"I had to chop with the coach!" says A$25,000 Challenge winner Farid Jattin
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Farid Jattin produced as dominating a performance as you'll see at a final table in the Aussie Millions A$25,000 Challenge, steamrolling the opposition on the way to what looked like an inevitable win for several hours.
The only bump in the road came at the very end when Jattin and heads-up opponent George Wolff opted to end things a little early with a deal that saw Jattin send over about $90,000 per the chip count numbers.
In the end, Jattin topped a field of 169 for A$983,646, his second-best live cash after making the final table of last year's PokerStars Players Championship and getting seventh for $746,000.
"I'm happy with my performance," Jattin said.
Aussie Millions A$25,000 Challenge Results
| Place | Player | Country | Payout (AUD) | Payout (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Farid Jattin | Colombia | A$983,646* | $678,900* |
| 2 | George Wolff | United States | A$821,273* | $566,832* |
| 3 | Steve O'Dwyer | Ireland | A$466,440 | $322,501 |
| 4 | Sam Greenwood | Canada | A$344,760 | $238,371 |
| 5 | Masato Yokosawa | Japan | A$243,360 | $168,262 |
| 6 | Jack Sinclair | United Kingdom | A$172,380 | $119,185 |
| 7 | Kenny Hallaert | Belgium | A$131,820 | $91,142 |
*reflects heads-up deal
Winner's Reaction
Jattin spent much of the early portions of Day 2 as one of the shorter stacks.
"I was grinding very hard, trying to pick my spots," he said. "It was good, I was very focused."
A player who is known for his high level of aggression, Jattin got to shift into his favored gear after netting a massive double into the chip lead on the unofficial final table bubble. He flopped top two and turned a full house, with the same card giving opponent Tom Rafferty the nut flush.
"After that, I felt like I couldn't look back," Jattin said.
Suddenly in the lead with more than 100 big blinds, Jattin found himself in business. He began to apply more pressure and built his stack further despite several hours of bust-less poker at the final table.
Jattin Pulls Off Gutsy River Shove
During that stretch, Jattin played another massive hand, against one-time leader Steve O'Dwyer, and that was actually the hand Jattin pointed to as his most crucial. Unlike the previous key hand, Jattin held a zero-equity bluff, barreling off all three streets with a river shove. When O'Dwyer released his hand, Jattin showed the airball, to the delight of his railbirds.
"It's a spot where it's very tough to have a bluff on my end," Jattin observed. "He had a perfect stack for me to shove. It was also a good river card — a lot of gutshots got there."
Boosted in terms of both confidence and chips, Jattin finally broke the stalemate by busting Kenny Hallaert. He then coolered Jack Sinclair with aces over queens to move past half of the chips in play.
Double Knock-out Boosts Him Further
A double knockout cemented his lead as his nines held against the ace-king of Sam Greenwood and ace-queen of YouTube star Masato Yokosawa.
After O'Dwyer busted as well, Jattin found himself heads up with a monster lead against Wolff, who has been on a nice run over the past year or so in the high roller scene. Wolff managed to execute a preflop trap for a double up, though, and it looked like game on.
Instead, a few hands later, a deal was quickly reached, allowing both players to avoid playing deep into the wee hours of Friday morning. Plus, Jattin said, the chop is good for his relationship with Wolff.
"He's my poker coach," Jattin said with a smile. "I had to chop with the coach."
That concludes the second of three live-reported High Roller Challenges here at the 2020 Aussie Millions. Stay tuned as live updates from the A$50,000 Challenge and A$100,000 Challenge are to follow over the next couple of days, as well as the A$10,600 Main Event
