Hand 6: The action folded around to Farid Jattin in the small blind, who moved all in with his 12 big blind stack, and Vladislav Mezheritsky surrendered his big blind.
Hand 7: Anthony Merulla opened for 215,000 and the table folded around dutifully.
Hand 8: The action folded around to Mezheritsky on the button, and his open-shove forced the blinds to fold.
Hand 9: Maio opened to 275,000 from the small blind and Merulla called from the big blind. The flop fell and Maio check-called a bet of 260,000, bringing the on the turn. Maio check-folded to a 400,000 bet and the pot was pushed to Merulla.
Hand 10: Mezheritsky open-jammed and took down the blinds and antes.
Hand 1: Anthony Maio raised to 225,000 under the gun. Farid Jattin on the button was the only caller. Jattin bet 245,000 on the flop, and Maio called. The turn came . Maio quickly check-called 415,000. Maio came out with 375,000 on the river. Jattin folded, and Maio took the first pot.
Hand 2: David Paredes raised to 225,000, and Maio defended his big blind. Maio checked the flop, and he called 285,000. An turn led to a 350,000 bet from Maio. Paredes called, and an hit the river. Maio checked, and Paredes bet 750,000. Maio folded.
Hand 3: Paredes opened to 225,000 under the gun, and he took the pot.
Hand 4: Maio raised to 225,000 on the button, and Paredes defended his big blind. Paredes check-called 235,000 on the flop, and a turned. Both players checked, and a arrived. Both checked again, and Paredes took the pot with .
Hand 5: Jared Jaffee raised to 225,000, and Paredes three-bet to 650,000 from the small blind. Jattin called in the big blind, and Jaffee came along as well. Paredes fired a continuation-bet on the flop, and Jattin raised to 1,880,000. Jaffee folded, and Paredes wasted little time moving all in. Jattin folded just as quickly.
mnuwwarah
Farid Jattin on Day 4 of the 2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship
Farid Jattin's already assured of banking the biggest cash of his poker career today at the final table of the World Poker Tour Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship.
Jattin sports a solid $438,034 in career tournament cashes, with the biggest feathers in his cap being an outright win at the Isle Poker Classic Main Event just a few weeks ago on Jan. 16 ($147,160) and a second-place finish here at Borgata in the 2011 Summer Poker Open Main Event ($117,481). The Miami, Fl., native has notched most of his cashes on the East Coast.
Jattin burst to the forefront of the coverage in this event on Day 3. He first grabbed our attention with a bold bluff, and he rode the sizable stack he had built up early on that day to the chip lead when play ended. He pulled this off despite a table draw that included accomplished pro and fellow big stack Chad Brown for much of the night.
Jattin has been one of the most active players in the tournament, calling lots of raises and three-betting plenty more. With a short-stacked Vladislav Mezheritsky to his left, he may have to reign in those tendencies early on or risk losing some chips to shoves. How Jattin interacts with accomplished pro and chip leader David Paredes on his right, though, may ultimately decide where he finishes in this tournament.
[user253757]
David Paredes is the Chip Leader Entering the Final Table, and the Dangerous Pro Definitely Knows How to Put Those Chips to Use
David Paredes currently sits as the 10th highest earner in terms of live tournament winnings from his native Massachusetts, with $864,661 in winnings over his seven-year career.
He can essentially double that total with a win here today, and if he does take the whole thing down, he'll climb to 4th on that list to put himself high on the list of top-notch players to emerge from the East Coast.
Paredes enters the final table as the slight chip leader over Anthony Maio, but both men are about 3 million clear of their next competitor, so we expect Paredes to ramp his usual aggressive style up a notch. Although he knows how to wield a big stack well, yesterday Paredes proved himself to be a tricky player capable of changing gears when the need arises, as he felted Bryan Choi by expertly slow-playing pocket queens and trapping the amateur for his entire stack.
Using the momentum from that massive win, Paredes cruised to the televised final table, as he looks to continue a terrific run in WPT events. Paredes finished in 12th place for $38,135 at WPT Montreal's Main Event in November of last year, and he followed that up with a 28th place run for $26,039 at the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic in December.
Today, Paredes is already guaranteed to exceed those scores by a mile, and if he can translate his chip lead into a dominant final table performance, the first major win of his long poker career is well within his grasp. He will need to tread lightly though, with the hyper-aggressive Farid Jattin seated to his left, but a 3 million chip advantage over Jattin should allow Paredes to mitigate his foe's propensity for entering the pot light and playing post-flop poker.
mnuwwarah
Anthony Merulla on Day 4 of the 2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship
Go big or go home seems to be Anthony Merulla's preferred approach to tournament poker.
He has a relatively paltry (for a World Poker Tour final tablist) 13 recorded live tournament cashes, but he's made them count to the tune of $530,658. Two big chunks account for the vast majority of that total: a fourth-place finish in a $5,000 six-max event at the World Series of Poker in 2011 for $208,281 and a third-place finish at this very tournament in 2009 for $236,452.
Everyone needs a little luck to make a deep run in a huge tournament like this, and Merulla's came in the form of a three-way preflop all in on Day 3. He managed to spike a set with his queens against the aces and ace-king of his two opponents. Another key pot for Merulla occurred when he won a big flip with jacks against the ace-king of Matthew "mattemenz" Mendez to increase his stack and send a dangerous opponent to the rail.
Despite dragging those huge pots, from what we've seen, Merulla seems content to mostly play smaller pots. That approach may be tough to pull off with another post-flop wizard, David Paredes, on his left, and the aggressive Farid Jattin in the big blind when Merulla's on the button, at least while the tournament is six-handed. We'll see if Merulla decides to switch gears, or if he decides to try to impose his normal game on his opponents.
[user253757]
Anthony Maio is Looking to Make a Name
Three years ago this month, Anthony Maio sat down for a $200 No-Limit Hold'em tournament here at the Borgata, playing in a side event at the Winter Poker Open. Maio cashed in that tournament, taking home $597 for a 58th place finish, and from there he never looked back.
Maio amassed nine cashes during the next nine months - each of them coming here at the Borgata - and soon enough he was playing in the $1,000+ big buy-in events against the game's best players, improving his skills the only way he knows how: grinding and then grinding some more.
Maio readily admits live poker is not his specialty, as he prefers the online arena which has been so profitable for him over the years, but after today's appearance at a televised WPT final table he might just reconsider. Maio's come full circle after his humble beginnings in 2011, earning a seat at the most prestigious event of this year's Borgata Winter Poker Open just three years after earning his first live cash under the same roof.
![[user253757]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
and Maio check-called a bet of 260,000, bringing the 
on the turn. Maio check-folded to a 400,000 bet and the pot was pushed to Merulla.
flop, and Maio called. The turn came 
. Maio quickly check-called 415,000. Maio came out with 375,000 on the 
river. Jattin folded, and Maio took the first pot.
flop, and he called 285,000. An 
turn led to a 350,000 bet from Maio. Paredes called, and an 
hit the river. Maio checked, and Paredes bet 750,000. Maio folded.
flop, and a 
turned. Both players checked, and a 
arrived. Both checked again, and Paredes took the pot with 
.
flop, and Jattin raised to 1,880,000. Jaffee folded, and Paredes wasted little time moving all in. Jattin folded just as quickly.
