Event 16 (Day 1)
$1,500 + $90 Heads-Up NLH
Structure Sheet
Total Entries: 64
Players Remaining: 8
Phil Hellmuth
The final Round 3 heads-up match has just wrapped and it’s heads-up specialist Olivier Busquet getting the victory over Martin Matranca. Busquet is moving on to tomorrow’s Elite 8 to square off with Michael Vela.
Olivier Busquet
Phil Hellmuth will also be joining him in tomorrow’s Elite 8. Hellmuth defeated Wenhao Ying in Round 1 and then battled back from a 0-1 defecit in Round 2 to move past Tim Reilly.
Hellmuth met Travis Greenawalt in Round 3 and once again came out on top to face off with Steven Sarmiento tomorrow in Round 4.
The final 8 heads-up players will return Sunday January 27 at 12 PM to resume Day 2 play and play down to a winner.
Below is a full look at all of tomorrow’s heads-up matchups along with the final payouts.
Phil Hellmuth vs. Steven Sarmiento
Olivier Busquet vs. Michael Vela
Joey Cappello vs. Dylan Gang
Chris O’Hara vs. Ryan Hall
| Place | Payout |
| 1 | $37,248 |
| 2 | $18,624 |
| 3 – 4 | $9,312 |
| 5 – 8 | $4,656 |
$1,500 + $90 Heads-Up NLH
Structure Sheet
Ryan Hall vs. Jeffrey Coon
The latest status on the third round play:
Round of 16 Matches Underway/Completed (winners’ names are in bold)
Ryan Hall vs. Jeffrey Coon (Hall is up 1-0)
Chris O’Hara vs. Peter Vitantonio
Travis Greenawalt vs. Phil Hellmuth
Steven Sarmiento vs. Bandon Hall
Joey Cappello vs. Alex Queen
Dylan Gang vs. Daniel Podheiser (Still in the first game, so 0-0)
Adam Hendrix vs. Michael Vela
Martin Matranca vs. Olivier Busquet (Still in the first game, so 0-0)
Foreground: Dylan Gang vs. Daniel Podheiser; Background: Joey Cappello vs. Alex Queen
Olivier Busquet vs. Martin Matranca
$1,500 + $90 Heads-Up NLH
Structure Sheet
The round of 32 is complete. The winner’s names are in bold. Round of 16 (third round) matches are in progress and listed below.
Round of 32 Matches
Frank Brannan vs. Ryan Hall
Jeffrey Coon vs. Jr Seikali
Chris O’Hara vs. Cathy Dever
Kharlin Sued vs. Peter Vitantonio
Travis Greenawalt vs. Justin Adams
Timothy Reilly vs. Phil Hellmuth
Steven Sarmiento vs. Dominick Giovanniello
Bandon Hall vs. Kevin Lutz
Alex Rocha vs Joey Cappello
Jeffrey Hong vs. Alex Queen
John Lakatosh vs. Dylan Gang
Daniel Podheiser vs. Ranson Nelson
John Botticello vs. Adam Hendrix
Michael Vela vs. Nicholas Machalani
Olivier Busquet vs. Ronit Chamani
Martin Matranca vs. Brock Wilson
Round of 16 Matches Underway
Ryan Hall vs. Jeffrey Coon
Chris O’Hara vs. Peter Vitantonio
Travis Greenawalt vs. Phil Hellmuth
Steven Sarmiento vs. Bandon Hall
Joey Cappello vs. Alex Queen
Dylan Gang vs. Daniel Podheiser
Adam Hendrix vs. Michael Vela
Martin Matranca vs. Olivier Busquet
A couple of these matches have already finished and the winners are in bold. The winners of this round are in the Elite Eight and in the money, guaranteed at least $4,656. They will return at 12 noon Sunday for the quarter-finals.
Travis Greenawalt & Phil Hellmuth battle in the third round — winner is in the money and returns tomorrow for the quarter-finals.
$1,500 + $90 Heads-Up NLH
Structure Sheet
The Heads-Up event was limited to 64 players and sold out, for total buy-ins of $96,000. The prize pool of $93,120 will go to the final eight players:
| Place | Payout |
| 1 | $37,248 |
| 2 | $18,624 |
| 3 – 4 | $9,312 |
| 5 – 8 | $4,656 |
Of course the eventual winner will take home the Borgata Winter Poker Open Heads-Up Championship trophy as well.
$1,500 + $90 Heads-Up NLH
Structure Sheet
The round of 32 is almost complete, with just two matches remaining. The winner’s name is in bold for the matches that are complete. Round of 16 (third round) matches are scheduled are already underway where possible and listed below.
