Guo Liang Chen Wins WPT BPO Championship

Season XVI of the World Poker Tour has gotten off to a roaring start, with three massive main events opening a historic schedule for the world-wide brand. The third of those huge main events crowned the newest WPT Champion on Friday night, when Guo Liang Chen won the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship for $789,058.

While the BPO Championship may not have had historic implications like last month’s Legends of Poker Main Event, where the WPT’s one-billionth prize dollar was awarded, Borgata once again proved to be one of the WPT’s biggest stops. This year’s BPO Championship drew 1,132 players and built up an over $3.6 million prize pool and a majority of that prize pool was reserved for the final table, which was live streamed on PokerGO.

Coming into the final table, Guo Liang Chen was a bit of an afterthought and rightfully so. He was below the chip average and one of the least experienced players at the final table, one that included online legend, WSOP bracelet winner, and former November Niner Cliff Josephy.

Shortly after the final table resumed play, it looked like Josephy had vaulted himself into serious contention for this first-career WPT title. “JohnnyBax” picked up bullets and some more ammunition but it wasn’t enough. Former MIT blackjack team member Thomas Paul fell in 6^th place and Josephy followed him to the rail in 5^th, before a tough four-handed battle began.

It was a back-and-forth affair, with Matt Parry, who came into the final table with the chip lead, eventually falling one spot short of the podium. Ji Liu then took bronze, before Chen and New Jersey firefighter Greg Weber squared off for the title.

Compared to the rest of the final table, heads up play did not last long and in the end, it was Chen who ended up putting out the flames. He caught a huge Weber bluff before he claimed the title with big slick.  

With his first major tournament victory and WPT win, Guo Liang Chen becomes the newest member of the WPT Champions Club and the second player to join that illustrious fraternity live on PokerGO. On top of picking up a career-best $774,058 score, plus a $15,000 seat in the season-ending Tournament of Champions, Chen’s victory also vaulted him to the top of the Season XVI WPT Player of the Year leader board.

A complete list of the WPT BPO Championship final table results is provided below:

1. Guo Liang Chen – $789,058*
2. Greg Weber – 471,059
3. Jia Liu – $288,071
4. Matt Parry – $240,965
5. Cliff Josephy – $199,294
6. Thomas Paul – $161,247

The WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship was the second WPT final table streamed on PokerGO and more WPT action set to stream throughout Season XVI. Until the WPT Champions Cup returns to PokerGO, catch up on the five-event high stakes Poker Masters series and brand-new episodes of Poker After Dark with on-demand event replays.