David Allan Wins the 2012 PokerStars.net ANZPT Queenstown Snowfest Main Event
The 2012 PokerStars.net Australia New Zealand Poker Tour Queenstown Snowfest Main Event came to an end on Sunday. David Allan, from Australia, walked away with the title, all the glory, and the NZD$110,600 first-place prize.
2012 ANZPT Queenstown Snowfest Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Prize (NZD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Allan | 110,600 |
| 2 | Ken Demlakian | 70,400 |
| 3 | Jordan Westmorland | 41,200 |
| 4 | Ricky Kroesen | 34,200 |
| 5 | David Zhao | 28,200 |
| 6 | Matt Wakeman | 23,100 |
| 7 | Bryan Huang | 19,100 |
| 8 | Ivan Zalac | 15,100 |
| 9 | David Evans | 12,070 |
The final day began with nine players all hoping to be the last player standing. The first elimination occurred within the first 10 minutes of the day, when the short-stacked David Evans was sent home in ninth place. Evans got his stack in good holding Q♣Q♥ against Ken Demlakian’s A♦K♣ on a 8♣2♥5♥ flop, but was unfortunate to run into an ace on the river.
The next player to find the rail was fellow short-stacker, Ivan Zalac. Ricky Kroesen eliminated Zalac, when Zalac's 5♠5♦ were no match for Kroesen’s 9♠9♦. Zalac was eliminated in a gallant eighth place after winning a side event earlier in the week. It didn’t take long from there to eliminate Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang in seventh place.
Huang’s last hand started with Allan opening the pot with a min-raise from under the gun. Jordan Westmorland then three-bet to 39,000 and action was on Huang in the blinds. He opted to four-bet all-in for around 200,000. Allan got out of the way but a call from Westmorland meant Huang’s tournament was at risk. Huang, holding 7♦7♥, needed plenty of help against Westmorland’s K♣K♥, but it never came and Huang was eliminated.
At this point Kroesen managed to win a big coin-flip to double up against Allan to become one of the chip leaders as play started to slow down. Eventually, Matt Wakeman was sent home in sixth place. Wakeman’s elimination came just after the first break of the day, when he shoved around 13 big blinds from the cutoff holding A♦5♥. Westmorland called on the button holding 6♣6♦. Wakeman joked that he had a wheel draw, but the 6♥2♦10♥3♠7♥ board wasn’t what he was looking for and he was sent packing. After that hand, Westmorland held the chip lead.
During five-handed play, Westmorland lost a huge amount of his chips to multiple players and Demlakian reclaimed his chip lead. The fourth level of the day was when the action came to a halt and it wasn’t until the fifth level that the next elimination occurred. It was almost two and a half hours since the last bust-out, but inevitably it had to happen and unfortunately for David Zhao, he went home in fifth place. Zhao was bleeding chips for quite some time before got his stack in holding 3♦3♥ against Westmorland’s 10♣10♦. A board featuring four clubs improved Westmorland’s hand even more and he sent Zhao to the rail.
It didn’t take long from there for Kroesen to exit in fourth place finisher. After struggling to find a good spot or good cards to make a move for over an hour, Kroesen’s stack was at its smallest and would need to double up soon. Eventually Kroesen moved all-in from the button for 270,000 with A♥10♥, but Westmorland woke up with Q♦Q♠ in the big blind and made the call. The flop of 2♥3♠10♦ wasn’t bad for Kroesen, but he couldn’t catch up through the 7♦ turn, or the K♥ river.
The three-handed battle went on for more than an hour, but eventually Westmorland found his way to the rail. Westmorland’s tournament came to an end at the hands of Demlakian. Westmorland got his chips in on the turn of a 3♠5♠5♦7♥ board, holding 8♠6♠. Demlakian held 7♦4♦ and was in front, but Westmorland had a plenty of outs. Unfortunately he couldn’t catch one of those outs and was eliminated in third place.
After eliminating Westmorland, Demlakian began heads-up with a slight chip lead over the ever-aggressive Allan, but it didn’t last for long. Allan surged in front very quickly and it stayed that for way for while, but the lead chopped and changed several times until Demlakian seemed to have a big enough lead to run away with it.
However, Allan didn’t go down without a fight, managing to maneuver his 20 big-blind stack all the way to reclaim a handy lead. From there, Allan never looked back and after a two-hour heads-up battle, the final hand of the night occurred.
It started when David Allan limped the button and Ken Demlakian checked the big blind. Both players then opted to check the 8♦3♠7♠ flop and the Q♣ fell on the turn. Demlakian led for 50,000 and Allan called. The K♠ river was flipped onto the felt and Demlakian led for 60,000. Allan then announced a raise to 170,000 and Demlakian shoved all-in.
Allan made the call and Demlakian's tournament was at risk. At showdown, Demlakian tabled 7♥3♦ for two-pair, but it wasn't strong enough for Allan's 10♠3♠, with the flush eliminating Demlakian as the runner-up and crowning Allan as the victor.
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