Canada’s Eric Afriat defeated a field of 1,244 entries to come out on top of the WPTWinter Poker Open Championship at the Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Afriat won his second WPT title, following up on his win in the Season XII Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown.
The Borgata Winter Poker Open featured a $3 million guaranteed prize pool. Afriat took home $651,928 for winning the title in his second final table of Season XVI. The Quebec native claimed a fifth-place finish at WPT Montreal last November.
Zach Gruneberg started the final table with half of the chips in play, but Afriat was able to overcome the giant stack and a group of formidable opponents on his way to victory.
World Poker Tour will run the 2020 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open from 14th till 31st of January at the Borgata Hotel Casino. Coverage of the poker series 2019/2020 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open, including results, chip counts, poker videos, and photos.
Final table lineup
Seat 1: Eric Afriat – 2,280,000 (23 bb)
Seat 2: Zach Gruneberg – 17,600,000 (176 bb)
Seat 3: Joe McKeehen – 5,955,000 (60 bb)
Seat 4: Justin Zaki – 5,565,000 (56 bb)
Seat 5: Stephen Song – 2,740,000 (27 bb)
Seat 6: Michael Marder – 3,080,000 (31 bb)
The youngest falls first
Stephen Song entered the nine-handed unofficial final table as the chip leader but started Day 5 as the short stack. At only 22 years old, Song was a relative unknown in the pro-heavy WPT field. Song never got much going and his elimination started the rise of Afriat.
Song limped in the cutoff with ace-deuce of hearts and Afriat came in from the small blind with pocket threes. Afriat flopped a full house and Song the nut-flush draw. All the money went in with Song drawing nearly dead and he departed in sixth-place. Song earned his first ever six-figure tournament score.
Joe McKeehen falls short of first WPT win
After New Jersey pro Michael Marder’s fifth-place elimination, Joe McKeehen exited in the 72nd hand of the final table. Afriat claimed most of McKeehen’s chips and Gruneberg swept the rest up.
With the blinds up to 100,000/200,000, Afriat raised to 425,000 under the gun with queen-ten suited. Gruneberg called and McKeehen three-bet out of the small blind for 1,500,000 with two nines. Afriat put in a fourth raise to 2,675,000 and McKeehen called to a queen-high flop. Afriat bet 950,000 into a pot of six million and McKeehen folded.
McKeehen three-bet shoved with ace-jack offsuit the next hand over a Gruneberg open but Gruneberg held ace-king and eliminated the 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion.
The final table is the second for McKeehen on the World Poker Tour and he matched his fourth place result from the Season XIV Winter Poker Open.
Gruneberg unable to claim Borgata redemption
Zach Gruneberg placed second to Jesse Sylvia in the Season XV Borgata Poker Open and was eager to best that finish. Gruneberg’s chip lead dwindled relative to the blinds throughout the final table and his run ended in third place.
Gruneberg four-bet shoved with ace-nine offsuit in a blind versus blind encounter with Justin Zaki, who held pocket tens. No help for Gruneberg and his third-place run came with a $321,533 consolation prize.
On Day 4, Gruneberg was all-in with ace-queen on a queen-high board against the flopped set of Chase Bianchi. Gruneberg went runner-runner for quads and spun that second life up into his podium finish.
Heads up battle
Afriat entered heads up play with a 2:1 chip deficit against Zaki. Thanks to some patient play and timely cards, Afriat pulled ahead of the Florida pro to win the title after a 100-hand match.
The chip lead switched hand numerous times during heads up before Afriat took control for good.
The big blind was a robust 1,000,000 and Afriat raise to twice that and then called an all-in of 17,300,000 from Zaki. Afriat had ace-king and a huge lead over Zaki’s king-eight. No help came for Zaki and Afriat closed out the tournament on the next hand.
Zaki’s second career WPT final table came with a career-best payout.
