Event 10
Daniel Weinman (Washington, DC)
2017 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Champion
Over the previous 18 days, the Borgata played host to another record-setting Winter Poker Open Series, culminating in the World Poker Tour BWPO Championship event. That $3 Million Guaranteed event fielded 1,312 runners, setting a new record for the largest-ever WPO Championship event. It was also just one entrant shy of matching the record for most entrants in any Borgata Open series Championship, which was set in 2011. During that year’s September Borgata Poker Open, 1,313 entrants took to the felt. This year’s record for Borgata also places fourth on the World Poker Tour’s all-time most-entries list.
Georgia-born Daniel Weinman took the title and his first WPT win at a final table was live-streamed by the World Poker Tour. First-place prize money was more than $892,000.
The series also started of with a record-breaking Kickoff Event. The $2 Million Guaranteed Deep Stack opener drew 5,512 entrants, handily beating the previous year’s record-setting field of 5,101 runners. Aristoteles Neto claimed more than $216,000 for the win.
The series boasted a total of $6.4 million in guarantees and all were covered easily. Nearly $10.5 million was paid in total buy-ins just for the 25 Main Events, not including satellites and secondary events. (* Next to 1st place indicates Adjusted Payouts.)
Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to all the participants. We hope to see you back at Borgata for the next series, the Spring Poker Open, coming up April 18th through May 5th.
Although there were some technical issues with the blog during this series, we want to thank all the players, friends, and family for their patience as they were sorted out. Our servers have been upgraded so should be able to handle the next record-breaking event at Borgata! Until next time, farewell from the Borgata Blog team of Kaelaine, Matt Clark, Tim Kelliher, and Chris Murray!
Level 36 (500,000/1,000,000/200,000)
Total Entries: 1,857
Players Remaining: 1
Chip Average: 185,700,000
Winter Poker Open Almighty Stack Champion – Andy Spears
The Almighty Stack event has seen an eclectic group of winners in its short run as a BPO Event. From online pro Steve Madara winning it in September 2016 to the colorful Chris Limo winning the September before that, the event always seems to capture a certain moment in a player’s career.
Andy Spears is no stranger to Borgata success. The 28-year-old Spears has finished in the money numerous times in Word Poker Tour events and in 2015, he finished second to Brian Lemke in the Spring Poker Open Main Event. The only thing missing from Spears’s resume was a Mini-Borgata Trophy but that changed today.
Always quick out of the gate in tournaments, Spears took the overall chip lead into Day 2 and from there began to grow his stack even higher. Spears navigated his way through the moving day minefield and started right in the middle of the pack on Day 3. In what was the pivotal moment for him and Bryan Neira with 15 players left, Spears won a 30,000,000 chip pot when his queens held over Neira’s ace-king to send the latter to the rail and give Spears the chip lead.
Once at the final table, Spears used his many years of tournament experience to navigate and dissect the many different playing styles of his opponents. In addition to that, Spears won the necessary flips to send two separate players to the rail to put himself into the chip lead. A deal was made shortly thereafter and Spears will leave the Event Center $94,800 richer along with possession of the “Almighty 500” trophy.
Victory certainly is sweet for Spears and we look forward to seeing him play once again in next week’s WPT event.
Level 36 (500,000/1,000,000/200,000)
Total Entries: 1,857
Players Remaining: 4
Chip Average: 46,425,000
Almighty Stack Winners From Left: Brad Jansen, Zachary Donovan, Andy Spears, Phong VIP Nguyen
Shortly after the elimination of Kevin Kwak, the four remaining players in the Almighty Stack started talking numbers with regards to adjusting the payouts. Andy Spears and Brad Jansen both had over 60,000,000 and found a happy medium between first and second place. On the other end of the spectrum, Phong VIP Nguyen and Zachary Donovan each found figures in the middle of second and third place that worked for them. A deal was made and Spears was named the winner.
The $94,800 first place prize marks the third largest score of Spears’s career along with his first BPO trophy. Jansen takes home $90,000, capping off three strong days of play.
