Borgata: Noemi Saleh leads list of Winter Poker Open winners

Noemi Saleh scored her first recorded live tournnament win in the $300 Ladies Event
Geoff Fisk
Geoff Fisk
Posted on: January 16, 2025 21:02 PST

The 2025 Borgata Winter Poker Open winds down to its conclusion this week. The Main Event of the series, the $3,500 No-Limit Hold'em Championship, crowned dual winners on Thursday night, but that was just one of the many tournaments from throughout the last two weeks.

The BWPO schedule included 32 primary events overall. Here's a look at some of the biggest winners from the series.

Noemi Saleh wins $300 Ladies Event for $10,282

Noemi Saleh secured the first recorded live tournament win of her career at the BWPO, taking down Event #26: $300 Ladies Championship for a $10,282 payday.

Saleh topped a field of 175 entries in this one-day event and outlasted Kimberly Sclafani (2nd - $6,779) in heads-up play to clinch the championship.

Event #26: $300 Ladies Championship top finishers

Player Prize
Noemi Saleh $10,282
Kimberly Sclafani $6,779
Deborah Surick $4,638
Gina Tuttle $3,267
Kathleen Waterhouse $2,413

The $10,282 payday is the second-biggest score of Saleh's career. Her biggest career cash came at the 2023 World Series of Poker, where Saleh finished 53rd in the $1,000 Mini Main Event for $11,876.

Laviano, Holowchuk chop $600 Kickoff event for $266,699 each

The BWPO opened with the aptly named Event #1: $600 No-Limit Hold'em Kickoff Deepstack. 

The Kickoff event drew massive numbers and a huge prize pool. A total of 4,245 entries registered for the tournament, which featured five Day 1 flights.

Thomas Laviano and Thomas Holowchuk agreed to an even chop to end the tournament, with each player taking home $266,699.

Event #1: $600 No-Limit Hold'em Kickoff Deepstack top finishers

Player Prize
Thomas Laviano $266,699
Thomas Holowchuk $266,699
Daniel Pop $145,582
Srikanth Gundela $97,034
Cristian Gutierrez Quintana $65,815

The top three finishers in Event #1 took home six-figure prizes, and fourth-place finisher Srikanth Gundela narrowly missed out on a $100K score.

Thomas Laviano and his two sons Thomas Laviano and his two sons

Honghao Shi wins $400 Almighty Million for $217,121

Much like the BWOP Kickoff tournament, Event #12: $400 Almighty Million featured an affordable buy-in, multiple Day 1 flights, and a huge turnout.

A total of 4,524 entries came out for the Almighty Million, which offered six Day 1 flights and a $1 million guaranteed prize pool.

Honghao Shi ended up topping the payout ladder, taking home $217,121 for the first-place finish.

Event #12: $400 Almighty Million top finishers

Player Prize
Honghao Shi $217,121
John Morales $146,996
Edward Leonard $99,375
Eric Yanovsky $66,222
William Lau $44,903

The prize pool finished at $1,492,920, well above the guarantee.

Honghao Shi Honghao Shi

Charles Cunha wins $1,250 Mirror Mystery Bounty for $66,044

Event #7: $1,250 Mirror Mystery Bounty played out over four opening-day flights and offered a $500,000 prize pool.

Charles Cunha topped the field, taking home $66,044 for the win. Travis Hartshorn (2nd - $45,606) took the runner-up spot.

Event #7: $1,250 Mirror Mystery Bounty top finishers

Player Prize
Charles Cunha $66,044
Travis Hartshorn $45,606
Zachary Fischer $31,503
Michael Mann $20,763
Casey Hatmaker $14,390

The Mirror Mystery Bounty event drew 689 entries.

Charles Cunha Charles Cunha

Zachary Fischer wins $1,140 6-Max Deepstack Championship for $54,394

Event #19: $1,140 6-Max Deepstack Championship, played out as a two-day event. 

Zachary Fisher placed first for a $54,394 payday, outlasting Kaifan Wang (2nd - $39,500) in heads-up play.

Event #19: $1,140 6-Max Deepstack Championship top finishers

Player Prize
Zachary Fischer $54,394
Kaifan Wang $39,500
Michael Trivisonno $34,087
James Lauer $19,054
Mario Rodriguez $14,032

The tournament guaranteed $100,000 in prize money, but a massive turnout of 301 entries pushed the final pool to nearly three times the guarantee at $299,495.

Zachary Fischer Zachary Fischer

Matthew Ferrante wins $1,140 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship for $26,390

The official PLO championship tournament of the BWPO series played out in the form of Event #13: $1,140 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship.

Matthew Ferrante took down the tournament for a first-place prize of $26,390.

Event #19: $1,140 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship top finishers

Player Prize
Mathew Ferrante $26,390
Filippos Stavrakis $17,028
Justus Marsico $11,725
Christoph Csik $8,389
Thomas Yang $6,259

The tournament drew 98 entries for a $97,510 prize pool.

Matthew Ferrante Matthew Ferrante

Myles Mullaly wins $2,500 NLH Heads-Up Championship for $30,016

Event #15: $2,500 Heads-Up Championship drew 32 entries, with the top eight getting paid.

Myles Mullaly came out of the bracket as the winner, coming away with the championship prize of $26,390.

Event #15: $2,500 Heads-Up Championship top finishers

Player Prize
Myles Mullaly $30,016
Nicholas Pupillo $15,008
Christopher Aiello $7,504
Eric Yanovsky $7,504