Andy Hwang Eliminated in 5th Place ($25,869)

[user253757]

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 4,000 ante

A huge hand just went down to shift the balance of power at this Six-Max final table, with Matt Affleck taking over the chip lead by busting Andy Hwang.

The action started when Affleck raised to 195,000 from the cutoff, only to see Hwang reraise to 390,000 from the button.

Affleck deliberated for nearly a minute before committing the calling chips, and the two saw a flop of rain down. Despite the preflop aggression, both players opted to tap the table and the turn card came .

On fourth street Affleck decided to fire out a bet of 280,000 and Hwang flatted in position, bringing the to the board on the river. Affleck continued his line and shoved all in for 520,000 effective, knowing that if Hwang called and produced a winner the two would basically trade chip positions.

Hwang dove down as deep as his tank goes, thinking over every scenario while his lips moved in kind, the calculation and computation taking place evident in his pained yet intent expression. After more than four minutes, with a crowd of railbirds, players and reporters gathering to soak in the dramatic scene, Hwang suddenly held his cards aloft and made his decision.

"I'm going to..." he said, his voice trailing off as if a fold was imminent. "Call."

Affleck skipped a beat not knowing if he had heard correctly, but he calmly tabled confident his hand was good after such a lengthy tank. Sure enough, Hwang could only muster the for a mistimed hero call or simply a misread.

"It has to be ace-queen there, right?" he asked Affleck with a smile, the words directed more at himself than his newly flush opponent. "It's either ace-queen or something really crazy... nice hand."

With that, Hwang's third final table appearance of the 2014 Borgata Winter Poker open came to end, while Affleck looks to turn his first tournament entry in the series into a five-figure haul.