Borgata Poker Open Championship Gets Big, Builds Towards PokerGO

Later this week, the World Poker Tour and PokerGO will partner again, giving fans around the world the opportunity to watch the world’s leading poker players compete for one of the WPT’s most prestigious titles. The WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship is regularly one of the biggest events on the WPT schedule and this year’s installment of the $3 million guaranteed event did not disappoint.

Through two starting flights, nearly 1,000 players packed the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, but the field wasn’t done growing. Late registration was open through the first two levels of Tuesday’s Day 2 session and when the dust finally settled, 1,132 players had built up an over $3.6 million prize pool.

Over 500 players returned for Day 2, but only 110 players are set to cash in the WPT BPO Championship. A min-cash secures players a nearly $7,000 result, with a massive $789,058 score awaiting the eventual champion. That champion will be crowned on Friday, when the six-handed final table streams live on PokerGO, and there were a few players that set themselves up for potential final table runs with solid Day 1 sessions.

WSOP bracelet winner and high stakes cash game player Shaun Deeb bagged a top stack through Sunday’s Day 1A session, along with former WPT Borgata winner Olivier Busquet. East Coast professional Michael Gagliano, WSOP Monster Stack winner Brian Yoon, and Ryan Riess also bagged above average stacks, while defending WPT Tournament of Champions winner Daniel Weinman finished slightly below average.

Two-time World Poker Tour champion Aaron Mermelstein finished near the top of the Day 1B counts, along with Champions Club members Amir Babakhani and Brian Altman. BorgataPoker.com Pro and former WPT World Championship winner Asher Conniff finished above the chip average, along with Anthony Zinno, who’s first of three WPT wins came in the Season XII Borgata Poker Open Championship.

While these big names and past champions navigated their way through their respective opening flights, they all have a long way to go to get to the WPT BPO Championship final table. Day 2 will likely play near the money, with Day 3 playing down to the final three tables. Day 4 will trim the field to six, with those players returning for Friday’s final table.

Live updates of the event can be found on WPT.com, with Poker Central providing daily recaps and more in-depth coverage of the WPT BPO Championship as the event gets closer to the final table.