Wenhai Ying Wins 2018 Borgata Fall Poker Open For Career-Best $200,000

The 2018 Borgata Fall Poker Open ran from November 6-21 at the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, Atlantic City with a packed schedule consisting of a total of 20 events, with buy-ins as less as $200 and as high as $2,700. The $600 DeepStack NLH event attracted the maximum entries, i.e. 1,474 players and was taken down by Frank Lagodich for $128,359, even as Kathryn Stone Cappuccio won the $300 Deepest Stack for $19,337.

The series recently played out its biggest buy-in tournament, the $2,700 Championship event. The tournament guarantee of $1 Million was surpassed as 437 entries generated a prize pool of $1,092,500. Five days of action later, Wen hai Ying (cover image) emerged at the top to claim a payday of $200,000 and his maiden Borgata Open trophy.

At the finale, Ying reached a three-way deal with Matt Wantman who finished runner-up for $172,449 and Paul Volpe who finished third for $150,000.

24-year old Ying is presently pursuing his graduation and recorded his first tournament cash nearly two years back. A self-taught poker player, Ying has been picking up pointers from online training videos. This year in January, he posted a hefty score in the $5,000 Lucky Hearts Poker Open where he finished third for $60,577.

In the series, Ying warmed up first with a fifth place finish in the Six-Max event where he banked $8,420, after running into some of the most experienced players. Coming into the Championship event, Ying had to face many formidable challengers from the East Coast.

The top 45 finishers banked a minimum $5,299 and notable scorers included Andrew Ostapchenko (8th for $30,732), Lexy Gavin (14th for $10,597), Dan Buzgon (18th for $8,372), Asher Conniff (21st for $6,570), Anna Antimony (28th for $5,828), Ari Engel(40th for $5,299) and Andrew Fegan (45th for $5,299).

Dan DiZenzo (7th for $40,270) fell whiskers short of the final table.

Final Table Recap

Brian Altman saw his tournament hopes fall short within minutes of the play kicking off on the final table. Altman moved all in preflop with pocket tens, but found Ying holding pocket jacks. The board was of no consequence to either, and Altman packed up for the rail in sixth place.

Shortly afterwards, Mike Glick moved his short stack from the cutoff with and got called by Ying from the big blind. Ying held and was leading. The board ran and Glick was shunted out in fifth place.

Next, Dat Vu moved all in holding against the of Wantman who hit a flush draw on the flop, while Vu managed to pair his jack. The on the turn was of no help to either player, but the on the river completed Wantman’s flush, and Du was eliminated in fourth place.

The three remaining players then struck a deal according to which, Ying was declared the winner, while Matt Wantman finished runner-up and Paul Volpe was declared the third-place finisher.

Final Table Results (USD)

1.Wenhao Ying – $200,000*

2.Matt Wantman – $172,449*

3. Paul Volpe – $150,000*

4. Dat Vu – $76,830

5. Mike Glick – $60,404

6. Brian Altman – $50,337

(*Denotes 3-way deal)