After a week of hard work and some long hours, the APPT Sydney event wrapped up with the amateur Martin Rowe claiming the title and one million dollar prize against seasoned pro Jason Gray. The Aussies dominated the event so most of the cash will remain Down Under.
After the final table wrapped up most of the staff and players let their hair down at the after party which went well into the evening. After 36 Degree Bar closed up everyone kicked on at the Bluff Bar until the tab was closed and it was decided to head back to someone’s hotel room to kick on (since you can’t actually go out anywhere due to Sydney’s lockout!). Our entourage included PokerStars and PokerNews staff, PR people and one 2008 World Series of Poker Champion Peter Eastgate!!! By this stage of the evening (well morning) Peter had well and truly enjoyed himself as the ladies were all over him and the drinks were flowing. We decided to play a home game – a turbo sit and go. The action was fast and furious as Danny Mac set the trend by shoving inthe dark and tripling up first hand to thin the field by two. Eastgate then followed suit and began shoving blind every hand which spelt doom for everyone else, as no one runs as good as the man who can win the WSOP Main Event. One hand I recall Eastgate was all in with 26o and proceeded to flop 266 for a boat to eliminate another unlucky punter. He won every race and ran sick playing every hand in the dark, until it got down to three-handed. Eastgate had 70% of the chips as Duckworth and myself had folded our way to a threeway with the champ.
I picked up AJ and doubled through, and then found AK. I shoved as Eastgate followed. “I gotcha champ!” I said as I confidently tabled ‘Big Slick’. He just smirked and flipped pocket queens. Shit! However an ace spiked on the flop as the downswing of 2009 flashed before Eastgate’s eyes as he unbelievably lost a coinflip.
I now had the chip lead and shoved with pocket threes into the T6 of Eastgate. A three on the flop and the crowd roared, but quads on the turn set the champ crashing to the rail. “Good game champ” I said and extended a friendly handshake, but he’d already staggered from his chair into the waiting arms of a the ladies ready to console him from such a devastating lost.
This left Duckworth and I heads-up – a familiar situation that neither of us had wanted. We wanted to go heads-up with the champ dammit! I regret that neither Ducky nor I had taken a dive! Anyway so with my goal of beating the champ complete, I just shove dark with king-high and Duck made some sort of ‘sick soul read’ with jack-high. The board bricked and it’s all over. The Devil is the new reigning World Champ. No cash. No bracelet. But a lifetime of bragging rights.
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