The 2019 WPT Borgata Poker Open attracted 1,156 runners and a prize pool worth over $3 million. Donald Maloney, Jr., an ex-hockey player and son of Don Maloney from the New York Rangers, won his first WPT title after defeating Uke Dauti heads-up at the Borgata. Victor Ramdin finished in sixth place. Vanessa Selbst made a cameo at this WPT event and she went deep at the Borgata with a finish in 14th place.
Ship it to Don Maloney. If the name sounds familiar, it is. Maloney is the surname of several notable hockey players. Donald Maloney is also a former hockey player. Injuries prevented him from making a career out of it in the NHL, but his father and uncle were notable pros. Don Maloney played ofr the New York Rangers and made a name for himself by playing hardnosed hockey. His son Donald Maloney brought the same mental toughness to the tables en route to his first major victory on the World Poker Tour.
Every September, the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey is the epicenter of poker on the East Coast with their big series that also includes a stop on the World Poker Tour.
The 2019 Borgata Poker Open attracted a massive field of 1,156 runners. The total prize pool ballooned to over $3 million. The Borgata takes care of their regulars and tries to spread the love a little more than the average tournament. The top 145 places paid out with the majority of the money going to the final table.
The final six at the WPT Borgata Poker Open included Victor Rambin, Dave Farah, Uke Dauti, Don Maloney, Kevin Albers, and Jerry Maher.
Dave Farah went into the final table with the chip lead and a big stack with 14.3 million. Uke Dauti was second with 8.7M and Kevin Albers, the token Brit at the final table, was third with a shade under 8M. Don Maloney and Jerry Maher are stuck in the middle. Victor Ramdin heads into the finale as the short stack with 3.5M.
Victor Ramdin, a gregarious pro from the Bronx and former ex-PokerStars sponsored player, went on a sensational run. Ramdin final tabled the WPT Borgata but he could not get anything going at the final table. Ramdin busted in sixth place, which paid out $130,672.
Jerry Maher was the next player to hit the bricks when he busted in fifth place. Dave Farah blew the chip lead and he fizzled out in fourth place. Kevin Albers bust out in third place, which paid out $304K. Albers' elimination set up a finale between Uke Dauti and Donald Maloney.
When the dust settled, Dauti could not prevent Maloney from going the distance. Dauti got picked off in second place, which paid out $410K for a runner-up share. Not too shabby, eh?
Donald Maloney won the title, the glory, and $616,186 in cash. He also won a freeroll intot he season-ending Tournament of Champions to be hosted at the end of May at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas.
Nick Pupillo bubbled off the final table in seventh place. Vanessa Selbst banked nearly $40K for 14th place.
Notables who went deep and cashed included... Vanessa Selbst, Ryan D'Angelo, Mike Linster, Aaron Mermelstein, Jon Little, Aaron Massey, Scott Baumstein, Derek Bowers, Asher Conniff, Dong Ji, David Paredes, Alex Rocha, Jon Jaffe, Jean Gaspard, Johnny Bax, Tony DUnst, Ryan Hughes, Guo Chen, Andy Frankenberger, Jonas Wexler, Bryan Piccioli, DJ Alexander, Maurice Hawkins, Brock Parker, Arianna Son, Matt Marafioti, Curt Kohlberg, Scott Stewart and Michael Wang.
2019 WPT Borgata Poker Open
Buy-in: $3,500
Entrants: 1,156
Prize Pool: $3,700,356
Payouts: 145
Final Table Results:
1. Donald Maloney $616,186
2. Uke Dauti $410,787
3. Kevin Albers$303,903
4. Dave Farah $227,077
5. Jerry Maher $171,386
6. Victor Ramdin $130,672
