Event 15: $200,000 Guarantee Six-Max NLHE Re-Entry | 2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open

01-26-2014 02:57 UTC-4

Super Sunday

[user253757]

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 4,000 ante

Matt Affleck Has Rolled Through the Most Talented Final Table in Recent Memory

Matt Affleck is a man possessed, and like Marshawn Lynch - the running back who carried Affleck's beloved Seattle Seahawks to the Super Bowl - momentum means he cannot be stopped.

Affleck just crippled Josh Brikis - who led the chip counts throughout a dominating Day 2 run - by spiking his gin card on the river to make a well-disguised straight.

Here's what we saw. Brikis raised before the flop, and after Affleck flatted to defend in defense the flop came . Both players checked down in the battle of the blinds, and the turn card came . Brikis led out on fourth street with a big bet and Affleck flatted to see the complete the board on the river.

After Brikis fired away with a bet of about 275,000, Affleck took his time before raising to approximately 900,000 - a sizable reraise that left Brikis with chips to play with if he decided to make the call.

Call he did, but Brikis' cards were mucked when Affleck rolled over the for a rivered gutshot straight. His heart flush draw had failed to come through, but a red card cinched Affleck nonetheless, as the six filled in a straight Brikis likely never saw coming. He paid the big bet off though, and most of his stack was shipped one seat to the left to the man with Seattle swag.

Player	Chips	Progress
Matt Affleck	5,500,000	1,650,000

Tags: Josh Brikis Matt Affleck

01-26-2014 02:47 UTC-4

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

[user253757]

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 4,000 ante

Byron Kaverman just became the latest victim of Matt Affleck's recent heater, when his (10c} failed to outrun .

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	3,850,000	400,000
Byron Kaverman	Busted

Tags: Byron Kaverman Matt Affleck

01-26-2014 02:41 UTC-4

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

[user253757]

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 4,000 ante

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 rain down. Despite the preflop aggression, both players opted to tap the table and the turn card came .

On fourth street Affleck decided to fire out a bet of 280,000 and Hwang flatted in position, bringing the 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 confident his hand was good after such a lengthy tank. Sure enough, Hwang could only muster the 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	3,450,000	1,200,000
Andy Hwang	Busted

Tags: Andy Hwang Matt Affleck

01-26-2014 02:15 UTC-4

Local Spotlight: Dave Brady

mnuwwarah

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 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

01-26-2014 02:14 UTC-4

Matt Affleck Taking Control

[user253757]

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

With the board reading 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 , 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	2,250,000	630,000
Andy Hwang	940,000	-510,000

Tags: Andy Hwang Matt Affleck

01-26-2014 01:56 UTC-4

The Legion of Boom

[user253757]

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 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 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	1,620,000	220,000
Byron Kaverman	385,000	-220,000

Tags: Byron Kaverman Matt Affleck

Level: 25

Blinds: 15,000/30,000

Ante: 4,000

01-26-2014 01:34 UTC-4

Current Chip Counts at Break (full)

[user253757]

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

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	2,050,000	-280,000
Caufman Talley	1,950,000	680,000
Andy Hwang	1,450,000	820,000
Matt Affleck	1,400,000	600,000
Byron Kaverman	605,000	-1,095,000

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01-26-2014 01:29 UTC-4

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

[user253757]

Level 24 : 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante

With his stack dwindling and aggressive players to the right and left of him, Tony Sinishtaj made his stand with .

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

Flop:
Turn:
River:

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.