Jonathan Karamalikis bumped it to his usual 120,000 from the button only to have Benjamin McLean three-bet to 335,000 from the big blind.
Karamalikis smooth-called as the flop was met with a 350,000-chip continuation-bet from McLean.
Karamalikis paused for a few moments before making the call as the rolled off on the turn and McLean checked. Karamalikis pushed out a stack of chips amounting to 400,000 and McLean quickly made the call as the landed on the river.
McLean checked, and Karamalikis fired out 1,000,000 with McLean agonizing before making the call.
Karamalikis tabled his to best McLean's as he slipped to just 910,000 while Karamalikis soars to 7,760,000 in chips.
Ben McLean raised to 230,000 from the button and Jonathan Karamalikis shipped all in from the big blind. McLean called off for 1.055 million total.
Karamalikis:
McLean:
Karamalikis held the best hand and could win the tournament right here if his hand held up against the two suited overcards for the at-risk McLean. First, the flop came down and Karamalikis' fives stayed in front.
The turn card brought the and paired the board. Still, it missed McLean and left him needed a six or an ace on the river.
The river card hit with the and Karamalikis' fans erupted from up on the balcony. McLean and Karamalikis shook hands and congratulated one another. McLean won A$294,780 for his runner-up finish while Karamalikis took home the grand prize of A$459,510 and the title of 2010 APPT Sydney Grand Final Champion!
The 2010 PokerStars.net APPT Sydney Grand Final is all said and done. After an amazing final table of play, Jonathan Karamalikis finished as the last man standing, taking home a whopping first-place prize worth A$459,510 and the trophy!
Karamalikis was one of the handful of big names that made their way to this final table. He was joined at the beginning of the day by superstars Daniel Negreanu, who is also a Team PokerStars Pro, Roland de Wolfe, and Eddy Sabat. Those three finished in ninth, eighth and sixth, respectively.
When it got down to heads-up play, Karamalikis was pitted against PokerStars qualifier Ben McLean. The two battled back and forth with the chip lead changing hands multiple times. Eventually though, Karamalikis started to pull away.
After Karamalikis turned the nut flush in the most important hand of heads-up play, he was able to extract great value from McLean who held top pair, top kicker. That hand really crippled McLean as he was left with about 16 big blinds. From there, the end was just a few hands away.
Karamalikis finished things off on the final hand by winning a flip with the against the for McLean. The board ran out in favor of Karamalikis to give him a full house. His crowd roared and rushed down the stairs to greet the new champion.
A great event was held here once again at Star City Hotel & Casino in Sydney, Australia. A big thanks goes out to all the staff and players who made this event possible. It's one we can't wait to do again next year!
Congratulations to all the winners and especially to the man they call "Dong" - Jonathan Karamalikis!
As Ali Khalil would say, "We're out... like a boss!"