Matt Affleck: WSOP Main Event Standout and Tournament Veteran
POKER HALL OF FAME
Inducted 2014
Matt Affleck has spent nearly two decades establishing himself as a durable American tournament professional, with deep World Series of Poker runs, major tournament victories, a WSOP Circuit ring, and more than $4.1 million in recorded live earnings.
The Seattle-based player is especially remembered for consecutive deep runs in the WSOP Main Event in 2009 and 2010. His 15th-place finish in 2010 produced the largest live cash of his career and one of the most widely remembered Main Event eliminations of that era. Affleck has continued competing long after that breakthrough, adding titles, final tables, educational work, and tournament cashes across the United States.
As of September 28, 2026, Hendon Mob lists Affleck with $4,137,011 in live tournament earnings and a career-best cash of $500,165. The WSOP lists him with one Circuit ring, no bracelets, 18 WSOP-branded final tables and 161 cashes.
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Who Is Matt Affleck?
Matthew "Matt" Affleck is an American professional poker player associated with Seattle, Washington. Hendon Mob records his live tournament results dating to 2008, giving him a competitive career that has extended across multiple generations of the modern tournament scene.
No-Limit Texas Hold'em has accounted for most of his best-known results. His résumé includes deep WSOP runs, victories in major regional tournament series, World Poker Tour cashes and sustained participation in live events around the country.
Affleck's longevity is an important part of his profile. Rather than being defined only by the televised hand that ended his 2010 Main Event run, he continued building a tournament record that eventually passed $4 million in live earnings.
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Matt Affleck's WSOP Main Event Breakthrough
Affleck first attracted widespread attention during the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event. He made a deep run through the enormous field before finishing 80th for $68,979.
One year later, he went considerably deeper.
Affleck reached the final 15 players of the 2010 WSOP Main Event and was competing for a place at the November Nine when he became involved in a pivotal hand against eventual champion Jonathan Duhamel.
Affleck held pocket aces against Duhamel's pocket jacks. After heavy action created a massive pot, Duhamel completed a straight on the river and eliminated Affleck in 15th place. Affleck earned $500,165, which remains his largest recorded live tournament cash as of September 2026.
The elimination became one of the most recognizable hands of the 2010 Main Event because of the stakes involved and Affleck's position when the chips went in. Duhamel went on to win the Main Event championship.
For Affleck, the result established him as more than a one-time deep runner. He had reached the late stages of poker's biggest tournament in consecutive years and followed those performances with years of additional results.
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Major Tournament Wins and Career Results
Affleck has accumulated tournament victories and six-figure scores outside the WSOP Main Event.
One of his most significant titles came in October 2015 at the $2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship at Seminole Casino Coconut Creek in Florida. Affleck defeated a 410-entry field and earned $264,000, at the time one of the largest victories of his career.
He came close to winning a WSOP bracelet the following summer. In the 2016 WSOP $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event, Affleck advanced to the final three from a field of 1,860 entries. He finished third for $184,456 behind runner-up Cathal Shine and champion David Peters.
Affleck added another major title in October 2017 when he won the $1,600 Wynn Fall Classic Championship. The event drew 447 entries, and Affleck collected $139,348 for first place.
Other major scores have reinforced his reputation as a player capable of making deep runs across different tournament environments. In 2021, he finished fifth in the $5,250 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship for $244,775.
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WSOP Bracelets and Circuit Results
Affleck has not won a World Series of Poker bracelet as of September 28, 2026.
He does, however, own a WSOP Circuit ring. The official WSOP player database currently credits Affleck with one WSOP win, one Circuit ring, 18 final tables and 161 cashes across WSOP-branded competition.
His bracelet near-misses include the third-place finish in the 2016 $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event, along with numerous other deep runs.
The absence of a bracelet has not prevented Affleck from compiling a substantial WSOP record. His repeated cashes, final tables and Main Event performances have kept him involved in World Series competition for well over a decade.
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Matt Affleck's WPT Record
Affleck has also competed extensively on the World Poker Tour.
