DANIEL NEGREANU WINS THE WSOP APAC MAIN EVENT ($1,038,825)

Five days ago 405 players took to the felt of the Crown Poker Room in Melbourne, Australia for the inaugural WSOP APAC Main Event. Each and every one of those players all hoped to become the first-ever champion, but only one could go down in the history books this evening, and tonight that is none other than poker super star Daniel Negreanu.

Beginning just over twelve hours ago, the WSOP APAC Main Event final table kicked off with eight starry-eyed players at the table. From the very first hand and through the first few levels it was clear we were in for a long day of tough poker. It took almost three hours before the first elimination, with last year’s ‘Octo-Niner’ Russell Thomas finding the rail in 8^th place. From there, the action marched on as local player Mikel Habb (7^th), start-of-the-day chip leader Benny Spindler (6^th) and Kahle Burns (5^th) all found the rail a few places shy of glory.

During the night and especially during four-handed play, one of the talking points was Winfred Yu’s ability to stay alive as he had been all in a total of seven times without finding the rail. Yu continued to hang onto life as George Tsatsis hit the rail in 4^th place when a miracle river gave Negreanu the goods and enough to take a massive chip lead into three-handed action.

Having survived an eighth all in, it was the ninth time unlucky for Yu as he would be eliminated in a very gallant 3^rd place. Being that Negreanu dealt the fatal blow to Yu, he would take a 10-1 chip lead into the heads-up battle against Aussie Daniel Marton.

The champagne was on ice, a ridiculous sum of cash was on the table and the bracelet was Negreanu’s for the taking. However, it wouldn’t be that easy as Marton scored some lucky cards to double up and become a threat. Negreanu was visibly frustrated, but destiny would be on his side as the final hand would fall his way and he would be crowned the champion.

WSOP APAC Main Event – Final Table Results
1^st: Daniel Negreanu - $1,038,825
2^nd: Daniel Marton - $637,911
3^rd: Winfred Yu - $423,225
4^th: George Tsatsis - $284,715
5^th: Kahle Burns - $201,994
6^th: Benny Spindler - $146,205
7^th: Mikel Habb - $107,730
8^th: Russell Thomas - $82,721

Not only does Daniel Negreanu go home with a cool seven-figure score for his victory, the WSOP APAC Main Event marks his fifth gold bracelet. It’s also a bit of retribution for his runner-up finish back in the WSOP Europe Main Event in 2009.  A big congratulations to Daniel Negreanu as he continues to solidify his place in the history books as one of poker’s all-time greats.