Erkut Yilmaz Wins WPT Borgata Poker Open

Erkut Yilmaz (pictured) topped a field of 1,075 entries to win the Season XVII WPT Borgata Poker Open Main Event on Friday at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. Yilmaz earned his first WPT title, and $575,112 in first-place prize money, which included a $15,000 buy-in for the WPT Tournament of Champions at the end of the season. The Sacramento, California resident saw his career poker earnings climb up to $1,530,112 thanks to a victory where he was the dominant chip leader for the majority of the final stages of the tournament.

Season XVII WPT Borgata Poker Open Final Table Results

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

*: Includes a $15,000 WPT Tournament of Champions buy-in

Action began quickly at the final table thanks in large part to the fact that blinds and antes were so high after a long play-down period to the final table on Day 4. Anthony Maio was the short stack and the first player to fall in sixth place just 11 hands into the day.

The next player to move all in was Liam He, who went out on the 28th hand of play in fifth place. Austin Wentling survived one shove in a chopped pot, but the second time he moved all in he was not so lucky. Wentling was eliminated in fourth place on the 61st hand of play.

It was just 15 hands later when Oleg Shnaider took his leave in third place, and that set up the heads-up final between Erkut Yilmaz and poker professional TK Miles. The heads-up battle was the longest portion of play at the final table. Miles was able to take the chip lead from Yilmaz for a time, but Yilmaz eventually took back the edge, and Miles saw his stack start to dwindle as the blinds and antes really started to get high.

On the final hand, Miles limped his button and Yilmaz checked. The flop was , Yilmaz checked, Miles bet 800,000, Yilmaz check-raised all in with a covering stack and Miles called all in for 15,800,000.

Miles: 
Yilmaz: 

Miles held top pair, while Yilmaz had bottom pair with an open-ended straight draw. The turn was the , giving Yilmaz the lead with two pair. The river was the , no help to Miles, who ended his run in second place for $383,399.

Erkut Yilmaz won the WPT Borgata Poker Open for $575,112, which included a seat into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions.

That concludes our coverage from the WPT Borgata Poker Open. Thanks to the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa for hosting another great stop on the tour, and a Happy 15th Birthday to this beautiful property. If you want more live coverage of the Main Tour, look no further than the WPT Maryland Live! Main Event, that is already underway at the Live! Casino & Hotel until September 25th.

Stay tuned for a full feature story and interview with our new WPT Champion.

Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive

Looking to win your way to a World Poker Tour event for your shot at becoming a WPT champion? Play for your chance on ClubWPT.com, where eligible VIP Members can play for over $100,000 in cash and prizes each month, including seats to WPT events, no purchase necessary.