Nguyen continues his amazing tournament run of the last 12 months with another five-figure score worth $67,000. Donovan also earns his highest paying trip to the cage, taking home$63,543. The final payouts are listed below. A winner’s recap will be posted shortly.
- Andy Spears – $94,800
- Brad Jansen – $90,000
- Phong VIP Nguyen – $67,000
- Zachary Donovan – $63,543
Level 36 (500,000/1,000,000/200,000)
Total Entries: 1,857
Players Remaining: 4
Chip Average: 46,425,000
Kevin Kwak (Manassas, VA)
Kevin Kwak was right in the middle of the pack of the final table but never budged that much or higher or lower from that standing. Kwak attempted to gain some leverage from his position as the short stack with five left but ran into Zachary Donovan and was crippled as a result.
With 13,100,000 behind, Kwak open-shoved from the small blind with K♣5♦ and Donovan called with 1,700,000 less than Kwak from the big blind with K♦10♠. The A♠J♦9♥7♥J♠ board didn’t help Kwak and he was crippled to less than two big blinds.
Kwak was eliminated a few hands later by Brad Jansen and earns $38,548 for his run.
Phong VIP Nguyen and Donovan are both playing roughly 25 big blinds each with Andy Spears and Jansen both over 60,000,000 as four-handed play gets underway.
Level 35 (400,000/800,000/100,000)
Total Entries: 1,857
Players Remaining: 5
Chip Average: 37,140,000
Andy Spears is back within striking distance of the chip lead after winning consecutive flips to eliminate two players.
The early trend in Level 35 of flips playing a major role in the outcome of the Almighty Stack final table continued with Andy Spears eliminating Ryan Tamanini and Michael Murphy within a few hands of each other.
Tamanini open-shoved for 8,500,000 from early position and Spears called out of the big blind. Spears needed to catch with his K♦Q♦ against Tamanini’s J♣J♥. The A♦8♥2♥ put a backdoor out in play but the 6♣ reduced Spears to six immediate outs. The Q♠ on the river was exactly what Spears was looking for as Tamanini hit the rail. For his seventh place run, Tamanini earns $24,317 and his largest career BPO score.
Within the same orbit, Spears dispatched Murphy while being on the other side of the coin. Spears opened to 1,800,000 from the cutoff and Murphy jammed for about 13,000,000 on the button. The blinds released and Spears called with 9♦9♠ to put Murphy at risk. Murphy needed to catch with his A♦10♠ but missed on the ensuing K♥4♥3♥ flop. The 5♥ put a wheel draw and chop outs in play but the Q♠ river sealed the deal.
Murphy takes home $30,982 after being short-stacked for seemingly all of Day 2 and making his way to the final table. Spears is now playing 54,000,000 and trails Brad Jansen by less than 10,000,000. Kevin Kwak is the new short stack with 11,000,000 as the blinds are set to go up.
Level 35 (400,000/800,000/100,000)
Total Entries: 1,857
Players Remaining: 7
Chip Average: 26,525,000
Chris Baud (Brooklyn, NY)
Flips have decided more than a few tournament lives in the “Almighty 500” and Chris Baud is the latest to come out on the short end of a race and is now out with Zachary Donovan nearly doubling up as a result.
Baud shoved for 12,800,000 from the lojack and Donovan moved all-in for less than 1,000,000 more from the cutoff. All players behind released and it was the “el classico” of races with Baud holding Q♥Q♠ and Donovan needing to hit with A♠K♦.
An ace came right in the window to surge Donovan ahead and leave Baud needing a two-outer. The turn and river were bricks that splashed in Donovan’s direction and after a quick countdown of stacks, Baud collected his payout slip.
Donovan is at his peak for the final table with 26,500,000 and the latest player to make an attempt to catch Brad Jansen.
