Sergio Aido Wins Macau Poker Cup Single-Day High Roller
Sergio Aido continued to tear up the Asian high roller scene by winning the HK$100,000 Single-Day High Roller at PokerStars Macau Poker Cup 26. Aido pocketed just under HK$2,074,000 or just under $270,000 for winning the event, which drew 81 players, including 65 unique entries at about $12,800 apiece.
The win comes just months after the Spanish pro took third in a pair of events at Triton Super High Roller Series in The Philippines for about $1 million combined.
Official Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sergio Aido | HK$2,074,000 |
| 2 | Yuan Li | HK$1,474,000 |
| 3 | Mikita Badziakouski | HK$965,000 |
| 4 | JP Kelly | HK$743,000 |
| 5 | Jordan Westmorland | HK$588,100 |
| 6 | Pete Chen | HK$460,000 |
| 7 | Celina Lin | HK$362,000 |
| 8 | Nick Wong | HK$283,000 |
| 9 | Wing Cheong Chong | HK$215,000 |
PokerStars Team Pro Jake Cody, PokerStars Team Online Pro Randy "nanonoko" Lew and German high roller Martin Finger were some of the players who failed to make runs to the final table.
Cody looked like one of the favorites as the tournament wound down, holding the chip lead near the bubble, but he bluffed off a big chunk of his stack and just snuck into the money, according to the live updates. Cody opened from the hijack and got a call from Wing Cheong Chong in the small blind. The two checked a Q♠7♦A♠ flop, and Cody called a bet of 100,000, about half pot, on the 5♣ turn. On the J♦ river, Chong checked and called an all-in shove for 970,000 and won with J♠10♣ against 7♠6♦.
That pot enabled Chong to take the chip lead into the final table, but Aido was right behind him. Stacks were shallow due to the fast structure though, and Chong's lead couldn't stop him from going out ninth. He got in a raising war with Aido while holding tens, but the Spaniard had kings and held up to bust Chong in ninth and take a huge lead.
PokerStars Team Pro Celina Lin came into the final table short, but after managing an early double, she shoved again with A♣J♦. Mikita Badziakouski woke up with red aces and put her at risk. He got a sweat as three clubs appeared on the board but a safe river sent Lin packing in seventh.
After short stack Pete Chen busted, the last remaining American player, Jordan Westmorland, shoved from late position with Q♦9♦ and ran into the K♠Q♠ of Yuan Li. Westmorland was essentially dead after K♣A♠8♠ flopped and went down in fifth.
Aido got another boost when he picked up A♣9♥ four-handed and called a 10 big blind shove from British pro JP Kelly, who had K♥6♥. Aido flopped trip aces and turned a boat to boot. Ace-nine was good to Aido once more when he used it to bust Badziakouski, whose king-jack didn't improve.
Aido had about a 3-2 lead heads up against Li. They got short after playing for a bit and Li ended up calling off his last 15 big blinds with 10♦9♦. Aido had him dominated with Q♣10♥, and when neither player improved, Aido's queen-high shipped the remaining chips to take the trophy and the first-place prize.
Photo courtesy of PokerStars
