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It was about 4am on Thanksgiving morning when the final trophy event of the 2018 Borgata Fall Poker Open came to an end and with it, the exciting November series was a wrap.
Wenhao Ying – 1st Place – 2018 BFPO Championship
Earlier on Wednesday, a relatively unknown 24-year-old grad student named Wenhao Ying went wire-to-wire on the live streamed final table to claim 1st place in the $1 Million Guaranteed Championship event, along with $200,000* and his first Borgata title. In fact, this is his first title on record, more than doubling his lifetime earnings, which have all come in the previous 27 months.
Ying faced down a final table that included three very experienced pros: Paul Volpe, Brian Altman, and Matt Wantman. Altman ran into a cooler early that sent him out in 6th place, but the other two were there at the end with Ying. They agreed on adjusted payouts based on their chip standings which brought the four-day Championship to a close.
Frank Lagodich – 1st Place – 2018 Fall Poker Open Kick-Off
The sixteen-day-long series was kicked off with the $500,000 Guaranteed Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em event. The prize pool came close to $800,000 and another young player claimed that title as well. First place and $128,359* went to 22-year-old Ohioan Frank Lagodich on his first-ever trip to Borgata. After getting heads-up with Borgata regular and poker pro Joe Cappuccio, Lagodich took the chip lead and the final two negotiated an adjusted payout with an even split of the remaining prize pool.
It was a good series for some of the “old school” Borgata tournament grinders as well. After several near misses, Bob Camano finally claimed his first Borgata title in Omaha/Stud High/Low Mix event. Andrew Klein booked his sixth Borgata win in the Old School NLH event, moving him into fifth place on the Most Wins at Borgata list. Howard Wolper waited until the final night of the series to make the money in Event 20, notching his 117th lifetime cash at Borgata, extending a record that’s going to be hard to beat.
The Ladies were once again in the spotlight, with two regulars claiming titles and setting records. BorgataPoker.com sponsored pro Katie Stone made the final six of the Deepest Stack NLH event and negotiated an adjusted payout giving her 1st place and $19,337*. This was her third Borgata title, putting her in a tie for first on the ‘Most Wins at Borgata by a Woman’ list. Until this series, Patricia Barsanti-Chou held this record. Just four days later, Anna Antimony won the Almighty Stack, coming out on top of a field of 1,073 runners to take the top prize of $91,586. This was also her third Borgata title, putting her in a three-way tie with Stone and Barsanti-Chou.
If there was a ‘Grind Until You Get There’ award, it would go to Carlos Matos for this BFPO series. He finished 5th in Event 9, the Deepest Stack, for $19,337*, then followed that up with a 3rd place finish in Event 15, the Saturday Series Deep Stack, for $14,432*. He finally got there and capped the series with a win in Event 19, the Deeper Stack, for $14,000* and his first Borgata Open trophy.
In total, more than $3.4 million was paid out in prize money in these 20 main events alone, not including satellites and secondary events, and 18 Borgata Fall Poker Open trophies found new homes. A complete list of main event winners is below.
*Indicates Adjusted Payout
The daily tournament schedule has resumed in the Poker Room, with brief interruptions for Holiday Tournaments on Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day. There is also a DeepStacks Challenge Series running December 26th – December 30th.
It’s never too early to make plans for the 2019 Winter Poker Open, which runs January 15th – February 1st, and returns to Borgata’s spacious Event Center venue. The series will be capped by the World Poker Tour Winter Poker Open Championship, January 27-31.
On behalf of Borgata Poker Staff and bloggers Tim Kelliher, Chris Murray, and myself, thank you to all the players who participated and make Borgata tournament poker great. And thank you to the staff for the best-run events on the East Coast.
Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy the coming Holiday season!
@Kaelaine
$2,500+$200 Championship NLH
$1,000,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 28: Blinds 40,000/80,000/80,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 437
Wenhao Ying – 1st Place – 2018 Borgata Fall Poker Open Championship
Wenhao Ying is a 24-year-old grad student who recorded his first tournament cash just over 2 years ago. He’s mostly self-taught, learning the game by watching training videos online. Those videos must be very good because he held the chip lead most of Day 3 and went wire-to-wire here on Day 4.
He warmed up in the SixMax first, finishing 5th for $8,420, against some of the best players in the game. He did the same at this final table, up against some of the best and he held his own.
For his efforts in this event, he will collect $200,000* and take home his first Borgata Open trophy. This is his first reported tournament win, but certainly won’t be his last!
