Matthew Waxman raised to 100,000 from the button, and Jesus Cabrera came along to the flop. It was , and Cabrera check-called a bet of 120,000. He check-called another 160,000 following the turn, and the action check-checked on the river.
Cabrera's was no good; Waxman showed up for eights up, dragging the pot and moving his stack back over 4 million.
From the button, Matthew Waxman raised to 100,000, and Jesus Cabrera called to see a flop. It was , and both men checked to see the turn. Cabrera bet 100,000 there, and another 100,000 on the river with Waxman paying off both bets.
At showdown, Cabrera tabled , and his top pair earned him the pot to draw this match nearly square.
Matthew Waxman raised to 100,000 from the button, and Jesus Cabrera called to see a flop. It came , and Cabrera led out with 100,000. Waxman called there, and he called another 100,000 on the turn. The river drew saw both men check it down, and Cabrera showed his baby straight with .
"That's good," Waxman said, sending his cards back to the dealer face-down.
Our finalists are back in their chairs, and the money and the ring have been dumped on the table. They're playing for nearly $120,000, a gold and diamond ring, and an entry into May's season-ending National Championship.
On the button, Mark Sykes opened the pot by moving all in for the 480,000 chips he had left. Next door, Jesus Cabrera called to put Sykes at risk, and Matthew Waxman folded out of the way to let them go at it. Cabrera could not believe he was ahead as the cards were turned up:
Sykes:
Cabrera:
There was no love for the queen-ten on board as the dealer ran out , all blanks. Cabrera's kicker plays, and he and Matthew Waxman are playing heads up for the title. For Sykes, it's all over in third place, and he'll stop by the payout desk to pick up $53,126 on his way out the door.
Matthew Waxman raised to 90,000 from the button, and Jesus Cabrera called from the big blind. They were heads up, and they checked the action through the turn on the board. When the river put an open-ended straight draw on board, Cabrera flicked out a small bet of 60,000 which Waxman paid off.
Cabrera tabled for the baby end of the straight, and it was good enough to drag the pot and move him up to 2.35 million. Waxman takes a little hit, but he's still got about 4.09 million in front of him.
Jesus Cabrera folded his button, and Matthew Waxman opened to 105,000 from the small. Mark Sykes made the call from the big, and off they went to the flop.
It came , and Waxman continued out with 85,000 chips. Sykes flatted, and he faced another 145,000-chip bet on the turn. There was no flatting this time; Sykes stuck in a raise to 410,000, only to see Waxman move all in over the top. The look on Sykes face said it all; he was forced to fold, leaving himself about 650,000 chips with which to mount a comeback.
Waxman does not stop climbing; he's all the way up to 4.3 million now with well over half the chips in play.