On The Tournament Trail

Randy ‘nanonoko’ Lew Wins In Macau

Randy “nanonoko” Lew has won the PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau main event topping a record field of 575 players in the former Portuguese colony.

He collected HKD$3.8 million (US$483,000) for his victory, along with 1,440 Card Player Player of the Year points.

Lew and his heads-up opponent Jimmy Pan started virtually even in chips and the chip lead swung both ways over more than 90 minutes until the defining hand saw Pan open to 400,000 on the button, Lew call, and a flop of Q T 8 dealt.

Lew bet 400,000, Pan moved all in and Lew snap called, his Q T having hit the flop much harder than pan’s K Q. The 5 and J on the turn and river sealed the tournament for Lew who said after his first major live victory, “I got queens in against aces, which was kind of a cooler, but after that I was just able to grind my stack really well.

“My heads-up opponent was a very competent player. I felt very confident though, in heads up, because I play a lot of heads-up online against good players.”

The final table payouts were:

First Randy Lew US$483,000
Second Jimmy Pan US$303,551
Third Jeffrey Rossiter US$167,485
Fourth Fabian Spielmann US$130,679
Fifth Zuo Wang US$103,748
Sixth Kai Yat Fam US$83,742
Seventh Daniel Nordstrom US$63,865
Eighth Tan Tai Zheng US$47,835
Ninth David Steicke US$33,728

The HKD$27,000 + 3,000 buy-in event, held at Casino Grand Lisboa, was notable for the re-emergence of enigmatic poker pro Phil Ivey who has been absent from the circuit since the collapse of Full Tilt Poker. ♠

Andrey Pateychuk Picks Up WPT Prague Title

In what is turning out to be a fantastic 2011 for Andrey Pateychuk, the Russian scored again in early December, this time at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Prague. Pateychuk adds $630,263 to his winnings which have also been bulked up in the second half of 2011 with first place at the European Poker Tour San Remo for $937,530 and 15th in the World Series of Poker main event for $478,174.

This was the WPT’s first visit to Prague and the €3,200 + €300 main event was held in the Corinthian Towers Hotel. Pateychuk not only became the WPT’s first king of the Czech Republic but he did so in a field which set the new WPT European attendance record with a total of 568 players creating a prize pool of €1,753,200.

When the final day’s action began it was Stanislaw Kretz who was in the lead with 6.3 million in chips, followed by Benjamin Pollak and then Pateychuk. The final table lasted almost 10 hours, but it was during the heads up when the action truly peaked with Spain’s Adria Balaguer staring down Pateychuk.

Balaguer soared to a 10:1 chip lead over the Russian early on in the ultimate battle but play was far from over as Pateychuk doubled up twice to get himself back into contention. Pateychuk then pushed into the lead but was prevented from going any further when Balaguer moved all in over a 500,000 raise with J 4. Pateychuk called and revealed A K. Two jacks made their way to the board and put Balaguer back in the game.

In another key hand, Pateychuk moved all in with A 6 and Balaguer called with A J. A six on the flop was enough to stop the trophy from going to Spain as the final hand soon came. Pateychuk raised to 600,000 and Balaguer made his final stand with pocket queens. Pateychuk called with A 5 and the flop was dealt 9 7 4. Only Pateychuk had a spade but he didn’t need it as the turn came the 3, and the river, the 2 for a straight. Balaguer received $320,381 after coming excruciatingly close to the top numerous times.

The final table results and payouts were:

First Andrey Pateychuk $630,263
Second Adria Balaguer $320,381
Third Stanislaw Kretz $212,690
Fourth Benjamin Pollak $139,999
Fifth Sigurd Eskeland $107,691
Sixth Russell Carson $84,807

Scott Clements Victorious In Venetian Deep Stack

The Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza IV wrapped up shortly before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in Las Vegas with the $2,500 main event. After three days of play, it was Scott Clements who came away with the victory, earning the top prize of $145,775.
A total of 265 entrants put up the buy-in, creating a prize pool of $607,380. Clements, a two-time WPT champion and two-time WSOP bracelet winner, now has nearly $5.5 million in career tournament earnings.

The Washington native defeated Zachary Fahmie heads-up to take the title. Fahmie collected $89,892 for his runner-up finish. WSOP bracelet winner Ryan Welch finished third for $60,738.

