Little outlasts record-length WPT final table

It took just 105 hands to narrow the six-person final table down to two but another 170 to determine a champion at the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Final. That means this year's edition of Foxwoods qualifies as the longest heads-up match in WPT history.

After Charles Marchese, David "The Dragon" Pham, Jack Schanbacher and Mike "The Mouth" Matusow were eliminated from the World Poker Finals, it became a tale of two Jonathans.

Jonathan Jaffe and Jonathan "FieryJustice" Little changed chip leads a whopping nine times in heads-up play before Little finally broke through and took down the championship.

"I feel good," said Little after the marathon win. "I could play another one if I needed to. I'm kind of glad we didn't have to go all night."

The tournament finally finished at around 4 a.m., begging the question, what exactly does "all night" mean to a poker professional?

In the final hand of what was also the longest final table in WPT history, the 23-year-old Little, who had been down more than 5-1 in chips only a few hands before, called Jaffe's all-in holding a dominating A♣ Q♥ to Jaffe's A♥ T♦.

With the board revealing 8♦ 8♥ 6♠ K♦ Q♦, Little claimed his second WPT title and the $1,120,310 first-place prize.

This is the second time Little has been a part of WPT history, as he and the rest of the final table at the Season VI North American Poker Championship played 271 hands. As mentioned, this table went 275 hands altogether.

A dejected Jaffe, who until recently had been far more active in the online world than the live tournament circuit, walked with nearly $700k for second. The 21-year-old professional poker player was in just his second WPT event.

He had three cashes at this year's World Series of Poker, including an impressive fourth-place finish in the $10,000 World Championship Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em event.

Little, on the other hand, is a WPT veteran even though he is just 23 years old. He won the WPT Player of the Year award last year, taking the Mirage Poker Showdown and finishing second to Scott Clements at the WPT North American Poker Championship in Niagara Falls.

This was his fourth WPT final table and he has more than $2.8 million in live tournament earnings.

Little started the final table in third place holding $2,021,000 chips, while Jaffe was the chip leader with more than double that at over $4 million in chips.

Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, who entered the final table severely short-stacked, was one player who refused to go down without a fight. The enigmatic pro doubled up early with A-J before busting with the same hole cards several hands later.

Matusow has never never won a WPT event, although he's finished in the top six five times.

The final results at the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals looked like this:

1st - Jonathan Little: $1,120,310
2nd - Jonathan Jaffe: $670,636
3rd - Charles Marchese: $337,256
4th - David "The Dragon" Pham: $240,344
5th - Jack Schanbacher: $182,196
6th - Mike "The Mouth" Matusow: $124,048

For a more detailed look at how the battle played out, check the PokerListings Live Tournaments page here.