PokerStars.net APPT High Rollers, Final Table: Nam Le Climbs to Victory
After a grueling Day 2, the nine survivors in the PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour High Rollers tournament gathered around the final table on Tuesday to decide this elite title. Eight players started the day chasing chip leader David Steicke, who had been dubbed "The Machine" for his relentless domination of the first two days. After an 11-hour final table, it would be Nam Le standing alone, claiming the $474,358 winner's prize after besting Andrew Scott in a lengthy heads-up battle. The seating assignments and chip stacks were as follows as the final table began:
Seat 1: Nam Le - 107,000
Seat 2: Quinn Do - 105,000
Seat 3: David Steicke - 391,000
Seat 4: Wei Will Ma - 186,500
Seat 5: Johnny Chan - 60,500
Seat 6: Charles Chua - 47,000
Seat 7: Ivan Tan - 61,000
Seat 8: Andrew Scott - 226,000
Seat 9: Van Marcus - 43,000
Even with the wide range of chip stacks, it took almost an hour for the first short stack to be eliminated. Van Marcus was the first player to collect a payday from the event, busting in ninth place ($25,641). After Andrew Scott raised preflop from under the gun, Marcus moved the last of his chips into the middle. Marcus was the only caller, and tabled 9♣9♠, well behind Scott's K♣K♠. The board ran out Q♣8♠3♠Q♥A♣, and Marcus was done.
Ivan Tan was the next to fall as he moved all in over the top of Charles Chua's preflop raise. Chua called with A♥K♥, and found himself dominating Tan's A♣10♣. Tan picked up a flush draw on the 6♣9♦2♣ flop, but the turn and river came down 6♥5♠, and he was busted in eighth place ($38,461).
Poker legend Johnny Chan held on at the final table for several hours before finding all his chips in the middle against David Steicke. Chan moved all in over the top of Steicke's under-the-gun raise, and Steicke quickly called with A♥Q♦. Chan showed 6♣6♠ for the race. Steicke did what he had done all tournament long – caught exactly what he needed to bust yet another opponent. The board came down 2♥3♣10♥K♠J♥ to give Steicke runner-runner Broadway and send Chan home in seventh place ($51,282).
It wasn't long after Chan's exit that Wei Will Ma moved all in over the top of Steicke's early position raise. Charles Chua made the call, as did Steicke. Chua and Steicke checked it down as the board ran out 5♦Q♦6♠7♣A♠. Ma's Q♥9♥ was better than Steicke's K♣10♠, but wasn't strong enough to make it past Chua's A♥J♥. Chua raked a sizable pot and Ma was eliminated shortly before the dinner break in sixth place ($64,102).
No one is quote sure what Nam Le had for dinner, but all his surviving tablemates wanted some after the run he went on following the break. With just a few big blinds left, Le came back to double up twice in short order and then bust former chip leader David Steicke in fifth place ($89,743). In his final hand, Steicke re-raised Nam Le preflop with 10♠10♦, and Le thought for a moment before four-betting. Steicke pushed all in, and Le snap-called with K♣K♠. The flop gave Steicke a ton more outs as it came down J♦9♥8♣, adding an open-ended straight draw, but the 8♥ turn was no help and the 4♦ river sent "The Machine" to the rail.
The remaining four players were obviously in no hurry to resolve things, as they played four-handed for nearly two hours before another player was eliminated. When that player fell, it was crowd favorite Charles "The Chuck Truck" Chua, who registered for the tournament at the last minute after playing into the wee hours of the morning in the APPT Main Event the night before. Chua took second place in that event, and then managed to make it to the final table of the High Rollers Event as well. But the Chuck Truck ran out of gas in fourth place when he ran pocket jacks into Nam Le's pocket queens. All the money went in preflop, and no miracle came for Chua, who picked up $115,384 for his finish.
After the lengthy four-handed battle, it only took a few minutes for the field to narrow from three to two. Quinn Do limp-reraised Andrew Scott preflop with 10♣10♦, and Scott thought for a long moment before moving all in. Do called, and Scott tabled A♥10♥. Do's pocket pair held the lead through the 6♣8♠Q♣ flop, but the A♦ on the turn swung the pendulum firmly to Scott's direction. The K♦ on the river sealed Do's fate and sent him home in third place ($153,384).
Nam Le went into heads-up play with nearly double his opponent's stack, as the chip counts looked like this:
Nam Le - 817,000
Andrew Scott - 411,000
Scott seemed content to play small ball in the early going of the heads-up match, but he was never able to gain much traction against Le's massive stack and aggressive play. It took nearly an hour and a half, but finally all the chips went into the middle preflop. Scott showed J♣10♣ to Le's K♣2♣, and both picked up a pair on the 6♠J♦K♠ flop. Le was ahead with a pair of kings, but the A♠ turn gave Scott additional outs to a straight. The 9♦ river, though, wasn't one of those outs, and Scott settled for second place and $269,230. Nam Le came back from the shortest stack at the table before the dinner break to capture the APPT Macau High Rollers Tournament and its $474,358 first prize.
