The second BetMGM Poker Online Hybrid Championship event this year (held under the Borgata Poker Open umbrella) brought poker fans to the table to watch how players adjust from an online to live setting. It was also a chance to watch some of the best players on the East Coast battle it out for a prestigious title and trophy. One player was defending his title, and the others wanted to keep him from winning it again.
Starting Stacks at BetMGM Poker Online Hybrid Championship
The six players who emerged from the online action were ready for battle. Out of the original 151 entries who competed for their shares of the $150,000 prize pool, those six held on the longest and earned their positions at the final table. Their chip stacks were rounded to the nearest 5K for chip denomination purposes, and they were as follows:
- Frank “FrankyFunk” Funaro – 4,545,000 chips (91 BBs)
- Brian “pure_reason” Wood – 3,665,000 chips (73 BBs)
- Tomasz “Tomasz1973” Zakrzewski – 2,965,000 chips (59 BBs)
- Michael “BobMerwald” Bohmerwald – 1,910,000 chips (38 BBs)
- Ryan “TheSims” Hohner – 1,510,000 chips (30BBs)
- Noah “Guts.” Sharp – 505,000 chips (10 BBs)
Funaro started by wielding his stacks to intimidate his opponents, but Zakrzewski didn’t hesitate to get involved. Sharp woke up with A-T under the gun and shoved, but Funaro had pocket eights in the big blind (BB) with which to call. Sharp received no help on the board and exited in sixth place.
Hohner fell to the shortest stack after Bohmerwald took some of his chips. Soon after, Hohner made his move with pocket nines on the button and doubled through Funaro. Bohmerwald lost some to Funaro but made a good fold in the end, only to wake up with A-Q in the small blind in the next hand. Original button raiser Wood called with A-K, and Bohmerwold shook hands before leaving in fifth place.
Final Four
Wood took his newfound status as chip leader into four-handed play. But it was a big hand between Funaro and Hohner that caught viewers’ attention. Hohner got involved with A-Q, the ace being a diamond, on a board of 9-K-4 with an 8 of diamonds following on the turn. Funaro, however, had pocket eights. Despite the river with no diamond to complete Hohner’s flush, he bet and prompted an unexpected fold from Funaro to win the 2.25M-chip pot.
After the first break, Wood returned to his top stack, with Zakrzewski slightly ahead of Funaro and Hohner holding the shortest of the four stacks. But a big hand developed between Zakrzewski and Wood, wherein the former turned a straight to push Wood off of his nut flush draw, and that pot put Zakrzewski in the lead.
Zakrzewski started to dominate and use those chips to dominate…until Wood took some back but promptly lost it to Funaro. Wood then recouped some of his previous chip loss via Zakrzewski. Wood climbed back into the lead, and Hohner worked his way into second and then into the lead. Hohner and Wood tangled in a big hand, and Hohner’s rivered nut flush earned a 6.4M-chip pot and a massive lead.
Funaro found his comeback spot. Hohner opened from the button with pocket queens, and Funaro responded by moving all-in from the big blind with A-K. Hohner called, and the dealer showed a board of J-4-9-A-8, giving Funaro the double-up and a trip back to the top of the leaderboard.
Hohner risked the rest of his chips with A-8 against the pocket eights of Funaro and lost, leaving him out in fourth place.
And just after the next break, Zakrzewski shoved with A-5, and Wood called quickly with A-K. With a king on the flop, it was quite enough to send Zakrzewski out in third place.
Two for the Money
Heads-up play began with Funaro holding 10M chips exactly, and Wood had 5.1M.
The first hand started with Funaro moving all-in with A-T and Wood calling with A-6. The flop delivered a six for Wood to double. Just a couple of hands later, Wood raised with A-J of clubs, and Funaro shoved with A-Q. Wood snap-called and flopped the club flush.
“Back-to-back Brian,” the nickname doled out by commentator Jamie Kerstetter, fit perfectly. After winning the BetMGM Poker Online Hybrid Championship at the Borgata Winter Poker Open, he won the next one at the Spring Poker Open.
BetMGM Hybrid Championship Livestream
Watch the video back to see how these online players adjusted to live play, slowed down the action, and played for these final results:
- Brian Wood $37,500
- Frank Funaro $25,500
- Tomasz Zakrzewski $18,000
- Ryan Hohner $13,560
- Michael Bohmerwald $10,575
- Noah Sharp $7,800
