Affleck Eyes $8.5 Million Pot in WSOP

Matt Affleck, student at the University of Washington, is the current chip lead in 2009's World Series of Poker tournament. According to PokerListings.com, the young player finds the whole thing to be "kind of surreal." The most Affleck has made in his short professional poker career is $124,306, and the jackpot for this year's WSOP is $8.5 million.

Affleck has been attending the university during his career, but if he earns enough money in the tournament, he may drop out and devote all of his attention to poker. His parents wanted him to stay in college, but his recent results have started to change their minds.

USA Online Gambling News reports that, after Saturday, there were 407 players left in the Main Event. Affleck ended the day with 1,819,000 in chips. In second is Ludovic Lacay with 1,608,000 chips. Last year's champion is still alive with 770,000 chips.

According to Online Poker Web site, the final 648 players are guaranteed to win some money, starting at $21,356, so Affleck should walk away with enough to pay a good amount of next year's tuition.