World Poker Tour: Daniel Weinman Wins Borgata Winter Poker Open
The largest field in the history of the World Poker Tour Borgata Winter Poker Open assembled this week in Atlantic City. A total of 1,312 entrants created a prize pool of over $4,000,000 with almost $900,000 being awarded for first place. A talented group of players reached the final table but in the end, it was Daniel Weinman who walked away with the WPT Champions Cup.
Weinman came into the final table fourth in chips but gradually worked his way to the top and had the right hands work out in his way to claim his first WPT title. Among the players at the final table included established professionals Nate Bjerno, Tyler Kenney, and Nicholas ‘Frenzuh’ Immekus. Bjerno started the final table as the chip leader but soon had company at the top.
Immekus was the short stack coming into the final table and was also the first player eliminated. In the 10th hand of play, Immekus lost a massive flip to Kenney that put Kenney into the chip lead and left Immekus on the rail.
At big blind 100,000, Kenney opened from the button for 200,000 and Immekus three-bet to 700,000. A few moments later, Kenney four-bet to 1,375,000 and Immekus moved all in for 4,225,000 total. Kenney called with 
and was in a flip against the 
of Immekus. The 
board was no help to Immekus as he exited in sixth place, earning $184,787.
Kenney was up to nearly 14,000,000 after the hand but Weinman soon joined him at the top of the leaderboard. The second shortest stack coming into the final table, Rich Foster, lost in the most classic of coolers to Weinman, 16 hands after Immekus’s bustout.
Weinman opened for 225,000 from under the gun and Foster three-bet to 850,000 from the big blind. Weinman called and the two players saw a flop of 
. Foster moved all in for 2,540,000 with Weinman calling right behind him. Foster turned over 
but it was no match for the 
of Weinman. The rest of the board ran dry and Weinman stacked up near Kenney.
The next player to go was Jia Liu, who was the new short stack after Foster’s elimination. Kenney raised from under the gun at big blind 240,000, to 120,000 and Liu defended his blind to see a 
flop. Liu checked and Kenney bet 360,000 and Liu called. The turn was the 
and Liu checked again. Kenney bet 770,000 and Liu moved all-in for 3,400,000. Kenney called with 
and needed to fade against the 
of Liu. The river was the 
and Liu was eliminated.
Three-handed play between Kenney, Bjerno, and Weinman lasted for 33 hands before Weinman made the call of the tournament to eliminate Kenney. Kenney opened from the button to 350,000 and Weinman three-bet from the button to 1,300,000. Kenney called and the flop came down 
. Weinman checked and Kenney bet 1,400,000. Weinman took a moment to call and the 
came on the turn.
Weinman checked for the second time and Kenney bet 3,005,000. Once again, Weinman called and the river was the 
. After being checked to, Kenney moved all in for 10,610,000, with Weinman having him slightly covered. Weinman tanked for two minutes and found a call with . Kenney could only muster 
and was eliminated, earning $327,578.
Weinman brought a huge advantage into heads up play against Bjerno and despite having to battle in order to close out the title, Weinman sealed the deed in the 51st hand of heads up play.
Weinman moved all in from the button and Bjerno called for his last 3,450,000 with 
. The hand was a likely chop as Weinman showed . The 
flop made the chop even more likely and the 
put a few straight outs in play. Fortunately, for Weinman, the 
on the river gave him a straight and the title.
The victory marks Weinman’s first WPT title and pushes his career earnings over $2,000,000 while securing his place in the WPT Tournament of Champions later this season in Florida.
Final Table Payouts
- Daniel Weinman – $892,433
- Nate Bjerno – $524,964
- Tyler Kenney – $327,578
- Jia Liu – $275,081
- Rich Foster -$228,884
- Nicholas Immekus – $184,787
