Event 1
Update: The final table of the World Poker Tour Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship was held as scheduled March 13th at the Luxor HyperX Esports Arena.
1st Place – Vinicius ‘Viny’ Lima
Vinicius ‘Viny’ Lima had the biggest climb of the final six players, starting play at the bottom of the chip counts. At the end, it was the youngest player, Viny, at only 24 years old, against the oldest, David Farah, who was twice his age at 48 years young.
Viny emerged victorious, winning $728,430, which includes $15,000 for a seat in the WPT season-ending Baccarat Crystal Tournament of Champions, along with a Hublot Big Bang Steel Watch, and the WPT Champions Cup trophy.
The $2 Million Guaranteed Kick-Off Deep Stack drew a massive 5,130 entrants, which is the second-largest WPO Kick-Off field on record, behind 2017’s 5,512 entrants. The total buy-ins of more than $2.77 million did set a new record, due to the increased buy-in of $540.
Pascal Zaklama – 1st Place – 2019 BWPO Kick-Off
The final 500 players shared in the massive prize pool and thanks to a three-way adjusted payout agreement at the final table, the final two earned better than second-place prize money. Pascal Zaklama was the chip leader and claimed 1st place and the BWPO trophy, along with $328,695.
Vladimir Alexandrov
Also notable was the 3rd place finisher, Vladimir Alexandrov. He won his entry through a BorgataPoker.com online satellite. Alexandrov managed to parlay his $45 satellite entry into his largest career tournament score, earning a $216,000 payday.
Barry Leventhal wins 4th Seniors Event
Barry Leventhal won his record fourth Borgata Seniors Event, which was also his eighth Borgata title, putting him in a tie for second-most wins at this venue, trailing only Abraham Korotki with nine Borgata titles.
Raj Desai – 1st Place – Almighty Million
The $1 Million Guaranteed Almighty Stack generated total buy-ins in excess of $1.4 million with a BWPO Almighty record of 3,508 entrants. Raj Desai held the chip lead wire-to-wire on Day 3, from 37 players down to the final three, who agreed on adjusted payouts based on chip counts. As the leader, Raj took the lion’s share of $175,429 and his first-ever Borgata trophy!
The first-ever “Ladies Brunch and Learn” was hosted by the Borgata and the World Poker Tour, with guest lecturers WSOP Ladies Champion Jessica Dawley and Loni Harwood, a professional poker player with nearly $3 million in tournament earnings. The sold out seminar was held the morning of the Ladies event, to give the Ladies some beginner instruction on tournament basics and tips to improve their play. In addition to brunch and mimosas, there were gifts and prizes for the attendees. (Due to the event’s popularity, it may appear again on a future tournament schedule!)
Kujdes Galiardi takes down the CSOP event and poses with her sister Alida Veliu, who won the Ladies Event.
The Ladies NLH tournament followed the seminar and drew a field of 154 entries. The eventual winner was Alida Veliu, who took home her second Borgata Ladies Event trophy and claimed her fifth lifetime Ladies Event win. Just a couple of hours earlier on the other end of the Event Center, Alida’s sister, Kujdes Gagliardi, won the CSOP NLH event, accomplishing something we believe has never happened before in the history of poker — two sisters winning trophy events on the same day!
Phil Hellmuth claims BWPO Heads-Up title
For the first time in probably a decade, Phil Hellmuth made an appearance at Borgata, arriving in time to play the Heads-Up Championship. The WSOP bracelet record-holder (15) and new World Poker Tour Raw Deal host blazed a path through the 64-player bracket to take the title and $37,245. He followed that up with a cash in the WPT BWPO Championship for another $7,176.
Speaking of the WPT BWPO Championship, it was another record-breaking turnout. The final tally of entrants was 1,415, beating both the 2017 WPT BWPO Championship record (1,312 entries) and the largest of all WPT Borgata Open Championships, which was in 2011 (1,313 entrants). The prize pool of nearly $4.7 million crushed the $3 million guarantee.
