Event #7: A$2,200 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed

On Saturday, all eyes were on Phil Hellmuth as he went for his 14th bracelet in Event #7: AU$2,200 Six-Max No-Limit Hold'em at the 2014 World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific. However, poker history would have to wait as the "Poker Brat" exited in fourth place. 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   , but found himself racing against the    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    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    and was called by Tran's   . Hellmuth was flipping, but the proverbial coin did not come down in his favor as the board ran out a dry      . 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    . 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:   
Zhou:   

Zhou was ahead with a pair of kings, but Antonios was drawing to a flush in addition to his ace. The   turn have Antonios added straight outs, but it'd be the   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    held up against Tran's    in an all-in preflop confrontation.

Final Table Results

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.

Hand #218: Alex Antonios raised to 25,000 on the button and Michael Tran folded.

Hand #219: Tran limped the button and then folded when Antonios raised to 36,000.

Hand #220: Tran received a walk.

Hand #221: Antonios got a walk back.

Hand #222: Antonios raised to 25,000 on the button, Tran called, and the flop came down    . Tran check-called a bet of 21,000 and then both players checked the   turn. When the   completed the board on the river, Tran bet 36,000 and Antonios called. Tran tabled the   , but it was no good as Antonios had rivered two pair with the   .

Hand #223: Antonios received a walk.

Hand #224: Antonios moved all in and Tran folded.

Alexander Antonios	1,378,000	115,000
Michael Tran	80,000	-115,000

Hand #213: Michael Tran raised to 28,000 and that won the pot.

Hand #214: Alexander Antonios raised to 25,000 and quickly folded to a three-bet of Tran.

Hand #215: Antonios limped the small blind, Tran checked. The       flop was checked through and same applied for the   on the turn. Antonios won the pot with a bet of 12,000 after the   on the river completed the board.

Hand #216: Antonios got through with a raise to 25,000.

Hand #217: Tran made it 38,000 and Antonios said "take it" - fold.

Alexander Antonios	1,263,000	11,000
Michael Tran	195,000	23,000

Hand #203: Michael Tran raised to 26,000 and Alexander Antonios folded.

Hand #204: Antonios limped, Tran made it 37,000 to go and Antonios called. They checked the       flop and Tran bet 41,000 on the   turn to claim the pot.

Hand #205: Now Tran limped and called the raise to 37,000 by his opponent. The       flop was again checked through very much like the previous hand. On the   turn, Tran reluctantly called the bet of 28,000 by Antonios and both checked down the   on the river. Antonios showed     and the pair of sevens was good.

Hand #206: Antonios limped and then bet the       flop for 16,000. Tran mucked his cards.

Hand #207: Tran raised to 28,000 from the small blind and won the pot.

Hand #197: Michael Tran limped from the small blind, Steven Zhou raised to 37,000 and Tran released his cards.

Hand #198: Zhou raised to 40,000 and Alexander Antonios called after some consideration. Zhou continued for 65,000 on the       flop and 125,000 on the   turn. Antonios called the first barrel but eventually let go after the second one.

Hand #199: Antonios raised to 26,000 and Tran called out of the big blind. On the       flop, Antonios check-folded to a bet of 28,000 by Tran.

Hand #200: Antonios limped from the button, Tran called and Zhou checked. The       flop was checked to Antonios and he took it down with a bet of 14,000.

Hand #201: Tran raised the button to 25,000 and Zhou called the small blind. On the       flop no bet was made before the   fell on the turn. Zhou fired 27,000 and was called before he put in a hefty bet of 125,000 on the   river. That was more than half the stack of Tran and the latter eventually mucked.

Steven Zhou	330,000	50,000
Michael Tran	225,000	-53,000

Hand #188: Alexander Antonios raised to 26,000 from the button and Michael Tran three-bet to 81,000. Steven Zhou asked for a count of the stack of Antonios and then folded his big blind. Antonios called and they checked the       flop.

After the   turn, Tran check-called a bet of 56,000 and the   fell on the river. Antonios bet 125,000 and Tran only had about 200,000 behind. He gave it a lot of thought before calling and Antonios showed     for a set of aces as winning hand.

