Ardit Kurshumi Wins BetMGM Poker Millionaire Championship At Borgata

The BetMGM Poker Millionaire Championship attracted a field of 670 to Borgata in Atlantic City. The $5,300 buy-in finale to the ‘Big, Big Buy-In’ series delivered a top-flight final table.

Three of the final nine players in contention, Chance Kornuth, Mike Leah, and Soheb Porbandarwala, each have both WSOP bracelets and a World Poker Tour title to their names. Andrew Porter is also a WSOP bracelet winner, and longtime East Coast standout Matt Glantz was also in the mix.

Ultimately, Ardit Kurshumi broke through with the most significant result of his career. Kurshumi made a heads-up deal with Kornuth, and ultimately persevered in their match for the trophy. After evening out the payouts a bit, Kurshumi walked away with $772,280. He also earned 1,680 points in the Card Player Player of the Year race, presented by CoinPoker.

“I’ve had so many close calls, but I always fell short,” Kurshumi told Poker.Org, the live reporting team for the event. “This time, I just knew it was my tournament. Sometimes you can feel it, and I felt it from the start.”

Kornuth walked away with $634,720. That cracks his top 10 biggest live results, in a career with over $21.6 million in total recorded earnings.

The Battle For $1 Million

With a prize pool of $3,350,000 and a guaranteed first-place prize of $1 million, the initial payout was top-heavy. The difference of over $600,000 between first and second place may well have contributed to a slow pace in terms of major pots early on at the final table.

Kurshumi picked up the first two eliminations of the final table. His ace-king beat Frayser Flores’ ace-jack to knock Flores out in 9th, and a turned straight with A♠J♦ on a 9♣8♦7♥10♦Q♥ board bested Edward Leonard’s K♦Q♦.

After a fairly long playdown day, the remaining seven players went off to dinner with Kurshumi in first, Kornuth in second and a gap between them and the rest of the field.

Kornuth Culls Four

Kornuth knocked out a dangerous opponent in Leah in 7th place. Leah three-bet all-in for his last 10 big blinds with K♣J♠ and Kornuth called with A♠7♠. An A♥-high flop was plenty for Kornuth to claim the pot.

A blind steal by Kornuth netted him another elimination. Kornuth shoved from the button, and George Rakitzis called in the big blind with A♦9♣. Kornuth was dominated with 9♥7♣, but nailed a 7♠ on the flop to claim the pot and sent Rakitzis out in sixth.

Porter earned a crucial double through Porbandarwala, as his K♣K♦ held against A♠Q♦. He’d double again, through Kornuth, with pocket tens against Kornuth’s 10♦9♦.

But Kornuth got all of those chips back, and then some. A short-stacked Glantz shoved the button for 15 big blinds, and Kornuth re-shoved from the small blind. Porter thought it over, and then called for his tournament life.

Kornuth had the best of it with Q♣Q♥, but there were some major sweats. Porter’s A♥Q♦ and Glantz’s J♥8♥ both picked up outs on a K♠J♠4♥ flop. Glantz’s position improved further as the 7♥ turn gave him a flush draw, too. But the 2♠ river was a blank, and Kornuth picked up the double knockout.

By nature of their stacks, Porter took fourth, and Glantz was out in fifth.

A Brutal Runout, And A Battle For Pride

A deal was discussed before three-handed play began, but the trio couldn’t come to terms. That ended up being especially bad news for Porbandarwala, who was moments away from a tremendously unlucky circumstance.

Porbandarwala five-bet all-in against Kurshumi, and Kurshumi called. Porbandarwala had a dream scenario with A♠A♣ against A♦J♣, but it turned into a nightmare. A J♥J♦4♣ flop turned Kurshumi’s dominated hand into trips, and the case ace would not show up to deliver justice.

Kurshumi and Kornuth made a deal for all of the money, but the heads-up match for the trophies and title still carried on for a stretch.

Trips would be Kurshumi’s winning combination as well. The chips got in on a 9♠9♣2♦8♣ board, and Kurshumi’s 9♦7♥ had Kornuth’s 8♦6♥ drawing dead.

Final Table Results

Photo credit: Poker.Org.