2009 APT Macau Won By Adrien Allain
August 25, 2009 5:34 amThis year’s APT Macau main event was won by Adrien Allain, a recently turned poker pro from Rennes, France. The 23 year old Frenchman picked up $391,547 for the victory which is all the more impressive considering he qualified for the US$4,438 buy-in tournament via a $5 satellite.
“I’m overwhelmed, this is so wonderful,” Allain said. “I qualified for this tournament through a $5 lottery tournament on PKR and end up beating all these top players.”
During the tournament, Allain had to make his way past a record sized field of 326 players made up of such seasoned pros as Johnny Chan, John Juanda and this year’s WSOP final tablist David Akenhead. Once at the final table he found himself competing against 2009 Aussie Millions David Steicke, two time WSOP bracelet winner J.C. Tran and top tournament player Casey Kastle.
The action at the final table was precipitated by the fact that 5 of the nine players were short stacked and were looking to double up quickly. First out was Casey Kastle, remarkabley having made it to his third consecutive APT final table. After Steicke was eliminated in fourth, Inwook Choi turned a straight to knock out J.C. Tran leaving him heads up against Allain.
The Frenchman must have felt the tournament was all over for him when all the chips went to the centre of the table pre flop with his A 3 badly dominated by Choi’s A Q. The poker gods were smiling on him, however, and he hit his 3 on the flop to secure the 2009 APT Macau title. Choi had to console himself with second spot and $214,158 prize money.
Tran, who picked up $117,470 for his third place finish said: “It has been a great 12 day festival for The Poker Pack – it is disappointing not to take down the Main Event but congratulations to Alain, he played good poker and is a deserving champion. To take down such a major tournament for just $5 is quite something – there’s no doubt he has great potential.”