Guo Liang Chen Triumphs at WPT Borgata Main Event

The WPT Borgata Poker Open recently took place in Atlantic City, with 1,132 players entering its $3,500 Main Event to create a prize pool of $3,623,532. The action then continued for six days, at the end of which Guo Liang Chen overcame his final opponent, Gregory Weber, to claim a coveted WPT title, and a first place prize of $789,058.
Chen had just $40,000 in live earnings coming into the event, with his biggest previous win worth $13,858, and after scoring the biggest cash of his career, the 27-year-old New Jersey firefighter, said:
“I was too excited to sleep last night. I’m going to fall asleep tonight with cash in hand!”
The WPT Borgata Main Event saw a number of top pros competing for the chance to win a WPT title, and amongst those finishing in a money spot was Steve Sung, Maurice Hawkins, Scott Blumstein, Ben Zamani, Shaun Deeb, and Johanssy Joseph.
Chen (Q-10) then sent Nick Palma (A-7) to the rail in 7th, after which the final table was set. At this stage, Chen was second from bottom in chips, with the lowest stack, Cliff Josephy, managing to outlast Thomas Paul (6th) before being ousted from the competition in 5th holding A-3 to Gregory Weber’s Q-J. Weber (A-K) followed up by sending Matthew Parry (A-Q) to the rail in 4th, while Chen (K-Q) took care of Jia Liu (Q-J) in 3rd to usher in heads-up play against Gregory Weber for the title.
Weber didn’t maintain his 2-1 chip advantage long, though, and after Chen picked off a massive bluff, the deciding and was played with a short stacked Weber shoving preflop holding K-9 into the A-K of his opponent. The 7-5-4-3-Q board which ensued sealed the deal, and so Weber finished the runner-up for $471,059, while Guo Chen was crowned the champion. Commenting after his impressive victory, Chen explained:
“I had faith in myself. I’m a very gifted player, so I definitely thought I could make it.”
Final Table Results:
1: Guo Chen $789,058
2: Gregory Weber $471,059
3: Jia Liu $288,071
4: Matthew Parry $240,965
5: Cliff Josephy $199,294
6: Thomas Paul $161,247