At a final table in which nearly everyone held the lead at some point, Aaron Mermelstein held it when it mattered most in winning the World Poker Tour’s Borgata Winter Poker Open last night in Atlantic City.
Shawn Cunix, in the hunt for his second WPT championship, had run roughshod over the field the previous two days to come to the final table as the chip leader. Mermelstein was looking to deny Cunix, however, as he sat roughly 1.7 million chips behind Cunix in second place. Eugene Todd, Esther Taylor-Brady, Justin Liberto and Randy Pfeifer rounded out what would be an entertaining evening of poker.
Cunix came out of the gate fast, winning two of the first four hands to catapult his stack over the 10 million chip mark. The true action was amongst the players at the bottom of the leaderboard as, only 13 hands into play, Liberto found a double up through Taylor-Brady when his pocket nines were able to stay ahead of Taylor-Brady’s A-7. That was the only noise that Liberto would make as, on the very next hand, he would meet his demise.
Liberto made a min-raise from the cutoff and Mermelstein, in the small blind, three-bet the action to 600K. After pondering his response for a few moments, Liberto felt it was time to make his stand, pushing all in for roughly three million in chips. Now it was Mermelstein’s turn to think and, eventually, he found the call and turned up Big Slick against the K♣ Q♣ of Liberto. After the board came blood red – and only Jack-high – Mermelstein won the hand with Ace high and Liberto headed to the cage in sixth place.
After Liberto’s departure, it was time for Pfeifer to make a run. Pfeifer, who came in as the short stack, doubled up twice through Todd to escape the basement, the second time administering a cooler to Todd when Todd’s pocket Jacks were bested by Pfeifer’s pocket Kings. As the level came to a close, it was still Cunix atop the standings with Mermelstein close behind and Taylor-Brady, Pfeifer and Todd struggling to stay relevant.
Cunix would come off the break and reestablish his domination, taking three of the first five hands of Level 31 (60K/120K, 20K ante) to punch over the 12 million chip mark. Mermelstein was waiting for the right moment to strike, however, and he found it on Hand 35. After a button raise from Mermelstein and a big blind call from Cunix, a 9-8-5 rainbow flop fanned on the felt. Mermelstein called a bet from Cunix and, when a Queen came on the turn, both players cautiously checked. The river paired the board with another eight, which lit the fireworks between the duo.
Cunix put out a bet of 625K and seemed surprised when Mermelstein popped it up to 2.2 million in chips. After a quick review of the hand in his head, Cunix made the call and tabled a J-8 for rivered trips. It wasn’t good enough; Mermelstein showed an 8-5 for a flopped two pair and rivered full house, capturing the pot and taking over the chip lead from Cunix.
This seemed to inspire Cunix as, a few hands later, he would take down Taylor-Brady. Pfeifer started the action with a bet and, after Cunix called off the button, Taylor-Brady pushed her stack to the center. Pfeifer ducked out of the way but Cunix called, showing a K♦ Q♦ to have a sizeable edge over Taylor-Brady’s 9♦ 8♦. An eight reared its head on the flop, giving Taylor-Brady the lead, but a King on the turn flipped it back to Cunix. When a blank came on the river, Taylor-Brady was done in fifth place and Cunix was back in the lead.
Now it was Mermelstein’s turn to fight back. He would take a sizeable pot from Pfeifer pre-flop to once again edge ahead of Cunix and the twosome would flip-flop the lead between them. As the level came to a close, though, Cunix had recovered enough chips to remain in the lead.
After parrying for the start of the level, Cunix would eventually make a mistake, seemingly his first of the tournament. Following a bet from Todd and a call from Pfeifer in the small blind, Cunix would also call to see a 9-6-5 flop. Cunix fired from the big blind and, after Todd stepped aside, Pfeifer made the call off the small blind. A seven on the turn drew no action, but a Queen on the river brought a third diamond. Pfeifer now came to life, pushing out 1.55 million chips, and a confident Cunix called and showed a 6-5 for two pair. Pfeifer turned up pocket eights for the turned straight and scooped the chips – and the overall lead – into his stack.
The table would settle down for a couple dozen hands before a stunning turn of events. On the last hand of the level, Cunix raised from under the gun and Todd (button) and Pfeifer (big blind) looked him up. A J-J-10 flop brought no action, but an Ace on the turn brought a bet out of Cunix. Todd three bet the action to 1.5 million and Pfeifer folded. Almost immediately, Cunix moved all in and, just as quickly, Todd made the call. Cunix’ Q-J (flopped trips) looked good until Todd showed a K-Q for the turned Broadway. After a nine fell on the river and the chips were counted, it was Todd who had been at risk. That wasn’t the case afterwards, however, as Todd scooped the more than 12 million chip pot to take over the lead and send Cunix down to only 750K in chips.
Although Cunix would triple up on one hand and double on another, that battle against Todd was a precursor for his demise. On Hand 120, it was Todd and Cunix dancing again, with Cunix at risk with an A-Q and Todd looking for help for his A-J. A Jack came in the window, leaving Cunix drawing thin, and once the turn and river blanked, Cunix was done in fourth place while Todd maintained the lead.
Todd would then enter into a fight with Mermelstein. They would take turns leading the final table as Pfeifer struggled to keep relevant in the event. Although he would eke into the second place slot at one point, it was an ill-timed bluff that would doom Pfeifer to the third place position.
Following a raise from Mermelstein, Pfeifer pushed all-in from the big blind for a sizeable 7 million chips. Although Pfeifer’s stack would have put a huge dent in his own holdings, Mermelstein immediately called and he had the goods. His pocket Kings were a favorite over Pfeifer’s Q-10 offsuit and, after the board ran out A-A-7-7-10, Pfeifer was left ruing his decision as he stepped from the Borgata tournament arena.
Now holding almost a 3:1 lead over Todd (21.75 million to 7.925 million), Mermelstein could almost smell the WPT title that awaited. Todd would prove to be a formidable opponent, working his way over 26 hands to a virtual stalemate with Mermelstein. With the stacks almost even, the final hand would prove to be memorable.
After Todd limped from the button, Mermelstein tested him with a three-bet and Todd made the call. A Q-J-7 flop brought another bullet out of Mermelstein, but Todd didn’t back down in pushing all-in to put Mermelstein to the test. Mermelstein quickly made the call, showing an A-Q that edged out Todd’s Q-8, and just needed to sweat the final two cards to reach his goal. A trey on the turn helped no one and the Ace on the river only improved Mermelstein to an Aces up two pair, earning him the championship of the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open.
1. Aaron Mermelstein, $712,305
2. Eugene Todd, $419,467
3. Randy Pfeifer, $253,263
4. Shawn Cunix, $212,108
5. Esther Taylor-Brady, $174,118
6. Justin Liberto, $140,878
This is the first major championship for Mermelstein, who has a strong record in East Coast tournaments since 2010. His previous best cash came during a preliminary event at last year’s Borgata Poker Open, where he won a tournament for $39,663 that had made up most of his $140,612 career earnings. Now he has his name on the WPT Champions’ Cup and will be back in Atlantic City this spring when the WPT World Championship is played out at the Borgata.
