Event 5
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
$350+$50 Saturday Series Deep Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 29: 50,000/100,000/100,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 455
Players Remaining: 4
John Wilson
With the elimination of Alex Paredes-Diaz in 5th place the final four players began discussing an adjusted payout agreement. It didn’t take long before the came to an agreement and shook hands.
John (2×4) Wilson who held the chip lead not only at the time of the deal but for much of the night takes first for $23,760 and the Borgata Fall Poker Open trophy.
(L to R) Bob Karns, John Wilson, Sam Datta
Below is a full look at the chip stacks at the time of the deal along with the full Event 5 final table results.
1. John (2×4) Wilson- 3,550,000 ($23,760+BFPO Trophy)
2. Sam Datta- 3,380,000 ($23,303)
3. Anonymous- 2,380,000 ($20,290)
4. Bob Karns- 2,060,000 ($20,000)
5. Alex Paredes-Diaz ($8,805)
6. Jeff Peters ($7,337)
7. Moe Farah ($5,870)
8. Paul Cucchiaria ($4,480)
9. Mitchell Mantin ($3,809)
10. Alex Skylarov ($2,008)
$350+$50 Saturday Series Deep Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 29: 50,000/100,000/100,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 455
Players Remaining: 4
Alex Paredes-Diaz
Alex Paredes-Diaz moved all in from the button for his last 300,000 and both of the blinds called. They checked down the 
runout. John Wilson turned over 
and both players fired their hands face down into the muck.
Paredes-Diaz is our 5th place Event 5 finisher and will take home $8,805 for his efforts.
John Wilson- 3,380,000
$350+$50 Saturday Series Deep Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 29: 50,000/100,000/100,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 455
Players Remaining: 5
Jeff Peters
The action folded to Jeff Peters in the cutoff and he raised to 275,000. The anonymous player called from the big blind and they went heads up to the 
flop.
The anonymous player checked and Peters moved all in for his last 560,000. The anonymous player snap called turning over 
for top pair and Peters showed 
.
The 
and 
completed the board and Peters was eliminated in 6th place earning $7,337 for his efforts.
$350+$50 Saturday Series Deep Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 28: 40,000/80,000/80,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 455
Players Remaining: 6
Moe Farah
Moe Farah was the next player to fall from the Saturday Series NLH final table. Farah will take home $5,870 for his 7th place Event 5 finish.
$350+$50 Saturday Series Deep Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 27: 30,000/60,000/60,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 455
Players Remaining: 7
Paul Cucchiara (File Photo)
Paul Cucchiara was the next player to fall from the Saturday Series. The Borgata tournament regular will take home $4,480 for his eight place finish.
$350+$50 Saturday Series Deep Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 27: 30,000/60,000/60,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 455
Players Remaining: 8
Mitchell Mantin
Alex Skylarov was the first player to fall from the Event 5 final table earning $2,008 for his 10th place finish. Mitchell Mantin soon followed in 9th place earning $3,089 for his efforts.
$350+$50 Saturday Series Deep Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 25: 20,000/40,000/40,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 455
Players Remaining: 10
John Wilson
The Event 5 Saturday Series final table is now set and it’s John Wilson leading the way with 3,400,000. The players will battle it out into the early morning hours for the $39,466 and the BFPO trophy.
Below is a look at the updated final table chip counts and seating assingments as well as what’s at stake.
Seat 1. Paul Cucchiara- 450,000
Seat 2. Moe Farah- 850,000
Seat 3. Alex Sklyarov- 600,000
Seat 4. John Wilson- 3,400,000
Seat 5. Sam Datta- 1,150,000
Seat 6. Jeff Peters- 900,000
Seat 7. Bob Karns- 1,600,000
Seat 8. Alex Parades-Diaz- 910,000
Seat 9. Anonymous- 1,100,000
Seat 10. Mitchell Mantin- 300,000
| Place | Payout |
| 1 | $39,466 |
| 2 | $22,785 |
| 3 | $13,903 |
| 4 | $11,199 |
| 5 | $8,805 |
| 6 | $7,337 |
| 7 | $5,870 |
| 8 | $4,480 |
| 9 | $3,089 |
| 10 | $2,008 |
$350+$50 Saturday Series Deep Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Level 21: Blinds 8,000/16,000
Total Entries: 455
Players Remaining: 34
Average Stack: 334,000
Chip leader John Wilson has about 900,000, three times the average stack.
Mike Mantin knows the mid-level tournaments at the Borgata like the back of his hand. He’s at about 550,000.
Moe Farah, another super reg, has 600,000 on table 4.
$350+$50 Saturday Series Deep Stack NLH
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet
Start of Level 21: Blinds 8,000/16,000
Total Entries: 455
Players Remaining: 39
Average Stack: 291,000
Thirty-five minutes of bubble excitement swept the TTA here in the Deep Stack.
Stanley Wang seemed to be abusing the bubble, getting a 4b through and a river shove over a covered stack. Nice.
Mike Foglia, center, survived the button with aces – not a big deal until you consider he had to fade the ole’ OESFD. Nice.
Careful Art is back, ripping it in, getting called by better, winning, then hollering “Ship that Sh**!!” Nice.
That face when your tournament life depends on A2ss. Nice.
Clever Mike Heitz won’t call off his last chip, and fades the bubble for a cash. “ICM” he explained. Nice.
The actual bubble gentleman, forced all in on the big. Not so nice. Better luck next time!
We’re in the money, and into a long night of NLHE. Nice.