After three days and 249 eliminations, the AU$1,650 Terminator No-Limit Hold’em Event crowned a champion on Wednesday at the 2014 World Series of Poker Asia Pacific (WSOP APAC). This event was unique in that one-third of each buy-in ($500) was used as a bounty on every player’s head, while the rest went towards the standard payout structure. Thus, it was entirely possible that a player could fail to make the money, but at the same time turn a profit in the tournament. For Scott Calcagno, though, the bounties were just a bonus, as he ended up with all of the chips, winning AU$61,250.
As has been the case in the other events so far at WSOP APAC, most of the final table members were Australian, as the Series is being held at the Crown Melbourne casino. Of the nine players, only one – American Brandon Shack-Harris – was from overseas. In fact, the final three players – Calcagno, Nelson Maccini, and Andrew Dales – were all from the same city of Adelaide. They didn’t get to play together for long, as once it got to three-handed, Dales was knocked out within ten hands.
The heads-up match between Calcagno and Maccini, though, was one heck of a long ride. Almost even in chips to begin (Maccini was ahead by 35,000 chips), the two required almost 200 hands to determine a winner. As one might expect in such a drawn-out match, the lead changed more than once. Finally, though, the tournament came to an end on the 272nd hand of the final table. Maccini raised pre-flop to 24,000 and Calcagno called. On the flop of 8-6-T, Calcagno checked, Maccini bet 30,000, and Calcagno called once again. It was the same pattern when the 8 was dealt on the flop, this time for 50,000, but the sparks flew when a 4 was dealt on the river. Calcagno took the initiative this time, betting 300,000, which put Maccini all-in. Maccini decided to call, revealing A-T, good for two pair. Calcagno, though, had been slow-playing all along, showing 8-6 for a flopped two pair and a turned full house.
In other notes from the tournament, 2013 WSOP Main Event Champ Ryan Reiss was the bubble boy of the event, though he was able to pull in a few bounties. And amazingly, Kok Fye Tan was able to eliminate eleven players, but fell just a couple spots short of the final table. $5,500 plus his regular prize money will just have to do.
2014 WSOP APAC Event #4: AU$1,650 Terminator No-Limit Hold’em – Final Table Results
1. Scott Calcagno – AU$61,250
2. Nelson Maccini – AU$37,845
3. Andrew Dales – AU$27,343
4. Duncan McKinnon- AU$20,123
5. Nick Piskopos – AU$15,075
6. Brandon Shack-Harris – AU$11,488
7. Henry Tran – AU$8,900
8. Tony Hachem – AU$7,008
9. Joe Cabret – AU$5,605
* Tournament info courtesy WSOP.com.