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2018 World Poker Tour Maryland at Live! Casino $3,500 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event turned out to be a card fest as players swarmed into the casino to be a part of the event. In total, 554 players registered for the game, crushing the $1.5million Guaranteed prize pool and raising it to $1,757,800. Tony Ruberto made it his day by taking down the trophy along with a lion's share of the prize pool- the top prize of $344,755. It's his second WPT title, the first title of his dates back to 2011 when he shipped the WPT Jacksonville main event, outlasting 393 runners.
The Main Event
Ruberto began the final day with good grip. He had the second highest chip stack and was running awfully close to WSOP bracelet winner, Will Givens, who was the chip leader then.
Ruberto strengthened his position by eliminating two poker pros, Mark Sandness and Aaron Pinson in the 6th and 5th places, respectively. These two eliminations handed over the chip lead to Ruberto. This prompted Shankar Pillai to make some quick moves and eliminate Givens for the fourth place. This massively helped him strengthen his chances to win the title.
Next, another WSOP bracelet winner, Jeremy Ausmus, had to bid farewell to the felt. His elimination in the third place, paved way for a heads-up between Ruberto and Pillai. This elimination proved to be more beneficial for Ruberto than Pillai because now, the former was ahead of the latter with 4:1 chip lead.
The poker battle went on for 80 hands. In the final hand, Ruberto closed the deal. The river round flipped a 9 of diamond, helping Ruberto complete his flush and then consequently take down the title.
Here is a look at the payouts and Card Player POY points awarded at the final table:
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