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“I Felt Like Today They Just Chose Me.” Andrew Chang Wins Big Big Kickoff for $182k
456 entrants put in their money over the first two flights of Event #2: $2,200 Big Big Kick Off at the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey. $1,000,000 was left to play for beginning today at 1:15 pm and the distinction of the largest title of the Big Big Series so far.
Andrew Chang’s best live cash coming into today was $38k according to Hendon Mob, a score that he passed when the tournament reached 5-handed. As the tournament continued, Chang found himself heads up with David Stefanski sitting with a 5:1 chip deficit with only 10 big blinds to his name. Two more levels played out before the dust settled and Chang found himself with the Trophy and $182,000 first place prize in his possession.
Event #2: $2,200 Big Big Kickoff Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew Chang | United States | $182,000 |
| 2 | David Stefanski | United States | $126,375 |
| 3 | Namit Patel | United States | $87,725 |
| 4 | Dylan Gordon | United States | $58,425 |
| 5 | Nick Pupillo | United States | $40,950 |
| 6 | Jeremy Becker | United States | $32,625 |
| 7 | Matthew Constanzo | United States | $26,425 |
| 8 | Dylan Lemery | United States | $22,050 |
| 9 | Michael Wang | United States | $18,200 |
“I’ve played cash starting around 2018-2019, but only in the past couple of years have I taken more tournaments seriously,” the new champion recalled. “Everyone’s going to say they put in a lot of work, but I felt like today they just chose me. I’m very grateful that the hard work paid off.”
Even before the heads up match had begun, Chang sat at the bottom of the counts with two full tables left. He would rebound to get to the final table with a decent stack, only to have the momentum halted by Nick Pupillo to be taken down to just five big blinds.
“I just told myself to stay calm. Anything can happen, you just have to stay focused and hope they choose you.”
Despite being whittled down short in these times, Chang found himself at risk time and time again but never defeated. His table mates began to refer to his all in wins as his “nine lives.”
“The ones where I wasn’t at risk I started losing and then when I was at risk, I happened to pull one of the nine lives. Very lucky.”
During the three-handed match, Stefanski held 75% of the chips in play and continued to apply pressure on both Chang and Namit Patel who at that point were battling for the ladders.
“At that point it had already been my largest cash ever, so it kind of helped me feel more like I should just play my game.”
Once Patel was eliminated in third place, it became a battle between the final two players with Stefanski ahead.
“I just happened to bob and weave at the right times,” Chang said in regards to his heads up match. “My opponent (Stefanski), I think he played well. He was navigating the whole final table very well throughout, applying pressure when he needed to. It just happened that the cards chose me.”
“I wasn’t sure whether or not I was going to extend,” the newly crowned champion said as far as his future poker plans, “but now I’m here for the whole way!”
Day 2 Action
The 58 remaining players returned at 1:15 pm today with many of the game’s biggest names stepping away early. 2026 WSOP Main Event champion Jonathan Tamayo (56th-$4,825) fell early and was joined later by BetMGM Ambassador Michael Lavin (53rd-$6,125), Brock Wilson (51st-$6,125), 2015 WSOP Main Event Champion Joe McKeehen (32nd-$7,450), and BetMGM Ambassador Darren Elias (28th-$8,800). Mike Dentale (25th-$8,800) became the last player to fall before the final three tables of the day.
Eliminations continue to occur as players like Kharlin Sued (24th-$8,800), Justin Liberto (23rd-$10,525), Aubrey Williams (22nd-$10,525), Thomas Cannuli (18th-$10,525), and Bin Weng (12th-$12,275) all fell shy of the final table. In the end it was Nicholas Verderamo (10th-$14,725) being the last to fall before the final table, with his two pair running into Jeremy Becker’s full house.
Final Table Action
A cooler would kick things off at the final table as David Stefanski would find himself all in with pocket kings against Michael Wang’s pocket aces. The tables would turn as a king-high board would push the pot to Stefanski and leave Wang on fumes. He would get his last chips in holding ace-ten and lose to Namit Patel’s seven-six when both players made a straight on the end. Patel’s seven-high straight would take the pot while Wang’s wheel would see him finishing in ninth place for $18,200.
Dylan Lemery started the final table as the shortest left and his run came to an end shortly after Wang in eighth place. He would jam his king-eight from the button into Andrew Chang’s queens in the big blind. A king-high flop would give him some hope, but the river brought Chang a straight and Lemery collected $22,050 for his efforts.
While the short stacks battled, the two leaders of the pack would clash in a turning point pot for both Stefanski and start of day chip leader Nick Pupillo. Stefanski flopped four of a kind while Pupillo made threes full of kings on the turn. Over a third of the chips in play were put into the pot and Stefanski’s win pushed him to over half the chips in play.
Chang became the executioner of the next two players at the final table. Matthew Constanzo doubled up Chang twice in the early goings of the final table and the third confrontation between them saw Constanzo at risk. Constanzo’s ace-nine could not find any help against Chang’s ace-jack and Constanzo took home $26,425 for his seventh place finish.
Next it would be Becker who found himself with just under a big blind before jamming his ace-seven on the button. Stefanski raised in the small and then folded to Chang who jammed in the big blind holding ace-queen. Despite turning a myriad of outs in the form of straight and flush draws, Becker’s first Borgata title will have to wait as he was sent to the rail in sixth place for $32,625.
Stefanski would ramp up the pressure and move all in with his massive stack many times from all the positions at the table Pupillo would spin the wheel against him when he called holding pocket sevens against Stefanski’s ace-jack. A jack-high flop would push Stefanski’s stack into the eight figure category while Pupillo’s fifth place finish would be good for $40,950.
A career-best score of $58,425 was earned by Dylan Gordon, who finished right after in fourth place. He jammed his short stack holding ace-eight, only to see Patel wake up with ace-king and hold up. Gordon wished his opponents luck and the three-handed match started with Stefanski holding more than double his opponent’s stacks combined.
It continued to be the Stefanski domination hour as he continued to exert pressure on both Chang and Patel, pushing himself further and further into the lead. Both Patel and Chang doubled through each other and through Stefanski to stay alive, but the gap continued to widen between Stefanski and the other two. Patel got in his last few blinds holding ace-three and ran into Stefanski’s ace-queen. Patel would pair the wrong card and he left the tournament in third to grab $87,725.
Over the next two levels of play, Stefanski saw his chip lead shrink to a 2:1 deficit against Chang while the blinds went up. With just 30 big blinds in play, the Connecticut poker player called off his last chips with ace-three against Chang’s king-jack. A jack-high board spelled the end of the tournament and Stefanski collected $126,375 for his runner-up finish.
That will conclude today’s coverage of Event #2: $2,200 Big Big Kickoff. Be sure to check back in PokerNews tomorrow for Day 2 Coverage of Event #3: $2,500 E-Tay’s Big Big 9-Game Mix.