Pascal Zaklama Wins 2019 Borgata Winter Poker Opener for $328,695
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The 2019 Borgata Winter Poker Open is currently taking place out in New Jersey. While the annual festival will culminate with the $3,500 World Poker Tour Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event, it kicked off this past weekend with Event #1: $600 DeepStack NLH, a tournament that featured a $2 million guarantee.
With a monster 5,130 entrants, a $2.7 million prize pool was created. After numerous starting flights and three official days of play, Pascal Zaklama came out on top after a three-way deal, taking the official win despite splitting prize money evenly with another (anonymous) player, along with Vladimir Alexandrov ($216,000).
Borgata Opener Final Table Results
| Position | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pascal Zaklama | $328,695 |
| 2 | Anonymous | $328,695 |
| 3 | Vladimir Alexandrov | $216,000 |
| 4 | Daniel Cai | $153,164 |
| 5 | Ray Medlin | $120,919 |
| 6 | Fady Khabbaz | $94,048 |
| 7 | Noam Muallem | $68,252 |
| 8 | Andrew Hanna | $47,562 |
| 9 | Vincent Masino | $30,740 |
| 10 | Apostolos Vasiliadis | $20,691 |
Borgata Opener Final Table Action
According to updates from the event, Zaklama got lucky to stay alive with eight players left. That is when he shoved all in holding ace-jack only to run it into the ace-queen of Daniel Cai. Fortunately for Zaklama, the flop contained both an ace and jack, and another jack on the turn secured him the double with a full house.
With four players remaining, Zalkama would finish off Cai. It happened in Level 40 (500K/1M/1M) when Zaklama limped the small blind holding the 10♣8♣ and Cai checked his option with the 9♣3♣. Zaklama checked the 10♥3♠2♣ flop and called when Cai moved all in for around 11 million. Neither the 6♠ turn nor K♣ river helped Cai and he was sent to the rail in fourth place for $153,164.
With three players remaining, the triumvirate opted to strike a deal. Having a slight lead at the time, Zaklama was crowned champ and received $328,695 in prize money. The runner-up, who wished to remain anonymous, got the same amount, while Alexandrov finished in third place.
Prior to the win, Zaklama had just $7,881 in lifetime earnings with a prior career-best of just $2,810 for finishing ninth in a $1,000 no-limit hold’em tournament at the 2007 Mandalay Bay Poker Championships.
Coincidentally, Zaklama hinted at his success back on Day 1 when he bagged a short stack.
“I may not be smiling now but I will be tomorrow,” he said at the time.
Barry Leventhal Goes Back-to-Back in Seniors
In other 2019 Borgata Winter Poker Open news, Barry Leventhal topped a 145-entry field to win Event #6: $340 Seniors Deepstack NLH for $12,447.
The win came six months after Leventhal bested a 166-entry field to win the Borgata Summer Poker Open $340 Seniors for $7,352, meaning he won back-to-back in Borgata Senior events.
It also brought Leventhal’s lifetime tournament earnings up to $553,111, most of which have come in Atlantic City. His career-best of $69,000 came when he finished seventh in the 2008 Borgata Summer Poker Open Championship, and in 2006 he won a $550 NLH event at the Trump Classic to win $59,337.
Seniors Final Table Results
| Position | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barry Leventhal | $12,447 |
| 2 | Eric Siegel | $6,962 |
| 3 | Joseph Umdenstock | $4,220 |
| 4 | Steven Blixt | $3,376 |
| 5 | Alyse Kaplan | $2,532 |
| 6 | Lisa Pickell | $2,110 |
| 7 | Peter Carroll | $1,688 |
| 8 | Ben Laves | $1,266 |
| 9 | Joseph Frezza | $949 |
| 10 | John Slaughter | $844 |
Photos courtesy of the Borgata.
