Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa Hosts Fourth-Largest WPT Main Event; Garden State Super Series Concludes on partypoker.com and BorgataPoker.com
Twitter: @WPT
Los Angeles, CA (September 22, 2014) – Darren Elias won the fourth-largest World Poker Tour® Main Event of all time on Friday, taking down the televised WPT® Borgata Poker Open Championship Event sponsored by partypoker.com and BorgataPoker.com. Elias earned $843,744, a Hublot King Power Unico Watch, and a pair of coveted 24K® Monster headphones for his victory. Kane Kalas, son of the late legendary Philadelphia Phillies and Eagles announcer Harry Kalas, finished runner-up and was awarded $500,364 for his efforts.
“It feels like a dream,” Elias said after the victory. “I’ve always wanted to win a WPT.”
The WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship event attracted a total of 1,226 entries, making it the fourth-largest WPT Main Event of all time. Eight of the 10 largest WPT Main Events have now been hosted at Borgata Casino Hotel & Spa. Among the notables to reach the money in the tournament were WPT Champions Club™ member Cornel Cimpan, Season XII WPT Player of the Year Mukul Pahuja, Season XII WPT World Championship runner-up Byron Kaverman, and partypoker Pro Jamie Kerstetter.
On Sunday, six “monsters of poker” competed in the inaugural WPT Monster Invitational: Vanessa Selbst, Antonio Esfandiari, Scotty Nguyen, Tony Dunst, David Williams, and Phil Laak. In the end, Williams defeated Laak heads up and was the last monster standing, earning a Hublot King Power Unico watch; seats into the WPT World Championship, WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, and WPT L.A. Poker Classic; a pair of Monster 24K headphones; and $20,000 in cash. In addition, the first 10 supporters of Williams in the audience at the taping of the WPT Monster Invitational were awarded a pair of brand new Monster DNA® headphones.
Two one-hour episodes of the inaugural WPT Monster Invitational will air on FSN in early 2015. Check your local listings here.
Players who participated in the massive WPT Borgata Poker Open and the WPT Monster Invitational also battled on the virtual felt during the Garden State Super Series on partypoker.com and BorgataPoker.com. The GSSS concluded on Sunday with $50,000 in added prizes spread over six events, including a $500 buy-in six-max event and a $200 buy-in deep-stack event. After exiting the WPT Monster Invitational in fifth place, Dunst registered for the $500 buy-in six-max event and won, earning $16,584.
“With the final table of the fourth-largest World Poker Tour Main Event of all time, the inaugural WPT Monster Invitational, and the culmination of the Garden State Super Series on partypoker.com and BorgataPoker.com, this was a spectacular weekend of poker at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa,” said WPT President Adam Pliska. “The World Poker Tour has now awarded more than $70 million to its players at Borgata over twelve seasons, and we look forward to returning in January for the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open and in April for the WPT World Championship.”
WPT Media Contact
Rich Ryan – [email protected]
About World Poker Tour
World Poker Tour (WPT) is the premier name in internationally televised gaming and entertainment with brand presence in land-based tournaments, television, online, and mobile. Leading innovation in the sport of poker since 2002, WPT ignited the global poker boom with the creation of a unique television show based on a series of high-stakes poker tournaments. WPT has broadcast globally in more than 150 countries and territories, and is currently producing its 13th season, which airs on FSN in the United States. Season XIII of WPT is sponsored by ClubWPT.com, a unique online membership site that offers inside access to the WPT, as well as a sweepstakes-based poker club available in 35 states across the United States. ClubWPT.com also sponsors Season I of the new WPT Alpha8 series of super-high roller poker tournaments which is currently in production and which airs on FOX Sports 1 in the United States. WPT participates in strategic brand license, partnership, and sponsorship opportunities. WPT Enterprises Inc. is a subsidiary of bwin.party digital entertainment plc. For more information, go to WPT.com.