Andres Vasquez has become the latest South American import to earn himself a major poker title on Aussie soil, taking down the WPT Australia $550 Action Clock event at The Star Gold Coast.
The Colombian import, who moved to Australia eight years ago, defeated a field of 380 entries to win almost $40,000 in prize money after a frenetic two days of action on the felt, joining fellow Los Parceros Lucho Vargas and Jeison Berdugo in experiencing success through WPT-branded events in this country.
The final table of this event was full of action and high drama, but through it all, Vasquez remained unperturbed and picked his moments carefully, taking full advantage of a misstep from Ali Zebarjad to eliminate him in third place before picking off Tuan Nguyen heads-up.
For Vasquez, however, the victory meant so much more than money, telling PokerMedia Australia his family and friends – and especially his wife Laura, and poker coach Francis – were the cornerstone in making this dream a reality.
“It was a crazy final table, but I was prepared for this,” Vasquez said. “My friend Martin [Finger] and I took meditation in the morning … my focus was on trying to play as well as I can, showing gratitude for being in this situation and playing this tournament like it was your last.”
“Taking this approach makes you really appreciate everything you have and helps you to make better decisions. I think a lot of people take all of this – being able to play poker – for granted, and it shouldn’t be like that.”
“If you surround yourself with good people, show discipline, work hard and study, things will go your way. That’s winning for me!”
WPT AUSTRALIA $550 ACTION CLOCK ($550 buy-in, 380 entries, 48 players paid)
| Place | Name | Country | Amount |
| 1st | Andres Vasquez | Colombia | $39,558 |
| 2nd | Tuan Nguyen | Australia | $27,702 |
| 3rd | Ali Zebarjad | Australia | $17,803 |
| 4th | Arisa Ito | Japan | $11,742 |
| 5th | Charbel Boustani | Australia | $9,044 |
| 6th | Philip Nguyen | Australia | $7,486 |
| 7th | Jaxon Byrne | Australia | $6,270 |
| 8th | Tobias Davis | New Zealand | $5,111 |
| 9th | Win Meng Tan | Australia | $3,952 |
PMA’s coverage of the WPT Australia continues tomorrow (Tuesday) from 12:30pm AEST with Day 2 of the $550 PLO; for more information, visit worldpokertour.com or starpoker.com.au.
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