Matt D’Apollonio eliminated in 2nd ($80,000)
In a limped pot, the players took a flop of 6♥10♠9♣ and Matt D’Apollonio announced he was all-in for 800,000.
Joe Sandaev made the call with 10♥8♣ and was just two cards from victory as D’Apollonio showed K♠9♥.
The turn was the 4♦ and the river the 3♣ as Sandaev becomes our champion!
Chip counts
| Player | Chips |
| Joe Sandaev | 4,505,000 |
| Matt D’Apollonio | 925,000 |
Double for D’Apollonio
After both players checked the Q♥J♦5♦ flop, Matt D’Apollonio announced he was all-in for his last 600,000 and Joe Sandaev made the call.
Sandaev held top pair with Q♦10♣ but was behind the 3♣5♣ of D’Apollonio. The river was the 2♠ as D’Apollonio moves back over 1 million.
Sandaev extends lead
In one of the bigger pots so far, Matt D’Apollonio opened to 125,000 and Joe Sandaev called. D’Apollonio then bet 175,000 on the 4♦J♠10♠ flop and Sandaev called.
Both players checked the 3♠ turn before D’Apollonio fired 225,000 on the 3♣ river. Sandaev called and D’Apollonio folded when he was shown the 10♦.
D’Apollonio is down to 800,000.
Sandaev moving clear
Joe Sandaev has put the foot down over the past 15 minutes to draw well clear, stealing pot after pot and forcing Matt D’Apollonio to repeatedly fold.
D’Apollonio is now down below 1.5 million.
Updated stacks
| Player | Chips |
| Joe Sandaev | 3,200,000 |
| Matt Dapollonio | 2,200,000 |
Level 28: 30,000/60,000 (60,000)
Money heist
And this is what they’re playing for …
Sanjaev draws level
After a flurry of action to get us down to two players, the heads-up battle has been decidedly cagey although Joe Sandaev has undoubtedly been the more aggressive of the two, stealing multiple pots.
As a result, chip stacks are now getting very close to even with around 2.7 million each.
Deal or no deal?
The players have agreed a deal with Matt D’Apollonio guaranteed $80,000 and Joe Sandaev $65,000. They are playing for the remaining $10,000.
Heads-up chip counts
| Player | Chips |
| Matt D’Apollonio | 3,825,000 |
| Joe Sandaev | 1,605,000 |
Adam Cusenza eliminated in 3rd ($39,000)
In a flash we’re heads-up! Matt D’Apollino completed in the small blind and Adam Cusenza shoved for around 350,000. D’Apollino snapped and was again dominating with Q♣J♥ to Cusenza’s J♦8♠.
The board gave D’Apollino a fright but eventually ran out smooth for the chip leader 4♥9♠J♠3♠K♣.
We are now heads-up
Nathan Glase eliminated in 4th ($31,500)
Nathan Glase shipped for his last 450,000 and Matt D’Apollonio made the call from the blinds.
D’Apollonio turned over A♣10♦ to hold a slight edge over Glase’s K♦Q♦ and that edge grew considerably on the A♦9♠5♠ flop.
By the time the 4♥ landed on the turn it was all over for Glase as the field was cut to three.
Level 27: 25,000/50,000 (50,000)
Abhey Rai eliminated in 5th ($25,000)
Abhey Rai open-shoved for 745,000 and Joe Sandaev thought briefly before shoving over the top. The cards were tabled and it was Sandaev in a dominant position holding A♠Q♦ against Rai’s A♦8♣.
The A♣4♦Q♥ flop left Rai drawing very thin and although the 8♠ turn gave him some hope the river 7♣ spelt the end of his great run.
We are now down to four.
Split it up
After a long period with not a whole lot of meaningful action, Nathan Glase announced he was all-in for around 400,000 and it was folded around to Adam Cusenza. He thought briefly before making the call and showing A♣J♣.
Glase then showed … A♦J♦. The board bricked and the pot was split.
Dapollonio pushing his weight around
Play has slowed considerably since we lost Joel Williams, with no notable pots to speak of and Matt D’Apollonio gradually building his already imposing stack with plenty of aggression. He has moved to around 3 million – more than half the chips in play.
Updated stacks
| Player | Chips |
| Matt D’Apollonio | 2,350,000 |
| Abhey Rai | 1,400,000 |
| Joe Sandaev | 1,075,000 |
| Adam Cusenza | 575,000 |
| Nathan Glase | 480,000 |
Level 26: 20,000/40,000 (40,000)
Joel Williams eliminated in 6th ($19,000)
Just before the break, Joel Williams announced he was all-in for his last 435,000 and Abhey Rai made the call.
Williams was behind holding 9♥9♠ against the 10♦10♥ of Rai and when the 10♣ landed on the flop that was all she wrote for Williams.
The remaining five players are now on a break.
Chip counts
| Player | Chips |
| Matt D’Apollonio | 1,600,000 |
| Abhey Rai | 900,000 |
| Joe Sandaev | 875,000 |
| Nathan Glase | 500,000 |
| Adam Cusenza | 390,000 |
Glase back in the game
Nathan Glase was down to just 20,000 not so long ago but a series of doubles has him back in contention. He currently has more than 500,000.
Rai of hope
Joel Williams opened to 70,000 and was called by Joe Sandaev and by Abhey Rai in the blinds. The flop fell 9♣5♠5♦ and Rai announced he was all-in.
