Table Of Contents
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.
Play Online Poker. Play in Australia; Play in Canada; Play in India; Play in Malaysia; Play in New Zealand; Play in Singapore; Play in Thailand; Play in the U.K; Play in the U.S; Online Poker Reviews. Asian Poker Sites; International Poker Sites; Bitcoin Poker Sites; Poker Deals. Freerolls; Get $88 for Free at 888 Poker; Rakeback Deals. The Blade tournaments include a daily PLO with a buy-in of $500 and Sunday Blade PLO tournaments with buy-ins of $500, $1,000 and $5,000. 12 different Omaholic tournaments are running daily with buy-ins ranging from $1 to $22 and guarantees from $50 to $400. Also NLH Bounty Hunter tournaments are running hourly with buy-ins from $2.10 to $63.
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.'
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
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.
Tags
Allen KesslerAnthony ZinnoBorgataPhil HellmuthPoker TournamentsTony DunstWorld Poker TourWPTRelated Tournaments
World Poker TourRelated Players
Phil HellmuthAllen KesslerTony DunstAnthony Zinno
LAS VEGAS, NV (February 20, 2020) – Today, Poker Central and ESPN announced their live coverage schedule for the upcoming 2020 World Series of Poker (WSOP), including everyday live footage of the WSOP Main Event running July 1st through July 14th. As part of the ongoing partnership between the brands and following their successful broadcast of last year’s 50th World Series of Poker event, ESPN and Poker Central will telecast at least 40 hours of live WSOP coverage with an additional 90 hours of originally produced episodes. The WSOP Main Event remains the most prestigious tournament on the poker calendar and one of the most popular for viewers around the world.
Consistent with its multi-platform approach to producing and delivering content, Poker Central’s direct-to-consumer OTT service PokerGO will stream exclusive WSOP Main Event coverage outside of the ESPN broadcast windows. PokerGO will also offer a collection of other WSOP bracelet events throughout the weeks leading up to and during the Main Event. The full streaming schedule for the World Series of Poker will be announced closer to the series.
Joey Armadillos Poker Tournament Schedule 2020
“For the past four years, our partnership with ESPN has been centered on creating the ultimate fan experience by providing wire-to-wire coverage of the World Series of Poker Main Event,” said JR McCabe, chief business officer of Poker Central. “We look forward to another year of bringing poker’s premier event to fans all across the globe.”
“ESPN’s yearly World Series of Poker coverage has proven to be an annual favorite with our poker fans,” said Rob Temple, senior vice president of programming and acquisitions, ESPN. “Through our partnership with Poker Central, we look forward to another season of extensive broadcast coverage of the most popular poker event on earth.”
The current broadcast schedule of the 2020 World Series of Poker Main Event on ESPN/ESPN2 is below:
| Date | Time (ET) | Network | Event |
| July 1 | 8:00 PM – 1:00 AM | ESPN2 | WSOP Main Event Day 1A |
| July 2 | 9:00 PM – 11:00 PM | ESPN | WSOP Main Event Day 1B |
| July 2 | 11:00 PM – 1:00 AM | ESPN2 | WSOP Main Event Day 1B |
| July 3 | 8:00 PM – 1:30 AM | ESPN2 | WSOP Main Event Day 1C |
| July 4 | 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM | ESPN | WSOP Main Event Day 2AB |
| July 5 | 10:00 PM – 1:00 AM | ESPN2 | WSOP Main Event Day 2C |
| July 6 | 10:00 PM – 2:00 AM | ESPN2 | WSOP Main Event Day 3 |
| July 7 | 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM | ESPN2 | WSOP Main Event Day 4 |
| July 8 | 10:00 PM – 2:00 AM | ESPN2 | WSOP Main Event Day 5 |
| July 9 | 8:00 PM – 12:00 AM | ESPN2 | WSOP Main Event Day 6 |
| July 10 | 10:00 PM – 12:00 AM | ESPN2 | WSOP Main Event Day 7 (Play to Final Table) |
| July 12 | 10:00 PM – TBD | ESPN2 | WSOP Main Event Day 8 (Nine to Six Players) |
| July 13 | 10:00 PM – TBD | ESPN2 | WSOP Main Event Day 9 (Six to Three Players) |
| July 14 | 9:00 PM – TBD | ESPN | WSOP Main Event Day 10 (Three Players to Winner) |
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.'
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
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.
Tags
Allen KesslerAnthony ZinnoBorgataPhil HellmuthPoker TournamentsTony DunstWorld Poker TourWPTRelated Tournaments
World Poker TourRelated Players
Phil HellmuthAllen KesslerTony DunstAnthony Zinno
LAS VEGAS, NV (February 20, 2020) – Today, Poker Central and ESPN announced their live coverage schedule for the upcoming 2020 World Series of Poker (WSOP), including everyday live footage of the WSOP Main Event running July 1st through July 14th. As part of the ongoing partnership between the brands and following their successful broadcast of last year’s 50th World Series of Poker event, ESPN and Poker Central will telecast at least 40 hours of live WSOP coverage with an additional 90 hours of originally produced episodes. The WSOP Main Event remains the most prestigious tournament on the poker calendar and one of the most popular for viewers around the world.
