Do you want a venue record? Because this is how you get a venue record. After the two starting flights of the 2019 World Poker Tour (WPT) Borgata Winter Poker Open, a total of 1,204 entries have been paid, only about 100 shy of the all-time record for any WPT Borgata stop, set in 2011 when the WPT Borgata Poker Open drew 1,313 entries. It helps that this is an unlimited re-entry event through the end of Level 10, but that’s neither here nor there. Registration is open until the start of Day 2, so there is no reason not to expect the record to be broken.
Day 1B itself saw 780 entries paid and leading the 446 survivors of that flight is Joey Couden, who ended the night with 321,600 chips. Nobody else was even close. Mordechai Goldner is next with 254,000 and Alex Aqel is in third with 246,700. Nobody else finished about 200,000 chips. Couden’s total also puts him on top of all 665 players who advanced from both Day 1s, just beating out Day 1A leader Daniel Wellborn and his 308,600 chips.
On Day 1A, Wellborn said he ran hot, benefitting from several coolers. Couden had a similar reflection on his day, telling WPT.com, “I feel like I did my job today. I had a lot of big hands. I had kings like six or seven times. I made probably a dozen flushes.”
Couden has more than $2 million in live tournament cashes, according to his profile on TheHendonMob.com. Two cashes last year make up a quarter of that. The first was the largest one on his record, a fourth place finish in the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in Hollywood, Florida, for $251,523. The second was during the World Series of Poker, when he won a bracelet in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or Better event for $244,370.
This tournament has a $3 million guaranteed prize pool which has already been crushed, as the swollen field has produced a prize pool of nearly $4 million, with more to come.
2019 World Poker Tour Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event – Day 1B Chip Leaders
1. Joey Couden – 321,600
2. Mordechai Goldner – 254,000
3. Alex Aqel – 246,700
4. Ness Reilly – 194,500
5. Eric Siegel – 193,000
6. Brandon Hall – 157,200
7. Bobby Oboodi – 142,200
8. Andrew Kelsall – 130,000
9. Joe McKeehen – 126,800
10. Curt Kohlberg – 119,000
2019 World Poker Tour Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event – Complete Day 1 Chip Leaders
1. Joey Couden – 321,600
2. Daniel Wellborn – 308,600
3. Upeshka De Silva – 292,400
4. Mordechai Goldner – 254,000
5. Alex Aqel – 246,700
6. Ping Liu – 221,400
7. Mark Dube – 215,500
8. Richard Bai – 209,100
9. David Mock – 200,400
10. Ness Reilly – 194,500