Tony Ruberto Talks About His WPT Maryland Title, Recovery from Broken Leg

By Sean Chaffin

After a rough day on Saturday, Season XVII WPT Maryland champion Tony Ruberto wasn’t finding much success today either. 

“It’s been shitty,” he said after the final break in the day’s action. “Very shitty. I won a lot of hands the first two levels, but since 1:30 [local time] I don’t think I’ve won a pot.

“But I’m probably going to fire another bullet. No one likes a quitter.”

Ruberto outlasted a field of 554 a year ago at Maryland Live! to become a two-time Champions Club member. He took home $344,755 for his efforts. That first title came in Season X at WPT Jacksonville when he won $325,928. He now has nine cashes and almost $1 million in WPT winnings.

How does it feel back in action at the location of his last win?

“It feels different I guess,” he says. “I don’t really come to Maryland too much, but it’s nice. I guess it would be nice to do well following last year, but it never really works out that way.”

It’s been an interesting year for “Boston Tony.” After his win in Maryland, Ruberto broke his leg on what he called a “drunken night” in the Bahamas last November. In December at the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, Ruberto was forced to use a walking boot and mobility scooter.

“Me and my friends decided to rent some scooters,” he told WPT.com last year. “We were driving for about seven or eight hours and stopped at a bar of course. Coming back literally a half-mile from the hotel, I got to a roundabout.”

Ruberto lost control and put his foot down to stabilize the scooter and keep from falling. The accelerator and brake were located close to each other on the vehicle, and Ruberto hit the accelerator accidentally. The scooter ran over his leg and broke it in two places. The recovery took quite a while.

“The road to recovery was a little rough at first,” he says. “You never really value how much your legs are worth until you can’t use one of them. But it’s going to be a year on Thanksgiving, so I’m at about 90 percent. I can almost run again,  so that’s good.”

Despite the first two starting flights not going as planned, Ruberto still hopes a deep run in his future again here in Maryland. With improving health and plenty of skills, Ruberto is certainly capable of getting things turned around.

Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas, and his work appears in numerous websites and publications. Follow him on Twitter @PokerTraditions.