From big wins to event announcements, there were a number of key headlines in the poker world this past week. Let’s hit the felt and recap the biggest news from the last few days:
Erkut Yilmaz Wins Borgata Poker Open $3-Million Main Event
We’ll call it a productive week for Erkut Yilmaz, who won the WPT Borgata Poker Open $3,500 buy-in, $3-million guaranteed no-limit hold’em main event. He outlasted a field of 1,074 other entrants to bag a prize of $575,112. Yilmaz finished ahead of T.K. Miles, who was second and won $383,399, Oleg Shnaider, who was third and raked in $283,341, Austin Wentling, who was fourth and pulled $211,562, and Liam He, who was fifth and earned $159,616.
Yilmaz and Miles, as the final two players who remained in contention for the title, played a heads-up match that lasted multiple hours. Miles took the lead at one point in that final match but it wouldn’t hold up. Nonetheless, his cash prize was the highest of his career. As for Yilmaz, the victory pushed him over $1 million in earnings for his career.
Ali Imsirovic, one of the hottest players on the poker tour, cracked the final nine but not the final table. John Lakatosh finished in a similar position, as did Chris Grove.
Roman Romanovskyi Wins 888poker XL Eclipse
Roman Romanovskyi reigned over the XL Eclipse $1-million Main Event, collecting a generous check of $187,500. He beat out a field of over 700 entries. A number of 888poker notable players entered this event but did not finish in the top tier of participants. Parker Talbot finished 37th and won $4,000, while Sofia Lovgren finished 40th and also won $4,000. All in all, 90 places were paid, with the minimum prize being $2,600.
Simon Mattsson was the chip leader for most of the final table but Romanovskyi overtook him at the end for first prize. Mattsson had to settle for $135,000. Rafael Moraes finished third and picked up $100,000. A player who didn’t give his name – from the Netherlands – finished fourth and collected $75,000, and Felipe Salgado was fifth and won $52,500.
The final heads-up match between Romanovskyi and Mattsson lasted almost three blind levels and involved both players taking turns as chip leader before Romanovskyi ultimately prevailed.
Global Poker Releases 2018 Eagle Cup Schedule
The Eagle Cup, a well-regarded event under the Global Poker umbrella, has announced the time and dates for the 2018 edition. It will take place from September 30 to October 21 with a total of 135 championship events on the schedule. Overall, we’re looking at $750,000 in sweeps cash for the guaranteed prize pools. In case you’re wondering what Sweeps Cash is, it’s still money/winnings that can be cashed out via Paypal.
The many events will involve three different Sweeps Cash buy-in tiers to give incentives to a wider array of players with accordingly varied bankrolls. The featured part of the series is the High SC$100,000 Guaranteed Main Event on October 21, the final day of the extravaganza. Winners will receive some non-cash awards in addition to the cash prizes they win. The top two finishers at each event will earn a spot in the Tournament of Champions.