Paul Chang Leads Day 1B of WPT Maryland

by Tim Duckworth

The second day of the Season XVII WPT Maryland $3,500 Main Event kicked off on Saturday at Live! Casino & Hotel in Hanover, Maryland. A field of 331 entries was generated and the first 10 levels of action are now in the books with 135 players remaining joining the 69 survivors from Day 1A to take the overall field size to 534. Leading the way on Day 1B is Paul Chang (pictured above) who managed to bag 311,000 in chips.

Chang’s poker resume is on the quiet side having lodged four cashes this year out of his six lifetime cashes stretching back to 2004. Although possessing a little over $100,000 in tournament earnings, Chang is in prime position to add to this after finishing as the top dog on Day 1B.

Playing on several tables throughout the day, Chang eventually found himself battling the likes of Gloria Jackson, Shannon Shorr, and Chris Bolek on his final table. It is there that Chang made an ascent up the leaderboard when his chip count rose above 200,000, and then 275,000 after having to fold the turn to Shorr. Eventually Chang would break through the 300,000-chip mark before he sent 311,000 into his Day 2 bag.

Just a day ago, the WPT Borgata Poker Open wrapped up at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa with Erkut Yilmaz (pictured above) topping the 1,075-entrant field to capture 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 native made the trek here to participate in WPT Maryland, and although he was one of the last few unique players to register, Yilmaz managed to bag a 51,000-chip stack.

Fellow WPT Champions Club members Victor Ramdin (142,000), Olivier Busquet (133,500), Tony Ruberto (101,000), Darren Elias (86,000), Joseph Bartholdi (44,000), and Jesse Sylvia (35,000) all survived into Day 2. For Ruberto, it would be the second time he went through the chip bagging process after he ended Day 1A with 26,500.

Also finishing among the chip leaders were Zhen Cai (275,000), Joshua Turner (274,500), Michael Wang (273,000), Aaron Overton (239,500), Allan Vrooman (231,000), and Maurice Hawkins (226,000). For the ladies in the field, Gloria Jackson (pictured below) would bag an impressive 171,000, while Lucia Antunes (164,000), Melanie Henngian (141,000), Khaly Dang (118,500), Portia McDaniels (38,500), Lara Eisenberg (30,000), and Valerie Novak (26,000) will join the three Day 1A female survivors into Day 2.

Everyone eliminated throughout the course of Day 1A and Day 1B will all have the chance to return to try their luck on Day 2 on Sunday, September 23. Registration and re-entries are open until the start of play at 12 p.m. (EDT), and players will begin with 40,000 in starting chips, which is approximately 27 big blinds. Day 2 will play ten 60-minute levels with a dinner break after level six (approximately 6:30 p.m. EDT).

Day 2 begins on Sunday at 12 p.m. (EDT) with continuous live updates being provided by the World Poker Tour. As always, keep your browsers locked right here to WPT.com for continued coverage of the World Poker Tour.

Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive

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