Jim Collopy Wins PL Omaha WSOP APAC Event #2

Jim Collopy took the second ever WSOP APAC bracelet in another USA v Australia climax but found his victory against Edison Nguyen much tougher than expected.

Just like yesterday´s climax to the first WSOP APAC event, the battle for WSOP APAC bracelet #2 was fought out between an American (Jim Collopy) and an Australian (Edison Nguyen) and similarly, it was the overnight chip leader who eventually won the tournament and captured the $69,622 first prize.

Collopy had gone into the climax of the Asia-Pacific WSOP event with a substantial chip lead after remarkably recovering from having just 8,000 chips during the Day 2 proceedings to lead the final table. Nguyen lay some considerable way back in second with Dan Shak the only other player to break the 100,000 chip barrier.

Very Tentative Beginnings

The tentatively-played early hands gave an indication of what was to follow. Twenty hands passed until a showdown was seen and, when it happened, it spelled the end of Marvin Rettenmaier´s participation in the tournament.

Rettenmaier (K♣ Q♣ Q♥ J♦) got his chips all-in in the pre-flop action and was called by Dan Shak (K♦ 7♦ 5♣ 4♣). Rettenmaier´s Queens were in the lead on the flop of A♣ 4♠ 6♦, but the 7♠ on the turn gave Shak two pairs and the 3♥ spiked on the river to give him a straight.

A further 90 minutes passed until the second elimination – this time Martin Kozlov (A♠ K♥ 6♠ 6♥) being the victim in a three-way pot which saw short-stack Scott Reid (A♦ A♣ 7♠ 6♣) triple up at the expense of Kozlov and Michael Leah (K♠ K♣ 5♦ 4♣).

Michael Leah´s tournament life was not to last much longer thereafter. Getting the last of his chips in with Q♣ Q♥ 5♣ 5♠ against Jim Collopy´s A♦ 10♣ 6♣ 5♣, he was busted out of the WSOP APAC Event #2 when the A♣ on the turn paired Collopy´s A♦ and increased Collopy´s chip lead further still.

The Action Picks Up as Nguyen Becomes a Threat

Jim Collopy´s lead extended further still when he hit a runner-runner straight to send Paul Sharbanee to the rail in sixth place, but it was at this time that Edison Nguyen emerged from the chasing pack to lay down a challenge to Collopy´s bracelet aspirations.

Nguyen (A♦ 10♦ 5♠ 4♦) got a vital double-up when flopping Trip Fives against Dan Shak (Q♦ Q♣ 7♦ 2♠) and then finished the job when flopping a straight (Q♦ J♥ 9♥ 8♥ > A♦ K♠ 6♥ 5♠) to eliminate Dan Shak in fifth position.

Nguyen closed the gap between the two front-runners when hitting a runner-runner straight to bust Scott Reid in fourth (J♣ 5♣ 4♠ 3♠ > K♥ K♠ J♦ 9♥), but Jim Collopy opened up a little breathing space for himself when also making a rivered straight to take out Tino Lechich Q♠ J♦ 10♣ 8♣ > K♦ J♣ 7♦ 5♣ in third and take an advantage of 414,000 -v- 360,000 chips into the heads-up.

The Action Slows Back Down until Explosive Finish

The respective chip stacks remained about the same for the first hour of the heads-up. Min-raises prompted folds from both players – neither of whom wanted to commit to the pot too early or take a chance on a coin-flip with so much at stake.

After forty-five hands of the climax to WSOP APAC Event #2, everything changed. Edison Nguyen rivered Trip Eights to take the chip lead for the first time in one of the few hands to go to showdown. However, Jim Collopy regained his lead with interest when his pre-flop shove with A♦ A♣ 9♠ 8♥ held against Nguyen´s K♠ K♦ 8♣ 10♠.

With a 6:1 chip lead, Collopy was now firmly in control and, in the very next hand after regaining the chip lead, the tournament was all over.

Jim Collopy (A♦ 10♠ 9♣ 4♦) raised to the pot from the small blind and Edison Nguyen (A♣ K♥ 10♦ 5♦) also raised to the pot maximum for his last 108,000 chips. Nguyen was in the lead and the flop of 2♠ 10♥ 8♦ kept him there. However the 9♠ on the Turn gave Collopy two-pair and, with no help from the river (J♠), Nguyen was out in second and Jim Collopy was the latest WSOP bracelet winner.