Joel Feldman Wins Star Poker Summer Series For $185k

Australia’s Joel Feldman has won the Star Poker Summer Series in Sydney, after defeating a field of 135 players over four days on his way to capturing the title, and collecting the A$176,344 (US$184,397) first place prize.
As the final table of nine got underway at the $5,000 buy-in event, Daniel Neilson (1.3m) was way out in front as the chip leader followed by Chad Awerbuch (1.1m). Trailing a distance behind was Tam Truong (345k), Edgar Montenegro (300k),  Ivan Zalac (250k) and Luke Edwards (200k). Also at the table were short-stacks Joel Feldman (175k), Matt Rolfe (150k) and Chris Ayoub (50k).
Not surprisingly, Daniel Neilson was able to progess all the way through to the final phase of the competition, but more surprisingly Joel Feldman was his heads-up opponent. Having battled away into the early hours, after eleven hours of final table play and with the clock showing  6:30am the two players then decided to strike an undisclosed deal to bring the tournament to a speedy conclusion.
Neilson (J-4) and Feldman subsequently decided to go all-in preflop in the dark and lucky for Feldman he was dealt pocket queens to win the defining hand. Daniel Neilson was then credited with winning $112,219 although the actual figure remained unknown, while Joel Feldman was crowned the 2012 Star Poker Summer Series champion. He has now earned $250,018 from live tournament since his first live cash back in 2008.
The Star Poker Summer Series final table payouts were as follows:
1st: Joel Feldman – $176,344
2nd: Daniel Neilson – $112,219
3rd: Tam Truong – $65,728
4th: Chad Awerbuch – $54,506
5th: Luke Edwards – $44,887
6th: Matt Rolfe – $36,872
7th: Ivan Zalac – $30,459
8th: Edgar Montenegro – $24,047
9th: Chris Ayoub – $19,238