BorgataPoker.com Ambassador Dan Buzgon
The field played down to the final six, who bagged up their chips and paused the clock until March 13th, when they will reconvene at the new HyperX Esports Arena at the Luxor in Las Vegas to play it out under the lights and cameras of the World Poker Tour. BorgataPoker.com Ambassador and tournament grinder Dan Buzgon will make his third WPT final table appearance. He will start in the middle of the pack with an average stack when play resumes.
With more than $728,000 waiting for the eventual winner, the “HyperX Six” finalists must be chomping at the bit to get started, but they still have four weeks to wait. Make sure to check back here in the Winter Poker Open Blog for updates on that final table which begins the evening of Wednesday March 13th.
A list of main event winners is below, along with their earnings.
* 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, and myself, thank you for reading! Mark your calendars now for the Borgata Spring Poker Open, which takes place April 2nd-19th. Hope to see you then!
@Kaelaine
Pascal Zaklama
Event 1 of the Borgata Winter Poker Open drew a massive field of 5,130 entries. We shattered the $2,000,000 guarantee and there was over $2,700,000 in the tournament prize pool.
After three long days of poker we were down to just three players when they agreed to stop the clock and discuss and adjusted payout deal.
The chip stacks were counted down and it didn’t take long for them to come to an agreement. Pascal Zaklama who held the chip lead at the time of the deal will take home $328,695 and his very first Borgata Winter Poker Open trophy.
Zaklama joked on Day 1 as he was bagging his chips “I may not be smiling now but I will be tomorrow.”
He stayed true to his word and was indeed all smiles on Day 2 during the bagging process. “I’m going to be smiling on Day 3 too” he said and sure enough Zaklama wound up in the winners circle with a smile on his face just as he predicted.
The second place finisher wishes to remain anonymous and will earn $328,695 for the runner up finish.
3rd Place- Vladimir Alexandrov
Vladimir Alexandrov is our 3rd place finisher and he won his entry through a $45 BorgataPoker.com satellite. Alexandrov managed to parlay his $45 into his largest career tournament score earning a $216,000 payday.
Below is a look at the chip stacks at the time of the adjusted payout agreement along with the full Event 1 final table results.
1. Pascal Zaklama- 58,800,000 ($328,695+BWPO Trophy)
2. Anonymous- 58,200,000 ($328,695)
3. Vladimir Alexandrov- $216,000
4. Daniel Cai- $153,164
5. Ray Medlin- $120,919
6. Fady Khabbaz- $94,048
7. Noam Muallem- $68,252
8. Andrew Hanna- $47,562
9. Vincent Masino- $30,740
10. Apostolos Vasiliadis- $20,691
$540+$60 Deep Stack NLH
$2 Million Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 40: Blinds 500,000/1,000,000/1,000,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 5,130
Players Remaining: 3
Average Stack: 42,470,000
Pascal Zaklama limped in from the small blind and Daniel Cai checked from the big blind. They went heads up to the 
flop and Zaklama checked.
Cai moved all in for just under 11,000,000 and Zaklama called putting Cai at risk. Cai turned over 
for middle pair but was dominated by Zaklama’s 
.
The turn 
and river 
were no help to Cai and he was eliminated in 4th place earning $153,164 for his efforts.
Pascal Zaklama- 58,800,000
$540+$60 Deep Stack NLH
$2 Million Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 40: Blinds 500,000/1,000,000/1,000,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 5,130
Players Remaining: 4
Average Stack: 32,000,000
Ray Medlin
The anonymous player raised from early position and it folded to Ray Medlin in the big blind. Medlin moved all in for his last 11,000,000 and the player snap called.
Medlin turned over 
but he was dominated by the 
of his opponent. The board ran out 
and Medlin was eliminated in 5th place earning $120,919 for his efforts.
