29-year old Australian, Scott Calcagno, wins his first World Series of Poker bracelet after beating Nelson Maccini in heads-up action to win the AU$61,250 first prize in Melbourne.
There wasn’t a cyborg in sight as Scott Calcagno defeated Nelson Maccini, in heads-up action, to take the fourth bracelet of the World Series of Poker Asia Pacific (WSOP-APAC), with victory in Event #4: AU$1,650 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) Terminator.
The ‘Terminator’ tournament archetype is a common one Down Under, and it means that every player carries a $500 Bounty on his or her head, giving players more chances to earn a slice of the pie. This particular pie contained AU$375,000 as 250 entrants each contributed a AU$1,650 buy-in to enter the first-event of its kind in WSOP history.
The first day of action saw the money bubble reached after the eventual chip leader, Nick Piskopos, eliminated the former WSOP Main Event Champion Ryan Riess, in the spot that nobody wants to call home. Piskopos would go on to reach the final table where he would finish in fifth place.
Day 2 ended with Nelson Maccini leading the final table. It was his second cash of the series after finishing in 41st place in Event #1, and Maccini would make it all the way to heads-up action before losing out to Calcagno.
It was another decent final table with the former ANZPT Perth winner Tony Hachem, trying to win a WSOP bracelet to emulate his brother Joe; and the 2013 Aussie Millions runner-up, Joe Cabret, also made it to the most important table of all.
The headline act was the WSOP Player of the Year (POY) front-runner, Brandon Shack-Harris. In an amazing set of circumstances, the WSOP bracelet holder eliminated his main rival, George Danzer, TT>AK, to retake the lead with six events remaining. Shack-Harris would end the day with a fifth place finish.
Other notables to receive a pay check included Michael Watson (13th) and Ismael Bojang (20th) – both making their second cashes of the series – recent WCOOP Main Event final tablist Dylan Hortin (26th), Nov Niner Bruno Politano (30th) and Vanessa Rousso (32nd).
WSOP-APAC Event #4 Results
1st. Scot Calcagno – AU$61,250
2nd. Nelson Maccini – AU$37,845
3rd. Andrew Dales – AU$27,343
4th. Duncan McKinnon – AU$20,123
5th. Nick Piskopos – AU$15,075
6th. Brandon Shack-Harris – AU$11,488
7th. Henry Tran – AU$8,900
8th. Tony Hachem – AU$7,008
9th. Joe Cabret – AU$5,605
2014 WSOP Player of the Year Race
1st. Brandon Shack-Harris – 806.70
2nd. George Danzer – 762.20
3rd. John Hennigan – 557.88
4th. Daniel Negreanu – 519.08
5th. Daniel Colman – 452.40