Final table results
1st Place: Eric Afriat – $651,928
2nd Place: Justin Zaki – $434,614
3rd Place: Zach Gruneberg – $321,533
4th Place: Joe McKeehen – $240,251
5th Place: Michael Marder – $181,329
6th Place: Stephen Song – $138,254
Afriat up to second in Player of the Year
There were no true challengers to Art Papazyan’s Season XVI Player of the Year rule until Afriat won on Friday. Afriat is up to 1,700 points, putting him 700 behind Papazyan. If Afriat makes another WPT final table this season he will have the chance to pass Papazyan and earn the Player of the Year title.
The next stop is…
Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, ON is the next stop on the World Poker Tour. The WPT will be there from February 10-12. Darren Elias won his third career WPT title in this event last year.
Lead image courtesy of WPT/Flickr
The WPT Borgata Poker Open festival kicked off yesterday at Borgata Hotel and Casino, and offers players numerous options for big scores. Over $7 million dollars in guaranteed prize pools are up for grabs over the next three weeks.
The WPT Borgata Championship main event begins on September 17 and features a $3300 + 200 buy-in. The guaranteed pool for this event is $3 million dollars, and the event will run for six days (with two Day 1 flights).
With such a large prize pool, the winner can count on a hefty payday. Also, champions are also guaranteed a seat in the WPT Tournament of Champions. To cover the entry fee for that tournament, the tour will automatically deduct $15,000 from the winner’s share of the prize pool.
Interestingly, players have the option of competing in both Day 1 flights. If a player ends both Day 1s with chips in front of him, he or she can choose the better of the two stacks to move forward.
Opportunities for the casual player
Players with a lighter bankroll also have options for participating in the Open. There are nine stand-alone tournaments with buy-ins under $500 running concurrently with the main events.
There are also several satellites for players to win their way into the big tournaments. The Almighty Stack tournament has a $100 satellite on Tuesday, September 12th. One in five players will win a seat to the $1 million guaranteed event.
More importantly, there are five satellites to the main event between the 15th and the 17th. Players can put down either $400 or $750 to take a shot at a seat in the WPT Borgata Championship.
Qualify for the WPT Borgata Championship online
Residents and visitors in New Jerseyhave additional opportunities to qualify by playing online at Borgata Poker. Online super satellites with a $400 buy-in will run at 7:40 p.m. each night between Sept. 9 – 11 and again between Sept 15 – 17.
Those with smaller bankrolls can work their way up to live events for as little as five bucks. If you don’t have a Borgata Poker account you can get $10 in cash with a $10 bonus if you sign-up today.
The series offers more than one great tournament
At present, players are competing in Day 1A of the Borgata Deepstack Kickoff NLHE Re-Entry. The $600 buy-in tournament will conclude on September 9 and features a whopping six Day 1 flights with unlimited re-entry opportunities.
Players are competing for their share of at least $2 million dollars. This kind of tournament format, with multiple flights and large guarantees, is a hallmark of this tournament series.
As a result, the main event, though impressive, is hardly the only big tournament on the slate. The Almighty Stack on September 12 features a million-dollar guarantee, and six other tournaments promise six-figure pools.
