2018
2018 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Champion Eric Afriat
Last night after nearly four hours of heads-up play, Erif Afriat defeated Justin Zaki to win the $3 Million Guaranteed World Poker Tour Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship to claim his second WPT title, earning more than $651,000. ($15,000 is withheld for entry in the Season-Ending WPT Tournament of Champions in May.)
Afriat overcame a 2:1 chip deficit to take the lead, then the chips swung the other way and at one point he was down 4:1 in chips. He continued to battle back until he had all the chips and the win. Zaki earned more than $434,000 for his 2nd place finish.
This final table also included 2015 WSOP Main Event Winner Joe McKeehen, for the second year in a row. And for the second year in a row, he finished 4th.
James Roberts – BWPO Kickoff Event Winner
The WPO series began with a $2 Million Guaranteed Deep Stack Kickoff event which drew more than 4,500 entrants. At the end, it was James Roberts who hoisted the Borgata trophy. The recent retiree earned $378,391 after battling his way through a star-studded final table.
More than $10 million was paid out in prize money in these 23 main events alone, not including satellites and secondary events. A complete list of main event winners is below.
*AP Indicates Adjusted Payout
Thank you to all the participants and congratulations to all the winners! A special thanks goes out to all Borgata tournament staff and dealers for a terrific series.
On behalf of Borgata Poker Bloggers Tim Kelliher, Chris Murray, Brittany Paige, Matt Clark, and myself, thank you for reading! Mark your calendars now for the Borgata Spring Poker Open, which takes place April 10th – 27th. Hope to see you then!
@Kaelaine
In the early morning hours of our final BWPO the final 13 began to discuss a deal. Cory Waaland held a massive chip lead and after some back and forth negotiations a deal was struck.
Waaland who was coincidentally wearing a Michael Jordan hoodie is our Event 23 winner. He will take home his first Borgata Poker Open title along with $14,000.
Yousaf “YT” Tranam notches his fifth cash of the series and is the runner up earning $8,231 for his efforts. 
Below is a full look at the adjusted payout deal and what each player will be taking home.
1. Cory Waaland- $14,000+BWPO Trophy
2. Yousaf Tranam- $8,231
3. Ting Zhou- $8,000
4. Cathy Dever- $8,000
5. Jason Pardy- $8,000
6. Timur Gatanov- $8,000
7. Ragavan Thiagarajah- $8,000
8. Jeremy Iocozzia- $7,500
9. Mark Leviton- $7,000
10. Alexey Penyevskiy- $7,000
11. Steve Kortaski-$7,000
12. Bill Miller- $7,000
13. Nick Schuman-Werb- $7,000
$260 + $40 Entry Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed
Level 23: 12,000/24,000/3,000
Total Entries: 528
Players Remaining: 36
Jason Gardner
Jason Gardner moves all in for 303,000 from early position. John Wilson is next to act and he makes the call.
The rest of table folds and Gardner turns over 
and is flipping with the 
of Wilson. The dealer fans the 
flop and Gardner pairs his ace in the window to take control of the hand.
Wilson picks up both straight and flush draws when the 
hits the turn but the 
river is no help. Gardner secures the double up to over 600,000 and Wilson is left with 90,000.
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata WPO Championship
$3 Million Guaranteed
Level 40: 500,000/1,000,000/100,000
Total Entries: 1,244
Players Remaining: 1
Average Stack: 37,320,000
2018 Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event Champion Eric Afriat
The Winter Poker Open Championship assembled a strong field with 1,244 entrants creating a prize pool of nearly $4 million. WPT Champions Club members littered the field and only one made the final table. Eric Afriat started the final table as the short stack and nine hours later, claims his second WPT title.
Afriat entered on Day 2 and spun his stack up into contention in no time.
The win moves Afriat over the $2.5 million mark in career earnings and placed him in elite company with his second World Poker Tour title. Afriat has a lot of history at Borgata dating back to 2014 when he made a deep run but came up shy of winning the WPT World Championship.
Afriat is a real estate professional from Quebec, Canada who claims poker as a recreational hobby. His play, however, continues to elude professionals and he used his aggressive style to get the better of Joseph McKeehen, Zach Gruneberg, and Justin Zaki during heads up play to win the title.
Those three players were all looking for their first BPO and WPT final table after a few previous close calls. McKeehen and Gruneberg final tabled a WPT final table at Borgata in 2016, finishing fourth and second respectively.
Local pro Michael Marder made his charge at the title but fell shy of victory in fifth place. 22-year-old Stephen Song stole the show on Day 4 and announced his presence to the poker world by taking sixth place.
Other notable pros to make Day 4 but come up shy of today’s final table include Kane Kalas, 2015 BPO Championship winner David Paredes, and WPT Champions Club member Kevin Saul.
