2014 WSOP APAC Day 10: Hellmuth Misses Out On 14th Bracelet; Danzer Retakes POY Lead
Day 10 of the 2014 World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific took place on Saturday with only two events in action. The AU$2,200 Six-Max No-Limit Hold’em had reached a final table the day prior, and all eyes were on 13-time gold bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth as he chased a historical 14th WSOP title.
Then, the AU$5,000 8-Game Mixed event played out Day 2 that saw a final table set and George Danzer vault back to the top of the WSOP Player of the Year race by reaching the final six.
AU$2,200 Six-Max No-Limit Hold’em
Phil Hellmuth was in line for his 14th bracelet in Event #7: AU$2,200 Six-Max No-Limit Hold’em on Saturday, however, poker history would have to wait as the “Poker Brat” exited in fourth place from the final table. Instead, the day belonged to Australia’s Alexander “AJ” Antonios, who topped a field of 243 players to win the AU$128,784 first-place prize and coveted WSOP gold bracelet.
The final six players took their seats at midday. After just eight hours of play, Antonios, who plays cash games in Sydney, emerged as the last man standing. The first elimination of the day came early when Bruno Politano, who is a member of this year’s November Nine, got his short stack all in on Hand #7 of the final table. He was ahead with QxQx, but found himself racing against the A♣K♦ of Hellmuth. Politano survived the flop, but a king on the turn gave Hellmuth the lead. Politano would miss the river and had to settle for sixth place and AU$19,809 in prize money.
Five-handed play lasted a long time, but eventually Yu Kurita four-bet jammed pocket jacks and found herself racing against Michael Tran’s A♣K♠ on Hand #69 of the final table. An ace on the flop was a dagger through Kurita’s heart, and by the time the board ran out, Tran had made a full house to send Kurita back to Japan in fifth place with AU$27,624.
Hellmuth would fall 34 hands later when he moved his last 72,000 all in preflop holding the A♥7♠ and was called by Tran’s 4♣4♠. Hellmuth was flipping, but the proverbial coin did not come down in his favor as the board ran out a dry Q♥5♦6♦3♦Q♦. Hellmuth was denied his record 14th bracelet and instead had to settle for fourth place and AU$38,909 in prize money.
After more than three hours of three-handed play, action heated up on Hand #202 of the final table when Steven Zhou raised to 25,000 on the button, and Antonios called from the small blind. Tran came along from the big blind, and all three players saw a flop of K♠7♥5♠. Two checks saw Zhou continue for 32,000, and then Antonios woke up with a big check-raise to 107,000. Tran quickly folded, and Zhou snap-shoved for 341,000.
Antonios let an expletive slip his lips before asking for a count. After a minute, he dropped in some chips to create a monster pot.
Antonios: A♠2♠
Zhou: K♥9♦
Zhou was ahead with a pair of kings, but Antonios was drawing to a flush in addition to his ace. The 4♥ turn have Antonios added straight outs, but it'd be the A♣ river that would give him the win. The river sent Zhou home in third place for AU$79,646, while Antonios took a 6-1 chip lead into heads-up play.
It took 23 more hands for Antonios to seal the deal, but eventually he did so when his K♥4♣ held up against Tran’s 10♠9♣ in an all-in preflop confrontation.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Player (AU$) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Antonios | $128,784 |
| 2 | Michael Tran | $79,646 |
| 3 | Steven Zhou | $55,365 |
| 4 | Phil Hellmuth | $38,909 |
| 5 | Yu Kurita | $27,624 |
| 6 | Bruno Politano | $19,809 |
Congratulations to Alex Antonios on winning the 2014 WSOP APAC Event #7: $AU$2,200 Six-Max No-Limit Hold’em for AU$128,784 and his first WSOP gold bracelet.
AU$5,000 8-Game Mixed
The final table of Event #8: AU$5,000 8-Game Mixed was reached with Scott Clements headlining a star-studded final six and story lines aplenty.
Returning today with more than half the field remaining, play began with many big names falling to the rail such as Daniel Negreanu, Jeff Madsen, Dan Heimiller, Van Marcus, and Brandon Shack-Harris, who at the time led the WSOP Player of the Year race.
One story of the final two tables began developing when one of the tables seemed to be playing slower than the other. Once the tournament director rectified the problem, however, the event was soon down to the unofficial final table of seven, with lots on the line for those left.
George Danzer would need to reach the money to leapfrog Shack-Harris and take the lead in the WSOP Player of the Year race, while Australian Sam Khouiss was looking at making back-to-back WSOP Asia-Pacific final tables. Jonathan Duhamel would be eyeing his second final table of the series, whereas Clements was aiming to capture his third WSOP bracelet.
Ismael Bojang would need this cash to capture his 13th WSOP cash of 2014 and an amazing fourth here at the WSOP Asia-Pacific. That's good enough for the all-time record, with Bojang surpassing Konstantin Puchkov's 11-cash record.
However, it would be Brian Rast who would be the one falling short in seventh place when his A♣K♥ couldn't connect against Duhamel's 4♣4♠ to leave the final table as follows:
Final Table Lineup
| Seat | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Danzer | Germany | 26,800 |
| 2 | Sam Khouiss | Australia | 169,500 |
| 3 | Jonathan Duhamel | Canada | 175,200 |
| 4 | Scott Clements | Canada | 179,200 |
| 5 | Ismael Bojang | Germany | 79,100 |
| 6 | Tino Lechich | Australia | 90,500 |
The final table is set to begin at 12:10 p.m. on Sunday afternoon with PokerNews providing continuous live updates of all the action as we play down to a winner.
Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you continued coverage from the 2014 WSOP Asia-Pacific, with the WSOP Asia-Pacific Main Event starting on Sunday.
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