Photo Recap: Reaching the WPT Borgata Final Table

By BJ Nemeth

Day 4 came to an end shortly before 1:00 am ET when two players were eliminated on back-to-back hands in order to reach the final six players from the 1,042-player field. Here are the official chip counts, along with the number of big blinds in each stack. (When action resumes, the blinds will be 75,000-150,000 with a 25,000 ante.)

Seat 1. Kia Mohajeri – 4,225,000 (28 bb)
Seat 2. Ben Klier – 6,125,000 (40 bb)
Seat 3. Ofir Mor – 7,300,000 (48 bb)
Seat 4. Brandon Novena – 5,125,000 (34 bb)
Seat 5. Dwyte Pilgrim – 4,800,000 (32 bb)
Seat 6. Daniel Makowsky – 3,300,000 (22 bb)

And the prizepool they’ll be playing for:

1st: $733,802
2nd: $440,945
3rd: $266,835
4th: $233,475
5th: $183,449
6th: $148,427

Here’s a photographic look back at Day 4 of the WPT Borgata Poker Open:

Royal Flush Girls Katrina, Michelle, and Melanie sang "Happy Birthday" to Mike Sexton before giving him a card on his birthday. It was an important day for Sexton, who was trying to reach his first televised WPT final table after eight-plus years behind the commentator’s desk.

The biggest hand in the early part of the day was between defending champion Olivier Busquet (right) and John D’Agostino, who has made two WPT Borgata final tables himself. D’Agostino had check-raised all in with the board showing [Kd9h2c7s], and Busquet tanks for several minutes, even apologizing to the table and saying, "This is not a Hollywood."

Olivier Busquet eventually folded [AcKs] on a board of [Kd9h2c7s] (top pair, top kicker). A few players asked D’Agostino to show one card, but he smiles and says he can’t. Busquet asked D’Agostino, "Why are you so good?"

Defending champion Olivier Busquet was eliminated a short while after John D’Agostino took down that big pot against him. No player has ever successfully defended a WPT title, but Busquet came close, finishing 25th in a field of 1,042 players.

Brandon Novena’s chipleading stack (left) towers over the other stacks at his table, including short-stacked Mike Sexton (right).

Mike Sexton (right) was eliminated by John D’Agostino in 20th place. Sexton was all in preflop from the big blind with [Ad5s] against D’Agostino’s [Jd10c], and the board came [Qh8s3hJh6d] to give D’Agostino a pair of jacks.

Mike Sexton received a phone call from his WPT co-host Vince Van Patten during his post-game interview. Van Patten was hoping that he’d have to work this episode alone, but congratulated Sexton on his deep finish. They’ll both have to watch this final table from their usual spot at the commentator’s desk.

Dwyte Pilgrim (left) plays a hand against Dan Makowsky (center) while John D’Agostino looks on.

Sean Nolan (standing, right) picks up two pair on the turn after John D’Agostino (left) outflopped him. Nolan was all in with [Ah4s] against D’Agostino’s [Qs10h], and doubled up on a board of [Qd5h4cAc9d].

John D’Agostino was eliminated in 14th place by chipleader Brandon Novena. D’Agostino got down to 14 big blinds before he moved all in with [Jd9d], and ran into Novena’s [AcKs]. The board never gave D’Agostino much hope as it came [Ah7h3h10d2d].

After a flop of [8d6c4c], Michael Simhai moved all in with [8h6d] (two pair) against Lee Childs’ pocket nines. But Lee Childs spiked a nine on the turn to clinch the pot with a set. Simhai was eliminated in 17th place.

After some interesting chatter from Dwyte Pilgrim, Sean Nolan five-bet all in with [AdKc], and Pilgrim snap-called with [AhAs]. The aces held up, and Pilgrim doubled up to catapult himself near the top of the leaderboard. After the hand, Pilgrim said, "When you’re ready to flip for three million, son, ya made a mistake."

To read the original write-up and see what was said between Pilgrim and Nolan, click here.

Ofir Mor (right) doubles up through Andrew Youngblood (standing, left). Mor was all in preflop with [AcKd] against Youngblood’s [7d7h], and the board came [AhKh6hJc8c]. Mor had his tournament life at stake in this race situation, but he went on to reach the televised WPT final table as the chipleader.

The final 14 players battle it out at two tables in an arena section of the Borgata Poker Room.

Fans and media crowd around the center table during a big all-in situation.

No, this man in the red shirt isn’t a tourist in front of a greenscreened backdrop — it’s Vichien Siprajim, who finished in 12th place.

The final 10 players redrew for new seats at the center table to play down to the final six. Clockwise from the dealer: Kia Mohajeri, Lee Childs, Ben Klier, Ofir Mor, Brandon Novena, Dwyte Pilgrim, Daniel Makowsky, Andrew Youngblood, Christian Iacobellis, and Jeff Papola.

An overhead shot of the final 10 players.

Brandon Novena (left) and Dwyte Pilgrim at the final 10-handed table, both battling to reach the televised WPT final table.

It took 57 hands for the first player to bust from the final 10-handed table. The dealer watches over all 10 chip stacks during the break.

In Hand #57, Christian Iacobella (standing, far right) was eliminated in 10th place. Iacobellis moved all in with [Qc10c], and ran into the [AcJh] of Brandon Novena (standing, left). The board came [Ks5h2d8h8d], and Novena won the pot with ace high.

Brandon Novena (left) folds to Daniel Makowsky. Makowsky had check-raised all in after a flop of [Jc8d2d].

In the final hand of the day (Hand #89), Jeff Papola (foreground, left) moved all in with [As8s] and was up against the [7d7h] of Ofir Mor (standing, right). The board came [KdQs9dKc2h], and the pocket sevens held up. Jeff Papola was eliminated in seventh place as Mor claimed the chip lead heading into the televised WPT final table.

Dwyte Pilgrim, who has been called the "Minor League Player of the Year" for his success in less prestigious events, explodes with emotion after reaching his first high-profile final table. Pilgrim repeatedly yelled, "We’re gonna shock the world! We’re gonna shock the world!"

Once the emotions of the moment settled down, the players had to go through the business of verifying their chip stacks and filling out their WPT bio sheets.

Dwyte Pilgrim and two of his friends are caught on video celebrating, and Pilgrim turns to the camera to say he’s going to teach the world a new style of poker — "Gracie Jujitsu." Pilgrim has yet to explain exactly what that means, so you’ll have to follow the final table coverage to find out.

The final table is scheduled to begin today at 4:00 pm ET, when the final 6 players battle for a WPT title and $733,802. Return to WorldPokerTour.com for live hand-for-hand coverage, with every check, bet, call, raise, and fold, as well as updated chip counts for every hand.