Preview: A Look at the WPT Maryland Final Table

By Sean Chaffin

The final table is set at the Season XVII WPT Maryland event. Play resumes Tuesday at 12:00 pm ET with six players hoping to bring home the $344,755 in cash and add their names to the WPT Champions Cup. The winner also secures a $15,000 seat in the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions along with 1,000 points toward the Hublot WPT Player of the Year race. Here’s a look at the final players battling to bring home the title and the cash.

Seat 1: Will Givens (6,215,000, 124 bb)

With five cashes on the World Poker Tour for $151,504, Will Givens is looking to add to that total significantly here in Maryland. His best finish on the tour came at the WPT Borgata Poker Open in Season XVI, finishing eighth for $94,212. In his live tournament career, Givens has more than $1.7 million in winnings. This rounder from Aurora, CO has scored big on tours all over the world.

Givens’ first major win came in 2009 on the Heartland Poker Tour in Black Hawk, CO, where he won $144,765. In 2014, he added a WSOP bracelet to his collection when he won a $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event for $306,634. With a ton of final table appearances, Givens will be a tough challenger and with some chips should be tough to handle.

Seat 2: Mark Sandness (1,805,000, 36 bb)

Making only his second WPT cash, Sandness has done it in style as he takes a seat at the final table and hopes to bring home a championship. From Moorehead, MN, he has a total of $642,000 in live tournament cash with several final table finishes in lower buy-in events.

Sandness has a few notable wins including two titles on the Heartland Poker Tour and Mid-States Poker Tour. His HPT championship came in 2007 where he won the $1,650 Main Event at the Northern Lights Casino in Walker, MN, for $53,199. In 2014, he added an MSPT title in the $1,100 Main Event at the Running Aces in Columbus, Ohio, for $90,913. A fourth-place finish or higher gives Sandness the biggest score of his career.

Seat 3: Aaron Pinson (805,000, 16 bb)

Aaron Pinson, 34, is a regular at Live! Hotel & Casino with numerous final table finishes and $252,272 in tournament winnings. That includes several tournament wins here at Live! Casino & Hotel. His biggest score came in August 2017 when he won a $484 No Limit Hold’em event here for $33,413. Making his living in $2/$5 cash games, Pinson also worked briefly as a dealer before heading back to poker full-time.

A Baltimore native, Pinson has high praise for Live! casino and tournament staff. He won his way into the event through a satellite and sixth-place money of $69,609 would already become his biggest score yet. When the final table cranks back up, he’ll be looking for a breakthrough performance and hoping to bring home a big score.

Seat 4: Shankar Pillai (4,465,000, 89 bb)

A regular on the WPT, Shankar Pillai is making his second final table appearance and has almost $182,000 in tour winnings. He previously finished sixth at the Season XVI WPT besbet Bounty Scramble in 2017 for $55,191. He’ll be looking to improve on that finish here at Maryland. Beyond the WPT, Pillai is no stranger to high-stakes poker success. That includes winning a WSOP bracelet in 2007 in a $3,000 No Limit Hold’em event for $527,829.

With almost $1.5 million in tournament winnings, Pillai has several big scores at tournaments around the country. In 2016, he came close to winning another bracelet, finishing third in a $2,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament for $196,119. From Commack, NY, Pillai even notched a cash in the WSOP Main Event this summer – taking 188th for $49,335. He’ll be hoping his success on the felt carries over to another big finish here at WPT Maryland. 

Seat 5: Jeremy Ausmus (3,730,000, 75 bb)

A familiar name to poker fans, Jeremy Ausmus was a member of the World Series of Poker November Nine in 2012, finishing fifth for $2.2 million. He’s certainly been no one-hit wonder and has numerous big scores and final table appearances in a career that has brought $5.8 million in live tournament earnings. That includes winning a WSOP Europe bracelet in the $1,650 Pot Limit Omaha event for $95,054.

Another major score came in August when he came up just short at the $5,250 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship. He finished runner-up for $540,459. At WPT events, Ausmus has more than $185,000 in earnings, but this marks first final table appearance. Originally from Lamar, CO, Ausmus graduated from Colorado State University and now lives in Las Vegas. With a mountain of final table experience at some of the game’s biggest events, Ausmus should be tough.

Seat 6: Tony Ruberto (5,230,000, 105 bb)

This marks the second final table this season for Tony Ruberto, who finished fourth at WPT Choctaw for $166,605. He’s already a Champions Cup member after winning the Season X bestbet Jacksonville for $325,928. The 37-year-old is now looking for that second title. With more $3.2 million in live tournament winnings, Ruberto is a tough opponent with plenty of skill.

In a poker career dating back to 2006, Ruberto has numerous five- and six-figure scores and notched two wins already this year in events at Isle Casino in Pompano Beach, Florida, for a total of $33,346. He also won the $1,650 No-Limit Hold’em $500 KO event in January at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for $34,390. In September 2017, Ruberto added a WSOP Circuit ring to his trophy case with a win at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Fla., for $20,804. Ruberto, who hails from Miami, FL, will be looking for another big win at this final table.

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