Anthony Merulla Has Been Active Here at the Final Table
Hand 65: David Paredes completed the blind, and Anthony Maio checked. Paredes bet 200,000 on the flop, and Maio called. Both players checked the , and a came on the river. Paredes bet 425,000, and Maio called. Maio took the pot with an eight in the hole.
Hand 66: Maio got a walk.
Hand 67: Anthony Merulla raised to 400,000 from the small blind, and Paredes made the call. Merulla fired 225,000 after the flop, and Paredes raised it up to 675,000. Merulla thought for a bit before deciding to lay his hand down.
Hand 68: Merulla raised to 300,000 on the button, and Maio defended his big blind. Maio check-folded to a bet on the flop.
Hand 69: Paredes made it 325,000 on the button. Merulla called in the big blind. Both players checked on , and a arrived. Merulla checked, and Paredes won the pot with a bet.
Hand 70: Maio pushed all in on the button, and he won the pot.
Hand 71: Merulla raised to 300,000 on the button, and Maio defended his big blind. Two checks came on the flop, and Maio checked once more on the . Merulla bet 225,000, and Maio called right away. A completed the board, and Maio checked. Merulla bet 700,000, and Maio snap-called. Merulla showed for a straight.
A Short-Stacked Anthony Maio Has Been Forced to Open-Shove to Try and Mount a Comeback
Hand 57: Paredes folded from the button and Maio open-jammed for his last 2.085 million from the small blind. Merulla held his hand to his face for thirty seconds or so while contemplating his next move. He rechecked his cards one last time and flicked them forward, giving Maio a desperately needed pot.
Hand 58: Maio folded from the button and Merulla raised to 425,000 from the small blind. Paredes flatted in position and the flop came down . Merulla tapped the table for a check and Paredes did the same. On the turn, Merulla checked once more, but this time Paredes punished the sign of weakness with a 575,000 wager. Merulla called and the river came down . Merulla checked for a third time in the hand and Paredes took his time before tapping the table as well. Merulla instantly tabled his for trip queens and the pot was pushed his way.
Hand 59: Merulla folded his button and Paredes limped in from the small. After Maio checked his option the flop came down , and Paredes then check-folded to a flop bet of 175,000.
Hand 60: Merulla went for a walk in the big blind.
Hand 61: Maio open-jammed from the button and took down the blinds and antes without a fight.
Hand 62: Maio received a walk in the big blind.
Hand 63: Paredes opened from the button, making it 300,000 to play to take the pot down.
Hand 64: Maio open-shoved from the button, and like clockwork Merulla and Paredes laid down.
David Paredes is Wielding the Big Stack With Precision
Hand 42: Paredes opened his button to 250,000, Maio three-bet to 625,000 and Merulla eyeballed his stack before folding. Paredes laid his hand down as well and the pot was pushed to Maio.
Hand 43: Maio opened for a button raise to 250,000, Merulla folded his small blind away and Paredes flatted to take the flop. Both payers checked down and the turn came . Paredes checked to Maio, who bet 175,000. After Paredes called the river card came and two checks later Maio revealed for the winner.
Hand 44: Merulla raised his button and claimed the blinds and antes.
Hand 45: Paredes raised to 250,000 holding the button and another uncontested pot was taken down with a button raise.
Hand 46: Maio folded his button and Merulla hesitated for a beat before limping in from the small blind. Paredes wasn't about to let a flop come for free, and he raised 320,000 to defend his big blind. The aggression worked and Merulla laid his hand down.
Hand 47: Merulla min-raised from the button and claimed an uncontested pot chock full of blinds and antes.
Hand 48: Paredes opened his button for 250,000, Maio folded from the small blind and Merulla squeezed his cards before flatting in the big blind. The flop came and Merulla checked to Paredes, who responded with a bet of 275,000. The c-bet worked wonders and Merulla folded his hand.
Hand 15: Jaffee open-jammed for his last 14 big blinds and Maio folded, leaving Merulla to tank and ask for a count, before announcing the call.