Other notables who made deep runs in the event included Kevin Calenzo (ninth), Theo Tran (10th), Cody Slaubaugh (16th), Matt Berkey (17th), Gavin Smith (19th), Jeff Sluzinski (20th), Ted Lawson (21st), Benjamin Palmer (22nd), Motoyuki Mabuchi (24th), and Tyson Marks (26th).

The main event was the final tournament of the 43-event series at the Venetian, which is now held four times annually. The series features events in a variety of different poker disciplines and buy-ins.

The final table results and payouts were:

First Scott Clements $145,775
Second Zachary Fahmie $89,892
Third Ryan Welch $60,738
Fourth Larry Wright $43,124
Fifth Jeff Finkelstein $33,406
Sixth William Holt $27,332
Seventh Daniel Colinge $22,777
Eighth Michael McTernan $19,132
Nine Kevin Calenzo $15,792

Anthony Ruberto Rips Up WPT Jacksonville

Anthony Ruberto defeated Sam Soverel heads-up to take down the WPT Jacksonville $3,500 main event title in November, earning $325,928 for by far the the biggest win of his poker career.

Ruberto, a Florida native, topped a field of 393 players at the Orange Park Kennel Club just south of Jacksonville. This solid turnout generated a $1,277,250 prize pool, the largest ever in North Florida.

Joining Ruberto at the final table was fellow Floridian and previous WPT finalist Darryll Fish, and the 2009 World Series of Poker ladies event champion Lisa Hamilton.

Here is a look at the final table results:

First Anthony Ruberto $325,928
Second Sam Soverel $187,762
Three Lisa Hamilton $112,657
Fourth Vitor Coelho $75,105
Fifth Artie Rodriguez $55,077
Sixth Darryll Fish $46,315

Mohamed Ali’s Magic At WPT Marrakech

Mohamed Ali Houssam beat 246 opponents at the World Poker Tour Marrakech in Casino Es Saadi in the Moroccan capital in late November.

The €2,700 + €300 buy-in event attracted a larger field than the previous year and generated a $267,011 top prize. The normal WPT final table of six was expanded to nine to accommodate several big name stars such as Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Jonathan Duhamel, and Arnaud Mattern.

However ElkY busted in eighth and Duhamel in seventh leaving just Mattern among the recognisable names, but he too fell short of the big money with a fourth-place finish for a decent payday of $69,778.

Houssam and his heads-up opponent and fellow Moroccan were virtually even in chips when their duel commenced. The final hand happened about 40 minutes later after Houssam had ground out a 2:1 chip lead.

The pair saw a flop of K 8 3 and both checked. The turn was the Q. Ourini bet 370,000, Houssam raised to around 800,000, Ourini moved all in and Houssam called.

Houssam flipped over 8 8 for a flopped set while Ourini showed K J. The 6 on the river changed nothing and Houssam was the victor.

Here is a look at the final table results:

First Mohamed Ali Houssam $267,011
Second Toufik Ourini $166,374 

Third Maksim Martinov $107,340
Fourth Arnaud Mattern $69,778
Fifth Hassan Fares $50,991
Sixth Rodney Assous $41,322

Zimnan Ziyard Triumphant At EPT Loutraki

British poker professional Zimnan Ziyard defeated a field of 336 players to win the first ever European Poker Tour event in Greece in November.

The €4,400 EPT Loutraki main event featured a €1,344,000 prize pool, and awarded €347,000 to Ziyard for becoming its inaugural champion.

At the final table, after quickly getting down to threehanded play, it took a number of hours to lose third-place finisher John Taramas (€134,000).

Ziyard then began a two hour heads-up battle with German Hauke Heseding. Eventually, Ziyard picked off an all-in bluff with two pair against Heseding’s missed flush draw to win a massive pot.

The exact chip counts were unclear, but when they counted down the stacks it was found that Ziyard had Heseding covered by one big blind, and that he had indeed won the first ever EPT Loutraki main event.

The €347,000 payday is by far the largest score of Ziyard’s career. The 25-year-old Eastbourne, UK native had some prior success on the tournament circuit, with his largest cash coming from a sixth-place finish in a World Series of Poker $3,000 pot-limit Omaha event for $71,548.

Here is a look at the final table results:

First Zimnan Ziyard €347,000
Second Hauke Heseding €221,800
Third John Taramas €134,400
Fourth Florian Schleps €100,800
Fifth Pierre Mothes €67,200
Sixth Andras Kovacs €53,700
Seventh Charalampos Kapernopoulos €40,300
Eighth Mario Puccini €27,000