Phil Hellmuth Captures 2019 Borgata Winter Poker Open Heads-Up Trophy
Phil Hellmuth got his first win of 2019 while at the Borgata Winter Poker Open. He was one of 64 players in Event #16: $1,590 Heads-Up NLH alongside the likes of Joe McKeehen, Anthony Zinno, and Anthanasios Polychronopoulos.
However, while all of those superstars fell in the first round, the ��Poker Brat�� navigated six rounds successfully to win the Borgata trophy and $37,248 first-place prize.
Hellmuth��s path to victory �C each step was a best-of-three format �C began by defeating Wenhao Ying in the first round followed by Tim Reilly in the second. After that, he bested Travis Greenawaltt in Round 3.
��He handled himself very well and I may have even gotten lucky a few times,�� said Hellmuth, who made quite the comeback.
My opponent had me down to 4,000 in chips, actually I think 3,700 (to his 26,300), but I never gave up! I came bac�� https://t.co/LV0EFfIJf7
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth)
In Round 4, Hellmuth dispatched Steven Sarmiento and then it was on to the finals against Joey Cappello in what turned out to be a three-hour affair.
According to updates from the event, the final hand took place in Level 6 (500/1,000) when Cappello got his last four bigs in holding queen-seven suited and Hellmuth called with king-nine offsuit. Cappello failed to improve and had to settle for second place and $18,624 in prize money.
��The man played amazing and certainly did not give his chips away,�� said Hellmuth, fresh off a hair restoration procedure.
As for Cappello, his road wasn��t an easy one. Before losing to the 15-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, Cappello had beat out the likes of Olivier Busquet, Dylan Gang, Alex Queen, Alex Rocha, and Aleksei Vandyshev.
Final Results
| Position | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phil Hellmuth | $37,248 |
| 2 | Joey Cappello | $18,624 |
| 3 | Ryan Hall | $9,312 |
| 4 | Olivier Busquet | $9,312 |
| 5 | Steven Sarmiento | $4,656 |
| 6 | Mike Vela | $4,656 |
| 7 | Dylan Gang | $4,656 |
| 8 | Chris O��Hara | $4,656 |
The 2019 Borgata Winter Poker Open continues this week with the $3,500 World Poker Tour Main Event, which got underway on Sunday.
Images courtesy of the Borgata.
