By Sean Chaffin
Two more events on Wednesday and Thursday in the WPT Online Borgata Series brought nice paydays for winners as well as guarantee-topping prize pools. The action included a huge finish on partypoker US Network by a World Poker Tour and Borgata regular.
With action moving to the second half of the series, players begin looking ahead to Sunday’s Main Event. Plenty of fun awaits for a nice poker weekend.
Event 4: $215 NLHE
The fun rolled on Wednesday in this event that more than doubled the $20,000 guarantee. The tournament produced 216 entries for a hefty $43,200 prize pool. “Gohednpopoff” took the chip lead into the final table and rolled from there to the title.
The win secured first-place cash of $9,077 and became another nice score for a partypoker US Network player. During heads-up play, Ryan “Whosyourdoddy” Dodd initially held a 3-1 chip advantage, but Gohednpopoff closed the gap and ultimately finished Dodd off. The final hand saw Dodd with A-8 versus Q-J. Gohednpopoff hit trips to earn the title. Here’s a look at the top finishes.
1 – Gohednpopoff, $9,077
2 – Ryan “Whosyourdoddy” Dodd, $6,847
3 – Stanton “Stonniepokes” Tentnowski, $4,817
4 – joey1way, $3,585
5 – kgkg510, $2,786
6 – xxx6395200xxx, $2,138
7 – Unsure, $1,663
8 – steveeee, $1,188
Event 5: $535 Progressive Knockout Bounty
Some progressive bounty fun returned on Thursday. In a progressive bounty, a portion of an eliminated player’s bounty goes to the player who knocked him out. The other portion is added to the bounty on that player’s head. The event came with a $25,000 guarantee, but the big numbers continued – attracting 97 entries for a $48,500 prize pool.
When the dust settled, Eric “alwaysliquid” Vanauken came away with the title for $14,256. A regular Garden State grinder from Hackensack, he finished the event with $7,154 in winnings plus $7,102 in bounties.
The runner-up finisher is no stranger to the WPT. Dan “leinad” Buzgon took home $7,477. The BorgataPoker sponsored pro has three WPT final table appearances. His most recent came in Season XVII in the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open, where he took fifth for $202,942.
Another nice run came from “Stonniepokes,” who took third in this tournament as well as Event 4. Here’s a look at all the top winners.
1 – Eric “alwaysliquid” Vanauken, $14,256
2 – Dan “leinad” Buzgon, $7,477
3 – Stanton “Stonniepokes” Tentnowski, $4,500
4 – Derek “pompii” Sewing, $2,914
6 – David “TheKing411” Coleman, $2,075
7 – Ryan “TheSims” Hohner, $994
8 – Mike “pay4medsch00l” Lavenburg, $2,436
Qualifiers and phase event results
The satellite and Phase 1 qualifying action continue all week at partypoker US Network. Players can take a shot at qualifying for the $1,060 Main Event, which runs Sunday and Monday – complete with streaming final table and WPT commentary.
Another $109 Phase 1 event was held on Thursday, with 74 entries and eight players passing through to the Main Event. “Supermetny” led those players with a massive stack of 698,959 chips. That should be a nice start to the Main Event.
What up next?
With the WPT Online Borgata Series now past the halfway point, the weekend brings a few big events. That kicks off on Friday with Event 6: $215 Six-Max NLHE with a $20,000 guarantee.
The real fireworks begin on Saturday and Sunday. First is Event 7: $535 Heads-up NLHE. The event is capped at 32 players and New Jersey-based poker pro Olivier Busquet spoke with WPT.com last week about the event and his own experience playing heads up. Also on Saturday, players can jump in Event 8: $320 Progressive Knockout Bounty with a $30,000 guarantee.
Sunday begins with Event 9: $215 Turbo Progressive Knockout Bounty with $20,000 guaranteed. That is followed by the $1,060 Main Event, with Phase 1 winners, satellite qualifiers, and players buying in taking a shot at WPT glory. The action concludes in that event with a live-streamed final table.
Players have one last event to check out Monday as well – Event 10: $215 Turbo Progressive Knockout Bounty. Plenty of qualifiers are on tap all weekend long as well as a final Phase 1 event on Saturday.
Extras planned for winners
Players in New Jersey are in store for some extras with the WPT Online Borgata Series. Beyond the nice guarantees, all side event winners take home a set of Baccarat Crystal Beluga Highball glasses.
The Main Event winner takes home a Hublot Big Bang E Titanium timepiece, valued at $5,200. Hublot is the official timekeeper of the WPT and has awarded watches to WPT champions since Season XII.
For a complete WPT Online Borgata Series schedule, click here.
Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas, and a regular contributor to WPT.com.