Event 23
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
$260+$40 Deepest Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 31: Blinds 80,000/160,000/160,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 474
Players Remaining: 7
(L to R) Ed Farah, Shaun Hinklein, Fanilkumar Patel, Mike Dichiard, Brad Fryman , Jim Kousouros, Regs Villaluna
When the players returned from break they began to discuss an adjusted payout deal. The stacks were counted down and it didn’t take long for them to strike a deal.
They then agreed to run one hand out for the trophy and Mike D was the winner of his first miniature Borgata.
Below is a look at the chip stacks at the time of the deal and the adjusted Event 23 tournament payouts.
Fanilkumar Patel- 6,090,000 ($17,225)
Ed Farah- 5,340,000 ($16,659)
Shaun Hinklein- 2,61,000 ($11,749)
Mike Dichiard- 2,340,000 ($11,189)
James Kousouros- 1,900,000 ($10,206)
Regs Villaluna- 1,750,000 ($9,848)
Brad Fryman- 1,120,000 ($8,179)
$260+$40 Deepest Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 30: Blinds 60,000/120,000/120,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 474
Players Remaining: 7
Ed Farah
A three way pre-flop all in confrontation just broke out at the final and Ed Farah came out on top. Farah was holding 
against the 
and 
. The four club runout improved Farah to the nut flush to earn him the pot and the double knockout.
Farah now moves into the Event 23 chip lead with about 7,000,000 and just 6 players now stand between him and his first Borgata Poker Open title.
$260+$40 Deepest Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 30: Blinds 60,000/120,000/120,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 474
Players Remaining: 9
Joe Pitti
A short stacked Joe Pitti was the first player to hit the rail here at the Event 23 final table. Pitti will take home $1,554 for his 10th place finish.
$260+$40 Deepest Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 29: Blinds 50,000/100,000/100,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 474
Players Remaining: 10
Fanilkumar “Neil” Patel
Tyreem Williams was eliminated in 11th and the Event 23 final table is now set. Fanilkumar “Neil” Patel is well out in front with a monster chip stack of 5,500,000. Patel already has one final table under his belt this series with a 10th place finish in the $230 Black Chip Bounty NLH.
The players will battle it out here in the early morning hours and one of them will take home $30,548 and the last BWPO trophy of the series.
$260+$40 Deepest Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 28: Blinds 40,000/80,000/80,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 474
Players Remaining: 11
Shaun Hinklein
Shaun Hinklein limped in from the small blind and Ralph Macri moved all in for 1,600,000 from the big. Hinklein called turning over 
and Macri would need to improve with 
.
The board ran out clean for Hinklein and Macri was sent to the rail in 12th earning $1,554.
We are now just one elimination away from the final table and it’s Hinklein leading the way with about 3,600,000.
Ralph Macri
$260+$40 Deepest Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 27: Blinds 30,000/60,000/60,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 474
Players Remaining: 16
Tyreem Willams
We are approaching the break and inching closer to the Event 23 final table. Tyreem Williams has quietly been amassing one of the biggest stacks in the room.
Williams is up to 2,800,000 and he looks to add his first Borgata Poker title to his poker resume here in the last event of the series.
$260+$40 Deepest Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 25: Blinds 20,000/40,000/40,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 474
Players Remaining: 24
Ralph Macri
We are down to the final three Event 23 tables in the Event Center and Ralph Macri is heating up at the right time. Macri was grinding a short stack for much of the night but that is no longer the case.
He has now chipped up to over 900,000 and has his sights set on his second BWPO trophy of the series.
Macri was part of a heads-up deal in Event 9 the $300 Deepest Stack NLH $150,000 GTD in which he earned $50,000 and the trophy just 10 days ago.
Ralph Macri
$260+$40 Deepest Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 24: Blinds 15,000/30,000/30,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 474
Players Remaining: 30
Frank Reina
The Event 23 field is thinning down after the break and we are down to the final 30 players. Frank Reina was among the latest players to hit the rail. Reina was eliminated in 33rd earning $657 and notched his 76th Borgata tournament cash.
He now sits in 4th on the Borgata Poker number of cashes list just two behind Eric Siegel.
$260+$40 Deepest Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 23: Blinds 12,000/24,000/24,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 474
Players Remaining: 34
The Event 23 players are now on a 15 minute color up break. There are just 34 players remaining and they’re now all guaranteed at least $657.
We will pick back up on the action when play resumes as the players battle it out for the $30,548 and the last trophy of the series.