By Alisha Wormald & Landon Blackhall
Adelaide’s own Kym Newgen has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, battling through a tough final table to win the 2023 Stacked Poker Championship Main Event.
Newgen outlasted a record field of 266 entries to collect $104,320, cutting a heads-up deal with David Ewing before they played off for the trophy in what was one of the most entertaining final tables ever witnessed, with no shortage of action from the get-go.
After Pierre Aoukar, Milan Mehta and Fred Chaptini were eliminated in quick succession in the first level of play, Australian Poker Hall of Famer Gary Benson scored a crucial double to get himself back into the game before Ty West was eliminated by Ryan Hong in seventh place, with West’s 9♥6♣ failing to improve against Hong’s J♣8♦ on a board of A♠A♣Q♣K♦5♥.
One of the biggest talking points of the finale was a big hand involving P.P. Huang, who fell in sixth place; as reported by PokerMedia Australia yesterday, Huang was crippled by Hong after heavy action through to the river on a board of 5♦9♥3♣6♠A♣, which saw Huang open-fold 5♠5♦.
Hong then sent Bunteoun Bok to the rail in fifth place, but despite having held a monstrous chip lead up until that point, Hong was unable to recover after Newgen and Ewing both scored full doubles through him, eventually falling in fourth.
A three-handed deal was then struck to flatten the prize pool, which proved the right move for Benson, who was eliminated in third place by Newgen after being crippled in an earlier hand, where Newgen turned quad Jacks against Benson’s Aces-full.
Newgen and Ewing then made quick work of their heads-up battle, with Ewing crippled down to less than four bigs after running into Newgen’s bullets, before moving all-in with 7♣5♥, only to see Newgen’s 4♦2♥ drill the straight on the final board of 3♥6♣5♠Q♠A♠.
STACKED POKER CHAMPIONSHIP MAIN EVENT ($2,200 buy-in, 266 entries, 32 players paid)*
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 1 | Kym Newgen | $104,320* |
| 2 | David Ewing | $95,000* |
| 3 | Gary Benson | $67,400* |
| 4 | Ryan Hong | $36,870 |
| 5 | Bunteoun Bok | $30,180 |
| 6 | P.P. Huang | $25,280 |
| 7 | Ty West | $20,000 |
| 8 | Fred Chaptini | $16,000 |
| 9 | Milan Mehta | $11,950 |
| 10 | Pierre Aoukar | $7,900 |
Newgen’s Main Event victory capped off an incredibly successful two weeks at the North Adelaide card room, with the Stacked Poker Championship bringing in more than $1.1 million in prize money: the largest series prize pool ever accumulated in South Australian history.
The full PMA Live Reporting blog for the 2023 Stacked Poker Championship Main Event final table can be viewed here. For images and results across all events, visit the Stacked Poker Facebook page or log onto stackedsocial.com.au.
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