Hand #52: Steffen Sontheimer raised to 20,000 on the button with before Mike Watson three-bet to 54,000 with . Sontheimer opted for a call and the flop landed .
Watson continued for 40,000 and Sontheimer used a time bank chip for some extra time to deliberate. He then moved all in over the top for 171,000 and Watson snapped it off with the overpair.
Sontheimer:
Watson:
Sontheimer was open-ended but the turn and river couldn’t save him, taking us down to the direct money bubble with only four remaining.
Hand #74: Fedor Holz has just been eliminated after ending up on the wrong side of a flip with Nick Petrangelo.
Petrangelo raised to 18,000 on the button with before Holz moved all in for 146,000 from the small blind with pocket fours.
“I wouldn’t call this versus most people” Petrangelo said, “but I think I’m calling versus you.”
Petrangelo did commit the chips and an ace in the window of the flop saw Petrangelo shoot to the lead. The turn and river sealed Holz’s fate and he departed in third place to take us to heads up play.
The action started with Mike Watson raising to 30,000 from the button and finding a call from Nick Petrangelo in the big blind.
The flop fell and both players opted to check.
The turn brought the and Petrangelo led out for 45,000. Watson called.
The completed the board and Petrangelo splashed out 150,000. Watson waited until his time bank almost counted down to zero before announcing all in for 562,000.
Petrangelo waited until the tournament director cut out Watson's stack and gave him an exact count before making the call shortly after.
Just like that the heads-up battle was complete. Watson reluctantly turned over for ace-high before Petrangelo flipped over for two-pair and the winning hand.
The 2017 Aussie Millions ANTON Jewellery $100,000 Challenge attracted a field of 18 entries, which was whittled down to seven after the first day of play. The final day started with seven hopefuls but just three places would get paid.
After a short five hours of play, Nick Petrangelo came out on top, beating Mike Watson heads up. Fedor Holz, who'll return to center stage tomorrow as he has also made the final table of the Main Event, was the only other player to cash. Sam Trickett bubbled the event, going out in fourth place.
Position
Player
Country
Prize in AU$
Prize in US$
1
Nick Petrangelo
United States
AU$882,000
$666,311
2
Mike Watson
Canada
AU$529,200
$399,787
3
Fedor Holz
Germany
AU$352,800
$266,524
With seven players battling it out for the AUD$882,000 first-place prize, action was rapid from the get go. Not only because the remaining players were all seasoned professionals boasting millions of dollars in winnings between them, but also because the shot clock was once again instated. Like on Day 1, players had just 30-seconds to act on their hand with three time breaker chips, which granted them an extra minute to think about their decision.
David Steicke wouldn't use any of them as he was the first one out the door. While he doubled in the third hand after spiking two pairs with king-queen to Steffen Dontheimer's ace-king, four hands later he was a goner. He lost a huge flip with queens to Mike Watson's ace-king and dusted off the remainder with king-three to Sam Trickett's ace-four.
It took another 30 hands or so before the next player hit the rail. 2016 GPI Player of the Year David Peters flopped best with queen-ten but didn't see the backdoor straight of Watson coming. By the time the river was out, the ten was third pair for Peters and he needed a time breaker chip to make up his mind after getting put in by Watson. Peters called it off but had to surrender upon being shown the straight.
Start of day chipleader Steffen Sontheimer didn't have his day. Not only did he double Steicke early on, he lost some more hands to get to the position of one of the shorter stacks five-handed. Finding pocket sevens, he opened only to be three-bet by Watson. Sontheimer called out of position and check-raised all in after having flopped an open-ender. Watson called with pocket tens and send Sontheimer packing after blanks on the turn and river.
With four players remaining and three getting paid, one might expect a slower pace. While the bubble was a massive AUD$352,800, a hefty sum even for the highest of high rollers, play continued on at a high pace. In fact, the bubble only lasted five hands as Sam Trickett moved all in for his last 15 big blinds with queen-nine. Mike Watson would again do the dirty work, calling with ace-jack. No queen or nine appeared on the board and Trickett departed in fourth place, officially becoming the bubble of the 2017 Aussie Millions ANTON Jewellery $100,000 Challenge.
The three that remained were guaranteed AUD$352,800 at this point, but the real money was up top. Fedor Holz, the German wunderkind with just about the best year in poker ever last year, was next to go. Nick Petrangelo raised the button with ace-eight and Holz shoved pocket fours.
“I wouldn’t call this versus most people,” Petrangelo said, “but I think I’m calling versus you.”
And so Petrangelo did, and the big flip fell his way. An ace on the flop and turn left Holz just two outs for the river. While Holz had been very fortunate all week, this time no four popped up on the river and Holz had to bow out in third place.
The heads up was as fierce and competitive as they come with Mike Watson and Nick Petrangelo having at it. Watson started out with a healthy lead but Petrangelo would soon take over as commander in chips, partly because of several overbet bluffs that saw Watson fold the best hand.
What could've been a long heads-up because they started out quite deep, finished relatively quickly. With the chiplead now in the hands of Petrangelo, Watson went for a big bluff that saw him raise all-in on the river with nothing but ace-high. Petrangelo called with top two pairs and sent Watson to the rail in second place.
And just like that, after only five hours of actual play, a winner had been determined. Nick Petrangelo from Boston, Massachusetts walked away with the AUD$882,000 first-place prize and the coveted Aussie Millions ANTON Jewellery ring.