Tony Ruberto Strikes at WPT Maryland to Win Second World Poker Tour Title

By Matt Clark

The World Poker Tour has its latest two-time Champions Club member in Tony Ruberto. One month after finishing in fourth place at WPT Choctaw, Ruberto finished the job at WPT Maryland versus a field of 554 runners. Ruberto earns $344,755 and a complimentary seat into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions. Matched up versus a talented final table looking to win their first WPT title, Ruberto emerged to notch the gold medal and move up to first place in the Hublot WPT Player of the Year standings.

WPT Maryland Final Table Results

1st: Tony Ruberto – $344,755*
2nd: Shankar Pillai – $220,780
3rd: Jeremy Ausmus – $162,597
4th: Will Givens – $121,112
5th: Aaron Pinson – $91,230
6th: Mark Sandness – $69,609

*First place includes a $15,000 seat into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions.

Play started with a Ruberto bustout to put himself near the chip lead held at the start of the final table by Will Givens. Mark Sandness went bust in the 10th hand of play to Ruberto. The blinds were 25,000/50,000 with a big blind ante of 50,000 when Ruberto opened to 125,000 with  and Sandness moved all-in with  for 1,355,000. Ruberto called and held to send Sandness to the rail.

Local favorite and satellite qualifier Aaron Pinson started the final table as the short stack and doubled through Givens to gain some early momentum. That rush was short-lived as Ruberto cut down Pinson in the 43rd hand of final table play. Jeremy Ausmus raised to 125,000 in the cutoff and Ruberto followed up with a three-bet to 300,000 on the button. Pinson jammed for 1.24 million out of the big blind and once Ausmus folded, Ruberto called with . The  of Pinson needed help but he found none and went to collect his fifth-place payout.

20 hands later, Givens’ journey ended in fourth place. With the blinds up to 30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 big blind ante, Shankar Pillai opened the cutoff to 150,000 and Ruberto flatted the small blind. Givens elected to three-bet to 600,000 out of the big blind and Pillai four-bet to 1.1 million. Ruberto exited the hand and Givens called off for 980,000 total. Givens was in a flip holding  versus the  of Pillai. A  board allowed Pillai’s pair to stay in front to eliminate Givens.

Ruberto owned the chip lead over Pillai and Jeremy Ausmus when three-handed play commenced and expanded during their battle.

On Hand #93, Ausmus’ bid to join the Champions Club came to an end. Ausmus limped the small blind and Ruberto checked his option to a flop of . Following an Ausmus check, Ruberto bet 100,000 and Ausmus came along to the  turn. Ausmus checked again and Ruberto wagered 225,000 which was followed by an all-in from Ausmus for 750,000.

Ruberto’s  led the  of Ausmus and although he had a fair number of outs, Ausmus missed on the  river.

Pillai trailed Ruberto by a 4.5-1 margin when heads up play started and despite his best efforts, could not mount a winning comeback. A double-up for Pillai with a flush versus the set of Ruberto was as close as he would get. On Hand #179, Ruberto finished the job.

Pillai raised to 300,000 with the blinds at 75,000/125,000 and Ruberto defended his big blind. Ruberto checked the  flop and Pillai bet 400,000. A check-raise of 1.6 million from Ruberto led Pillai to shoved for 5.8 million total. Ruberto called with  and needed to hit against the  of Pillai. The  missed but the  on the river gave Ruberto the winning flush.

Ruberto jumps to sole possession of the WPT Hublot Player of the Year points race with 1,800 points. WPT Borgata Poker Open champion Erkut Yilmaz is second following his cash at WPT Maryland with 1,250 points.

bestbet Bounty Scramble Coming Up

The back-to-back tournaments on the East Coast are the last events scheduled on the WPT Main Tour until the WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble. The $5,000 event is always a hit with fans and players and starts on October 19 in Jacksonville, FL leading up the live stream final table on October 23. This season’s guarantee is a robust $1 million.

Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive

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