Al Ardebili Captures World Poker Tour Title at Borgata Poker Open

Al Ardebili Captures World Poker Tour Title at Borgata Poker Open Six players entered the Borgata Event Center last night, one left a champion. The marquee event of the 2005 Borgata Poker Open lived up to its hype and supplied spectators with some of the most intriguing poker play on the WPT to date. Jersey City's Al Ardebili captured the title and first-place prize of $1,498,650 after he beat Margate, N.J.'s Richard Festejo in the final hand. Both New Jersey natives won their buy-ins into the WPT finals via Borgata Super Satellite tournaments earlier this month, after participating in $300 and $1000 events respectively. Taking an enormous chance, Festejo risked his chip stack on a bluff with only a seven and eight of hearts and was quickly rebuffed when Ardebili called with his ace of hearts and nine of spades. Unfortunately for Festejo, who had started the final table with the shortest stack, neither the flop, turn, or river offered any help and Ardebili eliminated him with only ace high. Festejo earned $799,280 for finishing second. Kathy Liebert reached the highest spot for the ladies, finishing third and collecting a cool $427,115. She was joined in the money by fellow female standouts Evelyn Ng, who finished 11, and Clonie Gowen, who finished 31. Celebrities, poker stars, and local "home-game heros," all saw action on a level playing field at the 2005 Borgata Poker Open, as players came from all over the world for a chance at the WPT title. WPT announcer and star player in his own right, Mike Sexton, applauded Borgata and explained that the property has the key ingredients to make the perfect mix of atmosphere and great game play that has become the calling card of Borgata. "Borgata is the perfect fit for the WPT because a: it's a very classy and elegant casino property, b: it's the finest property in Atlantic City, and c: the WPT truly has the greatest venues in the game and it's only fitting that our East Coast stop here in Atlantic City is Borgata." With almost double the players of last year's series, the 2005 Borgata Poker Open broke attendance records and rewarded more money than previous Borgata Poker Open events. The WPT main event, featuring a prize pool of over $5 million, was the biggest tournament in Atlantic City's history. The series also featured a 500-player Ladies Only event. Next year's Borgata Poker Open will be held in the casino-hotel's expanded 85-table poker room, part of a $200 million expansion project which will provide guests more gaming space, dining options and entertainment experiences, expected to debut in spring of 2006.