'Final Six' make Borgata WPT Main Event

ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey – (PRESS RELEASE) -- Players registered for the World Poker Tour (WPT) Main Event at the Borgata Winter Open last Friday with big dreams. From famous players, to amateurs, to pros, and internet wizards, everyone was focused on winning the coveted WPT title and $1.6 million prize purse. Six players have achieved at least part of their dreams, advancing to the WPT Final Table beginning this afternoon at 5:00PM at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.

The tension was evident as the twenty-seven players returned to Borgata's 85-table poker room to play down to six. Players often say it's a fine line between exiting the tournament with a respectable finish in the money, and the fame and prestige of making a WPT Final Table; just ask chip leader, Joseph Simmons of Philadelphia, PA.

Simmons, a musician by trade, is an amateur who plays most of his poker at Borgata. Simmons said, "I feel blessed that this tournament is at Borgata, my home (turf). All my friends and family are here cheering me on." Simmons went on a monster run at the end of the day knocking out three great players to take the chip lead. He first sent David Redlin from the tournament, followed by John Racener and Joe Cappello. Simmons sits atop the leader board with $5.5 million in chips.

John Gale, 2006 Caribbean Poker Adventure Champion is riding Simmons' coattails in second place with $4.8 million in chips. Gale leaped towards the top of the leader board after taking out then-chip leader, David Mathew, in dramatic fashion. Gale is joined by WPT Season 1 star, John Hennigan, who sits with $3.25 million chips.

Hennigan is one of the many pros making the high stakes area in Borgata's Poker Room his home away from home. Along with Hennigan, players like Phil Ivey, David, Williams, Barry Greenstein, Mike "The Mouth Matusow" and Ted Forrest have been forming "big games" throughout the Borgata Winter Open. But today, the focus is away from the poker room and on the WPT Final Table. Newcomers Chuck Kelley and Michael Sukonik have $1.6 and $1.3 million, respectively, in chips. Jon James from Lowell, MA, rounds out the Final Table as the short stack with $535,000 in chips.

The public is invited to come out to watch the WPT Final Table live in the Borgata Event Center tonight at 5:00PM -- a unique opportunity to watch some of today's best poker talent compete for $1.6 Million in first place prize money. Admission is complimentary. Guests are encouraged to arrive early as seating is limited.