Championship Final Results
| Place | Player | Payout |
| 1 | Wenhao Ying | $200,000* |
| 2 | Matt Wantman | $172,449* |
| 3 | Paul Volpe | $150,000* |
| 4 | Dat Vu | $76,830 |
| 5 | Mike Glick | $60,404 |
| 6 | Brian Altman | $50,337 |
| 7 | Dan DiZenzo | $40,270 |
| 8 | Andrew Ostapchenko | $30,732 |
| 9 | Chris Kennedy | $21,195 |
| 10 | Michael Haberman | $13,776 |
| 11 | Rudy DiRubbo | $13,776 |
| 12 | Michael Rossitto | $13,776 |
| 13 | Nobuo Tarui | $10,597 |
| 14 | Lexy Gavin | $10,597 |
| 15 | Zach Donovan | $10,597 |
| 16 | Bruce Yamron | $8,372 |
| 17 | Andrey Malinin | $8,372 |
| 18 | Dan Buzgon | $8,372 |
| 19 | Greg Aster | $6,570 |
| 20 | Mark Alvin Bayag | $6,570 |
| 21 | Asher Conniff | $6,570 |
| 22 | Eric Panayiotou | $6,570 |
| 23 | Daniel Retallick | $6,570 |
| 24 | Terrence Heinz | $6,570 |
| 25 | Ross Gottlieb | $6,570 |
| 26 | Boris Kravets | $6,570 |
| 27 | Adam Hendrix | $6,570 |
| 28 | Anna Antimony | $5,828 |
| 29 | A. Nonymous | $5,828 |
| 30 | Jesse Mercado | $5,828 |
| 31 | Dan Howe | $5,828 |
| 32 | Michael Marder | $5,828 |
| 33 | Menachem Landwirt | $5,828 |
| 34 | Namo Al-Jaf | $5,828 |
| 35 | Sumeet Wayachal | $5,828 |
| 36 | Ryan Hagerty | $5,828 |
| 37 | Peter Vitantonio | $5,299 |
| 38 | Zhan Ma | $5,299 |
| 39 | George Rakitzis | $5,299 |
| 40 | Ari Engel | $5,299 |
| 41 | Michael Lydon | $5,299 |
| 42 | Charles Furey | $5,299 |
| 43 | Ricky Guan | $5,299 |
| 44 | Alex Jim | $5,299 |
| 45 | Andrew Fegan | $5,299 |
*Indicates Adjusted Payout
$2,500+$200 Championship NLH
$1,000,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 28: Blinds 40,000/80,000/80,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 437
Matt Wantman
Matt Wantman entered the day 2nd in chips and that’s where he finished. For 2nd place he’ll collect $172,449, making this his new best live cash, pushing his career earnings over $1.33 million.
Hopefully this will help erase the memory of his early exit from the 2016 WPT BWPO Championship final table.
$2,500+$200 Championship NLH
$1,000,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 28: Blinds 40,000/80,000/80,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 437
Paul Volpe
Paul Volpe put up a valiant fight, moving up from 5th in chips where he started the day, for a 3rd place finish. He’ll collect $150,000 for his work over these four days.
This score will take his career earnings over the $8 million mark.
$2,500+$200 Championship NLH
$1,000,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 28: Blinds 40,000/80,000/80,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 437
Players Remaining: 3
Average Stack: 4.37 million
Players are back from a break and blinds are up. The final three players have agreed to go to 30-minute levels.
Here are the chip counts:
| Seat | Player | Chips | Bbs |
| 1 | Paul Volpe | 2,255,000 | 28 |
| 2 | |||
| 3 | Matt Wantman | 3,940,000 | 49 |
| 4 | |||
| 5 | |||
| 6 | Wenhao Ying | 6,885,000 | 86 |
$2,500+$200 Championship NLH
$1,000,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 27: Blinds 30,000/60,000/60,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 437
Players Remaining: 3
Average Stack: 4.37 million
Paul Volpe
Paul Volpe got all-in pre-flop with 66 against the A8 of Matt Wantman. The board fell K T 7 4 6 and Paul doubled up to ~1.5 million.
A few hands later, all three players were looking at a disjointed flop of 
. Matt (sb) and Wenhao Ying (bb) checked to Paul, who bet 210,000. Both called.
On the 
turn, they again checked to Paul who took his time, then moved in for 1.16 million. Both surrendered and Paul is up to ~2.4 million.
Matt – 3.6 million
Ying – 7.1 million
$2,500+$200 Championship NLH
$1,000,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 27: Blinds 30,000/60,000/60,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 437
Players Remaining: 3
Average Stack: 4.37 million
Dat Vu
Matt Wantman (button) opened for 125,000 and both blinds called. On the flop of 
, they checked to Matt, who bet 150,000. Vu raised to 425,000 (about half his remaining chips) and Wenhao Ying (bb) folded. Matt called.
On the 
turn, Vu moved all-in and Matt called. Vu was ahead with 
for a pair of Jacks. Matt had 
for a flush draw with gutshot straight-flush draw.
The 
completed the board and the flush for Matt. He took the pot, chipping up to ~ 5 million.
Dat Vu was felted in 4th place, earning $76,830. Not bad for the 35-year-old’s first reported tournament cash!
$2,500+$200 Championship NLH
$1,000,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 27: Blinds 30,000/60,000/60,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 437
Players Remaining: 4
Average Stack: 3.2 million
Dat Vu
Dat Vu was down to his last 530,000, which was all-in from the small blind. Wenhao Ying released his big blind and just like that, Vu chipped up to 650,000.
He moved in again from the button and got no takers, so he’s back up to 800,000.
$2,500+$200 Championship NLH
$1,000,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 27: Blinds 30,000/60,000/60,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 437
Players Remaining: 4
Average Stack: 3.2 million
Paul Volpe
In a battle of the blinds, Paul Volpe (sb) and Matt Wantman (bb) got to the river with a board of 
and Paul checked. Matt fired 360,000 and after giving it some thought, Paul let it go. He was down to ~1 million.
Paul moved in on a later hand, but got no takers. Picking up the blinds and antes at this level adds 150,000 to a stack, so it’s got to be done!