2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open

Event 15: $200,000 Guarantee Six-Max NLHE Re-Entry
Day: 2
Event Info

2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
ak
Prize
$88,643
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,000
Prize Pool
$361,810
Entries
373
Level Info
Level
26
Blinds
20,000 / 40,000
Ante
4,000

Robert Portas Eliminated in 7th Place ($13,568)

Level 24 : 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
Robert Portas - 7th Place ($13,568)
Robert Portas - 7th Place ($13,568)

With six highly experienced, highly skilled players surrounding him at the seven-handed Six-Max final table, amateur Robert Portas knew the score.

"These guys are tough to play with..." he told us earlier in the night. "They don't make it easy on ya."

After grinding a short stack for hours to reach the final table - quite the accomplishment all things considering - Portas finally succumbed to the inexorable pull of an enormous skill edge. And while Portas is obviously a great player having made this deep run against a stacked field, facing off against six pros and semi-pros was simply too much to ask.

Portas made his stand with an all-in shove for about 300,000 holding {j-Hearts}{k-Clubs}, but when Caufman Talley looked him up he knew the king-high was likely trailing badly. Sure enough, Talley tabled {Q-Hearts}{q-Clubs} and his overpair was the big favorite, with the final board of {8-Hearts}{7-Hearts}{j-Spades}{4-Clubs}{a-Spades} pairing the wrong card for Portas.

With the 7th place finish Portas takes home $13,568 - in addition to the pride which comes after accomplishing something against long odds.

Player Chips Progress
Caufman Talley us
Caufman Talley
1,270,000
320,000
320,000
Robert Portas
Robert Portas
Busted

Tags: Robert PortasCaufman Talley

Tony Sinishtaj Eliminated in 6th Place ($18,633)

Level 24 : 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
Tony Sinishtaj Sweating His All-In Hand
Tony Sinishtaj Sweating His All-In Hand

With his stack dwindling and aggressive players to the right and left of him, Tony Sinishtaj made his stand with {q-Diamonds}{j-Diamonds}.

He found himself flipping a coin with everything on the line when Caufman Talley called with {7-Spades}{7-Diamonds}, and the two players were off to the races in a packet pair versus overcards situation.

Flop: {9-Spades}{5-Hearts}{4-Clubs}
Turn: {2-Hearts}
River: {6-Diamonds}

The board ran out clean for Talley's sevens and Sinishtaj couldn't find a pair, straight or flush to catch up. He made is exit in 6th place and took home $18,633 for the deep run.

Player Chips Progress
Caufman Talley us
Caufman Talley
1,950,000
680,000
680,000
Tony Sinishtaj us
Tony Sinishtaj
Busted
WPT 1X Winner

Tags: Caufman TalleyTony Sinishtaj

Current Chip Counts at Break (full)

Level 24 : 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
Josh Brikis Has His Eye on All the Chips, Holding 2 Million of the 7.45 Million in Play
Josh Brikis Has His Eye on All the Chips, Holding 2 Million of the 7.45 Million in Play

With a short break now upon us, here are the latest chip counts for the final five players in the Six-Max event.

Josh Brikis and Caufman Talley are neck and neck for the lead, with both players right around 2 million at the moment.

Player Chips Progress
Josh Brikis us
Josh Brikis
2,050,000
-280,000
-280,000
Caufman Talley us
Caufman Talley
1,950,000
680,000
680,000
Andy Hwang us
Andy Hwang
1,450,000
820,000
820,000
Matt Affleck us
Matt Affleck
1,400,000
600,000
600,000
Byron Kaverman us
Byron Kaverman
605,000
-1,095,000
-1,095,000
WSOP 1X Winner

Read full

Level: 25

Blinds: 15,000/30,000

Ante: 4,000

The Legion of Boom

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 4,000 ante
Matt Affleck at the Final Table of the Six-Max Event at the 2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open
Matt Affleck at the Final Table of the Six-Max Event at the 2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open

Matt Affleck just played power poker to push Byron Kaverman off the pot with a three-bet on the flop.

The action started when Affleck opened for 60,000 and Kaverman flatted. The dealer then fanned the {10-Spades}{5-Diamonds}{6-Spades} across the felt.

Kaverman check-raised Affleck's 80,000 c-bet and made it 160,000 to play, but Affleck simply paused for a a few seconds before hefting a solid stack of gold T25000 chips forward for a reraise to more than 500,000. The move worked and Kaverman folded his hand in a flash.

Player Chips Progress
Matt Affleck us
Matt Affleck
1,620,000
220,000
220,000
Byron Kaverman us
Byron Kaverman
385,000
-220,000
-220,000
WSOP 1X Winner

Tags: Byron KavermanMatt Affleck

Matt Affleck Taking Control

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 4,000 ante
Andy Hwang Was Forced to Fold Away a Huge Pot When Matt Affleck Ramped Up the Pressure
Andy Hwang Was Forced to Fold Away a Huge Pot When Matt Affleck Ramped Up the Pressure

With the board reading {2-Hearts}{j-Spades}{2-Clubs}{10-Clubs} by the turn, Matt Affleck checked the action over to Andy Hwang, who obliged with a 203,000 wager.

Affleck flatted to see the river come {10-Diamonds}, but this time he did not tap the table, and a bet of 325,000 was slid forward instead.

