David Stefani wins the Big, Big Baller heads-up match with a $ score of 169,220.

Regional news

David Stefanski won the Borghata Big, Big Series 6: $10,200 Big, Big Baller, earning $169,220. He dominated heads-up to defeat Michael Wong and broke his career $3 million live winnings record.

Published: 2026.09.21 Updated: 2026.09.21 Category: Regional News
Regional Poker News David Stefani wins the Big, Big Baller heads-up match with a $ score of 169,220.

David Stefani wins the Big, Big Baller heads-up match with a $ score of 169,220. David Stefanski won the Borghata Big, Big Series 6: $10,200 Big, Big Baller, earning $169,220. He dominated heads-up to defeat Michael Wong and broke his career $3 million live winnings record.


After two full days of intense Big, Big Baller action at the Borghata Hotel Casino & Spa, the 6:$10,200 Big, Big Baller tournament had been reduced to just one of its 69 entrants. That player was David Stefansky, who emerged victorious from a field of high-stakes players to claim his first title in the Borghata Big, Big series.

As if the trophy wasn't sweet enough, Stephenski took home a lovely first-place prize of $169,220, the pinnacle of the $690,000 prize pool generated during the event's registration. This included $149,260 from the three-way prize agreement, and the still-competitive $19,960.

Michael Wong also performed admirably, but he fell in the final round, losing the one-on-one duel. He left with a very solid consolation prize of $127,750.

Drew O'Connell was the other player involved in the three-way ICM deal. He took home $156,675 for his efforts. Although he was the first of the three to be eliminated, he received the largest share of the prize money because he was the chip leader at the time.

Event 6: $10, 200 Big, Big Baller Final Table Results

 
 
Rankingplayercountrybonus
1st placeDavid StephenskyUnited States$169,220*
2nd placeMichael WangUnited States$127,750*
3rd placeDrew O'ConnellUnited States$156,675*
4th placeMatt GrantzUnited States$62,530
5th placeClement DengUnited States$46,295
6th placeMichael GallianoUnited States$38,785
7th placeBrock WilsonUnited States$33,380
8th placeJeremy BeckerUnited States$29,325

* indicates an agreement has been reached.

Champion's reaction

Stephenski couldn't have come any closer in the 2:1 TP4T2,200 Big, Big Kick Off event, entering heads-up play with a nearly 5:1 chip lead. However, things didn't go as planned, and he ultimately had to settle for second place. This time, he's determined not to let the same thing happen again.

"The last heads-up experience was very different. I had a huge chip lead, but nothing just went right. Today against Mike (Wang), I had a really good hand. I was able to lock in the win."

Stephenski completely dominated the match, chipping away at his opponent's chips until the trophy was his. That said, it wasn't just about him facing the king.

"I'm glad I went in with six and a half starting chips," Stephensky noted, referring to when he took his seat at the start of Day Two. He successfully made the most of his chips, outpacing the biggest late registrants and their ten big blinds.

Despite his outstanding performance, Stephensky still attributed much of the credit to the deal and to being able to stand out from the star-studded field. "There are some incredible players," he added, "some of the best in the region."

Stephenski not only overcame incredible opponents in this tournament with the biggest buy-in of the series, but also added some personal accolades to his win, including the BetMGM and the Borghata Trophy.

According to The Hendon Mob, Stephenski has now surpassed the 3 million career live earnings mark ($), entering the top 1,000 of the all-time money list. He spoke to PokerNews about this milestone after surpassing players like Jennifer Harman and Sami Farha.

"This is a great achievement in my career. I'm happy with how this year has gone and hope to continue." Judging from Stephenski's performance in this series, we can certainly expect to hear more about him.

Final Day Match Results

Thirteen players bagged their chips at the end of Day One, while another thirteen opted to register with the maximum delay at the start of Day Two. Registration closed on the first hand, and cards and chips began to fly.

The eliminations came swiftly and fiercely, with Joe McKean being the first victim of the day. He was followed by Karin Soud, Cherish Andrews, and Darren Elias, all of whom, despite starting the day with chips, were eliminated early.

Several players who were seated below the next level were then eliminated. Matthew Burnett, Salvatore Evora, David Keenan, and Alex Quinn all failed to make it into the money, ending their dreams of winning six figures early on.

Before entering the bubble, some of the big chip stacks from Day 1 became victims in a rather brutal way. The first was Daniel Monoson, who lost a boat-to-boat hand to Stephenski, and then Nicolas Widramour's big hand couldn't keep him alive. Edward Leonard suffered the same fate at another table in the tournament.

Jonathan Tamayo then lost to Michael Wong, and Stephenski made another elimination, this time eliminating Brandon Hamlet, thus initiating the simultaneous dealing.

Brock Wilson, Nicolas Parma, and Daniel Escherich then battled it out in the bubble, with the latter suffering the most unfortunate outcome. Wilson hit a three-card draw against Parma, who then doubled their hand against Escherich, allowing Wilson to decisively overtake Escherich and burst the bubble.

The informal final table was subsequently set, and Parma's elimination formalized it, allowing Stefanski to find a way to eliminate another opponent.

With eight players remaining, the game went live, and Jeremy Becker was the first to fall. Despite starting the day as the chip leader, he never reached the heights of his first-day performance, losing to Clement Deng when his AQ ran into AK. Shortly after, Wilson lost to Stephensky in a run, bringing the game to six players.

To continue the elimination spree, Stephenski made another sacrifice, this time sending BETMGM ambassador Michael Galliano home in sixth place. Unsurprisingly, he then secured another elimination, paying off his three-shot streak against Deng, his top two pairs being the best.

Matt Grantz nearly reached the podium, but his chip stack was too short, and he lost to Wang in blind-to-blind. The remaining players then agreed to split the prize money three-way and continue competing for $19,960.

Stephenski continued his dominance, eliminating O'Connell in third place and then Wang in second, securing the biggest prize and trophy for himself.

That concludes PokerNews' coverage of the event, but the series is far from over, so stay tuned for more live coverage.

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