The Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) stop in Sydney came to a close in the wee hours of Monday morning and after a long, 14-hour day, it was Scotland’s Gordon Huntly who emerged victorious. Huntly bested a field of 461 players, making this year’s ANZPT Sydney the second largest of the four that have been run. The largest was the very first ANZPT Sydney, which attracted 493 runners and close to a AUD$1 million prize pool. This year’s prize pool came close – AUD$922,000 – and Huntly was able to officially grab about a quarter of that, or AUD$226,812.
We say “officially,” because that’s the prize the record books will note. As heads-up play approached at the Star Casino in Sydney, though, there were some interesting wheelings and dealings going on. At the end of a break, the four players who remained began to discuss a deal for the AUD$514,476 that was still in the prize pool. The timing of their discussions, though, was unfortunate, as play was about to resume and the tournament staff would not pause the tournament clock to facilitate the deal making process. The quartet did talk while playing, but from the sounds of on-the-scene reports, it does not appear that they were able to come to an agreement.
When play got to three-handed, Huntly, Liam O’Rourke, and Anthony Aston were able to reach a deal. Reports are hazy, but it is believed that they agreed to each take AUD$100,000 and then (according to the PokerStars blog) “sort out the rest heads-up.”
And that was just what happened. After Aston was eliminated in 3rd place, Huntly and O’Rourke agreed to each take AUD$160,000 of the AUD$351,780 that was remaining (they of course put their aforementioned AUD$100,000 shares back into the prize pool before doing so) and play it out for the extra AUD$31,780 and the tournament title.
At the time heads-up play started, O’Rourke had a small lead, but Huntly took over, causing O’Rourke to eventually have to take a chance pre-flop and go all-in with Ks-9c. Huntly had him in trouble with Jd-Js and as it played out, O’Rourke got no help at all from the board. Not even a decent sweat. Because the deal the two men hashed out, Huntly’s winner’s share was AUD$191,780, obviously short of what he would have won without a deal, but seeing as he was not in control of the tournament when either deal was struck, he is likely quite satisfied with his take.
The ANZPT Sydney win is the first major title of Gordon Huntly’s live poker tournament career. He came a breath away from a major title in 2010, but had to settle for a runner-up finish in the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Manila Main Event in March of that year. That tournament, coincidentally, was the only six-figure cash that Huntly had ever had (USD$166,800) until now. All told, he has now won just about half a million dollars on the live tournament circuit, so the ANZPT Sydney win came close to doubling his lifetime winnings.
Australia New Zealand Poker Tour Sydney Main Event – Final Table Results (AUD$)
1. Gordon Huntly – $226,812
2. Liam O’Rourke – $144,754
3. Anthony Aston – $80,214
4. Stewart Ballard – $62,696
5. Jason O’Brien – $48,405
6. Oliver Speidel – $39,185
7. Craig Blight – $29,965
8. Bradley Lancken – $23,511
9. Martin Rowe – $17,518
