Matt Affleck Wins $2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship for $264,000
It seems as though Matt Affleck is always coming ever so close to winning big poker tournaments, but that was not the case this week after Affleck took down the $2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship for $264,000 at Seminole Casino in Coconut Creek, Florida.
Prior to this victory, Affleck's last live tournament win came nearly two years ago, when he took down the $1,090 Six-Max No-Limit Hold'em event in January 2014 at the World Poker Tour Borgata Winter Poker Open in Atlantic City. In between the two wins, Affleck had close calls of nine top-25 finishes in live events, including five top-10 results.
The Seattle native now boasts nearly $1.8 million in career live tournament earnings.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Affleck | $264,000 |
| 2 | Jean "Prince" Gaspard | $155,000 |
| 3 | Cord Garcia | $100,500 |
| 4 | Nathan Bjerno | $70,000 |
| 5 | Kevin Ho | $50,500 |
| 6 | James Brown | $40,500 |
| 7 | Daniel Notice | $31,000 |
| 8 | Andre Pillow | $22,000 |
| 9 | Ioannis Patsourakis | $16,000 |
The event attracted 410 entries. With a guarantee of $1 million and $2,250 from each buy-in ending up in the prize pool, there was an overlay of $77,500 that allowed for some extra value for those participating. The top 45 places reached the money, with a min-cash resulting in a $5,000 payday.
When the final table had been reached, Affleck found himself amongst tough competition. He was the second shortest stack of the final nine, but quickly doubled up against James Brown with quads. With his new energy, Affleck worked his way up the ranks while watching Ioannis Patsourakis fall in ninth place and Andre Pillow hit the rail in eighth.
With seven players left, the group took a dinner break and Affleck was in the lead. Upon their return, Daniel Notice busted in seventh. Then, it was Brown hitting the rail in sixth place, and he went out to Affleck in a big way.
According to reports from the event, Brown opened to 90,000 on the button with the blinds at 20,000/40,000/5,000 in Level 26. Affleck reraised to 270,000 from the small blind, and then Brown moved all in for 1.3 million. Affleck called with the A♠Q♣ and was up against Brown's 8♦8♥. Thanks to an ace on the flop and a queen on the turn, Affleck made two pair in the hand and busted Brown.
Kevin Ho then fell in fifth place before Affleck took out Nathan Bjerno in fourth to gain even more chips. He then finished off Cord Garcia in third.
On his final hand, Garcia was all in with the 7♥7♣ against Affleck's A♦Q♣. This time, Affleck made trip queens to win the hand, and it looked as though everything was going his way as he entered heads-up play against Jean "Prince" Gaspard with a chip lead of 8.6 million to 1.655 million.
Garcia's third-place finish earned him $100,500, as he continues to have a career year that has seen him capture nearly $900,000 in live tournament earnings. Garcia has a long list of results in 2015, but most notably was the win in the World Series of Poker $565 "Colossus" event. There, Garcia topped the field of 22,374 entries in poker's largest live tournament ever to win $638,880.
Affleck and Gaspard were left for the title, but it was over quickly. On the final hand of the tournament, Gaspard was all in with the A♣7♥ against the 8♦8♠. Much like things had been happening all final table, the cards fell in Affleck's favor with him dodging the flop before landing a set of eights on the turn to seal the deal. That eliminated Gaspard in second place for a $155,000 payday and gave Affleck the victory.
Other notables to cash in the event included John Dolan (11th - $12,000), Chance Kornuth (12th - $12,000), Timothy "T.K." Miles (19th - $7,000), Tristan Wade (25th - $7,000), Neil Blumenfield (28th - $6,000), Corey Burbick (38th - $5,000), Chris Bolek (39th - $5,000), and Hans Winzeler (43rd - $5,000)
*Image and data courtesy of http://www.seminolecoconutcreekcasino.com/casino/south-florida-poker/poker-blog/.
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