Showdown:
Jaffe:
Merulla
Merulla made a great call with his ace-high and was out in front of Jaffee's king-high desperation shove. Seeing he was in the lead and his read was correct, Merulla said "ace one time" before sweating the flop.
Flop:
Merulla's hand had dodged paint through three board cards and Jaffee was on the brink, needing to hit one of six outs in the deck to keep his hopes of second WPT title in the last few months alive.
Turn:
Merulla's preflop plea was delivered on fourth street, and just like that Jaffee was drawing dead. Merulla celebrated with his friends and family on the rail, while Jaffe headed away from the final table stage in disappointment. The meaningless river card came just to rub it in, and Merulla jumped to nearly 11 million chips while busting one of the most dangerous players at the table.
Hand 12: Anthony Merulla raised to 250,000, and David Paredes three-bet to 600,000. Merulla made the call. Both players checked the flop, and a hit the turn. Merulla fired 450,000, and Paredes called to see an river. Paredes bet 1.5 million on the river after Merulla checked, and Merulla wanted no part of the bet.
Hand 13: Merulla raised to 250,000, Paredes called, and Vladislav Mezheritsky moved all in. Paredes made the call after Merulla folded.
Paredes:
Mezheritsky:
Paredes grabbed complete command of the race when the flopped. Neither the nor the gave Mezheritsky the help he needed, and he exited in fifth.
Hand 11: The action folded around to Jared Jaffee and he opened for 225,000. Merulla three-bet to 595,000 holding the button and Jattin decided to four-bet to defend his big blind. His four-bet to 1.125 million prompted Jaffee to lean back in his chair, before five-betting all in with his stack covering both opponents.
Merulla announced the call, as did Jattin and the rail exploded in anticipation to see the three player's holdings:
Showdown:
Jattin:
Merulla:
Jaffee:
The ultimate cooler had taken place, as three players at a six-handed table were dealt big pocket pairs. The audience buzzed when the cards were tabled, and Jattin was out in front with his cowboys. Both Jaffee and Merulla were in terrible shape and would need to spike a set or an unlikely straight or flush to catch up.
Flop:
Jattin's kings held up through the flop and he was on the verge of scoring a huge triple-up to start this final table.
Turn:
Just like that, Jattin's dreams were dashed as Jaffee spiked his gin card on the turn, making a set of tens to come from worst to first in a flash. The third diamond on board gave Merulla a slew of additional outs though, while Jattin was left drawing to the only.
River:
With calls of "diamond!" echoing through the room, Merulla made his flush on the river to snatch the pot away from Jaffe in improbable fashion. Jattin was left lacking with his black cowboys, and with that his final table appearance came to an abrupt and dramatic end. Merulla is now second in chips at the table with 10,755,000, putting him in commanding position with just four players standing between him and the title.
mnuwwarah
Farid Jattin on Day 4 of the 2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship
Farid Jattin's already assured of banking the biggest cash of his poker career today at the final table of the World Poker Tour Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship.
Jattin sports a solid $438,034 in career tournament cashes, with the biggest feathers in his cap being an outright win at the Isle Poker Classic Main Event just a few weeks ago on Jan. 16 ($147,160) and a second-place finish here at Borgata in the 2011 Summer Poker Open Main Event ($117,481). The Miami, Fl., native has notched most of his cashes on the East Coast.
Jattin burst to the forefront of the coverage in this event on Day 3. He first grabbed our attention with a bold bluff, and he rode the sizable stack he had built up early on that day to the chip lead when play ended. He pulled this off despite a table draw that included accomplished pro and fellow big stack Chad Brown for much of the night.
Jattin has been one of the most active players in the tournament, calling lots of raises and three-betting plenty more. With a short-stacked Vladislav Mezheritsky to his left, he may have to reign in those tendencies early on or risk losing some chips to shoves. How Jattin interacts with accomplished pro and chip leader David Paredes on his right, though, may ultimately decide where he finishes in this tournament.
