Poker Hand Matchup: Jonathan Jaffe vs. Wai Leong Chan
Jonathan Jaffe	Win Pre-Flop	Win Post-Flop	Win Post-Turn
Starting Stack: 14,025,000	59.7 %	81.62 %	88.64 %
Wai Leong Chan	Win Pre-Flop	Win Post-Flop	Win Post-Turn
Starting Stack: 6,400,000	39.56 %	18.38 %	11.36 %	Winner!

Posted On: Dec 03, 2024

Outcome

Preflop, with nine players remaining and blinds of 75,000-150,000 with a big blind ante of 150,000, Jonathan Jaffe raised to 325,000 from the hijack. Wei Leong Chan called from the big blind. On the flop Chan checked, and Jaffe bet 225,000. Chan called. On the turn both players checked. On the river Chan bet 825,000, and Jaffe folded.

Analysis

With 159 entries, the 2024 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Monte Carlo $125,000 buy-in main event had just shy of $19.9 million in prize money to pay out, with nearly $15.2 million of that earmarked for the final nine. This hand occurred early at the final table, with the remaining contenders having locked up $445,000. Of course, they all had their eyes on the title and the top prize of more than $4.4 million. Jonathan Jaffe was the chip leader at the start of this deal, while Wai Leong Chan was the second-largest stack with fewer than half as many chips. Chan defended his big blind with a suited queen and flopped middle pair. Jaffe had nailed top pair, though, and led out for value when checked to. Chan check-called his pair of queens and the duo saw an ace hit the turn. Chan checked again, with two overcards to his queens now on board. Jaffe considered his options and ultimately decided against going for a second consecutive value bet, with his top pair having been demoted to second pair. The river brought another queen, improving Chan to trips. He fired a value bet of just a bit shy of two-thirds pot with his three queens. He was likely hoping to extract value from any A-X holdings that Jaffe might have, with some hero calls from K-X also possible. Jaffe’s K-7 was a pure bluff catcher by now, as there was essentially no chance that Chan could be value betting worse. Chan could have some missed flush draws and possibly unimproved gutshots like J-9. On the other hand, he could be value betting trips, a straight, or even perhaps A-X. Jaffe ultimately decided to fold, correctly getting away from what had become the second-best hand on the river.