Timothy Chang and Zachary Donovan Represent Road Warriors at WPT Maryland

By Matt Clark

The long-traveled road of players working their way across the tournament circuit takes them across the country in pursuit of first-place glory. Timothy Chang (pictured above) and Zachary Donovan (pictured below) have been on the road for the better part of the last few weeks for major East Coast series and took alternating paths to reach this Season XVI WPT Maryland at Live! Casino final table.

Chang has been living out of his suitcase for 16 straight days as he traveled from Atlantic City, where he cashed in 60th place in the WPT Borgata Poker Open to Hanover, Maryland, for this event. When play wrapped up last night, Chang said he was down to his last pair of clean clothes, as he was realistic about his chances of making Day 4 and the final table.

Now that he’s here, though, Chang has his eyes set on closing this event out and earning his first major tournament win.

“It feels amazing,” Chang said. “The first WPT I played, I got 14th at Parx (Season XI), and I’ve bricked out on everything ever since. You never really expect to make the final table. You don’t even expect to cash.”

Chang started Day 3 in the middle of the pack and had to double up a few times to keep his tournament alive. Coming into the final table, Chang needs at least fourth place to earn the largest score of his career. Chang primarily plays cash games in Las Vegas and is capitalizing on his trip to the East Coast.

Donovan ended Day 1a as the chip leader and was in first place for a large part of the unofficial final table. Donovan lost a few all-in pots to knock his stack down and starts today sixth in chips.

Thankfully for Donovan, he has picked up quite a bit of final table experience to help him out today. In January, Donovan finished in a four-way chop deal at Borgata, and in August, he took seventh place in a field of 3,173 at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open.

After Day 1a, Donovan said he was hoping to best his 18th-place finish in this event from Season XV and has a new goal in mind for today.

Donovan has already reached his best career cash and a win would put a lot of validation on the hours he’s been putting in on the road. Like Chang, Donovan played in the WPT Borgata Poker Open and was there for the duration of the three-week series.

Chang and Donovan are the two short stacks at the start of the final table, but they are determined to not go down without a fight.

Donovan plans to have former WSOP Europe Main Event champion Elio Fox on his rail today and Chang has been in touch with WPT Champions Club member Harrison Gimbel during his run.

The two pros share a healthy amount of experience and are competing to win this event to represent those who make the road their home.

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