By Sean Chaffin
After four days of action, the final table is set in the WPT Borgata Poker Open with the six players remaining set to play to a winner on Friday and streamed live on WPT.com. Several big names and familiar faces along with some newcomers will be battling it out to become the newest members of the Champions Club.
Along with adding his name to the Champions Cup, the winner takes home $616,186 in cash, 1,200 points in the Hublot Player of the Year race, and a $15,000 seat in the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions. Here’s a look at the final players looking to earn a title.
Seat 1: Kevin Albers – 7,975,000
This marks Kevin Albers’ first WPT cash and he has done so in style with a big run to the final table. The 36-year-old insurance agent from Milford, Michigan, may be one of the least known at this final table but remained among the chip leaders on Days 3 and 4. He brings considerable chips into the final table of six as well.
Albers has $186,352 in live tournament winnings with his biggest score coming in 2008. In a $2,620 event at the Festa al Lago at the Bellagio, he finished runner-up for $59,365. He has several other cashes in tournaments in Las Vegas and the Midwest. In August he took seventh in the $1,650 Heartland Poker Tour main event in Chicago for $24,908. While he may not have the experience of some of the other players at this final table, Albers is certainly on a run and will be looking to accumulate chips with an eye on a title.
Seat 2: Jerry Maher – 5,550,000
This player from Warren, New Jersey, has found plenty of success at the Borgata and now has captured his first WPT cash. That’s has also assured him the largest cash of his career. The previous high came here at the Borgata in 2014 in a $300 Saturday Series Deepstack for $60,801. He also has several other five-figure scores including a runner-up in a $1,090 event also at the Borgata in 2016 for $24,120.
Along with his success at the Borgata, the 55-year-old has cashed in the WSOP Main Event two of the last four years. The owner of a restaurant, Maher grew up in England. He entered Day 4 in the middle of the pack but was able to weave his way through the field of 24 for a final table appearance. If he can gather some chips and make a run, Maher has the chance for a major breakthrough performance.
Seat 3: Donald Maloney – 6,000,000
This marks the third WPT cash for Maloney, a former professional hockey player who grew up in New York and now lives in L.A., and his biggest so far on the tour. The first came at the WPT L.A. Poker Classic in Season XVI where he finished 15th for $64,130. At the WPTDeepStacks Immokalee in 2018, Maloney finished seventh in the $1,100 championship for $23,529.
Last September, Maloney scored the biggest cash of his career when he finished runner-up finish in the $600 Kickoff event at the Borgata Poker Open for $170,535. A few other five-figures scores highlight the poker resumé of this player from Glendale, Arizona, and he also has a couple wins in smaller buy-in tournaments. A fifth-place cash for $171,386 would top his previous best cash, but no doubt he seeks an even bigger prize.
Seat 4: Victor Ramdin – 3,575,000
No stranger to success on the WPT, Ramdin has a ton of big finishes and joined the WPT Champions Club in n Season IV when he won the WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic for $1.4 million. Since that time, Ramdin has added more titles and big finishes on numerous tours, and his lifetime live tournament winnings now total $4.6 million. That includes 20 cashes on the WPT for $1.9 million.
Originally from Guyana and now living in New York, the 51-year-old is a regular at casinos in the Northeast and took down a $340 Big Stax event at the Parx in February for $87,327. When not playing poker, Ramdin runs several businesses including a deli, pizzeria, and dollar stores. With plenty of experience and some exceptional poker skills a second WPT title won’t be out of the question.
Seat 5: Dave Farah – 14,235,000
No stranger to big WPT scores at the Borgata, Farah finished runner-up in the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open for $485,611, which wrapped un in March at HyperX Esports Arena in Las Vegas. Farah is a professional player, but doesn’t travel the tournament scene much so he can spend more time with his family. He now has live tournament winnings totaling $592,000.
Farah, 49, lives in Fairfield, New Jersey, and has a few other skins on the wall. In 2016, he finished 344th for $32,130 in the WSOP Main Event. In April, Farah was among the chip leaders in the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown before finishing 32nd for $20,650. With a Borgata runner-up finish already under his belt and a nice chip stack, he’ll be looking to add his name to the WPT Champions Cup.
Seat 6: Uke Dauti – 8,725,000
This marks Dauti’s first WPT cash and he’s done so by also making his first final table. This player from Stanhope, New Jersey, may have limited tournament experience but has been able to navigate this field for a shot at some big money. Even a sixth-place finish for $130,672 would become the biggest tournament cash of his career.
Dauti, 35, does have a few tournament scores at casinos throughout the Northeast, including one tournament title. That came in 2013 at the Sands in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he topped a field of 271 in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event for $89,755. That remains his lone tournament win, but he also scored an eighth-place finish in a $340 Big Stax at the Parx in 2016 for $8,638. This summer, Dauti notched three cashes this summer at the World Series of Poker.
Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas, and his work appears in numerous websites and publications. Follow him on Twitter @PokerTraditions.