WSOP APAC
WSOP APAC is over, and we have a Main Event Champion, and I think you might actually know his name.
Daniel Negreanu, one of the biggest ambassadors in the game of poker, has won his 5th WSOP Bracelet, and the inaugural WSOP APAC Main Event. To say Negreanu ran over the table would be unkind to the quality of the players who made it that far, but it was obvious, once he got the chip lead, he was never going to give it back, and barring some horrible run bad, he was going to be the champion.
In the heads up battle, Negreanu faced off against another Daniel, this one an Aussie named Marton, who had the local support, and not a little bit of amusing Run Good. They started off heads up with Negreanu having a 11:1 chip lead, and while Marton didn’t go quietly, winning several big pots never came close to changing the out come. Hand 14 of the 25 played between these two raised a smile or two.
Negreanu had raised to a little over the minimum from the button, only to see Marton 3 bet shove. After confirming the chip numbers, the Canadian called, and turned over Ah8C, which dominated the Australian’s 8d4s. It was looking good for Negreanu to win his 5th WSOp bracelet with this hand, but the poker gods have a sense of humour.
The flop came 7s5dAd, giving Negreanu a sweat with Marton having a straight draw. The 6h on the turn brough in that straight, causing Negreanu to hit the table out of pure frustration. Loki, The Trickster, must have been the god covering the poker beat today, as the River brought the 9d and the chop.
Only Negreanu didn’t notice, and was continuing to do his best Phil Hellmuth impression. When he did see the board, he stopped, calmed down in under a second, and the surprise in his voice as he said “Oh! We chop!” was priceless.
However, this was just the sideshow, and the main event played out over a coin flip. They got it in with Marton holding As7s, and Negreanu holding 2s2h. The board bricked out, and the ducks won Daniel Negreanu his 5th WSOP Bracelet, and his first since 2008.
The full final table results and payouts are below:
- Daniel Negreanu – $1,038,825
- Daniel Marton – $637,911
- Winfred Yu – $423,225
- George Tsatsis – $284,715
- Kahle Burns – $201,994
- Benny Spindler – $146,205
- Mikel Habb – $107,730
- Russell Thomas – $82,721
Special mention does need to be made for Winfred Yu. He managed his short stack to perfection to ladder his way to third place, and was all in 8 times before he was busted by Negreanu. He should win the “Shortstack Ninja” Award for the WSOP APAC, if only one existed.
Negreanu was obviously a very happy man, and felt the need to tell his quarter of a million twitter followers:
I won!!!!!!!!!!!! YES! Very happy right now. Thanks to all my friends and family for giving me the confidence I needed! So happy!!!!
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) April 15, 2013
This brings an end to the WSOP APAC festival, and most of the players will be heading off to catch a plane inside the next 24 hours. The WSOP in Vegas is only just over a month and a half away, so we’d better get ready for the action it’s going to bring, as if the WSOP APAC is any indication, it’s gonna be fun.