The final eight players in Event #1: $800 No Limit Hold’em Kickoff Deepstack returned to the Borgata at noon for the Day 3 conclusion of the final table and Guan Huang is the winner for a top prize of $192,236 after only about 4 hours of play.
He defeated his heads-up opponent, Travis Hartshorn, in only a few hands of play and Hartshorn took home a healthy $131,998 for his efforts.
Huang hails from New York City and has been involved in poker for 5-7 years — the win marks a great start to a recent career change.
Fast start to new career
“I just quit my job this year," Huang told PokerOrg after the win. "I’m trying to play full-time poker.”
Huang, who describes himself as more of an online player, only recently made a jump into live tournaments. This is his largest score, first win, and only his second cash.
“This is my first trophy, and I’m just glad I did it.”
Huang was driving the action the whole day and even found a few nasty bluffs in some big spots and his mix of unorthodox pre-flop and aggressive post-flop play made him chips on every orbit on the final table. He was able to get the bluff through at the right time and apply the pressure when he sniffed weakness.
Huang finishes the job
The final day started quickly with the elimination of Shrikanth Gundela in eighth place and Carlo Virga in seventh.
Soon after, Hartshorn, who entered the day among the short stacks, doubled through Dhaval Joshi to move into position at the top of the leaderboard. The hand left Joshi with one of the small stacks and he was out in sixth place a few moments later.
Joshi's bust was the first of the day for Huang, and he followed quickly with a big pot from a bluff on Trace Henderson. Henderson had an overpair and Huang had dust, but the dust won when Huang shoved the river to an angsty fold.
The hand made Huang a prohibitive chip leader at the first break of the day, but Hartshorn joined him at the top of the counts after he busted Day 2 chip leader Pavel Plotkin in fifth place.
Brendan Mahoney had been hanging around the middle for most of the day, but he made his move in four-handed play with the elimination of Henderson. The bustout gave Mahoney the overall chip lead, while Huang and Hartshorn lingered close behind with relatively even stacks.
From there, Huang turned up the aggression and built a chip lead while Mahoney bowed out in third. Hartshorn soon succumbed to top pair and Huang was the champ.
The Borgata Poker Open continues throughout the week with Day 2 of the Mirror Mystery Bounty on tap for Sunday. Be sure to stay tuned to PokerOrg's Instant Live coverage for the latest updates from the floor at the Borgata.
2024 $800 BPO Kickoff Deepstack Final Table results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guan Huang | $192,236 |
| 2 | Travis Hartshorn | $131,998 |
| 3 | Brendan Mahoney | $90,338 |
| 4 | Trace Henderson | $58,612 |
| 5 | Pavel Plotkin | $39,787 |
| 6 | Dhaval Joshi | $30,457 |
| 7 | Carlo Virga | $23,761 |
| 8 | Shrikanth Gundela | $19,582 |
| 9 | Mykhailo Lendel | $14,421 |
