The news going into the weekend may have been dominated by Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address, the Super Bowl, and the fallout from Atlanta’s “Snowpocalypse,” but six poker players in Atlantic City were focused on one thing: $842,379. That was the first prize of the 2014 World Poker Tour (WPT) Borgata Winter Poker Open, which held its final table Friday. Grabbing the purse and the WPT Champions Cup was New Yorker Anthony Merulla.
It was a tight final table to start play on Friday afternoon, so it looked to be an interesting day. David Paredes, a member of the WPT Champions Club, was the chip leader with 9.65 million chips, followed closely by Anthony Maio with 9.5 million. Another WPT Champions Club member, Jared Jaffee, was next with 6.62 million; Farid Jattin was also over 6 million. Merulla was the second shortest stack with just shy of 3.5 million and Vlad Mezheritsky brought up the rear with 1.39 million. Here’s cleaner look at the standings going into the final table:
David Paredes – 9.65 million
Anthony Maio – 9.5 million
Jared Jaffee – 6.62 million
Farid Jattin – 6.115 million
Anthony Merulla – 3.445 million
Vlad Mezheritsky – 1.39 million
The action got heated in short order. On Hand 11, Jaffee raised pre-flop to 225,000, Merulla three-bet to 595,000, Jattin four-bet to 1.125 million, and Jafee proceeded to move all-in for another 5.505 million chips. A stunned crowd then watched both Merulla and Jattin call for the always exciting three-way all-in. And no wonder it played out that way. Merulla held Q♦-Q♥, Jaffee had T♥-T♠, and Jattin had K♠-K♣. The flop was 9♦-7♦-5♥, changing nothing, but the T♦ on the turn put Jaffee in the lead. The river, though, brought the A♦, giving Merulla the diamond flush and the huge pot. As a result, Jattin was eliminated in sixth place.
Two hands later, Vlad Mezheritsky shoved pre-flop with A♣-K♥ for his last 1.375 million and was called by Paredes, who had J♠-J♥. An Ace flopped, but so did a Jack, and Mezheritsky was gone in fifth place.
Jaffee, having lost most of his stack a few hands earlier, was all-in pre-flop on Hand 15 with K♣-J♦. Merulla called with A♥-8♥, a hand which held up and forced Jaffee out of the tournament in fourth place.
After all that commotion, play slowed down and it wasn’t until Hand 76 of the final table that the next elimination occurred. Anthony Maio, the one guy who didn’t get involved in the earlier fracas, was starting to feel the pressure of a shrinking stack. He raised pre-flop to 325,000 and Merulla called. Merulla checked the flop of 7♦-5♦-2♦, Maio bet 225,000, and Merulla called. Merulla again checked the turn when the 9♣ appeared and Maio bet 425,000. This time, though, Merulla decided to move all-in after some thought. Maio called with Queens, but Merulla had him nailed, holding A♦-6♦ for the nut flush. Maio was eliminated in third place.
Going into head-up play, Paredes had the chip leader, 20.5 million to Merulla’s 16.175 million.
Twice during heads-up play, once on Hand 124 and again on Hand 154, Merulla won huge pots, either doubling-up or nearly doubling-up, and looked like he was going to take control. But both times, Paredes came storming back to regain the chip lead.
On Hand 169, Merulla grabbed the lead back and two hands later, it was over. Paredes raised pre-flop to 1.2 million (the blinds were so high at this point that this was a min-raise) and Merulla called. The flop was dealt Q♣-6♣-3♠ and the two players began raising and re-raising each other. Eventually Paredes was all-in with Q♠-8♣, but Merulla snapped him off with Q♦-3♦. The turn was the 7♦, which meant Paredes could no longer hit a club flush, but he could now also win the pot with another 7, as it would give both players the same two pair, but Paredes would have the better kicker. None of that mattered, though, as the river was the 4♦, giving Merulla the pot and the 2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open title.
According to TheHendonMob.com, this was not only Anthony Merulla’s first major victory, but his first cash in a live tournament, period. Not a bad way to get started.
2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event – Final Table Results
1. Anthony Merulla – $842,379
2. David Paredes – $499,549
3. Anthony Maio – $307,565
4. Jared Jaffee – $258,590
5. Vlad Mezheritsky – $213,650
6. Farid Jattin – $174,352