Hwang went into the tank for a minute or so, but ultimately he found the fold button and his cards were tossed to the dealer. He will have to make some moves in the near future if he hopes to earn a victory in his third final table appearance of the 2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open.

Player Chips Progress
Matt Affleck us
Matt Affleck
2,250,000
630,000
630,000
Andy Hwang us
Andy Hwang
940,000
-510,000
-510,000

Tags: Andy HwangMatt Affleck

Local Spotlight: Dave Brady

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 4,000 ante
Dave Brady at the Final Table of Event #18 at the Borgata Winter Poker Open
Dave Brady at the Final Table of Event #18 at the Borgata Winter Poker Open

Dave Brady just ended quite the drought.

By making the final table of Event 18: $560 Omaha Eight-or-Better Semi-Turbo here at Borgata Winter Poker Open, he notched his first top-10 finish in a recorded poker tournament since November 2006. He remembers his other deep runs well, and his enthusiasm is clear when he mentions them.

"My first final table was 10 years ago in Foxwoods," he said. "I had Charlie 'Scotty Warbucks' Shoten to my left. In 2006, I was facing off with Chris Reslock at the Taj."

So anonymous is Brady in the poker world that he doesn't even have a page in the Hendon Mob database. His profile on Card Player's database has some of his cashes and some cashes from another David Brady from Nebraska.

That's just the way the Roseland, N.J., native likes it at the poker table. He said he finished in the top half in the $1,000 six-max tournament yesterday despite playing with tables populated by tough professionals. His strategy? Play on his image.

"I actually wore a suit yesterday so I could get that image going," he said of looking like a well-off amateur. "I want them to think I'm a rock, then when there's a raise and a call and I come in for six-times that, they give me credit.

"It's almost like that 'Kill Phil,'" he said, referencing the famous poker book in which Blair Rodman and Lee Nelson advocated extremely aggressive play to increase variance when playing against expert opponents.

Brady isn't able to play many tournaments due to his work as an actuary for AIG. He said he only plays about three tournaments per year. He's trying to make a splash here and follow in the footsteps of co-worker Josh Spiegleman, who finished fifth in the main event here at Borgata Winter Poker Open in 2006.

Pot-Limit Omaha Eight-or-Better is his favorite game, Brady said. He also enjoys PLO and H.O.R.S.E. He'll have to focus on his limit game right now, but he does get one added bonus tonight.

"I'm driving Allen Kessler bonkers," he said with a laugh.

Tags: Dave Brady

Andy Hwang Eliminated in 5th Place ($25,869)

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 4,000 ante
Andy Hwang - 5th Place ($25,869)
Andy Hwang - 5th Place ($25,869)

A huge hand just went down to shift the balance of power at this Six-Max final table, with Matt Affleck taking over the chip lead by busting Andy Hwang.

The action started when Affleck raised to 195,000 from the cutoff, only to see Hwang reraise to 390,000 from the button.

Affleck deliberated for nearly a minute before committing the calling chips, and the two saw a flop of {2-Clubs}{3-Clubs}{a-Diamonds} rain down. Despite the preflop aggression, both players opted to tap the table and the turn card came {7-Diamonds}.

On fourth street Affleck decided to fire out a bet of 280,000 and Hwang flatted in position, bringing the {7-Spades} to the board on the river. Affleck continued his line and shoved all in for 520,000 effective, knowing that if Hwang called and produced a winner the two would basically trade chip positions.

Hwang dove down as deep as his tank goes, thinking over every scenario while his lips moved in kind, the calculation and computation taking place evident in his pained yet intent expression. After more than four minutes, with a crowd of railbirds, players and reporters gathering to soak in the dramatic scene, Hwang suddenly held his cards aloft and made his decision.

"I'm going to..." he said, his voice trailing off as if a fold was imminent. "Call."

Affleck skipped a beat not knowing if he had heard correctly, but he calmly tabled {A-Hearts}{q-Diamonds} confident his hand was good after such a lengthy tank. Sure enough, Hwang could only muster the {10-Spades}{10-Clubs} for a mistimed hero call or simply a misread.

"It has to be ace-queen there, right?" he asked Affleck with a smile, the words directed more at himself than his newly flush opponent. "It's either ace-queen or something really crazy... nice hand."

With that, Hwang's third final table appearance of the 2014 Borgata Winter Poker open came to end, while Affleck looks to turn his first tournament entry in the series into a five-figure haul.

Player Chips Progress
Matt Affleck us
Matt Affleck
3,450,000
1,200,000
1,200,000
Andy Hwang us
Andy Hwang
Busted

Tags: Andy HwangMatt Affleck

Byron Kaverman Eliminated in 4th Place ($33,467)

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 4,000 ante
Byron Kaverman - 4th Place ($33,467)
Byron Kaverman - 4th Place ($33,467)

Byron Kaverman just became the latest victim of Matt Affleck's recent heater, when his {k-Spades}(10c} failed to outrun {A-Hearts}{8-Diamonds}.

The money was in the middle before the flop, and a queen-high board ran out to keep Affleck out in front with his ace-high.

Kaverman earned $33,467 for the 4th-place finish, while Affleck now holds more than half of the chips in play entering three-handed play.

Player Chips Progress
Matt Affleck us
Matt Affleck
3,850,000
400,000
400,000
Byron Kaverman us
Byron Kaverman
Busted
WSOP 1X Winner

Tags: Byron KavermanMatt Affleck