Event 16
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
Event 16 of the Borgata Winter Poker Open is the $1,590 Heads-Up NLH. There were a total of 64 players who battled it out for the $37,248 and it to say it was a stack field would be an understatement.
The likes of Olivier Busquet, Joe McKeehen, Tim Reilly, Ronit Chamani, Alex Queen and Alex Rocha all took their shot at the title.
When the dust settled it was none other than 15 time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth in the winners circle.
Hellmuth arrived on Day 1 and squared off with Wenhao Ying in round one. He was victorious and would meet Tim Reilly in the round two. Reilly took the first match but Hellmuth kept his cool and battled back to earn the 2-1 victory.
He would then face Travis Greenawalt and in Phil’s words “He handled himself very well and I may have even gotten lucky a few times.”
It was on to round four to face Steven Sarmiento and Phil was again victorious this time in round three.
He would then face off with Joey Cappello in the finals and battle it out for the $37,248 and the trophy.
“The man played amazing and certainly did not give his chips away” said Phil after defeating Cappello after a nearly three hour heads-up battle.
The players shook hands after the match and had nothing but respect for each others game. Hellmuth will take home $37,248 and his very first Borgata Poker Open trophy and he has now earned nearly $23,000,000 throughout his storied poker career.
$1,500 + $90 Heads-Up NLH
Structure Sheet
Total Entries: 64
Players Remaining: 1
Level 6: Blinds 500/1,000
Joey Cappello
Phil Hellmuth won consecutive hands to moved back into the chip lead and Joey Cappello was left short. Cappello moved all in pre-flop for his 4,050 and Phil Hellmuth called putting Cappello at risk.
Phil Hellmuth: 
Joey Cappello: 
The board ran out 
and Hellmuth’s king high was enough to eliminated Capello in second place.
The two players shook hands and Capello is our Event 16 Heads-Up NLH runner-up taking home $18,624 for his efforts.
$1,500 + $90 Heads-Up NLH
Structure Sheet
Total Entries: 64
Players Remaining: 2
Level 5: Blinds 400/800
Joey Cappello
Phil Hellmuth is leading the Heads-Up NLH battle after taking the first match but Joey Cappello is not going out without a fight.
Cappello is chipping away at Hellmuth here in match number two and he has now taken a 2-1 chip lead as play continues.
Joey Cappello- 20,000
Phil Helllmuth- 10,000
$1,500 + $90 Heads-Up NLH
Structure Sheet
Total Entries: 64
Players Remaining: 2
Level 3: Blinds 200/400
The heads-up battle for the $37,248 and the BWPO trophy continues. Phil Hellmuth is up 1-0 in this best two out of three matchup.
The pace of play has been a slow one here in our second match and both players are treading cautiously with nearly identical chip stacks.
Phil Hellmuth- 15,500
Joey Cappello- 14,500
$1,500 + $90 Heads-Up NLH
Structure Sheet
Total Entries: 64
Players Remaining: 2
Level 5: Blinds 400/800
Phil Hellmuth
The players saw a flop of 
and Joey Cappello check called a bet of 1,000 from Phil Hellmuth. The turn was the and Cappello checked.
Hellmuth bet 2,800 and Cappello check-raised all in for about 7,000. Hellmuth quickly called turning over 
for top two pair and Cappello showed 
.
The river 
was no help to Cappello and Hellmuth wins the first match of the finals to take a 1-0 lead.
$1,500 + $90 Heads-Up NLH
Structure Sheet
Total Entries: 64
Players Remaining: 2
Level 4: Blinds 300/600
Joey Cappello moved all in for 6,675 and Phil Hellmuth called putting Capello at risk.
Joey Cappello: 
Phil Hellmuth: 
The dealer fanned the 
and Cappello paired his eight while Hellmuth picked up the nut flush draw.
The turn and river 
were no help to Hellmuth and Cappello secured the double.
Joey Cappello- 13,350
Phil Hellmuth- 16,650
$1,500 + $90 Heads-Up NLH
Structure Sheet
Total Entries: 64
Players Remaining: 2
Level 4: Blinds 300/600
Joey Cappello moved all in for his last 5,200 and Phil Hellmuth called. Cappello turned over 
and Hellmuth showed 
.
The board ran out 
and Cappello’s pocket kings held up to earn him the double up.
Joey Cappello- 10,400
Phil Hellmuth- 19,600
$1,500 + $90 Heads-Up NLH
Structure Sheet
Total Entries: 64
Players Remaining: 2
Level 3: Blinds 200/400
Phil Hellmuth raised to 900 and Joey Cappello called. They saw a flop of 
and Cappello check-called a bet of 1,000.
The turn was the and both players knuckled the felt. The 
hit the river and Cappello checked for a third time. Hellmuth bet 2,100 and after nearly a minute Cappello released his hand.
Phil Hellmuth- 21,500
Joey Cappello- 8,500
$1,500 + $90 Heads-Up NLH
Structure Sheet
Total Entries: 64
Players Remaining: 2
Level 2: Blinds 150/300
Phil Hellmuth
The players saw a flop of 
and Phil Hellmuth checked. Joey Cappello bet 300 and Hellmuth check-raised to 1,000. Cappello called and the dealer burned and turned the 
.
Hellmuth led out with a bet of 700 and Cappello called. Both players checked the river and Hellmuth tabled 
. Cappello flashed before firing his hand into the muck and Hellmuth took the pot.
Phil Hellmuth- 20,000
Joey Cappello- 10,000