Erkut Yilmaz Claims 2018 WPT Borgata Poker Open Title for $575,112

The 2018 WPT Borgata Poker Open took place at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey from September 4-21, during which time 23 events were featured with a combined guaranteed prize pool of $6.7 million. One of them was its $3,500 No-Limit Hold’em $3 Million GTD event which took place over six days and was ultimately won by Erkut Yilmaz, who outlasted a 1,075 player field to claim a first place prize of $575,112.

Following his victory, Yilmaz now boasts lifetime earnings of $1,530,092 on the live tournament circuit, with his latest score smashing his biggest previous record set last year after finishing the WSOP $565 NLHE The Colossus III in 6th place for $175,208. The Californian pro’s only other six-figure score came after making deep run at the 2013 WSOP Main Event, in which he was eventually eliminated in a 61st place for a $123,597 payday.

$3,500 No-Limit Hold’em

The $3,500 WPT Borgata Poker Open featured a prize pool $441,075 in excess of its $3 million guarantee, meaning 136 players would see a return on their buy-ins. Notable finishers in the event included Darren Elias in 131st ($6,097), Anthony Zinno in 130th ($6,097), Jared Jaffee in 117th ($6,097), Ryan D’Angelo in 101st ($6,393), Daniel Weinman in 100th ($6,393), Joe McKeehen in 89th ($7,309), and Maria Konnikova in 20th ($24,695).

After Ali Imsirovic‘s spectacular showing at the 2018 Poker Masters in which he was awarded the coveted Poker Masters Purple Jacket, the pro also came close to reaching yet another final table, but in the end was eliminated in 9th place ($57,510). Christopher Grove was subsequently sent to the rail in 8th, followed by John Lakatosh in 7th to usher in the final table.

Final Table

Erkut Yilmaz started the final table as chip leader, and over the course of the next six hours would eliminate two players on his way to claiming the WPT Champions Cup. First out the door was Anthony Maio in 6th, who pushed his 6bb stack preflop holding K-J, but unfortunately for him ran into the pocket kings of Austin Wentling. He was followed soon after by Liam He, whose pocket tens were cracked by Aleg Shnaider’s J-9 after the dealer rolled out a A-J-J-5-3 board.

Next, TK Miles (Q-9) and Yilmaz called Austin Wentling’s (9-9) preflop re-raise all-in, with the latter sent to the rail following a checked down A-Q-8-4-A board, and following Yilmaz’s (A-K) elimination of Oleg Shnaider (A-J) in 3rd place, the final phase of the competition was set to determine this year’s champion.

Heads-Up Recap

Yilmaz started heads-up play holding a 25m to 17m heads-up advantage, and while Miles managed to move into a slight lead at one stage, Yilmaz soon took back the advantage and had around 60% of the chips still in play by the time the final hand was played. Yilmaz (6-3) and Miles (K-5) saw a 5-4-3 flop, and while Miles seemed in good shape after calling his opponent’s check-raise all-in, a 6 on the turn followed by no help on the river sealed his fate.

TK Miles collected $383,399 for his runner-up finish, and now has $3,244,112 in career earnings, as well as 2 WSOP Circuit rings to his credit. Meanwhile, Erkut Yilmaz was crowned this year’s winner, and was awarded the WPT Champions Cup.

Final Table Results

1: Erkut Yilmaz $575,112
2: TK Miles $383,399
3: Oleg Shnaider $283,341
4: Austin Wentling $211,562
5: Liam He $159,616
6: Anthony Maio $121,697

Next Stop

The World Poker Tour has since moved onto the neighboring state of Maryland, where the action got underway this weekend at the Live! Casino & Hotel in Hanover. The $3,500 WPT Maryland Main Event runs from September 21-25 and features a $1.5 million guaranteed prize pool, although that figure should increase dramatically as unlimited re-entries are allowed.

While a number of notable players have seen their Main Event cut short, including Maurice Hawkins, Shannon Shorr, Rainer Kempe, and Darren Elias, there are many notable pros still in contention, such as Mohsin Charania, Anthony Zinno, Kelly Minkin, Matt Glantz, Joe McKeehen, Ali Imsirovic, and Maria Ho (14,500).