Yevgeniy Timoshenko Takes Down Asian Poker Tour Macau Title
U.S. poker player Yevgeniy Timoshenko bested 257 entrants to the APT Macau Main Event to win first prize and $500,000 in prize money. The 20-year old Timoshenko, known as ?Jovial Gent? in online play, was in full control of the last stages of the game as he eliminated all but one of the eight who made it to the final table.
The Asian Poker Tour Macau event was held at the Galaxy StarWorld Casino. The event was starved of players and the number of players was not sufficient to create the guaranteed $1.5 million prize pool. No worries because APT kept its promise and honored the guarantee.
At the start of the final table, Michael Pedley moved his chips all-in. No surprise there because he had the shortest chip stack. Quang Nguyen booted him out by drawing a nut flush taking chip lead. Unfortunately for Nguyen, this would be short-lived because it was Timoshenko?s show from that moment on.
Timoshenko then proceeded to pick off the players one by one, starting with Chong Wing Cheong and then followed by Quang Nguyen himself. In the next hand, Timoshenko then sent Julio Diaz to the rail. Then followed the departure of Day 2 chip leader Casey Kastle, courtesy of Timoshenko again who dealt another back-to-back elimination by taking out Rober Karian in the next hand. With Karian finishing in third place with $126,000, there was only Joon Hee Yeah standing between Timoshenka and a victory.
Timoshenko had an almost 10:1 chip advantage over Yeah and although the latter put up a fight, Timoshenko was just too strong. Timoshenko clinched the win with pocket Queens leaving Yeah with $250,000 for second place.
Popular poker pros present at the tournament included Doyle Brunson, Todd Brunson, Johnny Chan, J.C. Tran, Huck Seed, John Juanda and Mel Judah. The next APT event will be held in Seoul, South Korea.
