The World Poker Tour has been trying its hardest to deliver post-pandemic live tournament poker. And it has done so, even starting a new season. In May, Season XIX kicked off online but then traveled to Tampa, Las Vegas, and then to Choctaw in Oklahoma.
And then another surge of Covid-19, this time the new Delta variant, prompted several stops on the main tour to postpone their WPT action. The WPT bestbet Scramble scheduled for late August had to wait and has yet to be reschedule, and the same happened with the WPT Maryland at Live! Casino set for September. Not to be deterred, the World Poker Tour focused heavily on its WPT World Online Championships on partypoker, which just recently wrapped its massive series.
For poker players in the United States, the WPT and fan-favorite live poker partner Borgata in Atlantic City planned the WPT Online Borgata Poker Open. The action was set for September on the partypoker US Network in New Jersey.
Almost Made It
There was a series associated with the tournament, and that series started on September 12. But the WPT Main Event started online on Sunday, September 19. The buy-in was a hefty $3,500, and there was a $1M guarantee on the prize pool.
When registration closed, it showed a near-miss:
Total number of entries: 305Total prize pool: $1M (including an overlay of $24K)Total number of paid players: 48Minimum payout: $5,615
The first day of play thinned the field down to just 88 players. While “FitzroidPoo” led the field with Yong “IReadYrSoul” Kwon not far behind, several players stood out at the wrong end of the leaderboard. Katie “KatieStone” Stone finished that day with just 12 big blinds and Darren Elias finished with 26BB. Dan “leinad” Buzgon was in the middle with 31BB, and a man named Orson “Borgatcha” Young stayed alive in with just 23BB.
When the money bubble burst on Day 2, recognizable names like Alex Rocha and Soheb Porbandarwala cashed. Kwon finished in 20th place for $9,850, Frank Funaro ended his run in 15th place for $11,820, and “SLHalper13” busted in ninth place to bubble the final table but collect $17,730 for the effort.
Friends and Competitors
The final table began on September 21 with Buzgon holding the lead with 58.1M chips, and Young – friend of Buzgon – trailed holding 49.6M. Former chip leader “FitzroidPoo” was in third with 45.2M.
https://twitter.com/WPT/status/1440198999919656965?s=20
Once the action began, it didn’t take long for “justliberto” to eliminate short-stacked “DoURespectWood” in eighth place. Young stepped in to oust the next short stack, Ryan Hohner, in seventh place. Back in the driver’s seat, “justliberto” sent “CNC_LY away in sixth place. “FitzroidPoo” tried to keep a solid stack but lost pot after pot, while Buzgon held a strong lead going into the first break. When play resumed, “justliberto” eliminated “betbetbet” in fifth place. “FitzroidPoo” did double through “justliberto” to stay alive, but when the two tangled a few hands later, “justliberto” busted “FitzroidPoo” in fourth place.
Three players took the next break with Buzgon in the lead, Young a close second, and “justliberto” not far behind. Upon their return to the virtual table, Young took a big pot from Buzgon and then from “justliberto.” Young was on fire and staying aggressive, ultimately eliminating friend Buzgon in third place.
Young took 84BB to the heads-up battle, but “justliberto” took some of those chips by doubling through Young on the first hand. Young was having none of it, though. Holding K-Q, Young put his opponent to the test on a K-7-2-4-J board. “Justliberto” called with K-9, but Young had it and took the title. He now belongs to the WPT Champions Club.
The final table payouts were:
-1st place: Orson Young ($195,748)-2nd place: “justliberto” ($135,930)-3rd place: Dan BUzgon ($102,933)-4th place: “FitzroidPoo” ($76,830)-5th place: “betbetbet” ($61,070)-6th place: “CNC_LY” ($47,280)-7th place: Ryan Hohner ($34,475)-8th place: “DoURespectWood” ($24,625)
https://twitter.com/YoungOrson/status/1440540934756724744?s=20
*Final table recap courtesy of WPT Live Updates.
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