$1,500 Heads Up Championship
Day 2 Completed
2025 Australian Poker Open
$1,500 Heads Up Championship
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Players Info - Day 2
2025 Australian Poker Open
Buy-in
1,500 AUD
Prize Pool
43,200 AUD
Entries
32
Entries
4
Players Left
1
To win a heads-up match in poker, things generally have to go your way as edges are relatively small and variance can be high. To win five of them in a row is something special — and that's exactly what Andrew White did to become the Australian Poker Open Heads Up Champion.
Over the course of two days inside the extravagant Club Marconi at Doltone House Western Sydney, White defeated Georgina Vuksanovik, Craig Blight, Geetinder Singh, Ricardo Bono, and finally Tom Mcguire to capture the title, trophy, and A$17,600 first-place prize.
"I never really felt at risk in any of my five matches," White said about his tournament experience. "I got the run of the cards in the first four matches for sure. The match against [Tom] was a bit more of a battle, but I was happy to get there."
White set the tone early, becoming the first person to win his opening-round match after just a few hands. With momentum on his side, White continued to control his matches with a deliberate and calculated approach. Impressively, White was never all in for his tournament life throughout his five matches as he always managed to retain at least one bullet in reserve.
As expected, his toughest match was in the finale, where White and Mcguire fought valiantly in a back-and-forth battle lasting longer than any match they had had to that point. In the end, however, White came out on top after an impressive display of heads-up prowess that will surely be a highlight moment in White's poker journey.
APO Heads Up Championship Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize ($A) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew White | Australia | $17,800 |
| 2 | Tom Mcguire | Australia | $12,900 |
| 3 | Aaron Li | Australia | $6,350 |
| 4 | Ricardo Bono | Australia | $6,350 |
Winner's Reaction
"I feel really good, actually," White said of his victory. "Obviously in heads up, you're gonna be against a lot of tougher players and the field from the outset looked pretty solid. It went really smoothly... I never really felt at risk literally in any of the five matches."
Cool and collected on the felt, it came as no surprise that White used to be a heads-up Sit n Go specialist back in his university days, "I'm a bit washed up now compared to a lot of these younger kids, though I used to play a lot of heads-up Sit n Gos in the early 2010s. I just felt this tournament was going to be really well suited to me and I'm just glad I could get the win," White explained.
During the final match, a turning point occurred after White pulled off a sick bluff with just nine-high — a hand that left Mcguire short stacked and ultimately led to White's victory.
"That was probably the most wild hand of heads up. I hadn't been too aggressive postflop against Tom. I just decided after he c-bet min on the flop that it was a spot where I was just gonna go for it... On the river, [Tom] went back and forth multiple times and I was like 'This is the really big hand of heads up.' From there on after he folded, it was a bit more smooth sailing."
Final Day Recap
None of the four semifinalists were shy about getting their chips into the middle, and it only took a couple of levels before both Mcguire and White had Li and Bono down to their last bullets.
Bono, who fell behind early and never able to recover, was the first to be eliminated after committing his stack with a king and running into White's dominating ace. Across the table, Li fared a little better after managing to double up through Mcguire with seven-deuce, but still found his way to the rail after both he and Mcguire flopped top pair. Li held an inferior kicker and was unable to improve to end his run in third place.
The pace of the final match was notably different from the others, as Mcguire and White felt each other out for the first couple of levels without much chip movement. Mcguire was able to grind out a decent lead until he paid off an overbet by White to get back to even.
At his high point, Mcguire took a 2:1 lead over White by flopping top pair against White's pair and flush draw. White committed his first bullet into the middle and Mcguire called and held up — forcing White to reload. However, White fired right back by doubling back to nearly even after making a flush against Mcguire two pair.
Mcguire fought back with a lot of preflop aggression and retook the lead after forcing several folds from White. Eventually, White caught Mcguire shoving with jack-ten against White's king-ten and Mcguire was forced to reload himself.
With all of Mcguire's chips in play, White successfully bluffed Mcguire in a huge pot and couldn't help but show in what was arguably the hand of the tournament.
A few hands later, White got tricky in a hand by slow-playing with ace-king. By the river, White held a pair of kings and shoved against Mcguire, who called after rivering a pair of queens to be eliminated in second place and put an end to the tournament.
