ANZPT Sydney Main Event Won By Angelo Hanataj

Angelo Hanataj has won the ANZPT Sydney Main Event, after defeating a field of 446 players over 5 days to take down the title and the AUS $219,432 first place prize.
The $2,200 buy-in event managed to attract many top competitors to the event, including Lee Nelson, Tyron Krost and Tony Hachem, all vying to win a share of the $892,000 prize pool.
As the tournament field was reduced to just 54 players, all those remaining  were guaranteed at least a cash finish, and by the time just 26 players were left only Jimmy Tran had ever previously played in an ANZPT event. Tran was eventually eliminated in 11th place, leaving just Mike “The Tank” Ivinas the remaining experienced poker veteran left in the competition.
Four hours later, Mike “The Tank” Ivin and Angelo Hanataj had outlasted the nine remaining finalist to enter the heads-up phase of the tournament. Hanataj had a clear 3 to 1 chip advantage at the start of play but soon gave away his lead to go 5 to 1 behind. As the battle continued, the Albanian born Hanataj managed to regain control once more and an hour and a half into the heads-up, the final hand was played.
The action was raised pre-flop with Hanataj holding pocket J’s to Ivin’s 7c 6d. As the board ran out Ad 9c 8d Qs 10c, there was no more betting until the river when Mike Ivin lead out for a pot sized bet with his lower straight, only to be re-raised all-in by Hanataj, which he called.
Ivin had to be content with his runner-up position and collected $140,044 for his impressive deep run in the competition, while the main accolade went to Melbourne resident Angelo Hanataj, who was crowned the ANZPT Sydney Champion and earned himself a cool $216,432 for his first place finish.