APPT 8: Minh Nguyen Takes Auckland by Storm; Flips for the Title

The Main Event of Asian Pacific Poker Tour in Auckland has come to its inevitable finish. The final stop of the APPT Season 8 will remain in the best memory of one Minh Nguyen who was able to secure the victory over the 225-strong field, earning NZ$111,600. Each one of these hopefuls put up the amount of NZ$4,550 for their seat at the table, swelling the prize pool over half a million dollars.

After all of the three initial starting flights were done, eighty players were still in with the fighting chance for the first prize of NZ$132,000. Twenty-four of them would make the money and secure a profitable trip to New Zealand, others – not so much.

Bubble would burst late into Day 2, and it wasn’t without much drama surrounding it. Dubious situation had the cameras called in and Angela Brewster had her last 500 chip returned to her (what she claimed to be owed from as the change from the pot). This prolonged her life in the tournament, as she mastered two double-ups, but failed to complete what would be a miraculous recovery as she was eliminated with the bubble looming.

Bubble question was finally resolved after players have returned from the dinner break and it was Roberto Spano who walked away with the unpleasant honor. He got it in well behind Minh Nguyen and despite of flopping a flush draw, dealer was not kind to him as turn and river brought no help and he was eliminated in the unlucky 25th spot.

The play continued for another eighty minutes down to final nine players. It was Minh Nguyen with the massive advantage over the rest of the field and it seemed like nothing could stop him from claiming the title. This time, the feeling turned out to be true.

Short Final Table

It was a quick final table, as it was all said and done within six hours of play. First to leave was Stephen Thompson, followed shortly by Ben Rendall. Rendall got very unlucky, as his pocket Queens turned out to be no good against super-agro Nguyen. On this particular occasion, Minh somehow turned over pocket Kings.

Falling next were Dean Blatt, Michael Guzzardi and Sam Williams. Both Williams and fourth place finisher Jesse McKenzie fell victims to Nguyen who seemed truly unstoppable.

The final elimination before the heads-up would start went to Thomas Ward. He sent William Rogers to the rail and would enter the heads-up match with about three-to-one disadvantage. However,

Ward was able to chip up and after some back and forth, it was him sitting in the driver’s seat. It was at this point that players decided to make the deal that would see Nguyen lock up the amount of NZ$101,600, while Ward was guaranteed to take home NZ$104,000. NZ$10,000 was left to play for, and then the players made a somewhat unorthodox decision.

Flipping for the Title

The two agreed that they would go all in blind every hand until one of them takes the hold of all the chips in play. With a lot of money already locked up, perhaps they did not feel like dragging things more than necessary and would let the Lady Luck decide.

It was a couple of minutes of fast and exciting action. First flip saw Nguyen almost done but miracle on the river saved his tournament and Ward was now seriously crippled. Next two flips went Ward’s way and he was just one flip away from seizing the chip lead once again.

However, it wasn’t meant to be as even though Ward once again had the best hand, his k10 fell short against Nguyen’s 83 and it was all over. Minh Nguyen added another NZ$10,000 to his prize money, walking away with the total of $111,600 and the winner’s trophy!

All Final Table Results

1st Minh Nguyen (Australia) - NZ$111,600

2nd Thomas Ward (New Zealand) - NZ$104,000

3rd William Rogers (United Kingdom) - NZ$47,100

4th Jesse McKenzie (Australia) - NZ$38,000

5th Sam Williams (New Zealand) - NZ$31,500

6th Michael Guzzardi (Austraila) - NZ$26,500

7th Dean Blatt (Australia) - NZ$21,500

8th Ben Rendall (New Zealand) - NZ$16,500

9th Stephen Thompson (New Zealand) - NZ$12,500

Images: PokerStars Blog