It was quite the finale. A couple of poker stars made the final table, and the final two players made the unusual decision to declare two winners, not the normal chop situation in most tournaments. But the winners of the 2025 Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship are Joseph Neiman and Nguyen Le — both hoisting trophies and each claiming more than $400,000 in prize money.
Big Wins at This Year’s Borgata Winter Poker Open
The word has a nice ring to it. Millions of dollars.
The BWPO Championship tournament was the biggest event of the 32-event series. Its $3,500 buy-in was accessible to those with bigger bankrolls, as well as players who won their seats through online poker satellites on BetMGM Poker or live satellites at Borgata. The guarantee for the prize pool was $2,000,000, making it even more enticing. But when all of the entries were counted and the prize money tallied, it added up to millions.
- Total entries: 929
- Total prize pool: $2,875,255
- Paid players: 119
- Minimum payout: $7,760
- Winner payout: $492,265
Day 2 of the tournament quickly thinned the field from more than 250 players into the money, but not before BetMGM Poker Ambassador Darren Elias eliminated the founder and CEO of the talent agency that represents him, Tom Wheaton. Good game?
That night saw the majority of the field hit the payout cage for their share of the millions. Play ended with just 40 players remaining, Elias among them. Two names to remember were also in the mix – Joseph Neiman fourth in chips, and Nguyen Le 12th with just over a million chips.
Crucial Day 3
This was the day that only a few players would make the final table. The rest would participate in the payout process, but rest assured, they didn’t want to do that on Day 3. David Jackson was the first in that group of eliminated players, and Keven Stammen, Justin Liberto, and Joshua Kay followed. Elias busted in 18th place for a cool $20,815, Christian Harder took 15th place, Frankie Zeta 12th, Nick Pupillo in 11th.
After Edward Leonard busted in 10th place, the final nine took seats at a single table, where Salvatore Evola led the chip counts, Neiman followed close behind, and Le was among those with middle stacks. Play continued until Neiman ousted Ryan Depaulo in ninth place for $41,315. Then, Le doubled through Kitty Kuo and then eliminated her in eighth place for $51,919. When Evola busted Tom Mcnicholas in seventh place for $65,053, play stopped for the night.
Millions and Millions of Chips
The chip denominations and counts were high, as were hopes and expectations. The final table chip counts were:
- Nguyen Le – 8,175,000
- Clemen Deng – 7,520,000
- Salvatore Evola – 7,340,000
- Joseph Neiman – 6,220,000
- Dorian Rios – 4,660,000
- Philip Saracino – 3,245,000
Deng quickly took a huge pot from Evola to take the lead, and Rios sent Evola out in sixth place soon after. Le took some from Rios and then Deng to climb above the 15-million-chip mark. Deng eliminated Rios in fifth place and Saracino in fourth.
Neiman had lost ground but doubled through Deng and Le to again look down at a comfortable stack. But Neiman lost many of those chips, only to go on a roll for several big pots that put him into the chip lead. And it was Neiman who sent Deng out in third place with A-J over A-7.
Unusual Heads-Up
The final two players standing (or sitting) started their duel with Neiman holding 26 million chips to the 11,850,000 of Le. As they played Le lost chips but then doubled back. Eventually, he nearly evened the stacks.
After the two traded the lead numerous times, they chatted and decided to chop. While most chops in a championship-level tournament result in a money chop with some left over, and the two play for that extra sum and the trophies. In this case, however, the two decided on that ICM chop and a trophy for each (as there was a BetMGM trophy and Borgata trophy).
The official standings payouts were:
- 1st place: Joseph Neiman $406,791
- 2nd place: Nguyen Le $425,000
- 3rd place: Clemen Deng $233,882
- 4th place: Philip Saracino $153,430
- 5th place: Dorian Rios $105,691
- 6th place: Sal Evola $82,033
The full final table is available via the BetMGM YouTube channel.
Of course in between these livestream videos, there was plenty of fun to be had all around the two weeks of the BWPO, from time at the tables to more surprise winners:
Find more coverage on the 2025 Borgata Winter Poker Open here:
- BetMGM and Borgata Draw Huge Fields for Winter Poker Open Events
- Nick Devenezia Turns $10 Pick-a-Card Ticket into $35,388 and BetMGM Hybrid Championship Title
- Borgata Winter Poker Open Kick Off More Than Doubles Guarantees
- How To Qualify for the BetMGM Online Hybrid Championship by January 5
- Online Qualifiers Available Now For Borgata Winter Poker Open Powered by BetMGM Poker
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