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The 2020 Borgata Winter Poker Open runs from January 14-31, 2020 at Atlantic City’s Borgata, and PokerNews will be on-site to live report the series in its entirety.

Highlights from the 25-event schedule include the $540+$60 Deepstack Kick-Off NLH, which offers five starting flights and boasts a $2 million guarantee; the $350+$50 buy-in, $1 million GTD Almighty Stack; a $3,000+$125 buy-in Heads-Up event; a Charity Series of Poker Tournament; a $5,000+$100 High Roller; and the $3,500 buy-in, $3 million GTD World Poker Tour Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship from Sunday, January 26 through Thursday, January 30.

“Poker Brat” is Defending BWPO Heads-Up Champ

One of the most entertaining and competitive tournaments on the Borgata Winter Poker Open schedule is the heads-up event. This year’s edition boasts a $3,000+$125 buy-in on Saturday, January 25, and while last year’s buy-in was a lesser $1,590, the defending champ is the one and only Phil Hellmuth.

In 2019, he navigated a 64-player bracket to win the BWPO Heads-Up title for $37,248.

Hellmuth’s path to victory – each step was a best-of-three format – 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.

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.

WPT First Visited Borgata Back in 2003

The World Poker Tour first visited Borgata back in Season II (2003) and the Borgata Poker Open remained a staple on the schedule ever since. The inaugural tournament had a $5,000 buy-in, while from Seasons III-VII it was doubled to $10,000. Starting in Season VIII, the price tag was lowered to $3,500 which is where it remains today.

'I realized the younger players are really good and they’re going to be doing better. I’m happy for the experience I had.'

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Speaking of that first-ever WPT Borgata Poker Open, it was the late Noli Francisco topping a 235-entry field to win the tournament for $470,000. He beat a final table that included Carlos Mortensen, David Oppenheim, and Charlie Shoten.

Back in 2012, PokerNews caught up with Francisco, who was 72 years old at the time.

“I got lucky and it was very exciting. I think I reached my goal. I was so happy to win, I reached my goal,” he said of his victory. “I know it’s hard work, and I was happy. After that, I realized the younger players are really good and they’re going to be doing better. I’m happy for the experience I had, and now I live a contented life.”

Francisco went on to participate in Season II’s Battle of Champions Invitational which included Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari, Mel Judah and Hoyt Corkins. Unfortunately, Francisco came up one spot shy of victory when he finished as runner up to David Benyamine.

Tony Dunst’s Vintage Raw Deal

The Borgata Poker Tournament Schedule

In Season X of the WPT, Raw Deal host Tony Dunst actually broke down the heads-up match between Francisco and Shoten.

The match is remembered as one of the strangest in WPT history, as evidenced by a few unorthodox hands. In one of the hands Dunst analyzed, Shoten called a raise to 70,000 with his 11-big-blind stack. Both players proceeded to check the flop and river, bringing about the river. At that point, Shoten checked his and Francisco went to bet with the inferior ; however, as he was cutting out chips, Shoten announced a call. The betting amount had yet to be determined, so Francisco bet and lost the minimum. “I said I call to stop you from betting,” Shoten explained after winning the hand.

As if things couldn’t get any stranger, in the very next hand, Shoten announced all in out of turn while Francisco was in the process of putting out a raise. “It’s my fault,” Shoten said. This time Francisco made the call with and was out in front of Shoten’s , but the board ran out and the latter doubled.

“Noli Francisco is not a man to be outgunned,” Dunst explained. “Noli is a man of resiliency. A man that doesn’t let one lost coin flip deter him.”

Sure enough, Francisco managed to recover and on a board min-raised Shoten’s 100,000 bet holding . Shoten, who held , responded by moving all in and Francisco called. The bricked on the river and it was all over, though you couldn’t tell it as both men stood staring at the board in a confused stupor.

Eventually, the situation sank in and Francisco celebrated by raising his hands in the air in what would become one of Season II’s most memorable moments.

Anthony Zinno’s Rise to Fame

Today, Anthony Zinno is one of the most accomplished and respected players in poker. He’s won three WPT titles, was crowned WPT Season XIII Player of the Year, and has a pair of World Series of Poker gold bracelets to his name. It’s an impressive résumé and it all began at Borgata.

Back in Season XII, he bested a 1,189-entry field to win an $825,099 top prize in the Borgata Poker Open after beating Vanessa Selbst in heads-up play. In the process, he denied her from becoming the tour’s first-evet female champ of a WPT open event.

It was an impressive performance, but did you know he nearly captured a WPT Borgata title the year before? In Season XII he finished 11th in the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open for $39,821.

Allen Kessler Actually Won a Tournament at Borgata

Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler has had a lot of close calls when it comes to capturing WSOP gold, and while the bracelet continues to elude him, he can at least console himself with some coveted Borgata trophies.

That’s because back in 2010 he topped a 141-entry field to win the $400 Omaha/Stud Hi-Lo tournament for $14,744 and two years later beat a 170-entry field to win the $400 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo for $17,314.

At the 2013 Borgata Winter Poker Open, he also took down the $560 H.O.R.S.E. event for $15,107 – the 57th largest score of his career.

Be sure to follow live updates throughout the 2020 Borgata Winter Poker Open right here on PokerNews.

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  Phil HellmuthAllen KesslerTony DunstAnthony Zinno