Hand Histories: Matt Affleck Explains Unbelievable Bad Beat on PokerGO

Hand Histories closes out the run of great players telling their side of an epic spot in the game’s lore. The 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event was featured once before in the series when Joseph Cheong relayed his experience of a bad beat dealt to him with two tables remaining.

Matt Affleck says “raise” to that encounter. On the adjacent table from Cheong, Affleck battled with Jonathan Duhamel for the tournament chip lead in a life-changing pot for both. As it is known by now, Affleck did not come out on top in that hand while Duhamel went on to win.

Now available on PokerGO is Affleck reliving the hand and explains what the hand did to him in the moment along with his career long-term.

Affleck settled for a $500,000 consolation prize and a shot at starting a poker career with bankroll influx. He is now one of most consistent professionals on tour with over $2.8 million in career earnings. Those numbers are great, but Affleck recognizes the amount of money left on the table.

The pot between Duhamel is labeled by Affleck as “worth more than he’ll ever play for in his life,” and he’s spot on with the assessment. The $8.9 first place prize that went to Duhamel is a dream deferred for Affleck.

However, he does find the bright side in the loss. Eight years later, Affleck admits that the overall score helped him to continue pursuing poker as a career; a choice he is pleased with today. Affleck is able to laugh at his dampened emotions after the hand as captured by the ESPN cameras.

Subscribe to PokerGO today to hear Affleck walk through the most traumatic moment of his poker career and take a step back into a page of poker history.