Level 35 (400,000/800,000/100,000)
Total Entries: 1,857
Players Remaining: 8
Chip Average: 23,310,000
Jason Rosenberg (West Hempstead, NY)
Brad Jansen has had the deck on his side at the final table and picked up another premium hand at an opportune time as to bust out Jason Rosenberg. Rosenberg was the shortest stack at the start of Level 35 and was bound to get his last 10 blinds in at some point. He managed to find a quality hand but as the case has been so far, Jansen had a better one.
Chris Baud opened 1,800,000 from early position and Rosenberg jammed for 9,000,000 from the button. After asking Baud how much he had left behind, Jansen shoved from the big blind and Baud relinquished his hand. Rosenberg’s J♣J♠ was in trouble against another pair of blades for Jansen A♦A♣.
The 10♥7♣4♣3♠K♦ was clean for Jansen and he is now over 60,000,000. Rosenberg earns over $12,000 for his run as the Almighty Stack final table is now down to eight players.
Level 34 (300,000/600,000/75,000)
Total Entries: 1,857
Players Remaining: 9
Chip Average: 20,635,000
Michael Murphy has chipped up by 10,000,000 so far at the final table and is in a dead heat with Andy Spears for second place.
The first two levels of the final table are at an end and players are on a short recess. Brad Jansen has increased his lead further over the final table through a ruthless collection of small0-to-medium size pots. Jansen holds nearly 30 percent of the chips in play and has double the stack of his nearest competitors, Andy Spears and Michael Murphy.
With the blinds set to go up, five players at the final table are below 20 big blinds as Kevin Kwak (15,000,000), Chris Baud (14,500,000), Zachary Donovan (12,500,000), Ryan Tamanini (11,500,000), and Jason Rosenberg (8,000,000) are all in need of a double. The pay jumps are a minimum of $5,000 per place at this point and it will be interesting which players decide to ladder and who makes a move for a higher place on the payout list.
The whole dynamic of the tournament can shift on one pot and there is plenty of action left to be had at this final table. The Winter Poker Open blog will continue to provide coverage of the “Almighty 500” until we reach a winner with play set to resume shortly.
Level 34 (300,000/600,000/75,000)
Total Entries: 1,857
Players Remaining: 9
Chip Average: 20,635,000
Once he was knocked down by Brad Jansen, A. Nonymous continued to blind down further until he was under six big blinds. Following an open from Michael Murphy to 1,400,000 from the button, A. Nonymous put his last 3,175,000 out of the small blind. Jason Rosenberg dropped out from the big blind and Murphy called.
It was a relatively cruel spot for A. Nonymous as Murphy showed A♥A♠, similar to when Brad Jansen crippled A. Nonymous. This time, A. Nonymous showed Q♥8♥. The 9♣5♦4♦ flop put a backdoor straight in play for A. Nonymous but he was drawing dead after the turn.
Murphy is now over 25,000,000 and in third place behind Jansen and Andy Spears, both of whom are over 33,000,000.
After finding a double through Chris Baud, Ryan Tamanini is no longer the short stack as Jason Rosenberg is under 8,000,000.
Level 33 (250,000/500,000/50,000)
Total Entries: 1,857
Players Remaining: 10
Chip Average: 18,570,000
Brad Jansen is climbing high in the Almighty Stack final table and is the new chip leader by over 10,000,000.
Brad Jansen started the final table right behind Andy Spears for the chip lead and is now 10,000,000 ahead of his nearest competitor after taking a hearty pot from A. Nonymous.
Jansen opened for 1,300,000 from early position and A. Nonymous called from the big blind to see a 9♠9♦4♦ flop. The two players checked and the J♠ hit the turn. A. Nonymous bet 1,300,000 and Jansen called without much time passing. The 3♣ came down on the river and A. Nonymous bet 3,800,000.
Jansen thought for a moment a tossed single chip forward to call. A. Nonymous mucked and said he missed a flush draw as Jansen showed A♣A♥ to move across the 35,000,000 mark.
A. Nonymous is the new short stack with 6,500,000 after Jason Rosenberg won a A♣Q♦ flip against Ryan Tamanini’s 10♥10♠. Rosenberg is back over 12,000,000 while Tamanini is under 15 big blinds with the level soon to change.