WPT BPO Championship Event 15

The 2016 Borgata Poker Open is a wrap and after 18 days of play, 19 trophies were awarded and more than $8 million in prize money paid to the participants, not including the secondary events and satellites!

The culmination of the series was the World Poker Tour BPO Championship event, which was live-streamed and filmed for later broadcast by the WPT. Poker Pro Jesse Sylvia came from behind, starting the final table as the short-stack, and prevailed, claiming the $821,811 in first-place prize money.  His first win in a major event will result in his name being carved on the WPT Champions Cup and push his career earnings beyond $6 million.

This year’s Open series also saw some other firsts.  The Inaugural BPO PokerNews Cup $2,000 NLH event was the first post-championship event and Ryan van Sanford claimed the first PokerNews Cup title awarded on American soil.  The first-ever hybrid Live/Online Heads Up tournament was held in the Event Center and online at BorgataPoker.com, “Battleship-style”.  Matt Emmel came up just short of repeating at Heads Up Champion, finishing second to New Jersey online player Eric Schwartz.

Another first was the live-streaming of the $1,000 Six Max NLH final table, which ended in a heads-up battle between well-known pro and BorgataPoker.com Ambassador Vinny Pahuja and relatively unknown amateur player George Alberto.  Alberto prevailed, claiming his first BPO title and $53,366.

A complete list of Main Events and trophy winners is below.  On behalf of Borgata, we would like to thank all the participants for making the 2016 Borgata Poker Open a great success and congratulate all the winners.  From the BPO bloggers, @mattclark345, @TKbluffs, @Kaelaine, and @WOCPoker and players, thanks to Borgata tournament staff and the World Poker Tour for another excellent tournament series!

Read More

‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 35 (200,000/400,000/50,000) 
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 1
Average Stack: 35,370,000

The WPT Borgata Poker Championship is one of the longest standing stops in the history of the World Poker Tour and one of its most prestigious with players with names like Negreanu, Busquet and Paredes earning titles in this tournament over the years. Jesse Sylvia can now stand proudly next to those names after his exceptional performance at this tournament and the final table.

Sylvia has had his fair share of close calls in the past, most notably, his second place finish to Greg Merson in the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event. That finish was worth over $5,000,000 to Sylvia, but to come so close to victory after literally months of waiting would be painful to any poker player. After years of almost, Sylvia finally broke through today and is the 2016 WPT Borgata Poker Open Champion as a result.

It looked like a somewhat foregone conclusion that Farid Jattin was going to walk out of the Signature Room with the title after starting play with 45 percent of the chips in play. Sylvia, on the other hand, was the short stack and had his work cut out for him. Following an early triple up, Sylvia was back over chip average and only built from there.

Sylvia started heads up play with Zach Gruneberg nearly dead even in chips and built up from the outset of play. The two battled back and forth for a few levels before Sylvia seized control when he got max value on a rivered flush. From there, it was only a matter of time before Sylvia would finish off Gruneberg and take the title.

For someone who started Day 2 with about 20,000 in chips, Sylvia made the climb back into contention look easy and worked a big stack to similar perfection. Sylvia qualified for this event via a live satellite and is now the newest member of the WPT Champions fraternity. From being known as one of poker’s more famous runner-ups, Sylvia can now proudly proclaim himself a winner without ever having to be mentioned in the “yeah, but” category ever again.

This concludes our coverage of this WPT final table and the BPO blog would like to thank the Borgata and the WPT for another exceptionally well-run event.

Read More

‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 35 (200,000/400,000/50,000) 
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 1
Average Stack: 35,370,000

Zach Gruneberg overcame many obstacles to reach heads up play over the course of this entire tournament but couldn’t overcome the last one as he was eventually taken down by Jesse Sylvia. The last part of their heads up match became a series of Sylvia shoving all-in and Gruneberg folding his way down to under 6,000,000.

Finally, Gruneberg called for his tournament life from the big blind after Sylvia shoved from the button for his last 5,850,000. Gruneberg was ahead with but would need to hold against Sylvia’s . The flop was an interesting one as Sylvia hit a pair, but Gruneberg gained a flush draw in the process. The gave Gruneberg outs to a chop but the [kd on the river did not help him and he will take home second place.

Gruneberg will earn $490,617 for his finish, easily the largest tournament score of his career that will put him over the $1,300,000 mark in career earnings. Given how he played in this tournament, we will likely see Gruneberg again in the years to come. A winner’s recap will be posted shortly.

Read More

‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 35 (150,000/300,000/50,000) 
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 2
Average Stack: 17,630,000

After Zach Gruneberg took down a large pot to give himself the chip lead, it looked like the tide had officially turned in this heads up battle. As is the case often in poker, things change and Sylvia is now closing in on his first career major title after taking a huge pot from Gruneberg.

Gruneberg opened for a raise to 600,000 and Sylvia came over the top with a three-bet to 1,875,000. Gruneberg called and both players checked the {kh}{8s}{5s} flop. The {qh} came down on the turn and Sylvia sprung into action betting 2,025,000. Gruneberg called and the {9h} hit the river, potentially giving aid to drawing hands.

Sylvia bet 5,325,000 and Gruneberg snap-called only to see Sylvia show {jh}{2h} for a flush. Gruneberg mucked and Sylvia is now up to 26,450,000 while Gruneberg drops down to 8,800,000.

One double up for Gruneberg could change the course of this match, but by the same token, Sylvia is one more big hand away from potentially claiming this WPT Championship title.

