Event 7
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
$200+$30 Deeper Stack NLH
$30,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 28: Blinds 40,000/80,000/80,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 324
Players Remaining: 6
Kyle Yen
With the elimination of Nick Palma in 7th place the final six players began to discuss an adjusted payout deal. The stacks were counted down and they quickly came to an agreement.
Kyle Yen who held the chip lead at the time of the deal will take home $9,083 along with his first Borgata Winter Open Trophy. “I just got aces sixes times it was all skill” joked Yen while he posed with his trophy in the winners circle.
Below is a full look at the chip counts at the time of the deal and the adjusted Event 7 tournament payouts.
Kyle Yen- $9,113+Borgata Winter Poker Open Trophy
Jon Neale- $8,542
Jordan Wolbrum- $7,374
Eileen Kustafik- $6,664
Morgan Klein- $6,284
Clint Dunn- $5,757
(L to R) Jeremy our final table dealer, Morgan Klein, Clint Dunn, Jon Neale, Jordan Wolbrum (Seated) Kyle Yen, Eileen Kustafik
$200+$30 Deeper Stack NLH
$30,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 28: Blinds 40,000/80,000/80,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 324
Players Remaining: 6
Nick Palma
The anonymous player was sent to the rail in 8th place earning $1,854 for his efforts. Nick Palma then followed when he failed to improve holding 
against the 
of Jordan Wolbrum.
Palma will take home $2,451 for his 7th place Event 7 finish.
Jordan Wolbrum- 1,860,000
$200+$30 Deeper Stack NLH
$30,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 27: Blinds 30,000/60,000/60,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 324
Players Remaining: 8
Anonymous
A. Nonymous entered the Event 7 final table with the short stack and he was the first player to fall. He will take home $1,257 for his 9th place finish.
$200+$30 Deeper Stack NLH
$30,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 27: Blinds 30,000/60,000/60,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 324
Players Remaining: 9
Jon Neale
Jon Neale and Jordan Wolbrum went heads up to the 
and there was already over 800,000 in the main pot. A raising war broke out and the end result was Neale moving all in for 785,000 and Wolbrum calling.
Neale showed 
for top pair and was dominating the 
of Wolbrum.
The turn 
and river 
sealed the deal for Neale and he earned the massive double up.
Jon Neale- 2,400,000
Jordan Wolbrum- 750,000
$200+$30 Deeper Stack NLH
$30,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 26: Blinds 25,000/50,000/50,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 324
Players Remaining: 9
Kyle Yen
The Event 7 Deeper Stack NLH final table is now set and it’s Kyle Yen leading the way with 2,700,000. Jordan Wolbrum sits in second with 2,250,000 and Eileen Kustafik rounds out the top three chip stacks with 1.425,000.
The players will battle into the late night hours in the Event Center and one of them will take home $16,970 and the Borgata Winter Poker Open trophy.
Below is a full look at the updated final table chip counts and seating assignments.
Seat 1. Morgan Klein- 1,000,000
Seat 2. Jon Neale- 1,200,000
Seat 3. Kyle Yen- 2,700,000
Seat 4. Jordan Wolbrum- 2,250,000
Seat 5. Nick Palma- 825,000
Seat 6. Elieen Kustafik- 1,425,000
Seat 7. Anonymous- 850,000
Seat 8. Clint Dunn- 725,000
Seat 9. A. Nonymous- 530,000
| Place | Payout |
| 1 | $16,970 |
| 2 | $9,428 |
| 3 | $5,864 |
| 4 | $4,714 |
| 5 | $3,709 |
| 6 | $3,049 |
| 7 | $2,451 |
| 8 | $1,854 |
| 9 | $1,257 |
$200+$30 Deeper Stack NLH
$30,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 25: Blinds 20,000/40,000/40,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 324
Players Remaining: 11
Morgan Klein
The action folded around to Morgan Klein in the small blind and she moved all in for 400,000. A. Nonymous went into the tank from the big blind.
He eventually glanced over at Klein and folded his 
face up. Klein slid her hand face down to the dealer and dragged the pot without showdown.
We are now to the final 11 players and just one elimination away from the Event 7 final table.
$200+$30 Deeper Stack NLH
$30,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
End of Level 24: Blinds 15,000/30,000/30,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 324
Players Remaining: 13
Chuck Bryant
Eileen Kustafik
The chip lead has changed hands plenty of times throughout the night and once again there are two new faces at the top of the chip counts. An anonymous player is up to 2,300,000 and Chuck Bryant is on his heels with 1,700,000
Eileen Kustafki took a sizeable pot from former big stack Jordan Wolbrum. She is now sitting behind a mountain of about 1,300,000 and has moved into the chip lead.
Jon Neale is seated at the next table and he just took a pot from Nick Palma to climb to 1,100,000 while Palma dipped to 650,000.
Just 13 players remain and one of them will be crowned the Event 7 Borgata Winter Poker Open Champion and take home $16,970 and the trophy.
The players are now on a 15 minute color up break and we will pick back up on the action when play resumes.
Jon Neale
$200+$30 Deeper Stack NLH
$30,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 23: Blinds 12,000/25,000/25,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 324
Players Remaining: 19
Nick Palma
We are down to the final 19 Event 7 players and Nick Palma is showing no signs of slowing down. Palma won a monster pot holding 
against Andrew Rolo and hasn’t looked back.
He is now the first player to cross the million chip mark but he has some company at the top.
After scoring a knockout in the last level Jordan Wolbrum is right on his heels with 950,000.
| Place | Payout |
| 1 | $16,970 |
| 2 | $9,428 |
| 3 | $5,864 |
| 4 | $4,714 |
| 5 | $3,709 |
| 6 | $3,049 |
| 7 | $2,451 |
| 8 | $1,854 |
| 9 | $1,257 |
| 10 – 12 | $817 |
| 13 – 15 | $676 |
| 16 – 18 | $537 |
| 19 – 27 | $440 |
$200+$30 Deeper Stack NLH
$30,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 22: Blinds 10,000/20,000/20,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 324
Players Remaining: 23
Jordan Wolbrum
The action folded around to Jordan Wolbrum in the cutoff and he raised to 50,000. The player on the button called and they went heads up to the 
flop.
Wolbrum continued with a bet of 50,000 and his opponent moved all in for about 135,000. Wolbrum snap called turning over 
for top pair and the nut flush draw and his opponent showed 
.
The turn and river 
improved Wolbrum to aces full of fives and he earned the knockout. Wolbrum is now near the top of the chip counts with 950,000 and just 22 players remaining.