Event 9
The June 2018 DeepStacks Challenge Series was a huge success. The schedule of 13 events over 13 days carried $330,000 in guarantees, all of which were well covered. There were also some noteworthy accomplishments during this series.
Mickey Carr became the first player to win two events during a single DeepStacks Challenge Series, winning Events 1 and 8. Chuck Bryant became the first known player to win the same event in back-to-back years (Event 2, $125+$25 Deep Stack NLH). Julie Fine is the first woman to take 1st place in a DeepStacks Challenge event since October of 2016.
Here are all the June 2018 DSC winners:
* Indicates Adjusted Payouts
Congratulations to all our winners and thank you to all participants. Thanks to all the Borgata dealers and staff for a terrific series. We hope to see you all back here in a couple of weeks for the Borgata Summer Poker Open. The next DeepStacks Challenge Series has not yet been announced, but is expected to take place in August. Until then, we return you to your regularly scheduled Borgata Daily Tournaments.
$125+$25 Deep Stack NLH
$15,000 Guaranteed
Total Entries: 161
Brian Adragna – 1st Place – $125 Deep Stack NLH
Brian Adragna has been playing poker for a living for about 3 years and today takes home his first Borgata trophy. In a four-way adjusted payout agreement, he gets 1st place, the ‘Baby Borgata’ trophy, and $4,097. The Allentown, NJ resident came close during the February 2017 DeepStacks Challenge series, finishing 2nd in the $150 DSC event. That was his best finish until today when he finally closed the deal and has a trophy to call his own.
Brian Adragna (seated) with Stephen Moy, Alex Barsan, and James ‘Suits’ Salters (l-r standing)
Today’s event drew 161 entrants and created a prize pool of $19,522. The final four players agreed on adjusted payouts and finished up shortly after midnight.
Final Results
| Place | Player | Payout |
| 1 | Brian Adragna | $4,097 |
| 2 | Alex Barsan | $4,097 |
| 3 | Stephen Moy | $2,200 |
| 4 | James Salters | $2,100 |
| 5 | Larry Gold | $1,171 |
| 6 | Anthony Mezzadonna | $976 |
| 7 | Ramak Rabizadeh | $781 |
| 8 | Larry Creekmore | $586 |
| 9 | Joseph Cappadona | $439 |
| 10 | Joe Gallinaro | $390 |
| 11 | Eli Greenwood | $390 |
| 12 | Steve Sackman | $390 |
| 13 | Christine Mizerak | $342 |
| 14 | Dave Calicchio | $342 |
| 15 | Larry Harper | $342 |
| 16 | Donna Jones | $293 |
| 17 | James Turrisi | $293 |
| 18 | Ryan Meyers | $293 |
$125+$25 Deep Stack NLH
$15,000 Guaranteed
Level 27: Blinds 30,000/60,000/60,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 161
Remaining Players: 4
Average Stack: 1.4 million
The final four opted to stop the clock and talk deal. The chips were counted and here’s how they stacked up:
Brian Adragna – 2,270,000
Alex Barsan – 2,215,000
Stephen Moy – 615,000
James ‘Suits’ Salters – 535,000
After a bit of negotiating, they agreed on these adjusted payouts:
1st – Brian Adragna – $4,097 and the ‘Baby Borgata’ trophy
2nd – Alex Barsan – $4,097
3rd – Stephen Moy – $2,200
4th – James ‘Suits’ Salters – $2,100
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- Brian Adragna
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- Alex Barsan
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- Stephen Moy
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- James ‘Suits’ Salters
$125+$25 Deep Stack NLH
$15,000 Guaranteed
Level 27: Blinds 30,000/60,000/60,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 161
Remaining Players: 4
Average Stack: 1.4 million
Larry Gold
Larry Gold (bb) got his short-stack in against Brian Adragna’s big stack. Unfortunately for Larry, his pocket 6s had run into Brian’s pocket Queens. The board changed nothing and Brian took the pot. He’s got a bit over 2 million.
Larry, who was circling the drain during the bubble play, worked his short stack all the way to a 5th place finish for $1,171.
$125+$25 Deep Stack NLH
$15,000 Guaranteed
Level 27: Blinds 30,000/60,000/60,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 161
Remaining Players: 5
Average Stack: 1,125,000
Brian Adragna
Brian Adragna got all-in for 920,000 against chip leader Alex Barsan. Brian’s pocket Aces were crushing Alex’s AK. The flop of Q T 6 gave Brian a sweat as it left Alex with a Broadway draw. The last two bricked out 3 7 and Brian doubled up to just under 2 million and took the chip lead.
Alex was left with ~1.7 million.
Alex Barsan
$125+$25 Deep Stack NLH
$15,000 Guaranteed
Level 27: Blinds 30,000/60,000/60,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 161
Remaining Players: 5
Average Stack: 1,125,000
Anthony Mezzadonna lost the last of his chips to James Salters. Anthony will collect $976 for his 6th place finish.
Anthony Mezzadonna
$125+$25 Deep Stack NLH
$15,000 Guaranteed
Level 26: Blinds 25,000/50,000/50,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 161
Remaining Players: 6
Average Stack: 938,000
Next to depart was Mark Rabizadeh, finishing 7th for $781.
Ramak ‘Mark’ Rabizadeh
$125+$25 Deep Stack NLH
$15,000 Guaranteed
Level 26: Blinds 25,000/50,000/50,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 161
Remaining Players: 7
Average Stack: 804,000
Larry Creekmore
Larry Creekmore got all-in from the cutoff against Alex Barsan on the button. Larry’s AK offsuit was a coin-flip against Alex’s pocket Queens, but the board fell J 7 3 J 8 and missed Larry completely. Alex took the pot, chipping up north of 2.5 million.
Larry finished 8th for $586, which is his second cash of the DSC series.
$125+$25 Deep Stack NLH
$15,000 Guaranteed
Level 26: Blinds 25,000/50,000/50,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 161
Remaining Players: 8
Average Stack: 703,000
Joseph Cappadona
Joseph Cappadona got all-in from the big blind holding 
against the AK of Alex Barsan. The board ran out King-high, sending the pot to Alex. He’s now playing about 1.6 million.
Joseph finished 9th for $439. That’s his fourth cash during the nine events of this DeepStacks Challenge series.
$125+$25 Deep Stack NLH
$15,000 Guaranteed
Level 25: Blinds 20,000/40,000/40,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 161
Remaining Players: 9
Average Stack: 625,000
Joe Gallinaro was the next player to go, finishing 10th for $390.
Joe Gallinaro