Event 14
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
Soheb Porbandarwala
Event 14 of the Borgata Winter Poker Open is the $400 Saturday Series NLH. There was a massive field of 639 entries creating a prize pool of over $216,000 more than doubling the guarantee.
It was a long day of play that wrapped up just before 6 A.M. and Soheb Porbandarwala was the last man standing. Porbandarwala built a big stack early and was a one man wrecking crew at the final table on his way to victory.
Porbandarwala takes home $52,081 and his third Borgata Poker Open trophy. Below is a full look at the Event 14 final table results.
1. Soheb Porbandarwala ($52,081+BWPO Trophy)
2. Andrew Kim ($29,287)
3. Ricky Lee ($18,440)
4. Kyle Len ($14,969)
5. Mike Galteri ($11,932)
6. Andrew Lauer ($9,871)
7. Brittney Billian ($7,918)
8. Mark Perry ($5,966)
9. Vahagn Margaryan ($4,122)
10. Mike McKinney ($2,820)
$350+$50 Saturday Series Deep Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 32: Blinds 100,000/200,000/200,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 639
Players Remaining: 1
Andrew Kim
Andrew Kim got his stack of about 5,000,000 all in pre-flop holding 
but he was dominated by the 
of Soheb Porbandarwala.
The dealer fanned the 
improving Porbandarwala to top set giving him a hammerlock on the hand.
The turn 
left Kim drawing dead and the meaningless 
hit the river. The players shook hands and Kim is our Event 14 runner-up earning $29,287 for his 2nd place finish.
$350+$50 Saturday Series Deep Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 31: Blinds 80,000/160,000/160,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 639
Players Remaining: 2
Ricky Lee
Soheb Porbandarwala raised to 350,000 and Rick Lee moved all in for 4,155,000 from the small blind. Porbandarwala called turning over 
and Lee would need to improve holding 
.
The board ran out 
and Porbandarwala improved to a set of eights.
Lee is our 3rd place Event 14 finisher and will take home $18,440 for his efforts.
Soheb Porbandarwala– 11,000,000
$350+$50 Saturday Series Deep Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 30: Blinds 60,000/120,000/120,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 639
Players Remaining: 3
Kyle Yen
Just a few hands after running his pocket tens into the pocket kings of Ricky Lee, Kyle Yen got his last 1,400,000 holding 
against Andrew Kim’s 
.
The board ran out 
and Kim improved to a set of fives to send Yen to the rail.
Yen is our 4th place finisher and his stellar BWPO continues with a 4th place finish good for $14,969.
Andrew Kim- 5,100,000
$350+$50 Saturday Series Deep Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 30: Blinds 60,000/120,000/120,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 639
Players Remaining: 4
Mike Galteri
Mike Galteri raised to 275,000 from under the gun and it folded to Soheb Porbandarwala in the big blind. Porbandarwala re-raised to 875,000 and Galteri moved all in for just over 2,000,000. Porbandarwala snap called and the hands were shown.
Soheb Porbandarwala: 
Mike Galteri: 
It was a classic coin flip with Galteri’s tournament life on the line. The dealer fanned the 
flop and Porbandarwala paired his ace in the window to take control of the hand.
The turn improved Porbandarwala to trip aces and the 
completed the board. Galteri is our 5th place Event 14 finisher earning $11,932 and Porbandarwala is back on top with 4 players remaining.
Soheb Porbandarwala– 6,800,000
$350+$50 Saturday Series Deep Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 30: Blinds 60,000/120,000/120,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 639
Players Remaining: 5
Andrew Lauer
Andrew Lauer moved all in from the cutoff for 1,005,000 and Andrew Kim called from the small blind. Lauer turned over and Kim showed .
The board ran out 
and Kim paired his jack on the river to score the knockout.
Lauer is our 6th place Event 14 finisher earning $9,871 for his efforts.
Andrew Kim- 4,200,000
$350+$50 Saturday Series Deep Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 29: Blinds 50,000/100,000/100,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 639
Players Remaining: 6
Kyle Yen
Kyle Yen and Soheb Porbandarwala went heads up to the 
flop and Yen led out. Porbandarwala called and the turn was the 
. Yen checked and Porbandarwala threw out a bet of 475,000 into a main pot of about 1,200,000.
Yen check-raised all for 2,200,000 and Porbandarwala made the call. Yen turned over 
for the nut straight and Porbandarwala showed .
The river 
sealed the deal for Yen who scored the massive double up to take the lead.
Kyle Yen- 5,600,000
Soheb Porbandarwala- 3,000,000
$350+$50 Saturday Series Deep Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 28: Blinds 40,000/80,000/80,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 639
Players Remaining: 6
Britney Billian
Rick Lee moved all in for 1,115,000 from middle position and it folded to Britney Billian in the small blind. Billian put her last 1,055,000 in the pot and the cards were shown.
Rick Lee:
Britney Billian: 
The dealer spread the flop and Lee picked up a gutshot straight draw to go along with his over card.
The 
hit the turn and the table erupted as Lee turned his gutshot straight leaving Billian drawing only to a chop.
The river was no help to Billian and she was eliminated in 7th earning $7,918 for her efforts.
Rick Lee- 2,330,000
$350+$50 Saturday Series Deep Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 28: Blinds 40,000/80,000/80,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 639
Players Remaining: 7
Mark Perry
Soheb Porbandarwala raised to 175,000 from middle position. It folded to Mark Perry in the big blind who moved all in for 750,000 and Porbandarwala called.
Soheb Porbandarwala:
Mark Perry:
The board ran out 
and Porbandarwala paired his jack on the flop to earn the elimination. Perry is our 8th place finisher earning $5,966 for his efforts.
Soheb Porbandarwala- 6,100,000