Tournament coverage Poker

The Railbird Report

Written by Railbird Ronny

This article first appeared in the Nov/Dec 2013 issue of World Gaming magazine.

It has all been a bit quiet in the poker world since the insane action of the WSOP and Macau Poker Cup in July and August, although with a hectic few months coming up this little bird was pleased to have a rest!

The three events of note in the Asia-Pacific region since I last flew the coop were APPT Melbourne, the ACOP Platinum in Macau and APT Korea with APPT Melbourne by far the most intriguing.

One of the most popular stops on the APPT circuit, Melbourne is home to many of the region’s top live and online players and it was therefore no surprise to see a strong field of 309 players take the felt eyeing the prestigious title. Among them were the likes of Joe and Tony Hachem, Bryan Huang, Jonathan Karamalikis, Jackie Glazier, Jason Gray, Brendon Rubie, Grant Levy and WSOP bracelet winners Andrew Hinrichsen, Gary Benson and Jarred Graham.

The popular APPT Melbourne Main Event resulted in a strong final table line-up

The popular APPT Melbourne Main Event resulted in a strong final table line-up

None of those would reach the final table, however there was still plenty of quality among the final nine with Joe Cabret and David Yan (who both made the final table of the 2013 Aussie Millions Main Event), Australian Poker Hall of Fame member Billy “The Croc” Argyros, rising star Ashley Mason, and Robert Damelian who finished 56th in this year’s WSOP Main Event for a US$123,597 payday.

Aussie poker veteran Billy Argyros scored his biggest career win at APPT Melbourne

Aussie poker veteran Billy Argyros scored his biggest career win at APPT Melbourne

The final table was a torrid affair, with four players hitting the rail inside the first hour before play slowed dramatically. Incredibly, after a three-handed deal was done between Argyros, Yan and Bowdy Tolhopf, it took four hours to reach heads-up play but eventually it was Argyros who prevailed to secure his biggest career win and a prize of AU$134,500.

Jian Yang prevailed in the ACOP Platinum Series

Jian Yang prevailed in the ACOP Platinum Series

The ACOP Platinum Series held at PokerStars at City of Dreams in mid-September featured just four events, headlined by the HK$5,500 Main Event. A total of 187 players took their seats on Day 1 with 22 making the money, however it was China’s Jian Yang collecting the HK$206,600 top prize ahead of Wales’ Ben Wilson.

This event serves as a precursor to October’s prestigious Asian Championships of Poker which doubles as the grand finale of APPT Season 7 and is one of the most significant events in Asia.

Shen Lifeng is the latest APT Korea champ

Shen Lifeng is the latest APT Korea champ

The other notable event of late was APT Korea and it was China securing another victory courtesy of Shen Lifeng. The increased buy-in meant just 45 players took their place, however the win will be a memorable one for Shen because he defeated none other than the legendary Johnny Chan heads-up for the title.