Event 22
The 2018 Borgata Poker Open came to a close in the early morning hours of Saturday morning when the 21st BPO trophy found a new home.
Erkut ‘Eric’ Yilmaz
About eight hours earlier, Erkut Yilmaz took 1st place in the Championship event, along with $575,112 and both BPO and WPT Champions Cup trophies. Yilmaz took a huge lead into the final day of the Championship and held that lead until heads-up with poker pro Timothy ‘TK’ Miles. They proceeded to battle for more than two hours, with the lead changing several times, before Yilmaz finally collected all the chips and the title. Miles added another $383,399 to his career earnings, pushing the total past $3.2 million.
This series saw a lot of firsts. For the first time, the BPO was not held in the Event Center, but in a temporary Tournament Area between the Poker Room and Signature Room. This was a one-time occurence and this area will now he turned into the new Borgata Sports Book. The Winter Poker Open in January will be back in the Event Center as usual.
Another first was buy-in guarantees on the non-No Limit Hold’em events. The Omaha/Stud High/Low, HORSE, and PLO tournaments all had guarantees for the first time ever. There was also an “Old School” Freeze-out NLH tournament with no re-entries, and a Double Black Chip Bounty tournament added to this year’s schedule.
Justin Leeds (seated) took 1st in Event 1 in a 4-way adjusted payout.
Justin Leeds claimed the top spot in the $1 Million GTD Kick-Off event, which saw 3,106 entrants. The final four players all took home more than $170,000 for their efforts in the three-day event.
Altogether, the series had $7.6 million in guarantees and paid out more than $8.3 million in prize money in Main Events alone, not including secondary and satellite events. A complete list of Main Event winners and their winnings is below.
*Indicates Adjusted Payout
The next major tournament series is the Fall Poker Open, which runs November 6th through the 21st, so start making plans now. The tournament schedule has not yet been released. Follow @BorgataPoker on Twitter to catch the announcement when it is. Until then, Borgata’s regular schedule of Daily Tournaments will resume. For those of you in New Jersey, there’s alway another tournament coming up on BorgataPoker.com. October 14th – 21st, the Garden State Super Series (GSSS) will be running with more than $450,000 in guarantees.
For now, it’s farewell from the Borgata Blogging team of Tim Kelliher, Chris Murray, Al Rash, Brittany Paige, and myself. Hope to see you in November during the Fall Poker Open!
@Kaelaine
$260+$40 Deeper Stack NLH Re-Entry
$50,000 Guaranteed
Structure Payouts
Level 26: 25,000/50,000/50,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 253
Players Remaining: 5
(L to R) Soukha Kachittavong, Boris Kravets, Michael Bonita, Ryan Meyers, Eric Siegel (Seated)
With the elimination of Derek Bruce in 6th place the final five Event 22 players began to discuss an adjusted payout deal. The stacks were counted down and an agreement was quickly reached.
Eric Siegel who held the chip lead at the time of the deal takes home $10,067 and the Borgata Poker Open trophy. Siegel ranks 4th on the Borgata all time tournament cash list and he notched his 7oth career Borgata cash here tonight.
Although Siegel has won tournaments here before he never took home the physical trophy. “I’d always make a deal and play for the trophy and lose it to the short stacks” he joked. After 15 years and 70 Borgata cashes Siegel finally has a trophy to call his own.
Below is a full look at the chip counts at the time of the deal and what the final five players will be earning.
1. Eric Siegel- 2,784,000 ($10,067+BPO Trophy)
2. Soukha Kachittavong- 2,678,000 ($9,901)
3. Boris Kravets- 2,311,000 ($9,294)
4. Ryan Meyers- 1,440,000 ($7,612)
5. Michael Bonita- 900,000 ($6,328)
$260+$40 Deeper Stack NLH Re-Entry
$50,000 Guaranteed
Structure Payouts
Level 26: 25,000/50,000/50,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 253
Players Remaining: 5
Derek Bruce
Derek Bruce moved all in for 250,000 from early position and it folded to Eric Siegel in the big blind. Siegel called turning over 
and Bruce showed 
.
The board ran out 
and Siegel paired his ace on the river to send Bruce to the rail. Bruce is our 6th place Event 22 finisher earning $3,190.
Eric Siegel- 3,100,000
$260+$40 Deeper Stack NLH Re-Entry
$50,000 Guaranteed
Structure Payouts
Level 26: 25,000/50,000/50,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 253
Players Remaining: 6
Andrew Crookston
Soukha Kachittavong raised to 130,000 and it folded to Andrew Crookston in the big blind. A short stacked Crookston put his last 190,000 in the pot and the hands were shown.