Borgata Poker Results
Here is the full schedule for the main events in the series (all times ET):
Borgata Deepstack Kickoff NLHE Re-Entry – $2 Million Guaranteed
| Dates | Buy-in | Time | Day # |
| 9/5/17 | $540 + 60 | 11 AM | 1A |
| 9/5/17 | $540 + 60 | 5 PM | 1B |
| 9/6/17 | $540 + 60 | 11 AM | 1C |
| 9/6/17 | $540 + 60 | 5 PM | 1D |
| 9/7/17 | $540 + 60 | 10 AM | 1E |
| 9/7/17 | $540 + 60 | 7 PM | 1F |
| 9/8/17 | 12 PM | 2 | |
| 9/9/17 | 12 PM | 3 |
Deepstack Black Chip Bounty NLHE Re-Entry – $150,000 Guaranteed
| Dates | Buy-in | Time | Day # |
| 9/8/17 | $350 + 50 + 100 | 1 PM | 1 |
| 9/9/17 | 12 PM | 2 |
Super Stack Elevator NLHE Re-Entry
| Dates | Buy-in | Time | Day # |
| 9/9/17 | $400 + 50 | 4 PM | 1 |
| 9/10/17 | 12 PM | 2 |
Deepest Stack NLHE Re-Entry – $200,000 Guaranteed
| Dates | Buy-in | Time | Day # |
| 9/11/17 | $300 + 40 | 11 AM | 1A |
| 9/11/17 | $300 + 40 | 5 PM | 1B |
| 9/12/17 | 12 PM | 2 |
Almighty Stack NLHE Re-Entry – $1 Million Guaranteed
| Dates | Buy-in | Time | Day # |
| 9/12/17 | $350 + 50 | 11 AM | 1A |
| 9/13/17 | $350 + 50 | 11 AM | 1B |
| 9/13/17 | $350 + 50 | 5 PM | 1C |
| 9/14/17 | $350 + 50 | 10 AM | 1D |
| 9/14/17 | $350 + 50 | 6 PM | 1E |
| 9/15/17 | 2 | ||
| 9/16/17 | 3 |
OE H/L 8B Re-Entry
| Dates | Buy-in | Time | Day # |
| 9/12/17 | $350 + 50 | 4 PM | 1 |
| 9/13/17 | 12 PM | 2 |
Six Max NLHE Re-Entry – $200,000 Guaranteed
| Dates | Buy-in | Time | Day # |
| 9/15/17 | $1,000 + 90 | 11 AM | 1 |
| 9/16/17 | 12 PM | 2 |
Heads Up NLHE Re-Entry (64 Max)
| Dates | Buy-in | Time | Day # |
| 9/16/17 | $1,500 + 150 | 3 PM | 1 |
| 9/17/17 | 12 PM | 2 |
Borgata Poker Open 2019
WPT Borgata Championship NLHE Re-Entry – $3 Million Guaranteed
| Dates | Buy-in | Time | Day # |
| 9/17/17 | $3300 + 200 | 11 AM | 1A |
| 9/18/17 | $3300 + 200 | 11 AM | 1B |
| 9/19/17 | 12 PM | 2 | |
| 9/20/17 | 12 PM | 3 | |
| 9/21/17 | 12 PM | 4 | |
| 9/22/17 | 3 PM | 5 |
Single Day Tournaments
| Date | Tournament Name | Buy – in | Time |
| 9/9/17 | Saturday Series Deepstack NLHE Re-Entry | $350 + 50 | 11 AM |
| 9/10/17 | 4th Annual Mike Sica Memorial Seniors NLHE Re-Entry | $300 + 40 | 10 AM |
| 9/10/17 | Deeper Stack NLHE Re-Entry – $50K Guaranteed | $260 + 40 | 11 AM |
| 9/10/17 | PLO Re-Entry | $350 + 50 | 1 PM |
| 9/15/17 | Super Survivor NLHE 1 Re-Entry (~1 in 10 Wins $5K) | $500 + 60 | 4 PM |
| 9/16/17 | Saturday Series Deepstack NLHE Re-Entry – $100K Guaranteed | $350 + 50 | 11 AM |
| 9/19/17 | Deepstack Black Chip Bounty NLHE Re-Entry – $25K Guaranteed | $200 + 30 + 100 | 11 AM |
| 9/19/17 | Eight Max Turbo Super Knockout Re-Entry | $1,000 + 60 + $500 | 4 PM |
| 9/20/17 | Deepstack NLHE Re-Entry – $100K Guaranteed | $260 + 40 | 11 AM |
| 9/20/17 | Super Survivor NLHE 1 Re-Entry (~1 in 10 Wins $5K) | $500 + 60 | 4 PM |
| 9/21/17 | Deeper Stack NLHE Re-Entry – $50K Guaranteed | $350 + 50 | 11 AM |
| 9/22/17 | Deepest Stack NLHE Re-Entry – $50K Guaranteed | $200 + 30 | 11 AM |
Borgata is one of the best poker venues on the East Coast, and this series promises to be an excellent event for all poker players.