[user253757]
David Paredes is the Chip Leader Entering the Final Table, and the Dangerous Pro Definitely Knows How to Put Those Chips to Use
David Paredes currently sits as the 10th highest earner in terms of live tournament winnings from his native Massachusetts, with $864,661 in winnings over his seven-year career.
He can essentially double that total with a win here today, and if he does take the whole thing down, he'll climb to 4th on that list to put himself high on the list of top-notch players to emerge from the East Coast.
Paredes enters the final table as the slight chip leader over Anthony Maio, but both men are about 3 million clear of their next competitor, so we expect Paredes to ramp his usual aggressive style up a notch. Although he knows how to wield a big stack well, yesterday Paredes proved himself to be a tricky player capable of changing gears when the need arises, as he felted Bryan Choi by expertly slow-playing pocket queens and trapping the amateur for his entire stack.
Using the momentum from that massive win, Paredes cruised to the televised final table, as he looks to continue a terrific run in WPT events. Paredes finished in 12th place for $38,135 at WPT Montreal's Main Event in November of last year, and he followed that up with a 28th place run for $26,039 at the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic in December.
Today, Paredes is already guaranteed to exceed those scores by a mile, and if he can translate his chip lead into a dominant final table performance, the first major win of his long poker career is well within his grasp. He will need to tread lightly though, with the hyper-aggressive Farid Jattin seated to his left, but a 3 million chip advantage over Jattin should allow Paredes to mitigate his foe's propensity for entering the pot light and playing post-flop poker.
mnuwwarah
Anthony Merulla on Day 4 of the 2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship
Go big or go home seems to be Anthony Merulla's preferred approach to tournament poker.
He has a relatively paltry (for a World Poker Tour final tablist) 13 recorded live tournament cashes, but he's made them count to the tune of $530,658. Two big chunks account for the vast majority of that total: a fourth-place finish in a $5,000 six-max event at the World Series of Poker in 2011 for $208,281 and a third-place finish at this very tournament in 2009 for $236,452.
Everyone needs a little luck to make a deep run in a huge tournament like this, and Merulla's came in the form of a three-way preflop all in on Day 3. He managed to spike a set with his queens against the aces and ace-king of his two opponents. Another key pot for Merulla occurred when he won a big flip with jacks against the ace-king of Matthew "mattemenz" Mendez to increase his stack and send a dangerous opponent to the rail.
Despite dragging those huge pots, from what we've seen, Merulla seems content to mostly play smaller pots. That approach may be tough to pull off with another post-flop wizard, David Paredes, on his left, and the aggressive Farid Jattin in the big blind when Merulla's on the button, at least while the tournament is six-handed. We'll see if Merulla decides to switch gears, or if he decides to try to impose his normal game on his opponents.
flop, and Maio called. Both players checked the 
, and a 
came on the river. Paredes bet 425,000, and Maio called. Maio took the pot with an eight in the hole.
flop, and Paredes raised it up to 675,000. Merulla thought for a bit before deciding to lay his hand down.
flop.
arrived. Merulla checked, and Paredes won the pot with a bet.
flop, and Maio checked once more on the 
. Merulla bet 225,000, and Maio called right away. A 
completed the board, and Maio checked. Merulla bet 700,000, and Maio snap-called. Merulla showed 
for a straight.
turn, Merulla checked once more, but this time Paredes punished the sign of weakness with a 575,000 wager. Merulla called and the river came down 
. Merulla checked for a third time in the hand and Paredes took his time before tapping the table as well. Merulla instantly tabled his 
, and Paredes then check-folded to a flop bet of 175,000.
. Paredes checked to Maio, who bet 175,000. After Paredes called the river card came 
and two checks later Maio revealed 
and Merulla checked to Paredes, who responded with a bet of 275,000. The c-bet worked wonders and Merulla folded his hand.
