Senh Ung Wins the 2013 PokerStars.net ACOP HK$250,000 High Roller for HK$4,086,700
On Sunday both the 2013 PokerStars.net Asia-Pacific Poker Tour Macau Asia Championship of Poker (ACOP) HK$100,000 Main Event and HK$250,000 High Roller came to a close at the PokerStars LIVE at the City of Dreams. Sunny Jung emerged victorious in the Main Event — which you can read about by clicking here — while Senh Ung topped a field of 43 entries to win the High Roller title for HK$4,086,700 (approx. $572,000).
2013 ACOP High Roller Results
| Place | Player | Prize (HK$) |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Senh Ung | $4,086,700 |
| 2nd | Predrag Lekovic | $2,452,000 |
| 3rd | Aidan Tam | $1,634,700 |
| 4th | Jeff Rossiter | $1,226,000 |
| 5th | Jonathan Karamalikis | $817,400 |
Day 2 began with 15 players looking to make the top five and claim their share of the HK$10,216,800 prize pool. Action resumed in Level 8 with the blinds at 8,000/16,000/2,000, and it didn't take long for the first two eliminations as Mikael Thuritz and Chunlei Zhou fell in back-to-back hands to Aidan Tam. Yan Tsang joined them on the rail a short time later, as did legendary Macau high-stakes player Winfred Yu.
In Level 9 (10,000/20,000/3,000), Vladimir Troyanovskiy opened for 43,000 from the hijack, and after three folds, Yu shoved all in from the big blind for 284,000. The Russian thought long and hard before he eventually made the call.
Troyanovskiy: 2♦2♥
Yu: A♥Q♠
According to the PokerNews Odds Calculator, Troyanovskiy was a slight favorite and would win 52.00% of the time. That gave Yu, who had two overs, a 47.40% of surviving the hand. The 5♦9♦9♣ flop bumped Troyanovskiy up to 62.22%, but Yu would win 36.86% of the time with his overs and counterfeit options. The 6♦ turn gave Yu more counterfeit outs, but even so his chances of survival dropped to 22.73%. The dealer burned one last time and put out the K♥. Yu lost the flip, tapped the table, and then took his leave from the tournament in 12th place.
Any hope of a member of Team PokerStars Pro capturing the title came to an end in Level 10 (15,000/30,000/5,000) when Eugene Katchalov was eliminated from the tournament. It happened when Katchalov and Jonathan Karamalikis raised back and forth preflop until the former was all in for roughly 580,000.
Katchalov: A♣Q♥
Karamalikis: Q♦Q♣
It was a bad spot for the Team Pro, and his best chance to survive was to catch an ace. The 7♣9♣2♥ flop was no help, and neither was the 8♠ turn. Katchalov was up out of his seat, and just as soon as the useless 6♠ fell on the river, he made a beeline for the exit.
From there, Paul Newey, Kyle Cheong, and Brandon Meyers all hit the rail.
Meyers began the day with the chip lead, but lady luck was not on his side on Day 2. His pocket aces were cracked by Tam's queens in an all-in preflop confrontation, and despite making the final table, he fell short of the money in eighth place.
After James McCarty fell in seventh place, Troyanovskiy was eliminated as the bubble boy, which of course put the final five players in the money.
Last year Karamalikis won the same tournament for HK$3,707,000 ($478,292) while fellow Aussie Jeff Rossiter finished runner-up for HK$2,224,000 ($286,949), and amazingly both made the money in 2013. Unfortunately they wouldn't repeat their performances as they were eliminated in fifth and fourth place, respectively. Ung would then go on to knock out Tam before taking a big chip lead into heads-up play against Predrag Lekovic.
The final hand would come in Level 14 (50,000/100,000/10,000) when Ung moved all in from the button and Lekovic instantly called off for his last 1,140,000.
Ung: 7♠4♥
Lekovic: A♥2♣
Lekovic was the favorite to win, and the K♠3♣9♠ board kept him in the lead. That is when the devastating 7♥ on the turn thrust Ung into the lead and left Lekovic drawing to just an ace to stay alive. Unfortunately for Lekovic, the dealer would deliver the 6♣ on the river to eliminate him in second place for HK$2,452,000.
Meanwhile, Ung was crowned ACOP High Roller Champion and took down the first major title of his career.
Check out Sarah Grant's interview with the High Roller Champion:
*Photos by Kenneth Lim Photography and courtesy of PokerStars LIVE Macau.
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