Event 5
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
$500+$60 Super Survivor NLH
Level 20: 5,000/10,000/1,000
Total Entries: 285
Congratulations to the final 28 survivors, who all took home $5,000 for their efforts. A few of the “survivors” include She Lok Wong, Terry Grimes, Rob Garrett, Luis Vazquez, Solomon Yi, and Ken Ruderman.
A full listing of all the survivor winners will be published upon availability.
$500+$60 Super Survivor NLH
Level 15: 1,500/3,000/400
Total Entries: 285
Players Remaining: 66
Rob Garrett is sitting behind a mountain of about 250,000 and is leading the final 66 players.
The $560 Super Survivor NLH is moving right along in the back of the Event Center and there are plenty of familiar faces among the field.
There are just 66 players remaining and the final 28 players will all be taking home $5,000 in cold hard cash.
Phong “V.I.P” Nguyen is looking to survive. Nguyen holds a WPT title, a WSOP Circuit ring and has earned more than $900,000 throughout his poker career.
Luis Vazquez is fresh off a victory last month taking down the $300 Foxwoods Big Stack Event last month earning $6,700. He has now earned over $500,000 in live tournaments and is starting to chip up here in Event 5.
$500+$60 Super Survivor NLH
Level 1: Blinds 50/100
The fifth and final ‘Main Event’ on today’s schedule has started just in the Event Center. Approximately 1 in 10 players will earn $5,000 each!
Players began with 20,000 chips and levels 1-10 are 30 minutes long. Starting with level 11, they increase to 40 minutes for the duration of the event.
This is a one-day event and they will play until only 10% of the field remains and they will be the ‘Super Survivors’!