh raised to 200K. He takes it...no battle here.



7.56PM

15 minute break.


Three way action. 8 K 2 . Checked by Erick, Grinder and Josh. K on the turn. Erick checked, Grinder bet 150K and John moved all in. He takes the pot.





Action on Grinder. John raised to 240K. Erick called. Flop came the K T 6 . Erick bet and John called the 120K. The turn came the 9 . Erick checked and John bet 600K. The onus is on Erick now. He moved all in over the top of John. John now has the decision and he elects to lay this one down. Edog takes a humdinger.


Erick is first to act. John raised to 240K. He takes the blinds and antes.


Button is on Grinder. Amnon raised to 250K. No call.


In a two way pot, we see the flop, the 3 A Q . Both check. 2 on the turn. Grinder bets 225K and John called. 3 on the river. Both check. Grinder turns over the 7 7 and takes the pot. John mucks.



Current Chip Counts

8.13PM
Erick raised to 300K and Josh is all in preflop for 505K more. Erick called. He shows the A 3 and Josh the A 6. . FLop comes the 9 2 2 . Turn is the T . River brings a 4 and they chop it up.


In a two way pot between John and Grinder, we see the flop. J 6 2 . Checked. 7 . Grinder bet 80K, John called. K on the river. Grinder bet 30K and John called. Grinder showed the K 7 and takes it with two pair.


8.16pm

Button is on Erick. Amnon pushed all in. Folded to John and he lets it go and Amnon takes the blinds and antes.


Amnon takes the button. Grinder gets a walk.


John moved all in from the cutoff and takes the pot.


8.22pm
John pushed all in this time and Josh called. all in for 670K. Josh showed the K Q and John the 8 J . The board comes the Q J 8. The turn is the 5 and the river the T . John D'Agostino takes the pot and we lose Josh Spiegelman in 5th for $147,828.


WooHoo...It's a push fest. This time Grinder has the button and he pushed all in. No one came out to play and he takes the blinds and antes.


8.28pm

This time John pushed all in and Grinder called. John shows the Q Q and Grinder the 9 9 . The flop brings a K Q T . The turn brings the case queen for quads and John is smiling. The river is the A. Ship a BUNCH of chips to John D'Agostino.