Previewing the Final Six of the WPT Borgata Poker Open

By Sean Chaffin

The final table is set in the Season XVII WPT Borgata Poker Open. Play resumes today at 2:00 P.M. EST with six players vying to be the latest to have their names added to the WPT Champions Cup. The winner takes home $575,112, which includes a $15,000 seat in the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions.

The winner also earns 1,200 points in the Hublot WPT Player of the Year race. In its 15th year as a host of the WPT Borgata Poker Open, the property has awarded more than $15 million to champions of the event. That list includes poker stars Daniel Negreanu, Olivier Busquet, Anthony Zinno, and four-time WPT champion Darren Elias. Here’s a complete look at the final players remaining who are looking to join that list of champions.

Seat 1: Austin Wentling (3,750,000, 25 bb)

While he may not have the experience that others at this final table have, Austin Wentling brings a nice chip stack to the battle. With one tournament win under his belt and $136,797 in live tournament winnings, Wentling does have some nice poker chops. His lone win came in November in the $1,100 Heartland Poker Tour event at the Meadows Racetrack Casino in Washington, Penn., for $102,248.

Wentling, 32, has one other nice bullet point on his resumé, finishing 707th in the WSOP Main Event for $19,900. This is his first WPT cash, and is guaranteed no lower than sixth-place money of $121,697. Originally from Monroeville, Penn., Wentling enjoys the outdoors. He’s been playing poker professionally for seven years and grew up playing with family.

Seat 2: Anthony Maio (1,400,000, 9 bb)

Hoping to build on some personal history here at the Borgata, Anthony Maio boasts three WPT cashes at the property. That includes a final table here in 2014 where he took third in the WPT Borgata Winter Open for $307,565. His lifetime tournament winnings are $776,159 and came up just short of earning a WSOP bracelet this summer. He finished runner-up in the $ 1,000 No Limit Hold’em Online Championship for $175,207.

Like Wentling, the 30-year-old Maio also cashed this summer in the WSOP Main Event – finishing 377th for $33,305. While he has numerous final table appearances and nice scores, Maio is still looking for that first major breakthrough win. He enjoys his dogs and plans to use his money toward a house. He sits on a short stack, but is hoping to run that up.

Seat 3: Oleg Shnaider (7,750,000, 52 bb)

This becomes on the second WPT cash for Oleg Shnaider, who makes his way to the Borgata from Manalapan, N.J. Shnaider may be the least experienced at the final table but he sits second in chips. He has $55,374 in live tournament winnings and his lone WPT cash is also the biggest of his career. That came in 2015 here at the Borgata in the WPT World Championship where he finished 18th for $34,775.

Shnaider, 54, is nicknamed “the Destroyer” and has been playing for 15 years. He won his way into this event via satellite. While he may not have a ton of poker bullet points, Shnaider started the Borgata Poker Open off on the right foot in a $560 Super Survivor event. He survived and pocketed a nice $5,000. He’s now guaranteed to pocket much more than that and is looking to be the lone survivor.

Seat 4: Liam He (2,575,000, 17 bb)

A regular on the Borgata tournament poker scene, Liam He is looking for another big score here after notching his biggest finish here in Atlantic City. In January 2016, He took third in the $ 3,500 WPT Championship event at the Winter Poker Open. He took home $297,995 for his efforts in an event that featured 1,171 entries.

While he had several cashes until then, He still lacked a big championship for his poker resumé. That came at the Foxwoods Casino in October 2017 in a $600 No Limit Hold’em event as part of the World Poker Finals. He bested 952 entries for a payday of $91,729. He also has three cashes on the WPT now. When not playing poker, He enjoys playing golf. As one of the shorter stacks, he’ll be looking to make a move and double up.

Seat 5: Erkut Yilmaz (21,575,000, 144 bb)

On the tournament scene for almost a decade, Erkut Yilmaz has found plenty of success on the felt. While he only has two WPT cashes for just under $80,000, the native of Sacramento, CA, has $955,000 in live tournament winnings. That include a WSOP Circuit win in a $1,125 event in December of 2015 at the Bicycle Casino. His biggest win was came this summer at the Venetian’s Deep Stack Extravaganza III, where he took down a $1,600 No Limit Hold’em Bounty event that featured 442 entries and awarded $91,796 to the winner

Yilmaz, 42, brings plenty of experience to the final table with several wins and five-figure scores. His biggest cash score came in June 2017 at the WSOP, where he finished sixth for $175,208 in the $565 Colossus, which featured a massive 18,504 entries. Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Yilmaz brings a nice chip lead to the final table and is hoping he can bring home the title.

Seat 6: TK Miles (5,900,000, 39 bb)

No stranger to the WPT scene, TK Miles has 14 cashes between the WPT Main Tour and WPTDeepStacks for almost $285,000. That includes two seventh-place and two third-place finishes. His best cash on the Main Tour came in Season XV at the bestbet Jacksonville – seventh for $53,785. Miles has been on the precipice of a breakout score for years and today’s final table is another chance for him to move into the WPT winner’s circle.

Beyond his success on the WPT, Miles has plenty of big finishes and more than $2.8 million in live tournament winnings in a career dating back to 2004. That includes two WSOP Circuit rings, and that total could have been more as he also has three runner-up finishes as well as a third, a fourth, and a fifth. In Las Vegas at the WSOP, he took third in 2017 in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event for $176,455. Beyond the WSOP, Miles also on numerous other tours and events.

In January, he won the $2,700 Main Event in The Million Dollar Heater at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Miss., for $113,131. A Florida native, Miles brings a ton of experience and has plenty of skills to fare well at this final table if he can grab some more chips.

The final table for this event is being live streamed via YouTube. Katie Stone, Ricky Guan, and Alex Rocha are scheduled to serve as commentators. Stone is a BorgataPoker.com sponsored pro who grew up in Brigantine, N.J. Buzgon is a longtime professional poker player from Marlton, N.J., with more than $2 million in live tournament winnings. Both are regulars at Borgata.

Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas, and host of the True Gambling Stories podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @PokerTraditions.