Final Battle at Borgata's 2006 Winter Poker Open

Thursday February 02, 2006

Day Three of the World Poker Tour main event at Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa is under wraps and the field has been narrowed down to the final table of six players. Starting out with 33 of 381 players, Wednesday was action packed and saw the exit of many of Day Two's chip leaders.

Cliff "Johnny Bax," Joesphy, Full Tilt's Erik Seidel and the site's online qualifier, Peter "Nordberg" Feldman, the founder of the European Poker Tour, John Duthie, and top World Series of Poker tournament circuit player, Don Mullis, all fell victim to losing hands that come to all players at some point during marathon sessions of tournament poker. Excellent play was displayed by all, but only six final players would make it to vie for the Borgata Winter Poker Open title, a 2006 Cadillac Escalade, a $25,000 seat into World Poker tour's championship event in April, and of course, the $1,173,373 first-place cash prize.

The big story of Day Three comes from the land of team Full Tilt Poker yet again. Chip leader, and without a doubt the most dominating player throughout the day was Erick Lindgren. He currently has $2.635 million in chips, and with his flawless game it will be difficult to dethrone him from the leader board.

There are two other pros at the final table that will definitely have a go at Lindgren. Full Tilt teammate and the most up and down player of Day Three, John D'Agostino or "D'ags" made September's 2005 Borgata Poker Open main event final table and is always a threat.

Although Full Tilt is well represented at the final table, it doesn't mean that they will walk away with the title. Possibly the most exciting player left, Michael "the Grinder" Mizrachi, will give Lindgren plenty of trouble on the way to the first-place spot. "The Grinder" was an absolute animal at the tables throughout the day and made possibly the best lay-down of the tournament when he mucked top set of 10s to Don Mullis, who he believed to have a flush. Mullis kindly showed "the Grinder" that he had made the right decision as Mullis had the nut flush.

There are also three players at the final table that most of the poker world might be unfamiliar with. Although Ammon Filippi, Stuart "Donator" Patterson, and Josh Spiegelman do not have the name recognition of the big players at the table, they are just as much of a threat to Lindgren as "D'ags" and "the Grinder."

Today's final table begins at 5:00 PM and will be open to the public on a first come, first serve basis. Come and experience the fun and excitement of a World Poker Tour final table and possibly see yourself on television when the show airs on the Travel Channel.