Michael Kane Takes Out ANZPT Perth Main Event

M ichael Kane has been one of the tournament’s chip leader for much of the second half of the ANZPT Perth Main Event. He showed no signs of relinquishing his big stack throughout the final table as the Scotsman saved his best play for last as he won the tournament.

Most eyes were on arguably the most experience poker pro at the event’s final table, Bryan Huang, who entered the final day of play as the chip leader.

With 779,000 chips going into the last day, Huang was head and shoulders above the other eight players, with only Michael Guzzardi having had a comparable stack with 537,000 going into the final table.

One wouldn’t be blamed for thinking that Huang would win the event or at least be one of the last to be eliminated. In a huge turn of events, however, Huang was the first player to be eliminated from the final table after a bad run brought an end to his time at the ANZPT Perth.

He moved all-in with Pocket Nines and was called by Kane, who had Ace King pre-flop and managed to hit a King on the board to win the hand.

It wasn’t long before Kane claimed his second straight final table scalp when he eliminated Gregory Wheeler from the event in eighth place. Wheeler was initially ahead when Kane called his all-in after the flop. However, with a nut flush draw, Kane only needed to hit another spade to win. That happened on the turn when the 8 was shown, which knocked Wheeler out of the event.

It was then Guzzardi’s turn to claim a final table scalp of his own as he ended fellow Australian Robert McLean’s ANZPT Perth adventure. While Guzzardi was behind after the flop and turn at the showdown, he managed to hit a pair of Aces on the river, which won him the hand while eliminating McLean in seventh place.

Raiden Kan was an early chip leader in the Main Event, so it was no surprise he made it to the final table. However, he had to settle for sixth place after Kane once again hit an Ace in a final table showdown. It came on the flop and put his hand ahead of Kan’s Pocket Sevens, and that was how it remained for the rest of the hand as the event was cut down to five.

Guazzardi was eliminated in fifth place after his Kings were cracked by Michael Doyle,who hit a pair of Aces on the flop with his Ace Jack of Hearts.

The eventual runner-up in the event, Stephen McHugh, then claimed a final table scalp of his own when he eliminated Navin Bechar in fourth place. Bechar and his Pocket Twos were ahead of McHugh’s Ace Ten preflop, but three Sixes and an Ace on the board gave McHugh the full house to win the hand.

Third place went to Doyle, whose pair of Queens were no match for Kane’s Trip Deuces, which he hit on the turn to win the hand. Doyle’s elimination put McHugh and Kane in heads-up play, and neither player showed any signs of giving up their stack easily.

Perhaps that was why both players agreed to a deal that saw them split AUD$150,000 between them ($78,900 for Kane and $72,100 for McHugh) while leaving the other AUD$20,000 up for grabs.

In the final hand of the event, McHugh moved all-in pre flop with King Ten of Diamonds after a series of raises and re-raises. He was called by Kane who was ahead – but only slightly – with Pocket Nines. McHugh got into the lead after he hit a Pair of Tens on the flop and another Ten on the turn put him further into the lead.

However, three of the four cards on the board were hearts which gave Kane (who had a 9 a flush draw. The river brought a 4 , which completed Kane’s flush, awarding him the title and the AUD$98,100 top prize cash prize.

Photo: PokerStars Blog