Donald Maloney Crowned WPT Borgata Poker Open Champion
Donald Maloney secured his first six-figure prize in a $600 buy-in side event at the 2018 WPT Borgata Poker Open. Now he has another five-times the size of that almost 12-months to the day. Maloney is the latest inductee to the Champions Club having won the 2019 WPT Borgata Poker Open Main Event for $616,186.
WPT Borgata Poker Open Final Table Results; Maloney Wins
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 7 | Nick Pupillo | $100,657 |
| 8 | Mike Linster | $78,344 |
| 9 | Timothy Little | $61,618 |
A bumper crowd of 1,156 players competed in the $3,500 buy-in event, creating a $370,356 prize pool. The top 145 finishers shared this pot, a min-cash coming in at $5,797. Philip Chin burst the money bubble on the last hand of Day 2. Justin Liberto opened to 13,000 and Chin moved all in from the late position with pocket nines for 16 big blinds. Mike Meskin shoved for 99,000 in the cutoff and Liberto folded. Meskin made his move with pocket aces. No miracle nine appeared for Chin and he busted in 146th place.
The likes of Matt Marafioti, Maurice Hawkins, Brock Parker, Andy Frankenberger, Jonathan Jaffe, and Tony Dunst, busted inside the money. As did Jonathan Little, Aaron Massey, Scott Baumstein, Vanessa Selbst and Ryan D’Angelo.
Ryan Olisar crashed out in 10th place to set the unofficial final table; WPT final tables are six-handed.
Timothy Little fell in ninth-place when his ace-king failed to connect with the board against Dave Farrah’s jacks. Mike Linster then busted in eighth-place when his ace-jack did not get there against Kevin Albers’ pocket nines. Linster collected $78,344 for this finish, the last prize not to weigh in at six-figures.
Seventh-place and $100,657 went to Nick Pupillo. Down to less than eight big blinds, Pupillo moved all in with jack-eight. Jerry Maher called with ace-king and flopped a king to sent Pupillo to the rail.
Official Final Table
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Albers | 7,957,000 |
| 2 | Jerry Maher | 5,550,000 |
| 3 | Donald Mahoney | 6,000,000 |
| 4 | Victor Ramdin | 3,575,000 |
| 5 | Dave Farah | 14,325,000 |
| 6 | Uke Dauti | 8,725,000 |
The 39th hand of the final table saw the first elimination. With blinds at 75,000/125,000/125,000a, Farrah opened to 325,000. Albers three-bet to 950,000 before Victor Ramdin four-bet all in for 1,850,000. Only Albers called, doing so with jack-eight of diamonds. Ramdin turned over pocket kings and was in great shape to double his stack. The was until the board ran 5s-4h-9c-7s-Td to gift Albers an unlikely straight. Game over for Ramdin.
Another 57 hands played out before the field reduced in size again. Maher min-raised to 300,000 in the cutoff and Uke Dauti called in the big blind. Dauti checked the Ac-7h-5c flop, Maher bet 300,000 and Dauti check-raised to 900,000. Maher responded with a 3,500,000 all in bet, ad Dauti called.
Dauti showed ace-seven for top two pair. Maher revealed four-three of clubs. Another seven landed on the turn, leaving Maher with one out to a straight flush. It did not arrive and Maher busted in fifth-place for $171,386.
Fourth-place and $227,077 went to Farrah in a cooler of a hand. All the chips went into the middle on a 7d-Qs-5h-9c board. Farah held queen-seven for two pair, but Donald Maloney was sat with pocket fives in this hand that had improved to a set. The river was a three and Farah’s tournament ended.
Maloney Wins in Weird Fashion
The tournament ended in bizarre circumstances. Reporters covering the WPT Borgata Main Event stated the final three players were tired and decided to flip for the win. What really happened is the last three players struck a deal that was not reported. Judge for yourself.
Hand 190 saw Dauti open shove for 13,025,000, Albers called all in and Maloney called both bets, covering both players.
Dauti held five-three, Albers jack-three and Maloney ten-four. Maloney improved to a straight on the river on the Kd-5h-3c-6c-2d board, busting both his opponents in the process.
What Now For Maloney and the WPT?
Maloney now has more than $1 million in live poker tournament cashes. His father and uncle played for the New York Rangers for more than a decade. Maloney himself played minor league hockey to a good standard, but injuries saw his career cut short.
These days, Maloney runs several businesses and plans to open a restaurant. Maloney may also take a flight to the United Kingdom for the World Poker Tour UK Main Event that starts on September 30th.
WPT UK has a $1.5 million guaranteed Main Event costing $3,300 to enter. Other events scheduled include a $1,500 WPTDeepStacks event, a Bounty Hunter and the $5,300 Devilfish Cup, named after the late poker legend Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott.
Lead image courtesy of Joe Giron Photography and the World Poker Tour