The WPT's official player database lists him with 15 Main Tour cashes and $378,871 in Main Tour earnings as of September 2026. It lists no WPT Main Tour championship victories.
His WPT results form one part of a broader schedule that has included WSOP events, Wynn tournament series, Seminole Hard Rock events and other major live festivals around the United States.
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Career Earnings
According to Hendon Mob, Matt Affleck had $4,137,011 in recorded live tournament earnings as of September 28, 2026.
His largest live tournament cash remains the $500,165 he earned for finishing 15th in the 2010 WSOP Main Event.
Career earnings databases change whenever a player records another qualifying result, so Affleck's total should be treated as a point-in-time figure rather than a permanent career number.
His tournament record is notable for its distribution across many years. While the 2010 Main Event accounts for his single largest payday, substantial scores followed in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021 and later seasons.
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Playing Style and Poker Strategy
Affleck's public strategy work provides more useful evidence about his approach to poker than broad labels such as "aggressive" or "tight."
In 2015, Affleck contributed a tournament-strategy chapter to Jonathan Little's Excelling at No-Limit Hold'em. His material addressed postflop decision-making, bluffing, value betting, three-betting, stack sizes and the use of a large stack to pressure shorter stacks in tournaments.
He has also appeared in poker educational content discussing bluff selection and other No-Limit Hold'em concepts.
That work suggests an analytical tournament approach centered on understanding stack depth, identifying opponent tendencies and being willing to apply pressure when the situation supports it. It also shows that Affleck's contribution to poker extends beyond his own tournament results into strategy education.
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Why Matt Affleck Matters in Poker
Affleck occupies an unusual place in modern tournament poker history because one painful Main Event hand became more famous than many tournament victories.
His career, however, is considerably broader than that moment.
Two consecutive deep Main Event runs established his tournament credentials early. He later won significant live titles, reached additional WSOP final tables, earned a Circuit ring and continued producing tournament results for more than 15 years.
Affleck has also shared tournament concepts through books, interviews and coaching-oriented poker content. That combination of competitive longevity and strategy education has kept him recognizable to poker fans beyond the period when his Main Event run first made him widely known.
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Matt Affleck's Recent Poker Results
Affleck remained active on the live tournament circuit in 2026.
During the 2026 World Series of Poker, he cashed in multiple bracelet events. His results included 63rd place in the $1,500 Millionaire Maker for $22,800, 84th in the $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship for $13,246 and additional cashes in the Mystery Millions and $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold'em event.
His activity continued after the WSOP. Hendon Mob records a seventh-place finish in a $1,100 Wynn Signature Series event in September 2026 for $14,256, followed by a 13th-place finish in a Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza III event later that month.
Those results confirm that Affleck remains an active tournament player rather than a figure known only for historical performances.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much has Matt Affleck won playing live poker?
Hendon Mob lists Matt Affleck with $4,137,011 in live tournament earnings as of September 28, 2026. Tournament earnings totals can change whenever new results are added.
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What is Matt Affleck's biggest poker cash?
Affleck's largest recorded live cash is $500,165. He earned it for finishing 15th in the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event.
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Has Matt Affleck won a WSOP bracelet?
No. The official WSOP database lists Matt Affleck with zero bracelets as of September 28, 2026.
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Does Matt Affleck have a WSOP Circuit ring?
Yes. The official WSOP player database credits Affleck with one WSOP Circuit ring.
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What happened to Matt Affleck in the 2010 WSOP Main Event?
Affleck finished 15th after losing a major pot to eventual champion Jonathan Duhamel. Affleck held pocket aces against Duhamel's pocket jacks, but Duhamel made a straight on the river. Affleck received $500,165.
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Is Matt Affleck still playing poker?
Yes. Affleck remained active in 2026, recording multiple WSOP cashes and additional live tournament results at Wynn Las Vegas and the Venetian during the year.
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Sources
World Series of Poker
Hendon Mob Poker Database
World Poker Tour
PokerNews
Seminole Casino Coconut Creek Poker
PokerCoaching.com