With six highly experienced, highly skilled players surrounding him at the seven-handed Six-Max final table, amateur Robert Portas knew the score.
"These guys are tough to play with..." he told us earlier in the night. "They don't make it easy on ya."
After grinding a short stack for hours to reach the final table - quite the accomplishment all things considering - Portas finally succumbed to the inexorable pull of an enormous skill edge. And while Portas is obviously a great player having made this deep run against a stacked field, facing off against six pros and semi-pros was simply too much to ask.
Portas made his stand with an all-in shove for about 300,000 holding , but when Caufman Talley looked him up he knew the king-high was likely trailing badly. Sure enough, Talley tabled and his overpair was the big favorite, with the final board of pairing the wrong card for Portas.
With the 7th place finish Portas takes home $13,568 - in addition to the pride which comes after accomplishing something against long odds.
With Robert Portas riding the short stack at just under 300,000 - with the average currently at 1.06 million - the six professional players surrounding him have settled in for a waiting game.
Play has ground to a halt with the pay jumps now increasingly meaningful from this point forward. The next elimination will take home 7th place money - good for $13,568 - while a berth in the official six-handed final table is worth more than $5,000 more.
Byron Kaverman is the Leading Money Winner Among a Den of Thieves Here at the Six-Max Final Table
The final table lineup for this Six-Max event features no less than six accomplished tournament pros. Aside from amateur Robert Portas, each of the players still left in contention plays this game for a living, and each has done quite well in that regard. Below you will find each final table member's lifetime earnings for live tournaments, as well as their biggest career live cash.
"These guys are tough to play with," Portas told us during a recent break.
The Final Table is Here for Seven Highly Skilled Six-Max Specialists
The final table has been reached in the Six-Max event, although to avoid playing a three-handed final table bubble play has moved to a seven-handed final table.
We will have updated chip counts for the final seven players in a few moments, and the final table lineup is stacked with highly skilled veterans, so stay tuned.
Josh Brikis Just Stacked Chris Moon to Move Back Above 2 Million
Josh Brikis was the first player to cross the 2 million chip, and although he dipped a bit below those lofty standards of late, his latest hand just catapulted Brikis back to the upper echelon of our chip counts.
After a raise to 130,000 from Moon on the button, Brikis defended his blind by reraising to 275,000. Moon deliberated for thirty seconds or so before announcing himself all in, and before the red button signifying his at-risk state hit the felt in front of him, he heard Brikis snap-call with authority.
"Good luck Brikis," offered Moon as he saw that his was drawing thin against a made hand in .
The flop furthered Brikis' lead by gifting him a four-flush, coming . The turn () and river () only kept him out in front, and his diamond flush downed Moon in 8th place.
After the flop came down . the baby card board didn't appear to be all that much... until a raising war between Matt Affleck and Caufman Talley broke out.
Affleck led out with a bet of 100,000 and Talley popped it to 200,000 in response. After a lengthy tank, Affleck heaped a gigantic stack of the gold T25000 chips forward to set Talley all in if he wished to continue.
Continue Talley did, snap-calling with and tabling the top-top hand like a man who trusted his read. Affleck could only confirm the great call by turning over for second pair, and although he found a slew of additional outs when the turn came , the on the river was safe for Talley to send the pot his way.
Chris Moon on Day 2 of the Borgata Winter Poker Open Six-Max Event
Chris Moon just doubled through Andy Hwang when his prevailed over .
With a pair in the hole, Moon called to make his stand, and the board ran out to give him a set of nines - along with a replenished stack with the final table drawing near.
![[user253757]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, but when Caufman Talley looked him up he knew the king-high was likely trailing badly. Sure enough, Talley tabled 
and his overpair was the big favorite, with the final board of 
pairing the wrong card for Portas.
was drawing thin against a made hand in 
. The turn (
) and river (
) only kept him out in front, and his diamond flush downed Moon in 8th place.
. the baby card board didn't appear to be all that much... until a raising war between Matt Affleck and Caufman Talley broke out.
and tabling the top-top hand like a man who trusted his read. Affleck could only confirm the great call by turning over 
for second pair, and although he found a slew of additional outs when the turn came 
, the 
.
