2013 Western Classic Poker Championship claims winner

Darcy Dixon was crowned the 2013 Western Poker Champion this weekend in Perth, Australia collecting a massive AU$71,000 for his troubles while the Player of the Championship went to Lori Yogo, who add this POTC to last week’s ANZ Player of the Year award.

 

117 players took to the felt at the Crown Casino, Perth, surpassing 2012’s record of 101 players, who all ponied up the AU$2,200 buy-in to generate a AU$234,000 prize pool. The top 11 players would all finish in the money while the eventual champion was set to pocket AU$71,000.

 

Day 1a saw 57 entrants and after six levels of action, only 30 remained. Day 1b had 58 entrants with only 38 surviving to the next day, bringing 68 players to the tables for Day 2. Andrew Swayer entered the final stages as chip leader with 117,225 in chips while his closest competitor was Liam Taylor with 87,425, who ended up chip leader from Day 1b.

 

The Day 2 plan was to whittle the tournament down to a final table but after 12 solid hours of play, 11 players remained and the call was made by event organisers to stop play and bring all 11 players back on the final day to battle it out for the title.

 

Below is the final 11 chip counts:

1-      Yann Yin: 418,000

2-      Liam Taylor: 413,000

3-      Darcy Dixon: 394,000

4-      Warren Stewart – 206,000

5-      Steve Miller: 183,000

6-      Andrew Sawyer: 174,000

7-      Arthur Richards: 164,000

8-      Guy Perkins: 156,000

9-      Martyn Ward: 99,000

10-   Dale Marsland: 76,000

11-   Gary Lightfoot: 58,000

 

Yann Yin entered the final day as chip leader but with Liam Taylor and Dixon no far behind, it was still anyone game. Sitting at 10th was reigning champion Dale Marsland, winner of 2012’s Western Classic Poker Championship, who could be the first player in the short history of the tournament to repeat as champion. Marsland, however, was the second shortest stack with a slim chance of making up the ground on the chip leaders.

 

As the final days play got underway, it was indeed the reigning champion, Dale Marsland, who bowed out in 11th place collecting AU$5,000 for his three days’ work. Garry Lightfoot was next to hit the rail quickly followed by Martyn Ward with both players pocketing AU$5,000. Chip leader Yin was next to finish in 8th position (AU$7,000), Arthur Richards in 7th (AU$9,5000) and Warren Stewart in 6th (AU$13,000). Guy Perkins 5th was the next to fall while Andrew Sawyer was not far behind in 4th place collecting AU$18,000 and AU$24,000 respectively. Steven Miller bowed out in 3rd place (AU$31,500) leaving Liam Taylor and Darcy Dixon to battle it out in the heads-up contest.

 

Dixon finally got the better of Miller following some excellent play from both players. Dixon leaves Perth AU$71,000 richer while Taylor collected AU$45,000 for his runner-up finish. Recent ANZ Player of the Year champion, Lori Yogo scooped up Player of the Championships 2013 this week, making three final tables; winning Event 6: AU$3,000 NLHE claiming the AU$37,100 first place prize, finishing 4th in the Teams Event and 8th in the AU$250 NLHE 2nd Chance event.

 

For more information visit the Western Classic of Poker Visit Crown Perth or alternatively stay tuned to FTR for the latest news and results from around the poker world.

 

 

EJ Whitten Charity Poker Event from the Crown Poker Room

 

The third annual EJ Whitten Charity Poker Event was hosted at the Crown Poker Room, Melbourne on Sunday. The tournament was held in aid of the continued support of the EJ Whitten Foundation and prostate cancer awareness. All those who took part dug very deep into their pockets, helping to raise vast sums for such a worthy cause.

 

A live DJ, Showgirls, red carpet entrance and an Elvis impersonator were all put on, turning the Crown Poker Room into a party rather than its traditional poker setting. Crown Poker Room regulars Joe Hachem and recent APPT champion Billy “The Croc” Argyros turned out along with Australian Poker Hall of Famer Mel Juddah making a surprise appearance.

 

Top ranked poker players were not the only ones hitting the tables, Australian Footy stars that included; Gary Ablett Jnr, Clinton Young, Aaron Edwards and Michael Roberts to name a few all did their bit for the event. Tony Hachem hosted the event, working the crows effortlessly, getting everyone involved in the auctions and other activities on offer over the course of the evening.

 

The actual event itself was played in a Shootout format with players having to hoover up all the chips at their table to be able to progress. AU$50,000 in total prizes were on offer which included an Aussie Millions Main Event package.

 

Brian Payne in the end went on to claim the Aussie Millions Package defeating Elvis Kakaki in the heads-up battle. Below is the final standings and prize allocations.

 

1-      Brain Payne – Aussie Millions Main Event Seat + AFL Grand Final Tickets

2-      Elvis Kakaki – Aussie Milions Six Max Event Seat + Footy Show Grand Final Tickets

3-      Nikolaos Solomos – Aussie Millions Bounty Event Seat + Australian Open Tennis Tickets

4-      Angelo Visalli – Aussie Millions Bounty Event Seat

5-      Geoffrey Eason – Aussie Millions Bounty Event Seat

6-      Dheyas Hanna – Aussie Millions Opening Event Seat

7-      Ashley Woods – Aussie Millions Opening Event Seat

 

Congratulations to Brain Payne on winning the event, of course the most important aspect of this occasion was the continued support and awareness of prostate cancer. The money raised to support the continued education and research will go a long way to helping those who desperately need it.

 

Visit EJ Whitten Foundation online to pledge your support to the continued research of prostate cancer.

 

For the latest news and results from around the poker world stay tuned to FTR.

 

 

Mini Main Event at the Crown Poker Room, Melbourne

 

The Crown Casino, Melbourne will play host to the Mini Main Event AU$240 buy-in AU$50,000 guaranteed event on 5 and 6 October. The Event will run over two days and is open to players who play in the 888PL, APL or Pub Poker along with anyone who has played at least eight games this year.

 

Players will have the option of winning into the event through the state leader-boards or in the Best of the Best tournament. Satellites will be on offer as well while players can also directly buy into the event, however, the numbers for the event will be capped with details on how many to be published when they are released. There are no re-entries, rebuys or addons over the course of the event, it is a deep starting stack with play expected to go on for eight hours during both the Saturday and Sunday sittings.

 

Player who want to reserve a seat for the Mini Main Event they can pre-purchase here or alternatively Satellites will be available online at the 888PL and APL websites.

 

Stayed tuned to FTR for the latest news and results from around the poker world.