Borgata Poker Open Ladies Event won by man

Poker player, Nicole Rowe entered the ‘ladies only Event #7 at the Borgata Poker Open hoping for a distraction from her recent diagnosis with breast cancer.

Throughout the two days of the event Row had maneuvered her way through a field of 269 players to reach the final table. At the end of the day and the tournament Rowe would be the last woman standing. Unfortunately she would not be the winner. A male player from Ventnor City, New Jersey would be the controversial winner of the event. Abraham Korotki won the event amid very vocal objections from both Borgata management and players of the ladies event.

“I got tired of going home early,” said Korotki, who had just been knocked out of event no. 6 when he decided to register. “I hadn’t had enough poker time.”

Korotki got plenty of “poker time” en route to the ladies final table where he found himself heads-up against Rowe with the chip lead. After only a few hands had been played, Rowe found herself all-in with A-9 against Korotki’s pocket tens. The pocket pair held and Rowe was eliminated in second place, good for $11,889.

Rowe, who will undergo a double mastectomy at the end of the month, was disappointed with the finish, but had no problem keeping it all in perspective. “It doesn’t matter,” she said. “It was 16 hours of being cancer free, a diversion from my reality.”

This was Rowe’s second runner-up finish in a ladies event at the Borgata. Her first came in event no. 5 at the 2007 Winter Poker Open, where she earned $17,035.

The New Windsor, New York resident has pledged $500 of her winnings to breast cancer research and will use the rest to help cover her costs and expenses while recovering from surgery.

Objections and dirty looks aside, Korotki was considerate in victory, congratulating his opponents and pledging a portion of his winnings toward Rowe’s cause. He was unsure at the time, but planned on splitting the sum between charities focusing on breast cancer research, children and animals.

Korotki pocketed $20,982 for his third career win. He has earned over $650,000 lifetime including a gold ring in a World Series of Poker Circuit main event in Atlantic City.

Men entering “ladies-only” events is nothing new. Most states have banned casinos from applying sex-based discrimination to their poker tournaments, but a polite request is usually honored by male card room patrons.
However, there have been a few instances over the years, usually for the sake of comedy, where men have entered tournaments dressed in drag. The most famous examples include Phil Gordon and poker author John Vorhaus.

In 2007, former baseball player Jose Canseco made headlines when he and five other men demanded entry into a ladies event being held at the Commerce Casino in California.

Note: This report was heavily contributed to by the Official Borgata Poker Blog. Check it out for full preliminary event coverage from the entire series.

News Added: 14 September, 2009

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