Anonymous- 55,000,000
$540+$60 Deep Stack NLH
$2 Million Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 40: Blinds 500,000/1,000,000/1,000,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 5,130
Players Remaining: 5
Average Stack: 25,650,000
Pascal Zaklama
Pascal Zaklama limped in from the small blind and Daniel Cai checked from the big. They went heads up to the 
flop and both players checked.
The turn was the and Zaklama checked to Cai who bet 2,000,000. Zaklama called and the river was the 
.
Zaklama checked and Cai moved all in covering Zaklama who had 20,400,000. Zaklama went into the tank for nearly a minute and eventually called.
Cai tabled 
for two pair but to the surprise of much of the table Zaklama showed for the nut straight to double up.
Pascal Zaklama- 47,800,000
Daniel Cai- 17,000,000
$540+$60 Deep Stack NLH
$2 Million Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 39: Blinds 400,000/800,000/800,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 5,130
Players Remaining: 5
Average Stack: 25,650,000
The final five players continue to battle for the $41,584 and the trophy. They are now on a 15 minute break and it’s the anonymous players leading the way.
Below is an updated look at the chip stacks and we will pick back up on the action when play resumes.
Anonymous- 40,000,000
Daniel Cai- 38,300,000
Pascal Zaklama- 23,000,000
Ray Medlin- 20,000,000
Vladimir Alexandrov- 9,000,000
Payouts
1. $416,584+BWPO Trophy
2. $268,709
3. $188,097
4. $153,164
5. $120,919
$540+$60 Deep Stack NLH
$2 Million Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 39: Blinds 400,000/800,000/800,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 5,130
Players Remaining: 5
Average Stack: 25,650,000
Daniel Cai raised to 1,700,000 from under the gun and the anonymous player in the small blind re-raised to 3,900,000. It folded back to Cai who called and they went heads up to the flop.
The player moved all in and Cai snap called for 13,100,000 turning over 
. His opponent showed and the turn 
and river 
sealed the deal for Cai to earn the double up.
Daniel Cai- 40,000,000
Anonymous- 27,000,000
$540+$60 Deep Stack NLH
$2 Million Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 39: Blinds 400,000/800,000/800,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 5,130
Players Remaining: 5
Average Stack: 25,650,000
The anonymous player raised to 1,600,000 and it folded to Vladimir Alexandrov in the big blind. Alexandrov re-raised to 2,500,000 and his opponent called.
They went heads up to the 
flop and Alexandrov fired out a bet of 3,300,000. The player called and the turn was the 
.
Alexandrov led out with a bet of 7,500,000 and his opponent called. The hit the river and Alexandrov moved all in.
The player snap called for her last 13,100,000 turning over 
for the nut flush. Alexandrov flashed his 
for a flopped set and his opponent doubled up.
Anonymous- 33,400,000
Vladimir Alexandrov- 19,000,000
$540+$60 Deep Stack NLH
$2 Million Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 38: Blinds 300,000/600,000/600,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 5,130
Players Remaining: 5
Average Stack: 25.6 million
Fady Khabbaz
A. Nonymous opened for 1.8 million under-the-gun, then Fady Khabbaz went all-in for 4.8 million on her left. She called, showing 
. Fady had 
.
They both flopped big: 
, giving her two pair and him both straight and flush draws. The 
on the turn was no help to Fady, however, and neither was the 
on the river. He hit the rail in 6th place, earning $94,048.
A. Nonymous chipped up to ~30 million.
$540+$60 Deep Stack NLH
$2 Million Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 38: Blinds 300,000/600,000/600,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 5,130
Players Remaining: 6
Average Stack: 21.4 million
Ray Medlin
At the river with a scary board of 
. A. Nonymous (bb) checked and Ray Medlin (button) bet 2.9 million. She gave it some thought, then called. “Good call,” he said, adding “King-high”. She tabled 
for a pair of Aces to take the pot. She’s up to about 17 million. Ray’s stack fell to about 16.5 million.