Event 4
The 2018 Summer Poker Open wrapped up in the early hours of Saturday morning when Carlos Alvarado won the final event at about 6:30am, taking home more than $21,000. That’s after earning an even $100,000* for his runner-up finish in the $500,000 Guaranteed Almighty Stack. Alvarado was not the only player having a good summer.
2018 Summer Poker Open Championship winner Greg Nerenberg
Greg Nerenberg won the record-setting $1 Million Guaranteed Summer Poker Open Championship event and $365,062. The 627 entries in the Championship topped the numbers from last July and the final 63 players earned a piece of the $1,520,475 prize pool. The tournament drew some top poker pros including Brian Altman, Andy Frankenberg, David Paredes, Joe McKeehen, and four-time WPT champ Darren Elias.
Nerenberg was facing more than a two-to-one chip disadvantage at the start of heads-up play against Kane Kalas, who had been on a heater since the start of the final table. One double-up, however, reversed their positions and the match was over soon after. Kalas earned $205,264 for his second place finish. In an impressive performance, 2017 Borgata Poker Open Championship winner Guo Liang Chen made a repeat appearance at the Championship final table, finishing 6th for $69,182.
Gary Tavella – 1st Place – 2018 Borgata Summer Poker Open $1M GTD Kick-Off
The $1 Million Guaranteed Kick-Off event saw 2,201 runners build a prize pool in excess of $1.1 million and the final three players made a deal that resulted in chip leader Gary Tavella taking 1st place and $143,730*. This was the first Borgata title for the high-stakes cash game player.
The first Saturday Series event was also the Cabot Creamery “Put a Bad Beat On Hunger” charity tournament. They drew 349 total entries and raised $3,490 for the New Jersey Food Bank – Southern Branch. Larry Connor got 1st place, $18,468* and the Borgata Open trophy. Cabot Creamery provided two $3,500 2018 BPO Championship seats for the 1st and 2nd place finishers, so Connor and runner-up Carlos Figueroa will both be free-rolling the Championship in September.
1st Place, 15th Birthday Tournament of Championship – Chalie Hook
To celebrate their 15th Birthday, Borgata hosted a Tournament of Champions which was an invitation-only event open to winners of all 15 years of Championship events. The winner-take-all $25,000 championship was won by 2013 Summer Poker Open Champion Chalie Hook, who agreed to split the prize with the final three players. The final six also got seats in the Summer Open Championship event.
Two other accomplishments of note occurred during this series. Barry Leventhal won the Seniors event for the third time and claimed his seventh Borgata title. Michael Kemeter took 1st in the SixMax for the third time in four years. He’s made the final table of this event five of the last seven years.
All guarantees were covered and millions in prize money was paid out to hundreds of participants! A complete list of Main Event winners and their winnings is below.
* Indicates Adjusted Payout
This concludes our coverage of the 2018 Borgata Summer Poker Open! On behalf of the Borgata Poker family and our blog team, @Kaelaine, @AlCantHang, and @TKBluffs, Thank You! Make plans now to join us for the WPT/Borgata Poker Open, September 4th – 21st.
$350+$50+$10 10th Anniversary
“Put a Bad Beat On Hunger” Charity
Saturday Series DeepStack NLH
Presented by Cabot Creamery
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Larry Connor (left), Roberta MacDonald (center), and Carlos Figueroa (right)
Without a single hand dealt at the final table, the last ten players looked at their ICM numbers and came to a quick decision regarding a ten-handed adjusted payout deal. They were tired, it was a long day, and it was time to call it a night. Larry Connor had a huge chip lead and was declared the “Put a Bad Beat on Hunger” Saturday Series champion for $18,468 along with the Borgata trophy. He also picked up the 2018 WPT Borgata Poker Open seat along with second place Carlos Figueroa.
The rest of the table was paid out per the list below and ranked by their count and payouts.
Chip counts:
Larry Connor – 2,900,000
Carlos Figueroa – 1,320,000
Assaf Alster – 1,004,000
Patrick Jennings – 909,000
Alex Apostol – 830,000
William Loonstyn – 555,000
John Nguyen – 419,000
Arthur Lim – 357,000
Chris Water – 293,000
Rafael Polanco – 235,000
Final table payouts:
1st: Larry Connor – $18,468 + $3,500 WPT BPO Championship seat *
2nd: Carlos Figueroa – $12,748 + $3,500 WPT BPO Championship seat *
3rd: Assaf Alster – $11,072 *
4th: Patrick Jennings – $10,489 *
5th: Alex Apostol – $10,014 *
6th: William Loonstyn – $8,042 *
7th: John Nguyen – $6,864 *
8th: Arthur Lim – $6,621 *
9th: Chris Water – $5,583 *
10th: Rafael Polanco – $4,908 *
$350+$50+$10 10th Anniversary
“Put a Bad Beat On Hunger” Charity
Saturday Series DeepStack NLH
Presented by Cabot Creamery
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 25: Blinds 20,000/40,000/4,000 ante
Entries: 349
Players Remaining: 10
The ten remaining players are taking their seats and cards should be in the air shortly.
