Tom Alner Wins Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon for HK$823,000
England's Tom Alner has recorded a few nice results from the Asia-Pacific region, and more specifically from Macau. On Sunday, Alner won the third installment of the 2013 Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon for HK$823,000 (approximately $106,000) after defeating a field of 645 entrants, locking up his best result ever from the region.
After a four-handed deal was made between Alner, Jason Chong, Wilson Fu, and Victor Sheerman, Alner walked away with the title. Alner has scores of $78,189, $38,543, and 5,491 from the home of Asia's largest gaming market, but those have all taken a backseat to this result he just earned.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Alner | UK | HK$823,000* |
| 2 | Jason Chong | Singapore | HK$758,000* |
| 3 | Wilson Fu | China | HK$827,000* |
| 4 | Victor Sheerman | Russia | HK$853,000* |
| 5 | Thomas Ward | New Zealand | HK$317,000 |
| 6 | Brian Yip | Hong Kong | HK$253,000 |
| 7 | Frank Maley | Australia | HK$206,000 |
| 8 | Joao de Castro | Portugal | HK$158,000 |
| 9 | Shinichi Takenouchi | Japan | HK$126,578 |
*Denotes four-handed deal.
Heading into the final day of play, Alner was sixth in chips out of the last 21 players, and Hong Kong's Brian Yip had a massive chip lead. Yip began Day 3 with 1.656 million in chips, and Lap Kay Chan was the closest competitor in second place with 769,000, but Yip's run came to an end in sixth place. On his final hand, Yip moved all in with the 3♥2♦ on a board of J♠4♥2♣ after facing a raise from Fu. Fu made the call with the A♦J♥ for top pair to have Yip's bottom pair in big trouble. The 5♦ on the turn helped Yip with an open-ended straight draw, but the Q♣ on the river wasn't what he needed.
After Thomas Ward hit the rail in fifth place, the final four players struck a deal that saw Sheerman earn HK$853,000, Fu HK$827,000, Chong HK$758,000, and Alner HK$723,000. The Red Dragon trophy and HK$100,000 were left to play for, and it was Alner who proved to be the last man standing to earn those prizes.
On the final hand of the tournament — just the second hand of heads-up play — Alner moved all in preflop with the 7♦7♣ against Chong's Q♣10♣. The flop produced the 9♠8♠7♥ for some excitement, but the A♦ on the turn and the 2♥ on the river gave the title to Alner with his set of sevens.
Other notable finishers included Kai Paulsen (23rd - HK$34,800), Daoxing "Bobo" Chen (33rd - $28,500), and Daniel Laidlaw (51st - HK$22,200).
The next marquee event at PokerStars Macau will be the 2013 Asia Championship of Poker (ACOP) from Oct. 18 through Nov. 3. For more information, please head over to the official PokerStars Macau website.
Photo courtesy of Kenneth Lim and the PokerStars Blog.
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