Sep 23, 2016
Photo: Jesse Sylvia hugs his close friend and fellow professional poker player Vanessa Selbst as his girlfriend looks on.
Jesse Sylvia (pictured) moves all in, and Zach Gruneberg calls all in for 5,800,000 with . Sylvia turns over , and Gruneberg needs his hand to hold to stay alive.
The board comes — Gruneberg flops a club flush draw, and the turn card puts a gutshot straight draw on the board. But the river card is a blank, and Jesse Sylvia wins the pot — and the WPT Borgata Poker Open title — with a flopped pair of jacks.
Zach Gruneberg finishes as the runner-up, earning $490,617.
Jesse Sylvia wins the WPT Borgata Poker Open, earning $821,811, which includes his entry into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions. Sylvia also receives a WPT Champions Trophy, a Hublot King Power Unico Carbon and Red watch, a pair of gold Monster 24K headphones, and his name will be inscribed on the one-and-only WPT Champions Cup, alongside every other WPT champion from all 15 seasons.
Congratulations to Jesse Sylvia!
1st: Jesse Sylvia – $821,811*
2nd: Zach Gruneberg – $490,617
3rd: Taha Maruf – $300,031
4th: Simon Lam – $250,970
5th: Chris Limo – $207,569
6th: Farid Jattin – $167,942
* First-prize amount includes a $15,000 entry into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions.