Chris Leong Triumphs At 2016 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open

The $3,500 buy-in WPT Winter Poker Open Championship was held at the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City, and attracted 1,171 players to create a prize pool worth $3,748,371. Six days of action later, and it would be New York resident Chris Leong who would triumph over the field to claim the prestigious WPT title, and walk away with a huge $816,246 payday.
Leong has been cashing in at tournaments since 2010, but his latest win is by far the biggest score of his career and now accounts for the lion’s share of his $1,194,968 in lifetime earnings.
The World Poker Tour’s stop at the Borgata Hotel has always proved a popular venue, and this year was no exception with many notable pros turning out for its main event. Amongst those subsequently seeing a return on their buy-ins was Mukul Pahuja in 24th ($16,868), Aaron Mermelstein in 19th ($16,868), Kane Kalas in 17th ($20,054), Kou Vang in 15th ($29,987), Aaron Overton in 11th ($44,793), and Keith Morrow in 7th ($131,193).
Chris Leong then entered the final day as the shortest stack, and also had to contend with a tough final table which included the likes of the 2015 WSOP Main Event champion Joe McKeehen, and 2009 WPT winner Yevgeniy Timoshenko. After the action got underway, Rafael Yaraliyev took care of Matthew Wantman in 6th, and Joe McKeehen in 4th, while Chris Leong did likewise to Yevgeniy Timoshekno (5th), and Liam He (3rd) to force heads-up against Yaraliyev for the title.
As the final battle commenced, Yaraliyev held a 21.7m to 14.3m chip advantage over Leong, and 106 hands would ensue before the big showdown occurred with Leong going all-in preflop holding A-8, only to be called by Yaraliyev with pocket queens. The A-6-4-J-5 board sealed the deal for  Leong, who then claimed the event’s $816,246 top prize, while Rafael Yaraliyev had to be satisfied with a runner-up finish worth $487,288.
Final Table Results:
1 Chris Leong $816,246
2 Rafael Yaraliyev $487,288
3 Liam He $297,995
4 Joe McKeehen $249,267
5 Yevgeniy Timoshekno $206,160
6 Matthew Wantman $166,803