Event 12: $500 + $60 No Limit Hold’em
June 20-22
Number of Entries: 489
Total Buy-In: $244,500
Top Prize: $67,877
Torpekay Habashzada did something her husband Sirous Jamshidi, who has $1.7 million career tournament earnings, has never done, win a Borgata Main Event. Habashzada outlasted the field of 489 players over two long days to win the $560 Deep Stack.
"It's so good, my first real tournament and I can't believe I did this well," says Habashzada (Broomall, PA) who takes home $67,877 for first place.
Habashzada earned herself the nickname the "Torpedo," for her domination throughout the tournament and specifically at the final table. She knocked out 6 of the final 8 players with a combination of good play and great cards.
"I've never seen a lady play so ferociously aggressive," says Jerry Brown (Philadelphia, PA), who wins $36,671 for second place, "that when she did get it in (the pot), she was either ahead or she hit, which is why she had 95% of the chips towards the end of the tournament."
Habashzada's big hand comes early at the final table when she won a 4 million chip pot against Jennifer So (Galloway, NJ), who was the chip leader at the time. With all the money in preflop, the Torpedo is behind with K♠ 10♣ against So's Q♠ Q♥, but a 10 on the flop, followed by a 10 on the turn, gave Habashzada trip 10s and a commanding chip lead.
"You have to play your hands and sometimes you get lucky," says the mother of three, who's originally from Afghanistan. Her husband, Jamshidi, wasn't in Atlantic City this weekend, but is certainly familiar with Borgata final tables. In January he was heads-up in the Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship Event against WSOP bracelet winner Jeff Madsen, but settled for second place and nearly $368,000.
"He knows how I'm doing and he's very proud of me," she says while clutching the crystal trophy that goes along with the title.
The tournament began with 153 players on Sunday's Day 1A, and produced Adam Cook (Pasadena, MD) as the early chip leader. Day 1B had a field nearly twice as large and had Dennis Frederick (Drexel Hill, PA) on top heading into Tuesday's finale.
Cook finished 17th, but Frederick didn't make it into the money after Habashzada was moved to his table five minutes into Day 2 play. Frederick, Habashzada and George Zias (Bethpage, NY) completely dominated their table as the three combined for more than 1 million of the 12 million chips in play when the average stack was only 120k.
Habashzada and Zias emerged from their self proclaimed "Killer Corner," with Zias joining the Torpedo at the final table, where he eventually finished 9th.
Mike Murphy (Wilkes Barre, PA), who's a full-time player and Villanova graduate, finished third earning him $18,973. "I play a lot of these (tournaments) and this is my best finish, so it's great," says Murphy. "I've gotten to the last two or three tables, but never a final table."
Habashzada's big hand comes early at the final table when she won a 4 million chip pot against Jennifer So (Galloway, NJ), who was the chip leader at the time. With all the money in preflop, the Torpedo is behind with K♠ 10♣ against So's Q♠ Q♥, but a 10 on the flop, followed by a 10 on the turn, gave Habashzada trip 10s and a commanding chip lead.
"You have to play your hands and sometimes you get lucky," says the mother of three, who's originally from Afghanistan. Her husband, Jamshidi, wasn't in Atlantic City this weekend, but is certainly familiar with Borgata final tables. In January he was heads-up in the Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship Event against WSOP bracelet winner Jeff Madsen, but settled for second place and nearly $368,000.
"He knows how I'm doing and he's very proud of me," she says while clutching the crystal trophy that goes along with the title.
The tournament began with 153 players on Sunday's Day 1A, and produced Adam Cook (Pasadena, MD) as the early chip leader. Day 1B had a field nearly twice as large and had Dennis Frederick (Drexel Hill, PA) on top heading into Tuesday's finale.
Cook finished 17th, but Frederick didn't make it into the money after Habashzada was moved to his table five minutes into Day 2 play. Frederick, Habashzada and George Zias (Bethpage, NY) completely dominated their table as the three combined for more than 1 million of the 12 million chips in play when the average stack was only 120k.
Habashzada and Zias emerged from their self proclaimed "Killer Corner," with Zias joining the Torpedo at the final table, where he eventually finished 9th.
Mike Murphy (Wilkes Barre, PA), who's a full-time player and Villanova graduate, finished third earning him $18,973. "I play a lot of these (tournaments) and this is my best finish, so it's great," says Murphy. "I've gotten to the last two or three tables, but never a final table."
But in the end, the table belonged to the Torpedo, who's happy to bring home a Borgata Main Event crystal for the Habashzada-Jamshidi trophy case.
Thats' my aunt!!!
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