Michael Kanaan (pictured left, with thanks to Kenneth Lim Photography) carried his day four chip lead all the way to the final table and will lead the last nine players into today’s Asia Championship of Poker Main Event finale at the Grand Waldo convention hall in Macau.
Day four started with 22 players and the torrid pace early in the day was in contrast to Friday’s day three which was a drawn out affair as players tried to squeeze into the money.
With the 22 players assured a minimum payout of HKD $173,000 (just under AUD $21,500) of the HKD $17,305,200 (AUD $2.15 million) in prize money, the aim became to accumulate the chips necessary to make the final table and make a run at the HKD $4,240,000 (just over AUD $525,000) top prize.
When the dust had settled much had changed except for Michael Kanaan’s spot at the head of the chip count – he enters the final table with the only seven-figure chip stack of 1,393,000. The first ACOP Main Event Final Table will comprise:
Seat 1: Jacques Zaicik (France) 191,000
Seat 2: Michael Kanaan (Australia) 1,393,000
Seat 3: Tsugunari Toma (Japan) 818,500
Seat 4: Andy Ying Kit Chan (Hong Kong) 348,000
Seat 5: Henry Wang (Chinese Taipei) 429,000
Seat 6: Andrew Hinrichsen (Australia) 798,500
Seat 7: Tom Alner (UK) 826,500
Seat 8: Alan Sass (USA) 252,000
Seat 9: Xing Zhou (China) 493,000
“I’m pretty confident with my big chip stack," he replied when asked about his chances of becoming the first ever ACOP Main Event winner. The 28-year Aussie poker pro added, who won the ANZPT Sydney title in 2011, added, “it would be my biggest accomplishment.”
Kanaan will be joined at the final table by 2011 WSOP Europe bracelet winner and fellow Australian Andrew Hinrichsen, who entered day four 21 of 22 but clawed his way back to be fourth in chips and well placed for a shot at the title.
He started day four with a small chip lead over Andrew Gaw, while other big stacks were held by Mike Watson and Raiden Kan. However, Kan and Watson fell in 19th and 12th place respectively as Kanaan continued to add to his chip stack. Gaw ended the day as the final table bubble boy in 10th.
Also failing to make the final table was sponsored pro Raymond Wu (13th), the last female Yuri Ishida (20th), and Gary Lam (15th) who was Macau’s last chance of a local champion.
HKD $100,000 ACOP Main Event final table chip count
Michael Kanaan (Australia) 1,393,000
Tom Alner (UK) 826,500
Tsugunari Toma (Japan) 818,500
Andrew Hinrichsen (Australia) 798,500
Xing Zhou (China) 493,000
Henry Wang (Chinese Taipei) 429,000
Andy Ying Kit Chan (Hong Kong) 348,000
Alan Sass (USA) 252,000
Jacques Zaicik (France) 191,000
Payouts ($ HKD)
1 $4,240,000
2 $2,855,000
3 $1,731,000
4 $1,384,000
5 $1,125,000
6 $952,000
7 $779,000
8 $606,000
9 $432,000
10 Andrew Gaw (Philippines) $346,000
11 Tri Ba Huynh (Canada) $303,000
12 Michael Watson (Canada) $303,000
13 Raymond Wu (Taiwan) $303,000
14 Ping Lin (China) $259,500
15 Gary Yue Hin Lam (Macau) $259,500
16 Paolo Compagno (Switzerland) $259,500
17 Aaron Lim (Australia) $216,000
18 Zhongwei Wang (China) $216,000
19 Raiden Kan (Malaysia) $216,000
20 Yuri Ishida (Japan) $173,000
21 Seungsoo Jeon (Korea) $173,000
22 James McCarty (Japan) $173,000
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