That's a wrap for PokerNews coverage of the Heads Up Championship. Tomorrow brings the final starting flight of the $3,300 APO Main Event and the final table of $10,000 The Trojan, so be sure to check out our Live-Reporting hub for continuing coverage of the 2025 Australian Poker Open!
Blinds: 2,000/4,000/4,000
In what would be the final hand of the tournament, Andrew White limped on the button and Tom Mcguire checked his option in the big blind.
Mcguire check-called a 4,000 bet from White on the K♥3♦3♣ flop and then both players checked on the 7♦ turn.
The Q♣ filled the river and Mcguire checked a final time. White then shoved and Mcguire quickly called all in for his last 40,000.
White tabled a slow-played A♠K♦ for kings-up and Mcguire showed he held Q♦2♠ for queens-up to be eliminated in second place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
300,000
60,000
|
60,000 |
|
Busted |
Blinds: 2,000/4,000/4,000
Tom Mcguire limped on the button and Andrew White checked his option.
White checked to Mcguire, who bet 4,000 on the Q♣2♥10♦ flop. White then check-raised to 15,000 and Mcguire called.
Mcguire called a 20,000 barrel from White on the 8♠ turn and then White announced he was all in on the 5♦ river, which was enough to put Mcguire all in for his last 70,000.
Mcguire tanked for several minutes, appearing to go back-and-forth on his decision multiple times before finally tossing his hand into the muck.
White triumphantly turned over 9♥6♦ for a stone bluff and Mcguire could only nod his head in acknowledgment as White has taken a commanding lead in the match.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
240,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
|
|
60,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
Blinds: 1,500/3,000/3,000
Tom Mcguire shoved for approximately 50,000 on the button and Andrew White called to put him at risk.
Tom Mcguire: J♣10♣
Andrew White: K♥10♠
Mcguire found himself dominated with his pretty-looking suited Broadway, and the A♣A♥9♥Q♥9♠ runout provided no help — sending the rest of his chips in play to White.
Mcguire opted to reload with both his remaining bullets.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
200,000
60,000
|
60,000 |
|
|
100,000
60,000
|
60,000 |
Blinds: 1,500/3,000/3,000
Tom Mcguire has been shoving preflop a lot recently and Andrew White has been unable to call.
Mcguire is still on his first bullet and has taken the lead back.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
160,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
|
140,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
Blinds: 1,000/2,500/2,500
Tom Mcguire and Andrew White got all in preflop with White at risk.
Andrew White: A♠8♠
Tom Mcguire: 2♥2♦
It was a race, but the 6♣5♣9♣A♣A♥ runout left White with running trips to award him the double up.
White now has a slight lead over Mcguire with one bullet behind in this back-and-forth battle.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
160,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
|
140,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
Blinds: 1,000/2,000/2,000
Tom Mcguire has won a number of small pots recently to pull into the lead over Andrew White.
In a recent hand Mcguire raised to 4,500 and Andrew White called.
The flop came J♣9♦5♣ and White check-called a 3,500 bet from Mcguire.
The 3♣ came on the turn and White check-folded facing a 13,500 bet from Mcguire.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
190,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
|
110,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
Blinds: 1,000/2,000/2,000
Tom Mcguire limped on the button and Andrew White checked his option.
White the proceeded to check-call bets from Mcguire on every street. First for 2,000 on the 5♥3♥A♦ flop, then for 11,000 on the 9♦ turn, and finally for White's remaining 33,000 in play on the K♥ river.
White showed 8♥6♥ for a rivered flush and Mcguire nodded in acknowledgment before showing and mucking 9♠3♣ for two pair.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
160,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
|
|
140,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
Blinds: 1,000/1,500/1,500
Tom Mcguire limped on the button and Andrew White checked his option.
White check-called a 1,500 bet from Mcguire on the 6♣4♠Q♦ flop and checked again after the 9♣ fell on the turn. Mcguire continued for 8,000 and White announced he was all in for about 30,000 total. Mcguire called to put White's first bullet at risk and a showdown was held.
Andrew White: A♣4♣
Tom Mcguire: Q♠7♦
Mcguire was ahead with his queen against White's pair and flush draw, and the 3♦ river kept Mcguire best — forcing White to use up one of his bullets.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
200,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
|
|
100,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
