Feb 03, 2017 The World Poker Tour (WPT) is a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series that broadcast the final table of each tournament. Category Sports.
In recent years, Phil Hellmuth has cut back on his schedule of live poker tournaments played outside of the World Series of Poker. The all-time leader in WSOP bracelets had cashed in only one live tournament since winning his record-furthering 15th win at the series in the $5,000 turbo no-limit hold’em event on July 11, 2018.
Hellmuth broke the dry spell and got his 2019 off to a strong start by taking down the Borgata Winter Poker Open $1,590 no-limit hold’em heads-up event. The ‘Poker Brat’ defeated a field of 64 entries in the event to earn $37,248 and 144 Card Player Player of the Year points.
Hellmuth nearly didn’t make it to the finals. As reported on the Borgata Winter Poker Open blog, Hellmuth was tied 1-1, and down to just 3,700 to Ryan Hall, who had 26,300 at his high-point in the deciding match. Hellmuth was able to battle back from that huge deficit, however, to set up a final-round showdown with Joseph Cappello, whom had defeated World Poker Tour champion and online heads-up sit-n-go legend Olivier Busquet.
Hellmuth took the first match in the best-of-three showdown, getting all-in on a 10759 board with the 109 for two pair. Cappello had 106 and was in need of help heading into the river. The 5 secured the first match for Hellmuth.
The second match saw Cappello build a 2:1 lead before Hellmuth was able to mount a comeback. By the time the final hand arose Cappello was down to just a handful of big blinds. He moved all-in with the Q7 and Hellmuth called with the K9. The board came down JJ4A3 and Hellmuth’s high card earned him the pot and the title. Cappello was awarded $18,624 as the second-place finisher.
Hellmuth took to Twitter to celebrate the win and the fact that he was able to take a break in between matches to enter day 1A of the World Poker Tour main event at the series and run up an 88,500 stack.
Hello BorgataPoker</a> Heads Up Tourney Trophy! Great start to my trip, one tourney = one trophy. Back at in <a href='https://twitter.com/WPT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>WPT Day 2 on Tuesday #POSITIVITYpic.twitter.com/2j2arLMTGK
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) January 28, 2019
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded in this event:
| Place | Player | Earnings (USD) | POY Points |
| Champion | Phil Hellmuth | $37,248 | 144 |
| Finalist | Joseph Cappello | $18,624 | 120 |
| Semi-Finalist | Ryan Hall | $9,312 | 84 |
| Semi-Finalist | Olivier Busquet | $9,312 | 84 |
| Quarter-Finalist | Christopher O’Hara | $4,656 | 0 |
| Quarter-Finalist | Steven Sarmiento | $4,656 | 0 |
| Quarter-Finalist | Dylan Gang | $4,656 | 0 |
| Quarter-Finalist | Michael Vela | $4,656 | 0 |
Winner photo credit: Borgata Winter Poker Open Blog.
Table Of Contents
Event #16: $440 Saturday Series NLH
There was a massive turnout for the 2019 Borgata Poker Open Event #16 $400 Saturday Series NLH with 500 entries creating a prize pool of over $169,000.
When the dust settled in the early morning hours, Frank Marasco was the last man standing in the Signature Room.
Marasco picked his spots at the final table flying under the radar and caught fire at the perfect time. He eliminated Raj Tangam in third place and brought a slight chip lead into heads-up play with Frank Simone.
It didn't take long for all of the chips to get in the middle and it was a classic coin flip with Marasco holding pocket queens and Simone holding ace-king. The board ran out clean for Simone and he took home his first Borgata Poker Open trophy along with $42,258.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frank Marasco | $42,258 |
| 2 | Frank Simone | $23,765 |
| 3 | Raj Tangam | $15,278 |
| 4 | David Elliott | $12,137 |
| 5 | Rob Calabrese | $9,506 |
| 6 | Grigoriy Shvarts | $7,809 |
| 7 | Hal Neeman | $6,196 |
| 8 | Oren Siedlecki | $4,838 |
| 9 | Tim Allison | $3,395 |
| 10 | Roland Israelashvili | $2,207 |
Event #18: $280 Double Chip Green Bounty
Event #18 of the Borgata Fall Poker Open was the $280 Double Green Chip Bounty NLH. There were 119 total entries creating a prize pool of over $23,000. In the end, two players remained in the late-night hours in the Signature Room and they began to discuss a deal.
John Visco was holding a slight chip lead at the time of the deal and took first place for $5,810. Michael Bonita was the Event #18 runner-up earning $4,810.
Borgata Poker Tournaments Schedule
They then agreed to run one hand out for the trophy and Michael Bonita came out on top winning his first Borgata Poker Open trophy.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Visco | $5,810 |
| 2 | Michael Bonita | $4,810 |
| 3 | Jose Silverman | $2,309 |
| 4 | Andrew Defrancesco | $1,847 |
| 5 | Tam Nguyen | $1,385 |
| 6 | Aaron Mayor | $1,154 |
| 7 | Dragan Stosic | $923 |
| 8 | Gary Silverman | $693 |
| 9 | Olamide Otti | $519 |
Borgata Winter Poker Open Schedule
While two more winners were crowned, the $2,700 Championship event of the Borgata Fall Poker Open is also underway! Jump right back to the PokerNews live reporting section to follow along with all the updates from the floor.
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Borgata Poker Open Blog 2019
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