The 2018 Spring Poker Open concluded in the early hours of Sunday morning with the final trophy event. Over the previous 18 days, 19 coveted Borgata Hotel replica trophies were awarded and more than $4.6 million was paid out to players participating in the 22 scheduled Main Events.
Rafael Reis – 1st Place – 2018 SPO Kickoff
Rafael Reis won the $1 Million GTD Kickoff Deep Stack NLH event, earning more than $216,010 and his first Borgata Open title. There were 2,370 entrants over five starting flights and the guarantee was well covered with the final prize pool exceeding $1.2 million.
Barry Leventhal wins two main events during 2018 SPO
Barry Leventhal added his name to the short-list of players to win two events during a single Open series. He took 1st Place and $10,000* in the Seniors event, a tournament he also won back in the 2015 Winter Poker Open, then a couple of days later won the Pot Limit Omaha event for $9,676. These were his fifth and sixth Borgata Open series titles and with six wins, he’s now third on the list of most reported wins at Borgata, trailing only Abraham Korotki (9) and Will ‘the Thrill’ Failla (7).
The $1 Million GTD Spring Poker Open Championship pulled 519 entrants, covering its guarantee and paying out more than $1.25 million in prize money. The final table of six was Live Streamed and can still be watched on YouTube.
It came down to a heads-up match between two established pros and coincidentally, both were Day 2 entrants. Farid Jattin held the chip lead for the entirety of Day 3 and a couple of hours into the final table before Almedin ‘Ali’ Imsirovic picked off a turn semi-bluff-shove to double-up and claim the chip lead, which he held until the end.
Almedin ‘Ali’ Imsirovic – 1st Place – 2018 SPO Championship
Heads-up play began with Ali holding more than a 5:1 chip lead over Farid, but Farid managed to double-up twice, pulling close to even with Ali. Once the stacks evened out, the final two agreed on adjusted payouts. Ali took 1st place and $246,066*. Farid finished 2nd for $243,521*.
A complete list of Main Event winners is below and that wraps up the 2018 Spring Poker Open! Mark your calendars now and make plans to join us for the Summer Poker Open, to be held July 10-27. Follow @BorgataPoker on Twitter for updates on the tournament schedule when it is released.
*indicates adjusted payout
$260+$40 Deepest Stack NLH Re-Entry
$50,000 Guaranteed
Level 11: Blinds 800/1,600/1,600 BB Ante
Total Entries: 258
Players Remaining: 130
Average Stack: 79,400
John Harvilla
On the flop of 
, John Harvilla checked, his opponent on the button bet 7,500, and John moved in for 25,000 total. After giving it a bit of thought, his opponent folded. John took the pot, chipping up to about 48,000.
Over the years, John has cashed numerous times at Borgata, but his best finish was a 2nd place in last Summer’s DeepStacks Challenge series $150 NLH event. He finished 2nd for $6,338.
$260+$40 Deepest Stack NLH Re-Entry
$50,000 Guaranteed
Level 11: Blinds 800/1,600/1,600 BB Ante
Total Entries: 258
Players Remaining: 140
Average Stack: 73,700
Players are back from their break and registration has closed with an unofficial total of 258 entrants. That puts the prize pool over $65,000, well covering the guarantee.
Now we should see some rapid shrinking of the field as the short-stacks make their stands.
$260+$40 Deepest Stack NLH Re-Entry
$50,000 Guaranteed
End of Level 10: Blinds 600/1,200/1,200 BB Ante
Entries: 241
The third break of the day is underway and this is the last opportunity for players to register/re-enter this tournament. When play resumes, registration will close for the final trophy event of this Spring Poker Open series.
For now, players are enjoying their break from the action.
$260+$40 Deepest Stack NLH Re-Entry
$50,000 Guaranteed
Level 10: Blinds 600/1,200/1,200 BB Ante
Entries: 241
Barry Leventhal
Barry Leventhal is in action today, attempting to accomplish something no one ever has — winning three Open Series events during one series.
Barry won Event 6, the Seniors event and Event 12, the Pot Limit Omaha event, during this Spring Open and if he can win the Deepest Stack today, he will be the first player ever to win three in a series.
As it stands now, he’s joined a very short list of players to ever win two titles in a single series:
Zhaoxing Wang
Brian O’Donoghue
Mike Linster
Barry Levy
Yuebin Guo
Mike Hahn
Joe Palma
Howard Wolper
$260+$40 Deepest Stack NLH Re-Entry
$50,000 Guaranteed
Level 9: Blinds 500/1,000/1,000 BB Ante
Entries: 226
After getting his pocket Aces cracked on the river by a 2-outer earlier today, Frank Reina re-entered and landed at table 3, where he’s faring much better.
Frank Reina
First, He rivered the nut flush and moved in, getting the call from a doubtful opponent, and doubled up. Then after action folded around to the small blind on his right, the player fired a bet of 10,000, a big opening bet at these blinds.
“I don’t think I can call that even if I have Aces,” said Frank, before looking at his cards. Well, after looking at his cards and finding pocket Aces, he ripped it all-in and got the call. His opponent had AK and this time Frank’s Aces help up. He collected the pot, felting his opponent, and chipped up to about 118,000.
$260+$40 Deepest Stack NLH Re-Entry
$50,000 Guaranteed
Level 8: Blinds 400/800/800 BB Ante
Entries: 218
Players are back from break and registration remains open for three more levels and a break.
Among the players in this final trophy event are a couple of players who have already taken down a 2018 Spring Poker Open title.
James Brady
James Brady won the Monster Stack and $23,271 in an adjusted payout agreement among the final six players. As the chip leader, James got the Borgata Hotel replica trophy and 1st place.
Michael Haberman
Michael Haberman took 1st place and $11,500 in a ten-way adjusted payout agreement in the Deeper Stack a couple of days ago. Part of the agreement gave the trophy to the 4th place finisher, so technically Michael is still in the hunt for his first Borgata trophy.
$260+$40 Deepest Stack NLH Re-Entry
$50,000 Guaranteed
End of Level 7: Blinds 300/600/600 BB Ante
Entries: 206
Three levels gone and it’s time for another break. While the players are out of the way, the staff will color-up and remove the green 25 chips from play.
$260+$40 Deepest Stack NLH Re-Entry
$50,000 Guaranteed
Level 7: Blinds 300/600/600 BB Ante
Entries: 191
James ‘Suits’ Salters
James ‘Suits’ Salters was right here in this room shortly after 2am when he was parts of a 4-way adjusted payout agreement in Event 21, the Deeper Stack. That didn’t stop the grinder — he was right back in action again at 11am when this event began.
He earned $6,284 for his finish last night. We’ll see if he can go back-to-back on short sleep!
$260+$40 Deepest Stack NLH Re-Entry
$50,000 Guaranteed
Level 6: Blinds 200/400/400 BB Ante
Entries: 185
Laurence O’Halloran
Laurence O’Halloran has jumped out to an early chip lead with more than 200,000 (5 times his starting stack). He may not be a household name in poker circles, but Laurence has some significant stats on his poker resume.
He won a WSOP Circuit ring in 2013 playing Omaha/8 and has two wins here at Borgata. Last Fall he took down the Super Stack Elevator for more than $10,000 and about a year before that he won a DeepStacks Challenge event for $8,315.
His best live cash was from the 2017 Winter Poker Open Deep Stack Kickoff event, where he finished 8th out of 5,512 entrants for $47,318.