Jonathan Karamalikis Battles Back to Win the 2019 WSOPC The Star Sydney High Roller for AU$377,625 (~$257,640)
The 2019 World Series of Poker International Circuit The Star Sydney AU$20,000 High Roller played out to a thrilling conclusion.
It was Jonathan Karamalikis the man to defeat a star-studded 53-strong field and tough final table; putting on a master class in heads-up poker to battle back from behind to take the AU$377,625 (~$257,640) top prize after an epic confrontation against New Zealand's Ryan Otto, who took home AU$233,624 (~$159,395) for his runner-up finish.
Karamalikis showed just why he has over US$4.6 million in live tournament winnings, with this victory representing his 13th outright title, and first World Series of Poker Circuit title.
The gruelling heads-up battle lasted close to four 60-minute levels, with Karamalikis coming into the match with over a 4-to-1 chip deficit.
It took close to a full 60-minute level of playing through the streets with Karamalikis climbing to just under a 2-to-1 chip deficit before managing to edge in front after an Otto bluff backfired to give Australia's youngest Poker Hall of Famer the lead for the first time in the tournament.
The chip lead changed hands twice more over the following three levels before Karamalikis was able to close out the win; Karamalikis had whittled Otto down to his last 220,000 (seven big blinds) at the 15,000/30,000 - 15,000 big blind ante level and called the New Zealander's short-stacked shove.
While Otto had the lead with ace-five and paired his five on the ten-nine-five double diamond flop Karamalikis, holding queen-eight, hit an unbeatable straight when the jack of diamonds landed on the turn to leave his opponent drawing dead.
"I'm feeling superb," said an upbeat Karamalikis immediately after his victory. "I wasn't really thinking much coming in, I was content to take it as it comes and whatever happens, happens, I just wanted to try and do my best. I'm pretty cooked though [after the epic heads-up battle]."
"I'm not really a ring man, maybe I'll put it on a gold chain and start rocking some gold chains," he quipped, before posing with his new jewellery and heading off into the Sydney night to celebrate.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (AU$) | Prize (US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Jonathan Karamalikis | Australia | $377,625 | $257,640 |
| 2 | Ryan Otto | New Zealand | $233,624 | $159,395 |
| 3 | Roger Teska | United States | $153,064 | $104,430 |
| 4 | Qiang Fu | New Zealand | $105,735 | $72,140 |
| 5 | Mladen Vukovic | Australia | $77,539 | $52,900 |
| 6 | Michael Egan | Australia | $59,413 | $40,535 |
Final Table Action
A total of nine players returned for the second and final day, and with only the top six places paying out three of them would be departing empty-handed. Level length increased from 45-minutes to 1-hour but that did not slow down the early action.
The first elimination came immediately after play restarted, with Bernie Stang falling at the hands of start of day chip leader Otto on the first hand played; Stang defending his big blind with ace-three of hearts and getting all the chips in on a king-high double heart flop. Unfortunately, Otto was holding ace-king, which held to bring the field down to eight.
Tom Rafferty followed Stang to the rail just 30-minutes later on the same level, another victim of a red hot Otto. The hand started innocuously enough, with Rafferty limping the small blind and Otto checking his option in the big blind, with the two getting into a raising war on a rainbow deuce-trey-nine flop.
Rafferty moved all-in on the four of diamonds turn with pocket jacks but could not beat Otto's flopped deuce-trey two pair to give the New Zealander close to 40% of the total chips in play.
The start of the second level played saw the short-stacked Julien Sitbon depart on the money bubble, falling at the hands of the USA's Roger Teska when the two got all the chips in pre-flop with king-queen and ace-eight respectively. An ace on the flop brought Sitbon's final table to a close and pushed Teska up to second in the pecking order, guaranteeing all six remaining finalists a payday of at least AU$59,413 (~$40,535).
Australia's Michael Egan was the next casualty, falling midway through the level at the hands of Otto after losing a battle of the blinds; his king-nine trailing to Otto's king-queen and staying that way on a queen-high runout.
The five remaining players were all set to go on break, but for Mladen Vukovic the break would be a permanent one, with the Australian playing a huge pot that ate into five minutes of the break and losing out to a rampant Otto, who rivered the Wheel with ace-five of clubs on a ten-high board to crush Vukovic's ace-ten of spades. Vukovic took home AU$77,539 (~$52,900) for his fifth-place finish.
It took a further level and a half of cagey play before five became four, New Zealand's Qiang Fu becoming short and then losing a brutal hand against a resurgent Karamalikis. The two got all the chips in pre-flop with Fu's pocket kings leading Karamalikis' ace-king of clubs and while Fu looked to be in great shape for a double on the all-heart eight-high flop, especially considering he held the king of hearts, the ace of spades turn crushed his dreams of a High Roller title and brought Karamalikis right back into contention.
Otto began to increase the pressure and Karamalikis and Roger Teska then battled each other for the honour of playing heads-up, with Karamalakis picking some great spots to hoover up chips without showdown to edge in front of the American.
However, it would be Otto to score the next casualty to bring his tally of final table scalps up to five when Teska and the New Zealander got all the chips in pre-flop. Teska made his last stand with ace-queen but lost the race against Otto's pocket fours to give the kiwi over 80% of the chips in play.
All that high stakes excitement does not conclude the action for the series, with the Main Event still left to play out. The fourth and final flight, Day 1d, kicks of at 12:15pm on Friday, December 6 and the PokerNews live reporting team will be on hand to bring you all the highlights of the day. Live coverage is also available on the official live stream, so join tune in then for more poker action.