Level 36 (200,000/400,000/50,000)
Total Entries: 1,027
Players Remaining: 1
Chip Average: 30,810,000
David Paredes – WPT Borgata Poker Open Main Event Champion
Sometimes, being quiet, like David Paredes was during yesterday’s Day 4 session, isn’t a bad thing and as it turns out, Paredes was just waiting to announce himself to this WPT BPO Championship final table. Today, he did in a very big way, picking up massive hands when he needed them and playing a nearly flawless game to earn his first World Poker Tour title.
If quietness was a recurring theme in Paredes’ road to this title, redemption was as well, as Paredes has found himself heads up for a WPT BPO title before. That was two years ago and after, as Paredes put it, he made “critical errors heads up” during that event, Paredes didn’t let that happen this time around. Instead, he leveraged his big stack and then picked up another one of those massive hands, again, right when he needed it.
That previous runner-up finish was in the back of Paredes’ mind throughout this run, as the Massachusetts native used it as motivation during the last two days. Those two days were filled with tactical play, as Paredes used his cash game background and big stack to his advantage. He kept pots small when he wanted them to be and avoided all-in pre flop encounters, instead perfectly navigating post-flop while he kept his stack trending upwards.
Ironically enough, Paredes notched the final three eliminations at this final table, all coming through the pre flop variety, twice with aces and once with kings. The final elimination was met with excitement and a bit of relief, as he notched his first major tournament victory on potentially poker’s biggest stage.
In total, he’ll make just under $725,000 for his WPT BPO Championship win, a victory that solidifies himself as one of poker’s more consistent players in main event structured events.
That concludes our coverage of this WPT final table and the BPO blog will now pick up coverage of Event 22, which is the final trophy event of the series currently playing down to a winner in the Poker Room.