The World Poker Tour (WPT) is back in action for 2015 and kicking off the latter portion of Season XIII is the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open in Atlantic City (you thought I was going to say “at the Borgata,” didn’t you?). The first of two starting flights ran yesterday; 360 players registered for Day 1A. A total of 159 players will return for Day 2, with Andy Hwang perched on top of the list with 251,300 chips.
Hwang is in familiar territory. Of his nearly $1.2 million in career live tournament earnings, $730,000 came from winning this very event two years ago. It only takes some simple arithmetic to know that it was easily the biggest cash of his career; his next best was just over $100,000 for a fifth place finish in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) National Championship in 2012.
One of the most heartbreaking hands of Day 1A came during the last level of the night. Actor James Woods (Ghosts of Mississippi, The Onion Field, Citizen Cohn) pushed his last remaining 44,525 chips into the pot pre-flop with K♦-K♠. His opponent looked him up, calling with K♣-K♥ – they were facing a chopped pot. The Q♦-J♠-3♦ flop produced a possible flush for Woods; the next two cards – 9♦ and T♦ – sealed it up. Woods had put a horrible beat on his opponent. He apologized, but wasn’t about to give back anything as he advanced to Day 2 in 34th place with a stack of 92,400 chips.
The Borgata Winter Poker Open made its debut on the World Poker Tour during Season IV as Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi triumphed over a field of 381 players. It was the peak of the pre-UIGEA poker boom and the final table reflected as much, with players such as Amnon Filippi, Erick Lindgren, and John D’Agostino making the top six. The next two years saw John Hennigan and Gavin Griffin win the event (oh, the names bring back memories), but then the Open was taken off the schedule for several years, likely because of downswing in both the U.S. economy and poker economy. The Borgata Winter Poker Open returned for Season XI, just in time for Hwang’s title. Anthony Merulla is the reigning champion.
Day 1B action in the Borgata Winter Poker Open has just gotten underway in Atlantic City (no, I’m not going to say “at the Borgata,” because that is way too obvious) as another batch of players tries to join the 159 who made it to Day 2. This is a re-entry event, so players who were eliminated yesterday get one more chance today (for another buy-in) if they so choose.
2015 World Poker Tour Borgata Winter Poker Open – Day 1A Chip Leaders
1. Andy Hwang – 251,300
2. Daniel Wach – 209,900
3. Daniel Fischer – 208,000
4. Jason Helder – 200,800
5. Sebastian Tejada – 180,500
6. John Moore – 177,700
7. Lance Steinberg – 168,200
8. Gregory Weber – 156,200
9. Matthew Beier – 151,300
10. Matthew Silberzweig – 147,000
*Tournament updates courtesy WPT.com