Hand #189: Tran raised to 24,000 from the button and won the blinds and antes.

Hand #190: The action folded to Antonios in the small blind and he open-shoved into the big blind of Tran. The latter mucked his cards.

Hand #191: Tran raised to 32,000 from the small blind and Zhou called out of the big blind to see the       flop. Tran moved all in for 51,000 after the action got checked to him and Zhou called off.

Zhou:    
Tran:    

Middle pair versus open ended straight draw. Tran needed to catch the straight after the   turn improved Zhou's hand to two pair and sure enough the   fell on the river to let Tran's rail erupt.

Alexander Antonios	700,000	320,000
Steven Zhou	608,000	-135,000
Michael Tran	150,000	-185,000

The three remaining players are on a quick 15 minute break, their updated chip counts are as follows.

Steven Zhou	743,000	53,000
Alexander Antonios	380,000	-108,000
Michael Tran	335,000	55,000

Hand #180: Alexander Antonios limped from the button, Michael Tran called from the small blind and Steven Zhou raised to 45,000 out of the big blind. Only Antonios called to see the       flop, where both players checked. On the   turn, Zhou fired 53,000 and Antonios called before the   on the river was checked around. Zhou showed     for ace high and Antonios won the pot with    .

Hand #181: Tran raised to 22,000 from the button and claimed the blinds and antes.

Hand #182: Antonios raised to 23,000 out of the small blind and Tran called. Antonios bet 24,000 on the       flop and then gave up the   turn by check-folding to a bet of 36,000 from Tran.

Hand #183: Antonios limped the button, Zhou raised to 22,000 and got called. On the   3d]   flop, Zhou won the hand with a bet of 23,000.

Hand #184: Zhou made it 25,000 from the small blind and Antonios called. The       flop triggered the continuation bet of Zhou for 36,000 and that was enough to claim the pot.

Hand #173: Michael Tran raised to 23,000 and Steven Zhou called from the small blind, Alexander Antonios folded from the big blind. On the       flop, Tran made the continuation bet for 23,000 and Zhou quickly check-folded.

Hand #174: Zhou raised to 20,000 and Tran called to see the heads-up flop of      . Tran check-raised from 22,000 to 70,000 and Zhou quickly called. Tran fired the   turn for 105,000 and another snap-call followed. The   on the river slowed down the action and both checked. Tran showed     but his six-high flush was no good against the     of Zhou.

Hand #175: Zhou raised from the button and won the blinds and antes.

Hand #176: Zhou raised to 25,000 from the small blind and put up his hand for Antonios to high-five after a possible fold by his opponent like they had already done quite often. Antonios had other plans and tossed in the extra chips. On the       flop, Zhou check-folded to a 27,000 bet of Antonios.

Hand #177: Antonios limped from the small blind and Tran checked. The       flop saw Antonios bet 16,000 and Tran folded seven-high.

Hand #162: Steven Zhou raised to 25,000 from the button and both his opponents threw their cards into the muck.

Hand #163: Alexander Antonios made it 23,000 to go from the button and Michael Tran carefully counted out some chips before raising. Zhou and Antonios immediately released their cards.

Hand #164: Tran raised to 20,000 from the button and Antonios called out of the big blind. The       flop was checked by both and Antonios bet 26,000 on the   turn. Tran called before they checked again on the   river. Antonios showed     and it took them a while to realize the split pot versus the     of Tran.

Hand #165: Zhou raised to 23,000 and found no resistance.

Hand #166: Antonios raised to 23,000 and Tran three-bet to 65,000 from the small blind, Zhou folded the big blind. On the       flop both players checked. The   turn saw Antonios bet 57,000 after Tran checked to him and he snap-called the all in of Tran.

Tran:    
Antonios:    

Only one of the two remaining two jacks in the deck would avoid a setback for Tran, but the   on the river evened out the stacks once again.

Michael Tran	590,000	-198,000
Alexander Antonios	468,000	198,000
Steven Zhou	400,000	0