2014 WSOP APAC Day 4: Luke Brabin Wins First Gold Bracelet; Benson Leads Event #3 PLO

Luke Brabin

The fourth day on the 2014 World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific calendar was a big one. It was the first day that three events were held at the same time, but more importantly it was the day the first gold bracelet of the festival was awarded.

The event that came to a conclusion was the first one of the series, the AU$1,100 No-Limit Hold'em Accumulator. Other action included Day 2 of the AU$2,200 No-Limit Hold'em event that saw the field whittled down to the final 10 players, and then Day 1 of the AU$1,650 Pot-Limit Omaha. Needless to say, it was quite an exciting day, so let's get down to it.

AU$1,100 No-Limit Hold'em Accumulator

Luke Brabin came into the final day of play with the chip lead, and he successfully rode that big stack all the way to the winner's circle, capturing his first gold bracelet and the AU$131,365 top prize.

Final Table Results

PlacePlayerPrize (AU$)
1Luke Brabin$131,365
2Didier Guerin$81,220
3Daniel Murphy$59,334
4Stephen Lindeblad$43,986
5Ryan Hong$33,080
6Zane Ly$25,234
7Brian McAllister$19,521
8Piyush Gupta$15,318
9David Profaca$12,189

At the start of the day, just nine players stood between Brabin and the title. After Kahle Burns fell in 10th place, David Profaca was the next to go in ninth. Then, Brabin busted Piyush Gupta in eighth place before Didier Guerin took care of Brian McAllister in seventh. Those first four eliminations only took 20 hands of play, but things slowed after that.

Zane Ly didn't bust in sixth place until the 49th hand of the day, which was a long time at this final table, and then Ryan Hong exited 10 hands later. Four-handed play lasted for a little while, but then Stephen Lindeblad bounced to the payout desk in fourth place, as Brabin scored his second elimination of the day. In third fell Daniel Murphy, and he too was busted by Brabin, but only after Brabin scooped the largest pot of the tournament from Murphy.

That big pot took place on the 111th hand of the day, with Brabin and Murphy getting the money in on the 107610 board. Both had trip tens, but it was Brabin's 109 that out-kicked the 102 for Murphy. Murphy did have a flush draw, but the A on the river gave him no help and the nearly 1.5 million-chip pot was sent Brabin's way.

A couple hands later, Brabin finished off Murphy to set up a one-sided heads-up affair with Guerin.

Guerin began heads-up play with 216,000 to Brabin's massive 1.617 million. Guerin tried to fight and actually took most of the first few pots, but Brabin was just too much in the end. On the final hand, Guerin shoved the 98 and lost out to Brabin's KQ.

AU$2,200 No-Limit Hold'em

Day 2 of the AU$2,200 No-Limit Hold'em event ended with 10 players still eyeing their shot at capturing the second gold bracelet of the series.

Thirty-one players began the day with just a few eliminations needed until 24 players were guaranteed a AU$3,969 payday. Andrew Hinrichsen, Jeff Gross, and Kitty Kuo all found themselves on the rail before Steven Zhou moved all in holding the JJ and was called by Aik-Chuan Nee and his A6. Unfortunately for Zhou, the board ran out A9Q2K to ensure Zhou earned the title of "bubble boy."

From there, Russell Thomas (24th), Najeem Ajez (21st), Tien Pham (14th), Tim O'Shea (13th), and Dan Heimiller (11th) all fell short of reaching the unofficial final table of 10 before the health concern of Nee would halt play for the evening with the final bunch sitting as follows:

SeatPlayerChip Count
1Peco Stojanovski102,500
2Michael O'Grady44,500
3Martin Kozlov155,000
4Sam Ruha103,000
5Samuel Ngai153,000
6Luke Spano106,000
7Junzhong Loo205,500
8Feng Zhou241,500
9Fred Chaptini18,000
10Aik-Chuan Nee149,500

Play will resume Monday at 12:10 p.m. local time.

AU$1,650 Pot-Limit Omaha

On Sunday, the 2014 WSOP APAC continued with Day 1 action from Event #3 $1,650 Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO). The tournament attracted 123 runners – down 49 from the year before – which created a prize pool of $184,500 that is to be awarded to the top 16 finishers with the winner taking home $51,660.

The man best positioned to make a run at the five-figure payday, as well as the championship gold bracelet, is Australian Poker Hall of Famer and WSOP bracelet winner, who lead the advancing 22 players with 71,200. However, several others are looking to stand in his way including Jeff Lisandro (60,400), Jason Gray (34,500), Ismael Bojang (27,000), Oliver Gill (26,300), Ami Barer (25,600), and Mike Watson (6,900).

Top 10 Day 1a Chip Counts

2014 WSOP APAC Day 4: Luke Brabin Wins First Gold Bracelet; Benson Leads Event #3 PLO 101
Gary Benson
RankPlayerCount
1Gary Benson71,200
2Jeff Lisandro60,400
3Paul Mac38,600
4Zane Ly37,200
5Jason Gray34,500
6Ismael Bojang27,000
7Stephen Woodhead26,800
8Oliver Gill26,300
9Vadim Pinsky25,900
10Ami Barer25,600

PLO is a volatile game, so it was no surprise to see players hit the rail early. Among the first to go was Mike Leah, who said he called a raise holding the A1093 and then called a bet on the AQ10x flop. Leah, who had two pair with a flush draw, called another bet on the turn, and then put out a big bet after his opponent checked the river, which was a heart. His opponent woke up with a check-raise, and Leah called off his last few hundred with his flush. Unfortunately for him, it was no good as his opponent held the nut flush with K8XxXx.

Others who fell on Day 1 included Jonathan Duhamel, Mohsin Charania, Jeff Madsen, Jonathan Dimmig, Phil Hellmuth, Ryan Riess, Billy “The Croc” Argyros, Antonio Esfandiari, and Australia’s very own Joe Hachem, who was playing in his first event of the 2014 WSOP APAC.

As for Benson, he got many of his chips in the last level of the night. On a flop of J46, two players checked before Benson bet out 6,000 from the hijack. Dylan Wilkerson then went into the tank for a minute from the cut off before potting to 24,800. The other two players got out of the way before Benson moved all in for a total of 30,300 and was called.

Benson: AA67
Wilkerson: Q24Q

Benson had the better over pair as well as the nut flush draw leaving Wilkerson with very few outs. The J on the turn and K on the river were no help, and after a count of all the chips it was determined that Wilkerson had 100 less then Benson and was therefore eliminated.

The remaining 22 players will return to action at 12:30 p.m. local time on Monday, and the plan is to play down to the final table of nine. Of course the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be there every step of the way to bring you all the action and eliminations from the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia.

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Executive Editor U.S.

Executive Editor US, PokerNews Podcast co-host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.

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