Ronit Chamani vs. Olivier Busquet
Olivia Busquet is still embroiled in the match with Ronit Chamani
Round of 32 Matches
Frank Brannan vs. Ryan Hall
Jeffrey Coon vs. Jr Seikali
Chris O’Hara vs. Cathy Dever
Kharlin Sued vs. Peter Vitantonio
Travis Greenawalt vs. Justin Adams
Timothy Reilly vs. Phil Hellmuth
Steven Sarmiento vs. Dominick Giovanniello
Bandon Hall vs. Kevin Lutz
Alex Rocha vs Joey Cappello
Jeffrey Hong vs. Alex Queen
John Lakatosh vs. Dylan Gang
Daniel Podheiser vs. Ranson Nelson (still in progress)
John Botticello vs. Adam Hendrix
Michael Vela vs. Nicholas Machalani
Olivier Busquet vs. Ronit Chamani (still in progress)
Martin Matranca vs. Brock Wilson
Round of 16 Matches Underway
Ryan Hall vs. Jeffrey Coon
Chris O’Hara vs. Peter Vitantonio
Travis Greenawalt vs. Phil Hellmuth
Steven Sarmiento vs. Bandon Hall
Joey Cappello vs. Alex Queen
Dylan Gang awaits winner of Daniel Podheiser vs. Ranson Nelson
Adam Hendrix vs. Michael Vela
Martin Matranca awaits winner of Olivier Busquet vs. Ronit Chamani
$1,500 + $90 Heads-Up NLH
Structure Sheet
Round of 64 Complete Results
The round of 64 is complete. The winner’s name is in bold.
Round of 32 (second round) matches are already in progress and shown below.
Frank Brannan vs. Robert Lofaso
Anthony Zinno vs. Ryan Hall
Joseph Drory vs. Jeffrey Coon
Jr Seikali vs. Athanasios Polychronopoulos
Chris O’Hara vs. Jason McHam
Cathy Dever vs. Joe McKeehen
Kharlin Sued vs. Vladimir Alexandrov
Gary Martin vs. Peter Vitantonio
Travis Greenawalt vs. Ido Ashkenazi
Justin Adams vs. Chander Jain
Timothy Reilly vs. Ping Liu
Phil Hellmuth vs. Wenhao Ying
Danko Campese vs. Steven Sarmiento
Brian Sherrier vs. Dominick Giovanniello
John Shilling vs. Bandon Hall
Michael Marder vs. Kevin Lutz
Alex Rocha vs Frank Funaro
Joey Cappello vs. Aleksei Vandyshev
David Mock vs. Jeffrey Hong
Alex Queen vs. Eric Panayiotou
John Lakatosh vs. Michael Stashin
Roger Lussier vs. Dylan Gang
Chris Kennedy vs. Daniel Podheiser
Dan DaConti vs. Ranson Nelson
John Botticello vs. Martin Zamani
Adam Hendrix vs. Michael Malinconico
Christopher Kostoulas vs. Michael Vela
Dawn Wilensky vs. Nicholas Machalani
Olivier Busquet vs. Neal Gay
Ronit Chamani vs. Sirous Jamshidi
Ben Lavallee vs. Martin Matranca
Rudolf George vs. Brock Wilson
Round of 32 Matches
Frank Brannan vs. Ryan Hall
Jeffrey Coon vs. Jr Seikali
Chris O’Hara vs. Cathy Dever
Kharlin Sued vs. Peter Vitantonio
Travis Greenawalt vs. Justin Adams
Timothy Reilly vs. Phil Hellmuth
Steven Sarmiento vs. Dominick Giovanniello
Bandon Hall vs. Kevin Lutz
Alex Rocha vs Joey Cappello
Jeffrey Hong vs. Alex Queen
John Lakatosh vs. Dylan Gang
Daniel Podheiser vs. Ranson Nelson
John Botticello vs. Adam Hendrix
Michael Vela vs. Nicholas Machalani
Olivier Busquet vs. Ronit Chamani
Martin Matranca vs. Brock Wilson
$1,500 + $90 Heads-Up NLH
Structure Sheet
Level 1: Blinds 100/200
Round of 32
Phil Hellmuth
Yes it’s true 15 time WSOP bracelet and poker royalty Phil Hellmuth is making his Borgata Winter Poker Open debut here in the $1,590 Heads-Up NLH.
Hellmuth was victorious in his first round matchup defeating Wenhao Ying. He is now facing Tim Reilly in Round 2 after Reilly made short work of his Round 1 opponent Ping Liu.
Tim Reilly
It was Reilly drawing first blood against Hellmuth as we caught up to the action on the river of the 
board. “That’s the magic card” said Reilly as he threw out a bet of 2,700 into a main pot of over 6,000.
Hellmuth called and Reilly showed 
for aces up to take the pot. “You know I almost folded when you said that was the magic card” Hellmuth said as Reilly stacked his chips.
Tim Reilly- 21,500
Phil Hellmuth- 8,500
$1,500 + $90 Heads-Up NLH
Structure Sheet
Round of 64
The round of 64 is almost complete, with just a few matches remaining. The feature matches completed have Phil Hellmuth defeating Wenhao Ying and advancing to the next round to face Timothy Reilly. Cathy Dever defeated world champ Joe McKeehen and also advances to face Chris O’Hara in round 2.
2009 WPT BPO Champion Olivier Busquet defeated Neal Gay to advance as well. He will face Ronit Chamani in round 2.
The winner’s name is in bold for the matches that are complete. Round of 32 (second round) matches are scheduled to begin at 5:30pm.
