One hand after his double up, Nauvneel Kashyap raised to 35,000 in the hijack and Tu Tran three-bet to 135,000 in the big blind. Kashyap jammed for 672,000 and Tran snap-called.
Nauvneel Kashyap:
Tu Tran:
The flop provided no help, while the on the turn gave Kashyap an additional gutshot straight draw. A blank on the river was not what he was looking for and Kashyap was eliminated in 7th place for A$9,964.
Tu Tran raised first to act and Adrian Salter called in the big blind. On the flop, Salter check-raised from 20,000 to 70,000 and Tran called. The fell on the turn and Salter checked once more. Tran now bet 90,000 and Salter jammed for around 600,000 to receive an instant call by Tran.
Adrian Salter:
Tu Tran:
Salter was drawing dead with his top pair as Tran's rail celebrated with the words "he always has it." The meaningless river was a formality and Salter headed to the payout desk to collect A$19,057 for his efforts.
Tu Tran raised to 42,000 from under the gun and Michael Oscuro shoved in the small blind for 557,000. Alex Yazbeck folded his big blind and Tran quickly called.
Michael Oscuro:
Tu Tran:
The board ran out for Tran to hold with the higher pocket pair for two pair to eliminate Oscuro in fourth place for A$26,810.
Qiang Fu raised the button to 50,000 and chip leader Tu Tran three-bet to 230,000 in the big blind. Fu seemed interested but sent his cards into the muck after a short consideration.
Tran limped the next small blind and Fu checked to the flop, which Tran bet to win the pot.
Fu jammed the small blind next and Alex Yazbeck instantly called out of the big blind.
Alex Yazbeck:
Qiang Fu:
The flop instantly gave Yazbeck the checkmark with a full house, which made the turn and river a formality.
Tu Tran raised the button and Alex Yazbeck jammed out of the big blind for 545,000 in total, an instant call by Tran followed.
Alex Yazbeck:
Tu Tran:
Yazbeck was in need of help and the flop reduced his hopes to the remaining three jacks in the deck. The turn and the river were both blanks and Yazbeck was eliminated in 3rd place for A$38,167.
Tran and Qiang Fu will now take a short break before the heads-up battle for the trophy and top prize of A$89,003 gets underway.
Qiang Fu raised to 90,000 and Tu Tran called to see the flop, on which Tran checked. Fu made it 100,000 to go and Tran moved all in, prompting Fu to ask for the exact amount and his bet to be pulled all in. The jam was for another 765,000 on top and Fu reluctantly called.
Tu Tran:
Qiang Fu:
When he spotted the cards of his opponent, Fu nodded as the rail came closer to see the showdown. Tran was ahead with top pair, but Fu spiked the turn to improve to two pair.
Tran's hand was still live, but the river was a blank to end his run in 2nd place for A$54,995. Fu has been crowned the champion and takes home the trophy, as well as the first-place prize of A$89,003 that comes along with it.
In the ninth level of Day 2 of the A$1,100 6-Max here at The Star Sydney Champs, a champion was crowned in Qiang Fu after defeating Tu Tran in an hour-long heads-up battle. Fu claimed the first-place prize of A$89,003 and the beautiful trophy after outlasting the record-breaking 356-strong field.
This cash is Fu’s second-highest live cash ever taking his career winnings to over $400,000 in total. This is only his second tournament win ever after winning one in 2015 in New Zealand. Fu was railed all day by Zhankang Chen after he busted in 14th place himself. The final seven players were combined onto one table with Alex Yazbeck claiming his second final table of the week after finishing in second place in the Turbo.
Final Table Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize (AUD)
Prize (USD)
1
Qiang Fu
Australia
$89,003
$61,643
2
Tu Tran
Australia
$54,995
$38,089
3
Alex Yazbeck
Australia
$38,167
$26,434
4
Michael Oscuro
Australia
$26,810
$18,568
5
Adrian Salter
Australia
$19,057
$13,199
6
John Rosario
Australia
$13,702
$9,490
7
Nauvneel Kashyap
Australia
$9,964
$6,901
A Hectic Start
Thirty players took their seats at 12:30 p.m. local time ready to battle it out in what became one of the most hectic two-hour stints the PokerNews live reporting team has ever seen. In just two hours, the field was reduced to the last nine players. Sam Capra left the feature table in the first hand of the day when he ran his ace-king into the pocket eight of Fu. Michael Doodson started the day as the absolute short stack but managed to grab several pay jumps by doubling up a few times to make it to 8th place in the end for A$9,964.
Connie Graham fell in 26th place when her pocket jacks couldn’t beat the pocket eights of Andrew Miller who had turned a set. Fu also took all of Michael Seymour’s chips when he first shoved on him for Seymour to fold to and to then take the rest a few hands later. Miller himself was eliminated by Tran when his tens failed to win against Tran’s kings.
Fu and Tran Creating Havoc
Fu went on a bit of a rampage when the final two tables were reached, outkicking Yazbeck, eliminating Guangyu Wang, shoving on John Rosario, and so on. But Tran did the same when there were only eight players left eliminating Doodson with aces when the latter held queens, taking down Nauvneel Kashyap with kings when Kashyap held ace-king. Adrian Salter was another one of Tran’s victims as he ran his ace-six into the kings of Tran. Michael Oscuro also busted when his shove with tens was called by Tran who held kings again.
With three left, Yazbeck was the shorter stack and doubled once with aces through Fu but fell to Tran with ace-jack as he was up against Tran’s ace-king. Not enough help on the board meant that Yazbeck won A$38,167 this time which was almost three times as much as his previous final table result. Yazbeck was cheered on by his family members which also included his brother and father who both made the same final table of the Turbo.
Heads-Up Action
Within the first ten minutes of heads-up play, Fu doubled up through Tran when he had flopped a set and all the chips went in. Tran called with the open-ended straight, straight flush, royal flush, and flush draw but bricked the turn and river to be able to win the tournament. Fu took over the chip lead after this monster pot and never really looked back. In the final hand of the day, Tran had flopped top pair when he moved all in and Fu called with the middle pair on the queen-five-deuce flop. Fu turned two pair as the eight fell and no queen or four came on the river to save Tran as he was eliminated. Tran and Fu shook hands, Tran walked to his rail who complimented him on his play, and then made his way to the payout desk while Fu celebrated with Chen and posed for the winner photos.
This concludes the 6-Max coverage but the PokerNews live reporting team will be back on Wednesday, July 31, at 2:15 p.m. local time to bring you all the action from the High Roller tournament.