Sandaev reluctantly called with 7♣7♦ but was way behind the 9♠7♠ of Rai. The river bricked and Rai doubles through to 650,000.
Brett Marshall eliminated in 7th ($15,000)
Nathan Glase is desperately short but he just secured a $4,000 pay jump after seeing Brett Marshall hit the rail.
After Joe Sandaev opened from the big blind, Marshall shoves for a little over 200,000 and Sanjaev called.
It was Sandaev’s black Qs against the red Js of Marshall and when no miracle arrived Marshall was headed to the pay desk.
Sandaev cripples Glase
Joe Sandaev opened UTG and Nathan Glase defended form the blinds. On the 9♣3♥J♥ flop Glase led out and Sandaev made the call.
Glase checked the 3♠ turn and Sandaev bet 150,000. Glase then announced he was all-in and Sandaev called.
Glase showed 10♦10♥ leaving himself with just a single out, which didn’t arrive on the river.
He falls to just 50,000 while Sandaev is now very healthy with 1.25 million!
Cuzenza doubles
Adam Cusenza is the latest player to double, winning a flip holding 7♣7♠ against Matt Dapollonio’s A♦J♥.
He moves to 487,000.
Level 25: 15,000/30,000 (30,000)
Williams at the double
The action was folded around to Joel Williams in the small blind who announced he was all-in.
Joe Sandaev snap-called and turned over K♦K♥ to leave Williams needing help with A♣6♣.
The 7♣Q♦3♥ flop wasn’t what he needed but the A♦ turn certainly was. The river was a brick and with 446,000 behind him, Williams now moves towards the top of the chipcounts with over 900,000.
| Joel Williams | 950,000 |
| Joe Sandaev | 550,000 |
Max Chea eliminated in 8th ($12,500)
Matt Dapollonio opened to 65,000 and Max Chea shoved for his last 150,000. Dapollonio made the call and had Chea dominated with A♣J♠ up against Q♣J♦.
The board ran out 10♥10♣7♣8♥3♠ and just like that we’re down to seven!
All-in, no callers
Max Chea’s first action of the day was to shove from UTG although he received no callers. A few hands later Matt Dapollonio completed from the small blind and Adam Cusenza shoved from the big blind.
Dapollonio showed an Ace as he folded.
| Adam Cusenza | 330,000 |
| Max Chea | 150,000 |
Strong start for Sandaev
Having already knocked out Loc Duong, Joe Sandaev has taken down another nice pot just a few hands later.
Sandaev called Joel Williams’ 55,000 open and the pair checked on a flop of 6♠3♦3♥. The turn was the 4d and Williams checked to Sanjaev who fired 138,000. Williams quickly called as the 9♣ landed on the river.
Both players checked and Williams mucked when Sandaev showed 10♦10♥.
He moves to 900,000 and is second in chips behind Matt Dapollonio.
Loc Duong eliminated in 9th ($10,000)
That didn’t take long! On the second hand of the day, Loc Duong shoved for 142,000 and was called by Nathan Glase. Joe Sandaev then announced he was all-in from the blinds and Glase got out of the way.
Loc was in trouble with 5♠5♥ against the J♦J♥ and the board provided no help as it ran out 4♥4♦7♠8♥9♠.
We are down to eight players remaining.
Cards are in the air
We are underway! The clock has also been wound back to the start of Level 24 so we have a full level of blinds at 12,000/24,000 (24,000).
Level 24: 12,000/24,000 (24,000)
Welcome back one last time to PokerMedia Australia’s coverage of the Stacked Poker Championship Main Event.
After three days of action that saw a record-breaking 181 entries create an impressive $362,000 prize pool, just nine players return for today’s final table with Matt Dapollonio taking a big chip lead into the the final day’s play.
The fact that Dapollonio is here at all on Day 3 at all is remarkable given he was down to just 40,000 chips or two big blinds with 14 players remaining. He was also just a single card from elimination when all-in holding A♦Q♣ against Adam Cusenza’s A♣K♠ on a A♥5♠5♣6♣ board before a repeat Ace split the pot. He doubled up shortly afterwards and never looked back from there.
Dapollonio enters Day 3 with a massive stack of 1,841,000 – double that of the next largest stack in the room, Nathan Glase with 935,000.
The final table gets underway at 4pm local time (4.30pm AEDT) and all nine players will have their eyes on the massive $100,000 first prize.
Be sure to stay tuned in pokermedia.com.au as we bring you all the action live!
Final table chip counts:
| Seat | Player | Chips |
| 1 | Brett Marshall | 483,000 |
| 2 | Abhey Rai | 355,000 |
| 3 | Max Chea | 228,000 |
| 4 | Nathan Glase | 935,000 |
| 5 | Joel Williams | 752,000 |
| 6 | Joe Sandaev | 363,000 |
| 7 | Matt D’Apollonio | 1,841,000 |
| 8 | Loc Duong | 142,000 |
| 9 | Adam Cusenza | 327,000 |
Payouts:
| Position | Prize |
| 1 | $100,000 |
| 2 | $55,000 |
| 3 | $39,000 |
| 4 | $31,500 |
| 5 | $25,000 |
| 6 | $19,000 |
| 7 | $15,000 |
| 8 | $12,500 |
| 9 | $10,000 |
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