2016
WPT WPO Champion Chris Leong and his ever faithful, ever boisterous rail closed out the 2016 Winter Poker Open.
On behalf of fellow bloggers Kaelaine, Tropical Steve and Matt Clark, we thank you for following the Borgata Poker blog during the Winter Poker Open. In total, close to $8,000,000 in prize money was distributed over the course of 22 main events, including two massive ‘Borgata Million’ events, which both boasted a live streamed final table.
The series culminated with the WPT WPO Championship, with over 1,170 players building up a nearly $3,500,000 prize pool. The WPT WPO Championship, which was also live streamed was won by Chris Leong, good for a career best $816,000 score and a WPT victory. On top of the WPT Champions’ Cup that Chris won, there were 22 Winter Poker Open trophies, or “tiny glass Borgatas” as we’ve been calling them, awarded over the last three weeks. This has truly been another amazing series here at the Borgata and once again this poker room has set itself apart as the pre-eminent poker destination in the country.
Thank you to the players, who made it easy and enjoyable to watch and follow throughout each and every tournament.
Thank you to friends, families and poker fans that followed the blog; we hopefully put out a product that was easy to read, informative, and gave you the feeling that you were right in the middle of the high octane action.
Thank you to the tournament staff, dealers and tournament directors, who again proved why the Borgata is so successful. Every tournament was run like a well oiled machine and there really are no better people in the poker world than here at Borgata.
And lastly, a huge thank you to the people behind the scenes throughout the Winter Poker Open. The marketing team, the social media team, the IT department, the XPress HD live stream crew, the WPT production and live updates team. Without everyone mentioned above, the WPO would not have been what it was.
Everyone played a role in making this another spectacular series, which is what you have come to expect from the Borgata.
We wish you luck, both on and off the felt, and look forward to seeing you at the next Borgata Poker Open.
Thank you again,
Event 22 – ‘Deepest Stack’
Level 34: Blinds 150,000/300,000/40,000 ante
Total Entries: 544
Players Remaining: 1
Iverson “Heisenberg” Snuffer (Winner of Event #22)
Iverson “Heisenberg” Snuffer wins $34,157, the obscenely heavy Tiny Borgata trophy, and the Event #22 title.
We interviewed Heisenberg earlier in this event, and here’s a few more insights into this interesting individual.
“First, I’d like to thank my Lord & Savior Jesus Christ, my beautiful wife, and my family,” says Heisenberg. He plans to give his trophy to his 37-year-old daughter, Erica, to add to the other trophies that Heisenberg has won in the poker case.
Now that this event has come to an end, Heisenberg plans to play poker in Cleveland, Ohio, the Chicago area, and the Cherokee WSOP circuit event in North Carolina. The WSOP proper is right out, though, because his outdoor leisure business takes over this summer and occupies 90 hours per week of his time. When that settles down, though, you’ll find him slinging cards once again.
This puts Heisenberg’s winnings very close to $400,000 lifetime, and he’s got a ton of poker left in him yet.
Congratulations to Heisenberg!
Event 22 – ‘Deepest Stack’
Level 34: Blinds 150,000/300,000/40,000 ante
Total Entries: 544
Players Remaining: 1
Mike Bees (Out in 2nd)
Mike Bees earns second place and $19,208 for his Deepest Stack finish. He has over $145,000 in tournament winnings over his lifetime, including third in a Omaha-8 bracelet event at the World Series of Poker in 2014. Congratulations to Mike on his finish!
Event 22 – ‘Deepest Stack’
Level 34: Blinds 150,000/300,000/40,000 ante
Total Entries: 544
Players Remaining: 2
Average Stack: 13,600,000
Bill Miller (Out in 3rd)
Bill Miller is the next one to bust out, earning $12,348 for his marathon day, night and day of poker. Mike Bees and Iverson “Heisenberg” Snuffer are now heads up.
Event 22 – ‘Deepest Stack’
Level 34: Blinds 150,000/300,000/40,000 ante
Total Entries: 544
Players Remaining: 3
Average Stack: 9,075,000
Bartholomew Golik (Out in 3rd)
Bartholomew Golik open-shoves for just under 2.4 million and Iverson “Heisenberg” Snuffer calls.
Golik: {Kc}{Jc}
Heisenberg: {7s}{7h}
Golik flops a flush, but a scary one: {Qc}{7c}{6c}. Heisenberg need only pair the board to re-take the lead, and the turn is indeed the {6s}. The river is {Ah} and Bartholomew is out in fourth place, earning a bit under ten grand.
Event 22 – ‘Deepest Stack’
Level 34: Blinds 150,000/300,000/40,000 ante
Total Entries: 544
Players Remaining: 4
Average Stack: 6,800,000
David “Bama” Walters (Out in 5th)
Bartholemew Golik goes all in and David “Bama” Walters calls.
Bartholomew: {Js}{Jd}
Bama: {Qd}{Qs}
The door card is the {Jh} eliciting a shout from Bartholomew’s entourage, and an even bigger shout once the {Jc} is also revealed for flopped QUADZILLA. The rest goes {10s}{3c}{Ac} and Bama is suddenly shortstacked in horrific fashion. He manages to hang on through the next two bustouts before eventually going out in fifth.
Event 22 – ‘Deepest Stack’
End of Level 33: Blinds 120,000/240,000/30,000 ante
Total Entries: 544
Players Remaining: 5
Average Stack: 5,425,000
Rich Johnson (Out in 7th)
Hamid Kashvari (Out in 6th)
Just before the 10-minute break, there’s a wicked three-way all in situation, with Mike Bees having both the other players covered.
Mike Bees: {Ah}{10d}
Rich Johnson: {As}{9c}
Donald Shimazu: {Ad}{Kd}
As is typical for this table, the best hand going in does not get there. It instead runs {6c}{10c}{Qs}{5d}{6s} and Mike takes the whole pot, busting Rich in 6th and Donald in 5th, since Donald had more chips to start the hand and therefore had the tiebreaker.
Event 22 – ‘Deepest Stack’
Level 33: Blinds 120,000/240,000/30,000 ante
Total Entries: 544
Players Remaining: 8
Average Stack: 3,400,000
Donald Shimazu (Out in 8th)
Only a couple hands after the last bustout, Donald Shimazu goes out next in the short stack. He earns just short of four grand.
Event 22 – ‘Deepest Stack’
Level 33: Blinds 120,000/240,000/30,000 ante
Total Entries: 544
Players Remaining: 8
Average Stack: 3,400,000
Paul Lambrakis (Out in 9th)
Paul Lambrakis open shoves and Iverson “Heisenberg” Snuffer re-raises all in. Mike Bees thinks about it for a long time, and eventually folds, saying he had A-Q.
Heisenberg: {Ac}{Ad}
Paul: {Ah}{4s}
The board goes {10d}{6s}{2s}{7d}{9c} and Paul is out in ninth place.
Event 22 – ‘Deepest Stack’
Level 32: Blinds 100,000/200,000/30,000 ante
Total Entries: 544
Players Remaining: 9
Average Stack: 3,025,000
Joe “Worm” Palma (Out in 10th)
The flop is {Ac}{Kd}{2c} with two players.
Joe “Worm” Palma is all in for his million and change and Iverson “Heisenberg” Snuffer calls.
Worm: {As}{4s}
Heisenberg: {Ah}{2h}
Two pair versus a pair of aces. The turn is {10c} and the river is {Js} and Worm is out in 10th place. There’s a little under a thousand dollars more for the next one out.