Postby Scotty » Sun Jul 18, 2010 3:37 pm
Matt Affleck Eliminated in 15th Place ($500,165)
There are monsterpotten and then there are MONSTERpotten. It's a silly game, sometimes, poker is. Matt Affleck's chance at fortune and glory just slipped through his fingers after a stunning beat for a monsterpotten at the hand of Jonathan Duhamel.
Duhamel started things with a raise to 550,000 from the cutoff position. Affleck had the button and three-bet to 1.55 million. His re-raise folded the blinds and brought the action back to Duhamel. Duhamel four-bet to 3,925,000 and was called by Affleck, creating a pot with 8.0 million chips in it before the flop!
Duhamel seemed to sense he was in trouble. He checked a ten-high flop, [td 9c 7h], and soon faced a 5.0-million-chip bet from Affleck. Duhamel called that bet to see the [qd] hit the turn. Again he checked. Affleck did the only thing he could do -- he moved all in for 11.6 million chips.
Duhamel had Affleck covered, but it was still a huge decision. He asked for a count, which due to the size of Affleck's stack took about a minute to determine. Then Duhamel went into the tank. The leading speculation in the media tower was that he had pocket jacks and was stuck with a horrible decision.
A minute and a half after he got Affleck's count, Duhamel peeked at his cards and puffed his cheeks out in a big sigh. Thirty seconds later he stole a glance at Affleck. Another minute. Duhamel shook his head. Then thirty seconds later, almost five minutes after Affleck pushed all in, Duhamel called!
Duhamel: [jh jc]
Affleck: [ac as]
Affleck immediately stood up. The pot was huge, a total of 42 million chips. If his aces could hold, he'd be almost assured a berth in the November Nine. The entire rail leaned forward in anticipation...
River: [8d]
A collective gasp was let out. Duhamel filled a queen-high straight! Affleck bowed his head to the rail, burying his face in his hat. It was impossible not to feel for him, how close he had come and how brutally everything had been snatched away from him. He looked as though he was doing his best to fight back tears as he watched his stack slide over to Duhamel. By the time he departed, his face was bright red, overcome with the emotion of what just transpired.
Duhamel is now the far and away chip leader. He has about 51 million in chips. Affleck has a half million dollars as consolation.
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Only 11 of the original 7,319 players remain. MIchael Mizrachi is still there, although terribly short-stacked. Really hoping he makes the November Nine, - would be a great achievement after winning the $50K players championship earlier in the series.
