Daniel Hicks Wins Second PPT Trophy in Event #5: $340 NLH
A lot of the time poker tournaments have their ups and downs with players battling to stay alive. Daniel Hicks made Event #5 look like a cakewalk having a big stack for the majority of the tournament and soaring to the win. He bested Gerald Chung to take home $7,532. The final three agreed to an ICM chop leaving $1,500 for the winner along with the trophy. Hicks bested the 80-player field to take home both and add a second trophy to his collection.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Hicks | $7,532 |
| 2 | Gerald Chung | $4,746 |
| 3 | Gursehaj Singh | $4,137 |
| 4 | Allison Buffalo | $2,280 |
| 5 | Vinh Vu | $1,505 |
| 6 | Gerald Anderson | $1,095 |
| 7 | Michael Malm | $845 |
| 8 | Hongwei Liu | $660 |
With 16 players left, Kris Steinbach led the chip counts with 236,000. Hicks was in close pursuit with 227,000 and had a sizeable gap between the next closest of Hamish Tong (178,000). Hicks found an elimination to add to his stack and Chung found a double with top pair better kicker. Hicks dominance continued as he found pocket aces against the all-in stacks of Tony Comely and Jatinder Brar. Comely found a set to take the lead but running diamonds gave Hicks the nut flush.
Running red hot, Hicks picked up aces again and eliminated Tong on the bubble. Shortly after, Hongwei Liu looked to chop a pot against Chung when both players had ace rag. However, Chung turned two pair to take the pot and send him to the rail. Last year’s API winner Mike Malm was the next to exit as his pocket nines lost a flip to Hicks’ ace-king. Gerald Anderson fell shortly after. He got it in good with pocket jacks but came in third place hit the rail. Vinh Vu and Allison Buffalo were the next to exit leaving play three-handed.
At the break, Hicks held a 2:1 chip lead over both Chung and Gursehaj Singh. The three players agreed to an ICM chop where $1,500 was set aside for the winner. Hicks got $6,032 while Chung and Singh got $4,746 and $4,137 respectively. Singh hit the rail soon after leaving Chung and Hicks to battle. Play was short as Chung moved all in with pocket eights. Hicks called off with a suited king and turned a king to become the favorite. Chung could not improve and exited in second place.
Day 2 is Set for Event #3: $670 Multi-Day
Day 1b came to a close with 10 players bagging to Day 2. Out of those players, Stefan Maloney held the chip lead with 563,500. The tournament combined for a $68,400 prize pool and Day 2 will play down to a winner. Below is the table draw for Day 2.
| Table/Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 15 – 1 | Jeff Bryde | 43,000 |
| 15 – 2 | Paul Brar | 185,500 |
| 15 – 3 | David Johnstone | 104,000 |
| 15 – 4 | Trevor Simpson | 168,000 |
| 15 – 6 | Ali Razzaq | 412,500 |
| 15 – 7 | Nadav Bitton | 228,500 |
| 15 – 8 | Colten Yamagishi | 98,000 |
| 15 – 9 | Johnny Dalphond | 179,500 |
| 16 – 1 | Josh Wallace | 178,000 |
| 16 – 2 | Rob Limpert | 376,500 |
| 16 – 3 | Stefan Maloney | 563,500 |
| 16 – 4 | Ben Wilson | 103,500 |
| 16 – 6 | Weston Pring | 190,000 |
| 16 – 7 | Ryan Cairns | 127,500 |
| 16 – 9 | Jimmy Lee | 33,500 |
Day 1b saw a large increase in players. Ben Wilson and Maloney held the chip lead at the dinner break with both having around 120,000. Malm also held one of the larger stacks with 110,000 in play. As registration closed, the day saw 82 entries as 10 players would bag to Day 2. Play was rapid with players seeming to bust left and right. Soon the field was 5 away from bagging.
Garry Sandhu, Brady O’Hara, Ben Dillon, and Chris Symesko all fell leaving just one player to hit the rail for the night to end. Jason Heang burst the bubble to send the remaining players into the money. Maloney bagged the overall biggest stack of both days with 563,500. Ali Razzaq (412,500) and Robert Limpert (376,500) rounded out the podium positions headed into Day 2. Stay tuned as the action returns on Sunday and a winner of Event #3 is crowned.
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