Consistent with its multi-platform approach to producing and delivering content, Poker Central’s direct-to-consumer OTT service PokerGO will stream exclusive WSOP Main Event coverage outside of the ESPN broadcast windows. PokerGO will also offer a collection of other WSOP bracelet events throughout the weeks leading up to and during the Main Event. The full streaming schedule for the World Series of Poker will be announced closer to the series.
Joey Armadillos Poker Tournament Schedule 2020
“For the past four years, our partnership with ESPN has been centered on creating the ultimate fan experience by providing wire-to-wire coverage of the World Series of Poker Main Event,” said JR McCabe, chief business officer of Poker Central. “We look forward to another year of bringing poker’s premier event to fans all across the globe.”
“ESPN’s yearly World Series of Poker coverage has proven to be an annual favorite with our poker fans,” said Rob Temple, senior vice president of programming and acquisitions, ESPN. “Through our partnership with Poker Central, we look forward to another season of extensive broadcast coverage of the most popular poker event on earth.”
The current broadcast schedule of the 2020 World Series of Poker Main Event on ESPN/ESPN2 is below:
| Date | Time (ET) | Network | Event |
| July 1 | 8:00 PM – 1:00 AM | ESPN2 | WSOP Main Event Day 1A |
| July 2 | 9:00 PM – 11:00 PM | ESPN | WSOP Main Event Day 1B |
| July 2 | 11:00 PM – 1:00 AM | ESPN2 | WSOP Main Event Day 1B |
| July 3 | 8:00 PM – 1:30 AM | ESPN2 | WSOP Main Event Day 1C |
| July 4 | 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM | ESPN | WSOP Main Event Day 2AB |
| July 5 | 10:00 PM – 1:00 AM | ESPN2 | WSOP Main Event Day 2C |
| July 6 | 10:00 PM – 2:00 AM | ESPN2 | WSOP Main Event Day 3 |
| July 7 | 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM | ESPN2 | WSOP Main Event Day 4 |
| July 8 | 10:00 PM – 2:00 AM | ESPN2 | WSOP Main Event Day 5 |
| July 9 | 8:00 PM – 12:00 AM | ESPN2 | WSOP Main Event Day 6 |
| July 10 | 10:00 PM – 12:00 AM | ESPN2 | WSOP Main Event Day 7 (Play to Final Table) |
| July 12 | 10:00 PM – TBD | ESPN2 | WSOP Main Event Day 8 (Nine to Six Players) |
| July 13 | 10:00 PM – TBD | ESPN2 | WSOP Main Event Day 9 (Six to Three Players) |
| July 14 | 9:00 PM – TBD | ESPN | WSOP Main Event Day 10 (Three Players to Winner) |
*The scheduling including dates, times, and specific events is subject to change.
About Poker Central®
Poker Central is the ultimate destination for fans of poker tournaments, cash games, and lifestyle away from the tables. Poker Central delivers poker’s most premier live events around the world via PokerGO, its direct-to-consumer OTT subscription service, as well as through network television distribution. PokerGO delivers over 100 days of live poker on an annual basis alongside a video-on-demand library that features original series and classic poker programming. Streaming and televised tournaments include its owned tournaments, such as Super High Roller Bowl, Poker Masters, and U.S. Poker Open, along with The World Series of Poker and WPT final tables, among others. For more information, visit www.pokercentral.com and www.pokergo.com.
About the World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker® is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world, having awarded more than $3.29 billion in prize money and the prestigious gold bracelet, globally recognized as the sport’s top prize. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker’s longest-running tournament in the world, dating back to 1970. In 2019, the event attracted 187,298 entrants from 118 different countries to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and awarded more than $293 million in prize money. In addition, the WSOP has formed groundbreaking alliances in broadcasting, digital media and corporate sponsorships, while successfully expanding the brand internationally with the advent of the World Series of Poker Europe in 2007 and the World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific in 2013 and the WSOP International Circuit Series in 2015. For more information on the World Series of Poker, please visit www.wsop.com.
Joey Armadillos Poker Tournament Schedule Of Events
About ESPN
Joey Armadillos Poker Tournament Schedule 2020
ESPN, Inc., is the world’s leading multinational, multimedia sports entertainment enterprise featuring a portfolio of more than 50 multimedia sports assets. It is comprised of eight U.S. 24-hour television networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, ESPN Classic, ESPN Deportes, Longhorn Network and the SEC Network; five with HD simulcast services – ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS and ESPN Deportes). Other businesses include direct-to-consumer video service ESPN+, ESPN Audio (broadcast, satellite, digital, podcasts), an array of digital services (ESPN.com and many other sites, ESPN App, fantasy games and more), multi-screen ESPN3, ESPN International (26 networks, syndication, radio, digital), ESPN The Magazine, consumer products, ESPN Events and espnW. Based in Bristol, Conn., ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc., which is an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Hearst holds a 20 percent interest in ESPN.