Soukha Kachittavong: 
Andrew Crookston: 
The board ran out 
and Kachittavong paired his ace to score the knockout. Crookston is our 7th place Event 22 finisher earning $2,552 and Kachittavong extends his lead with just six players remaining.
Soukha Kachittavong- 3,100,000
$260+$40 Deeper Stack NLH Re-Entry
$50,000 Guaranteed
Structure Payouts
Level 25: 20,000/40,000/40,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 253
Players Remaining: 7
Wooyang Lin
Wooyang Lin got his stack of about 400,000 all in pre-flop holding 
but ran into the 
of Boris Kravets.
The board ran out 
and Kravets’ kings held up to send Lin to the rail in 8th place for $1,914.
Boris Kravets- 2,400,000
$260+$40 Deeper Stack NLH Re-Entry
$50,000 Guaranteed
Structure Payouts
Level 25: 20,000/40,000/40,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 253
Players Remaining: 8
Bob DeFabrizio
Ryan Meyers raised to 85,000 from late position and Soukha Kachittavong re-raised to 240,000 from the cutoff. With the action on Bob DeFabrizio on the button he moved all in for 312,000.
It folded back to Kachittavong who called turning over but he was dominated by the of DeFabrizio.
The dealer spread the flop and DeFabrizio’s ace king maintained the lead. The 
hit the turn and Kachittavong spiked his three out to put a hammerlock on the hand.
The river 
was no help to DeFabrizio and he is our 9th place finisher earning $1,276 for his efforts.
Soukha Kachittavong- 2,500,000
$260+$40 Deeper Stack NLH Re-Entry
$50,000 Guaranteed
Structure Payouts
Level 24: 15,000/30,000/30,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 253
Players Remaining: 9
David DeNoon
Soukha Kachittavong raised to 80,000 and David DeNoon re-raised to 230,000. Kachittavong called and they went heads up to the 
flop.
Kachittavong checked and DeNoon moved all in for about 500,000. Kachittavong snap called turning over 
and DeNoon showed .
The turn 
and river sealed the deal for Kachittavong and DeNoon was eliminated in 10th place earning $829.
Soukha Kachittavong- 2,300,000
$260+$40 Deeper Stack NLH Re-Entry
$50,000 Guaranteed
Structure Payouts
Level 23: 15,000/30,000/30,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 253
Players Remaining: 10
Ryan Meyers
The Event 22 final table is now set and it’s Ryan Meyers leading the way with 1,850,000. Eric Siegel is right on his heels with 1,800,000 and Boris Kravets rounds out the top three with 1,400,000.
The players will battle it out here in the tournament area and we will be crowning our newest Borgata Poker Open Champion.
One of these lucky players will be taking home $17,871 along with the Borgata Poker Open trophy.
Below is a full look at the updated final table chip counts and seating assignments as well as what’s at stake.
Seat 1. Eric Siegel- 1,800,000
Seat 2. Wooyang Lin- 475,000
Seat 3. Michael Bonita- 1,200,000
Seat 4. Derek Bruce- 550,000
Seat 5. Andrew Crookston- 450,000
Seat 6. Ryan Meyers- 1,850,000
Seat 7. Boris Kravets- 1,400,000
Seat 8. Soukha Kachittavong- 1,150,000
Seat 9. David DeNoon- 750,000
Seat 10. Bob Defabrizio- 393,000
1. $17,871+BPO Trophy
2. $10,528
3. $6,062
4. $4,913
5. $3,828
6. $3,190
7. $2,552
8. $1,914
9. $1,276
10. $829
$260+$40 Deeper Stack NLH Re-Entry
$50,000 Guaranteed
Structure Payouts
Level 23: 12,000/25,000/25,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 253
Players Remaining: 15
Michael Bonita
A player moved all in for his last 167,000 and Michael Bonita called. The rest of the table quickly folded and the hands were shown.
Michael Bonita:
Opponent:
Bonita was in great shape to score the knockout and he did just that on the 
runout.
Michael Bonita- 1,300,000
$260+$40 Deeper Stack NLH Re-Entry
$50,000 Guaranteed
Structure Payouts
End of Level 22: 10,000/20,000/20,000 BB Ante
Total Entries: 253
Players Remaining: 18
The Event 22 players are now on a 15-minute color up break and we are down to the final two tables. We will pick right back up on all of the live tournament action when play resumes.