On Monday morning at the Borgata Summer Poker Open, James Lauer came into the final table of the $600 Kickoff with the chip lead and the only stack over the 20 million threshold.
The New Jersey native had already claimed a Borgata trophy this year in January for a career-best score of $19,960. Despite losing the lead very briefly during the heads-up and three-handed portions of the tournament, he maintained the lead through the majority of the day.
As the last card fell, an incredibly excited Lauer screamed "Let's f***ing go!" claiming his biggest live score of $164,830.
Despite this score quadrupling his lifetime earnings, he knew that what came with the money was even more significant to him.
"Honestly, the trophy means more," he said. "I am a recreational player, but I've been taking poker seriously and trying to get a lot better and study. I've already had two first places this year, but this one is the biggest by far. The cash is a very nice icing on the cake."
Puppy love from above
This win comes after a particularly hard time for Lauer, as he discussed a recent loss in his life.
"It's been a tough couple of months for me. I lost my dog Bailey, which was the chip protector I had made. She was my absolute best friend in the world, so I think she sent me some rungood. It's been rough, but this is nice to have."
Lauer talked a little bit further about how his chip lead affected his mindset and whether that put any pressure on him.
"Not really. The thing I did best this tournament was I kept a level head no matter what. I didn't go on tilt at all, which I'm super proud of because that normally does happen. Obviously, it's nice to be the chip leader, especially when there is so much money up top. I can just sort of pick on the smallest stacks and wait it out. Angel (Lopez) was a great player. That was super fun to play him heads-up. Once we got to the final table, it was all gravy."
Bitten by the tournament bug
In the age-old debate between tournaments and cash, Lauer has his own response.
"I used to primarily play cash games because I didn't have the time to play these multi-day tournaments. I don't like cash that much anymore, so I am shifting to tournaments, but this was the first year where my business was allowing me to take a little bit of time away. I'm a real estate investor and I built my own business."
An elated Lauer made a few phone calls to the people in his life who were intently sweating the action.
"I called my mother, my father, and my fiancé. My fiancé actually said, 'I don't believe you,' but I'm sure she's going to believe it when she wants to go out to dinner.
"Everybody was sweating me from home; it's such a surreal experience. Shoutout to my friend Mario Rodriguez, who has been a good friend and a mentor and has been helping me out with my game."
What to do with all that money
"I'm going to put some of it in the stock market," Lauer said when discussing his future as far as the money is concerned. "My fiancé and I are both homeowners, but our goal is to own a farm, so maybe a little bit towards the down payment on that. Honestly, the rest? Bankroll for the future."
Event #1: $600 Kickoff saw a total of 2,026 entrants come over to play this tournament to generate a prize pool of $1,053,520. 251 of those players saw a piece of that sizable prize pool, but only nine players came into the day with the hope of claiming the trophy and the $164,830 first prize that was eventually awarded to Lauer.
Borgata Summer Open $600 Kickoff final table results:
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Lauer |
$164,830 |
| 2 | Angel Lopez |
$112,060 |
| 3 | Stephen Press |
$76,510 |
| 4 | Ryan McDonald |
$50,800 |
| 5 | Mark Grassi |
$34,630 |
| 6 | Maksym Pylypenko |
$26,450 |
| 7 | Jean Brillant |
$20,535 |
| 8 | Xiang Zou |
$16,325 |
| 9 | Marcus Banks |
$12,770 |
PokerOrg is reporting live from the Borgata Summer Poker Open — don't miss a single big moment.