Read More

‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 34 (125,000/250,000/25,000) 
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 2
Average Stack: 17,630,000

With Jesse Sylvia slowly chipping away at Zach Gruneberg for most of heads up play, it seemed like today was destined to be his. The tides started to turn Gruneberg’s way at the end of the last level and Gruneberg is now the chip leader after taking down the biggest pot of the heads up match.

From the button, Gruneberg raised to 600,000 and Sylvia three-bet out of the big blind to 1,875,000. Gruneberg called and the two saw a {qh}{jc}{jd} flop. Sylvia led out for 1,325,000 but Gruneberg did not budge, calling the bet to the {10s} turn.

Sylvia slowed down on this street, checking to Gruneberg who fired out 2,100,000. After some thought, Gruneberg called and the {3h} hit the river. Sylvia checked again and Gruneberg moved all-in for 7,775,000. The stage was silent as Sylvia was put to a decision for most of his stack along with all of Gruneberg’s. A few minutes passed and Sylvia elected to lay it down shipping the monster pot over to Gruneberg.

Gruneberg is now the chip leader with 18,425,000 with Sylvia trailing closely behind with 16,825,000. With the players still so close in chips, it is anyone’s game at this stage.

Read More

‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 33 (100,000/200,000/25,000) 
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 2
Average Stack: 17,630,000

Most of the pots during heads up play have gone Jesse Sylvia’s way but Zach Gruneberg just made a correct call on the river that may turn the tide of their battle.

From the button, Jesse Sylvia raised to 400,000 and got a call from Gruneberg to see a {ks}{8d}{5h} flop. Gruneberg checked over to Sylvia, who bet 450,000. Gruneberg found a call. Both players checked the {10c} turn and the {7c} hit the river. Gruneberg checked for a third time and Sylvia fired out 725,000. Gruneberg called and shipped the pot with {kd}{4c} against Sylvia’s {jh}{10h}.

The blinds are set to go up momentarily and the once relatively deep stacks of both players are starting to gradually shrink down. Sylvia is still over 20,000,000 but Gruneberg is starting to regain ground as heads up play moves forward.

Read More

‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 32 (75,000/150,000/25,000) 
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 2
Average Stack: 17,630,000

Heads up play between Zach Gruneberg and Jesse Sylvia has been slow and methodical thus far with neither player willing to put much at risk with the average stack at over 100 big blinds. Sylvia has gained most of the pots to this point, putting him over 20,000,000. Not much separates the two players but with the blinds set to go up shortly and given how this final table has gone so far, anything is possible. Regardless of how the action goes moving forward, the BPO blog will be here to cover it all until a champion is crowned.

Read More

‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 32 (75,000/150,000/25,000) 
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 2
Average Stack: 17,630,000

Zach Gruneberg and Jesse Sylvia have taken their seats and are ready to start heads up play for the $821,000 first place prize, the WPT trophy and the lifetime recognition of being a WPT Champion. The two players are nearly dead even as Sylvia has only 100,000 more than Gruneberg. With the levels condensing to 30 minutes in length for the remainder of the tournament but both players with over 100 big blinds, it will be interesting to see how this heads up duel plays out. The updated chip counts and remaining payouts are below.

1. Jesse Sylvia – 17,675,000
2. Zach Gruneberg – 17,575,000

1. $821,811
2. $490,617

Read More

‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 32 (75,000/150,000/25,000) 
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 2
Average Stack: 17,630,000

Three-handed play was a fairly quick affair as after a few small pots, Taha Maruf was eliminated in the span of two hands by Zach Gruneberg to bring the final table down to heads up play.

The first hand saw Gruneberg take down a pot of nearly 5,000,000 to move closer to Jesse Sylvia’s chip lead. From the button, Gruneberg raised to 350,000 and Maruf three-bet to 925,000 from the small blind. Gruneberg called and the two players saw a flop of {7s}{3c}{2d}. Maruf led for 580,000 and Gruneberg called to the {ac} turn where both players checked.

Maruf bet 925,000 again after the {5d} hit the river. Gruneberg thought for a few moments and moved all-in to put Maruf at risk for his last 2,700,000. After a few moments, Maruf elected to fold and Gruneberg’s rail cheered as he raked in the massive pot.

Two hands later, Maruf was at risk after calling for all of his chips from the big blind following a Gruneberg shove from the small blind. Maruf was ahead with {qc}{qh} against the {ad}{8h} of Gruneberg. The {ac}{10s}{3d} flop was exactly what Gruneberg was looking for as he took the lead.

Maruf was in need of a queen or running cards but the {10h} turn and {kc} river were no help and Gruneberg took the pot to move up to 17,585,000. Maruf will earn over $300,000 for his great run in this event.

Gruneberg and Jesse Sylvia are on a short break and will start heads up play shortly.

Read More

‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 32 (75,000/150,000/25,000) 
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 3
Average Stack: 11,790,000

The blinds have gone up for the three remaining players as they continue to battle forward toward a WPT Championship. Jesse Sylvia is the comfortable chip leader with over 18,000,000, good for nearly half of the chips in play. As we saw earlier with Farid Jattin, though, no lead is safe at this final table as Zach Gruneberg and Taha Maruf are more than capable of capitalizing on any mistake. Below is a look at the updated chip counts and the remaining payouts.

1.  Jesse Sylvia  –  18,420,000
2. Zachary Gruneberg  –  11,710,000
3. Taha Maruf  –  5,125,000

1. $821,811
2. $490,617
3. $300,031

Read More