Kalas jumped in the live stream booth to perform commentary for the final table with BorgataPoker.com pro Michael Gagliano.
Afriat wins $636,928 for first place along with the $15,000 seat into the WPT Tournament of Champions.
Congratulations to Eric Afriat for becoming the 2018 Winter Poker Open Champion.
Final Table Results:
1st: Eric Afriat – $651,928*
2nd: Justin Zaki – $434,614
3rd: Zach Gruneberg – $321,533
4th: Joe McKeehen – $240,251
5th: Michael Marder – $181,329
6th: Stephen Song – $138,254
*includes $15,000 seat to Tournament of Champions
$260 + $40 Entry Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed
End of Level 22: 10,000/20,000/3,000
Total Entries: 528
Players Remaining: 38
The players are now on a 15 minute color up break and there are just 38 remaining. They are now all guaranteed at least $599.
They are being relocated from the Event Center to the Poker Room. We will pick up on the action when play resumes.
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata WPO Championship
$3 Million Guaranteed
Level 40: 500,000/1,000,000/100,000
Total Entries: 1,244
Players Remaining: 1
Average Stack: 37,320,000
Live Stream
Justin Zaki
The multi-hour heads up battle between Justin Zaki and Eric Afriat is at an end with the latter finishing off a come from behind victory.
Down to a few blinds after doubling up Afriat, Zaki got his chips in with 
against the 
of Afriat. The 
flop put Zaki ahead but the on the turn gave Afriat added outs going to the river.
Afriat found the 
to hit trips and claim his second WPT victory. Zaki takes $434,614 for second place for a strong five days of poker. A winner’s recap will be posted shortly.
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata WPO Championship
$3 Million Guaranteed
Level 40: 500,000/1,000,000/100,000
Total Entries: 1,244
Players Remaining: 2
Average Stack: 18,660,000
Live Stream
Eric Afriat is on the verge of the Winter Poker Open Championship title after doubling up through Justin Zaki.
Afriat raised to 2,000,000 and Zaki moved all-in. Afriat called with and was in a dream scenario against the 
of Zaki. The 
board shipped the pot to Afriat.
He is now in control of over 90 percent of the chips in play. Zaki is down to three big blinds.
$260 + $40 Entry Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed
Level 19: 5,000/10,000/1,000
Total Entries: 528
Players Remaining: 71
Cory Mestieri
Cory Mestieri moves all in from under the gun for his last 157,000. It folds around to the player in the small blind who calls and the big blind quickly folds.
Mestieri: 
Opponent: 
The dealer fans the 
and Mestieri flops top set to put a hammerlock on the hand. “Nice hand” his opponent says as the 
hits the turn. The river improves Mestieri to a full house and he doubles up.
Cory Mestieri- 333,000
$3,300+$200 WPT Borgata WPO Championship
$3 Million Guaranteed
Level 39: 400,000/800,000/100,000
Total Entries: 1,244
Players Remaining: 2
Average Stack: 18,660,000
Live Stream
Eric Afriat was on the ropes in heads up play against Justin Zaki after losing a large pot but doubled up and is right back in action.
Zaki opened the button to 1,600,000 and Afriat called. The 
flop resulted in a check-call for 1,800,000 and the produced the same thing for 2,300,000. Afriat checked the river and Zaki moved all-in. Afriat kicked it in and left himself with about 6,500,000.
Two hands later, Afriat limped in and Zaki checked. Zaki checked the 
flop and Afriat bet 800,000. Zaki raised to 2,200,000 and called the 6,200,000 shove from Afriat with 
for two pair. Afriat had a flush draw turn. The river missed Zaki and Afriat doubled up.
Zaki is leading with 23,100,000 to the 14,200,000 of Afriat with more all-ins to come.
$260 + $40 Entry Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed
Level 22: 10,000/20,000/3,000
Total Entries: 528
Players Remaining: 54
Cory Waaland
We are down to the final 54 players here in the Deepest Stack NLH event and the money bubble has just burst. They are now all in the money and guaranteed at least $533.
Last time we checked in on Cory Waaland he was playing just over half a million but a lot can change in just one level. He is now sitting behind a mountain of chips and has distanced himself from the rest of the field.
“I don’t even know how much I have I just keep winning” he jokes but is kind enough to break down his massive stack. He is now up to about 1,800,000 and is the only player in the field over a million.
Cathy Dever
Bill Miller
Cathy Dever and Bill Miller are sharing the felt at one of the outer tables and look to be second and third on the chip counts. Dever is playing 960,000 and Miller is just over 900,000.
It should be another long night of poker and we will be crowning our last Borgata Winter Open champion of the series in the early morning hours.