Event 21
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
Spencer Sweisford
Event 21 of the Borgata Winter Poker Open was the $260+$40 Deepest Stack NLH. There was a massive field of 890 entries creating a prize pool of nearly $225,000.
It was a marathon of a tournament that wrapped up at 8:30 A.M. after nearly four hours of final table play.
When the dust settled Spencer Swiesford was the last man standing earning his largest career tournament score of $51,636 and his first Borgata Winter Poker Open trophy. Swiesford built a big stack late in the night and held strong near the top for much of the night.
After eliminating George Karm in 3rd Swiesford brought a nearly 3-1 chip lead into heads-up play. Just a few hands into the match his 
outflopped the 
of Mark Perry and Sweisford was victorious.
Below is a full look at the full Event 21 final table results.
1. Spencer Sweisford- $51,636+BWPO Trophy
2. Mark Perry- $30,077
3. George Karm- $18,406
4. Welther Marmol- $15,151
5. Cody Bell- $12,345
6. Kat Khaterzai- $10,101
7. John Hogan- $8,080
8. Bob McGuire- $6,060
9. James McKinnon- $4,265
10. Michael Damico- $2,806
$260 + $40 Deep Stack NLH
$150,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 35: Blinds: 200,000/400,000/400,000
Total Entries: 890
Players Remaining: 1
Mark Perry
Spencer Sweisford moved all in and Mark Perry called for his last 6,200,000. Sweisford turned over and would need to improve against the of Perry.
The board ran out 
and Sweisford’s ten of clubs was enough to flush Perry away.
Perry is our Event 21 runner-up after a marathon final table and he will take home $30,077 for his efforts.
$260 + $40 Deep Stack NLH
$150,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 35: Blinds: 200,000/400,000/400,000
Total Entries: 890
Players Remaining: 2
George Karm
A pre-flop raising war broke out between Spencer Sweisford and George Karm. The end result was Karm moving all in for 7,700,000 and Sweisford making the call.
Spencer Sweisford: 
George Karm: 
The dealer fanned the 
flop and Sweisford flopped Broadway leaving Karm all but drawing dead. The 
and 
completed the board and Karm was eliminated in 3rd place earning $18,406.
Spencer Sweisford- 19,000,000
$260 + $40 Deep Stack NLH
$150,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 35: Blinds: 200,000/400,000/400,000
Total Entries: 890
Players Remaining: 3
Welther Marmol
Welther Marmol moved all in for 2,500,000 and Spencer Sweisford called. Marmol showed 
but was dominated by Sweisford’s .
The 
runout sealed the deal for Sweisford and Marmol is our 4th place Event 21 finisher earning $15,151 for his efforts.
Spencer Sweisford- 12,500,000
$260 + $40 Deep Stack NLH
$150,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 35: Blinds: 200,000/400,000/400,000
Total Entries: 890
Players Remaining: 4
Cody Bell
Cody Bell moved all in from the small blind for about 2,500,000 and Spencer Sweisford called from the big blind.
Spencer Sweisford:
Cody Bell: 
The board ran out 
and Bell was eliminated in 5th place taking home $12,345 for his efforts.
Spencer Sweisford- 9,000,000
$260 + $40 Deep Stack NLH
$150,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 34: Blinds: 150,000/300,000/300,000
Total Entries: 890
Players Remaining: 5
It has been nearly an hour since the elimination of Kat Khaterzai and five handed play continues. The stacks are getting shallow and it’s anybody’s game as they battle for the $51,636 and the trophy in the early morning hours.
$260 + $40 Deep Stack NLH
$150,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 33: Blinds: 120,000/240,000/240,000
Total Entries: 890
Players Remaining: 5
Kat Khaterzai
After nearly an hour stalemate at the final table a short stacked Kat Khaterzai was eliminated by Cody Bell. Khaterzai is our 6th place Event 21 finisher and will take home $10,101 for her efforts.
Cody Bell is back in the lead with close to 10,000,000 and just 5 players remaining.
$260 + $40 Deep Stack NLH
$150,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 31: Blinds: 80,000/160,000/160,000
Total Entries: 890
Players Remaining: 6
Mark Perry raised to 400,000 from under the gun and Cody Bell moved all in. It folded back to Perry who snap called for 3,480,000 and the hands were shown.
Mark Perry: 
Cody Bell: 
The 
runout sealed the deal for Perry who earned the massive double up to take the chip lead.
Mark Perry- 7,360,000
Cody Bell- 6,500,000
$260 + $40 Deep Stack NLH
$150,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 30: Blinds: 60,000/120,000/120,000
Total Entries: 890
Players Remaining: 6
John Hogan
John Hogan got his stack of about 900,000 all in pre-flop holding 
against the 
of Kat Khaterzai. He failed to improve and is our 7th place Event 21 finisher earning $8,080 for his efforts.
Kat Khaterzai- 4,800,000