Seat 1: William Loonstyn – 555,000 (14 bb)
Seat 2: Assaf Alster – 1,004,000 (25 bb)
Seat 3: Arthur Lim – 357,000 (9 bb)
Seat 4: Rafael Polanco – 235,000 (6 bb)
Seat 5: Patrick Jennings – 909,000 (23 bb)
Seat 6: Carlos Figueroa – 1,320,000 (33 bb)
Seat 7: Larry Connor – 2,900,000 (73 bb)
Seat 8: John Nguyen – 419,000 (10 bb)
Seat 9: Chris Water – 293,000 (7 bb)
Seat 10: Alex Apostol – 830,000 (21 bb)
Remaining payouts:
1st: $31,991 + $3,500 WPT BPO Championship seat
2nd: $17,773 + $3,500 WPT BPO Championship seat
3rd: $11,055
4th: $8,886
5th: $6,991
6th: $5,747
7th: $4,621
8th: $3,495
9th: $2,370
10t: $1,540
$350+$50+$10 10th Anniversary
“Put a Bad Beat On Hunger” Charity
Saturday Series DeepStack NLH
Presented by Cabot Creamery
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 25: Blinds 20,000/40,000/4,000 ante
Entries: 349
Players Remaining: 10
Attilio Bitondo
The stalemate broke in a hurry.
Larry Connor opened to 100,000 from the cutoff and Attilio Bitondo called in the small blind. Frank Reina ripped it in from the big blind for 242,000 and Connor called. Bitondo thought for a minute and called as well.
“I win this pot, I win the tournament!” Reina told the rest.
Bitondo bet 100,000 after the 
flop and Connor called. The 
turn prompted a 200,000 bet from Bitondo and Connor moved all in. If Bitondo called it would be for his last 550,000. He talked it through and decided he had to go.
Connor: 
Bitondo: 
Reina: 
Connor turned Broadway to leave the other two drawing slim to the saving full boat. The 
river finished the board and Connor had the double knockout to set the final table.
Frank Reina
$350+$50+$10 10th Anniversary
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Saturday Series DeepStack NLH
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$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 23: Blinds 15,000/30,000/4,000 ante
Entries: 349
Players Remaining: 13
Evan Kroft
Evan Kroft had the shortest stack remaining and put his last 28,000 all in from under the gun. He picked up a call from the button and big blind before Frank Reina shipped all in over the top. After a brief moment to think about it, the button and small blind released.
Reina: 
Kroft: 
Kroft had two live cards to double but Reina hit the 
flop for aces up. The turn and 
river finished the board and Kroft was sent out in 14th place.
$350+$50+$10 10th Anniversary
“Put a Bad Beat On Hunger” Charity
Saturday Series DeepStack NLH
Presented by Cabot Creamery
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Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 23: Blinds 15,000/30,000/4,000 ante
Entries: 349
Players Remaining: 16
Larry Connor
There was bound to be a slowdown at some point since the money bubble burst and we are there. Only two players hit the rail over the previous level. Assaf Alster’s chip lead disappeared and now Larry Connor is the frontrunner with 1,500,000.
The stacks aren’t terribly deep thanks to the extended play without an elimination so we expect another big spurt of action soon.
17th: Sungwood Hong – $1,013
18th: Albert Kinder – $1,013
$350+$50+$10 10th Anniversary
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Saturday Series DeepStack NLH
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Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 23: Blinds 12,000/24,000/3,000 ante
Entries: 349
Players Remaining: 18
Alex Apostol
We had a couple chances to get down to two tables after the break but nothing much materialized until ten minutes into the level.
With the board reading 
, Anthony Imperial put his last 79,000 in the middle with 
. Alex Apostol called with a chance for the knockout with and Imperial was in tough shape. His flush draw was covered as well as the high end of his open-ended straight draw. Only a non-heart seven would do but he blanked the 
river to exit in 19th place.
$350+$50+$10 10th Anniversary
“Put a Bad Beat On Hunger” Charity
Saturday Series DeepStack NLH
Presented by Cabot Creamery
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 23: Blinds 12,000/24,000/3,000 ante
Entries: 349
Players Remaining: 19
Assaf Alster
Cards are back in the air and one spot away from a pay jump.
The new big chip stack belongs to Assaf Alster. He’s the only player with seven-digits and his 1,067,000 is the front-runner heading into the big-money portion of the day.
$350+$50+$10 10th Anniversary
“Put a Bad Beat On Hunger” Charity
Saturday Series DeepStack NLH
Presented by Cabot Creamery
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 22: Blinds 10,000/20,000/3,000 ante
Entries: 349
Players Remaining: 19
Roy Winston
They are just running out the door at this stage.
“We’ve been playing for 13 hours,” one player said. “I just want to take a shower and go to bed.”
Roy Winston went out on the last hand before the break to get the field down to 19 players, one away from a two-table redraw.
20th: Roy Winston – $829
21st: Jonathan Praet – $829
22nd: Scott Lancet – $829
23rd: William Wood – $829
24th: Apostolos Vasiliadis – $829
25th: Jackson Terman – $829
26th: Kevin Izzo – $829
27th: Jacob Neff – $829
$350+$50+$10 10th Anniversary
“Put a Bad Beat On Hunger” Charity
Saturday Series DeepStack NLH
Presented by Cabot Creamery
$100,000 Guaranteed
Structure Sheet | Payouts
Level 21: Blinds 8,000/16,000/2,000 ante
Entries: 349
Players Remaining: 27
Ci Zhou
The dam broke after the money bubble and we had a quick run for the payout desk. Nine players earned $735 each and all remaining players hit the pay jump and are guaranteed $829.
28th: Daniel Orgil – $735
29th: Bill McGrotty – $735
30th: Mauricio Dasilva – $735
31st: Santiago Vila – $735
32nd: Eric Johnson – $735
33rd: Ci Zhou – $735
34th: John Davies – $735
35th: Ronald Gariepy – $735
36th: Devonn Smith – $735