Frank Brannan vs. Robert Lofaso
Anthony Zinno vs. Ryan Hall
Joseph Drory vs. Jeffrey Coon
Jr Seikali vs. Athanasios Polychronopoulos
Chris O’Hara vs. Jason McHam
Cathy Dever vs. Joe McKeehen
Kharlin Sued vs. Vladimir Alexandrov
Gary Martin vs. Peter Vitantonio
Travis Greenawalt vs. Ido Ashkenazi
Justin Adams vs. Chander Jain
Timothy Reilly vs. Ping Liu
Phil Hellmuth vs. Wenhao Ying
Danko Campese vs. Steven Sarmiento
Brian Sherrier vs. Dominick Giovanniello
John Shilling vs. Bandon Hall
Michael Marder vs. Kevin Lutz
Alex Rocha vs Frank Funaro
Joey Cappello vs. Aleksei Vandyshev
David Mock vs. Jeffrey Hong
Alex Queen vs. Eric Panayiotou
John Lakatosh vs. Michael Stashin
Roger Lussier vs. Dylan Gang
Chris Kennedy vs. Daniel Podheiser
Dan DaConti vs. Ranson Nelson
John Botticello vs. Martin Zamani
Adam Hendrix vs. Michael Malinconico
Christopher Kostoulas vs. Michael Vela
Dawn Wilensky vs. Nicholas Machalani
Olivier Busquet vs. Neal Gay
Ronit Chamani vs. Sirous Jamshidi
Ben Lavallee vs. Martin Matranca
Rudolf George vs. Brock Wilson
$1,500 + $90 Heads-Up NLH
Structure Sheet
Round of 64
The draw is complete and play has begun just inside the Event Center. Here are the first-round matches:
Frank Brannan vs. Robert Lofaso
Anthony Zinno vs. Ryan Hall
Joseph Drory vs. Jeffrey Coon
Jr Seikali vs. Athanasios Polychronopoulos
Chris O’Hara vs. Jason McHam
Cathy Dever vs. Joe McKeehen
Kharlin Sued vs. Vladimir Alexandrov
Gary Martin vs. Peter Vitantonio
Travis Greenawalt vs. Ido Ashkenazi
Justin Adams vs. Chander Jain
Timothy Reilly vs. Ping Liu
Phil Hellmuth vs. Wenhao Ying
Danko Campese vs. Steven Sarmiento
Brian Sherrier vs. Dominick Giovanniello
John Shilling vs. Bandon Hall
Michael Marder vs. Kevin Lutz
Alex Rocha vs Frank Funaro
Joey Cappello vs. Aleksei Vandyshev
David Mock vs. Jeffrey Hong
Alex Queen vs. Eric Panayiotou
John Lakatosh vs. Michael Stashin
Roger Lussier vs. Dylan Gang
Chris Kennedy vs. Daniel Podheiser
Dan DaConti vs. Ranson Nelson
John Botticello vs. Martin Zamani
Adam Hendrix vs. Michael Malinconico
Christopher Kostoulas vs. Michael Vela
Dawn Wilensky vs. Nicholas Machalani
Olivier Busquet vs. Neal Gay
Ronit Chamani vs. Sirous Jamshidi
Ben Lavallee vs. Martin Matranca
Rudolf George vs. Brock Wilson
Wenhao Ying vs. Phil Hellmuth
Key events in the first round are of course Phil Hellmuth’s match against Wenhao Ying, given this is Phil’s first appearance at Borgata in many years.
Cathy Dever vs. Joe McKeehen
Cathy Dever was runner-up in this event in the 2015 BPO and she drew World Series of Poker champ Joe McKeehen in the first round. He won this event here during the 2014 BPO.
And Anthony Zinno was the Heads-Up Champion who defeated Cathy Dever in 2015. He’s facing Ryan Hall in he first round.
Anthony Zinno
The late start will push back the second round but as these matches finish up, we’ll post an updated bracket.
$1,500 + $90 Heads-Up NLH
Structure Sheet
First Round Draw – Round of 64
This is always one of the most competitive events that the Borgata offers and it has not been on the Winter Poker Open schedule since 2017. Players play one-on-one in a 64-person single-elimination bracket style tournament until one remains. Matches have a best-of-three structure, with 15,000 starting chip, 15-minute round games.
This tournament will play into the money tonight with the Round of 64 starting about 2pm, Round of 32 starting about 5pm, and the Round of 16 beginning at ~8pm.
The final 8 players will be in the money and the Round of 8 will begin at 12 noon Saturday.
The draw has begun near the entrance to the Event Center and players are waiting to see who they will face in the first round. When the bracket fills out, we will update you on all the first round match-ups.
The 2017 BWPO Heads-up winner was Eric Schwartz, earning $20,000 ($1,000 buy-in).
2017 Winter Poker Open Heads Up Champion – Eric Schwartz
Back in 2016, Matthew Emmel was the winner, collecting $49,664.
Matt Emmel – 2016 Winter Poker Open ‘Heads Up Championship’ Winner