Elliot Smith Triumphs at 2017 PSC Macau Main Event

The 2017 PSC Macau Main Event drew a field of 536 players, with the seven-day tournament eventually won by Canadian pro Elliot Smith, after a protracted heads-up battle against Chinese player Tianyuan Tang. Following a victory which earned him HK$2,877,500 (US$370,246), Smith heaped praise on his final opponent, stating:
“It was just a grueling, grueling battle. We were just at it, back and forth. The lead changed probably 10 times, and hats off to my opponent, he played fantastic.”
The PSC Macau Main Event featured a prize pool of HK$ 20,769,800 (US$2,672,433), and amongst the notable pros subsequently seeing a return on their HK$42,400 (US$5,457) buy-ins was Sofia Lövgren (44th), David Peters (37th), Winfred Yu (14th), and Fabrice Soulier (9th).
After the final table of six was reached, it then took just two hours before Elliot Smith progressed to heads-up play against Tianyuan Tang. One hour would then ensue before a deal was agreed in which they locked up HK$2,577,500 a piece, while leaving HK$300,000 for the eventual winner.
That’s when events took a rather bizarre turn, with a marathon 11 hours battle taking place before the deciding hand was played with Smith limping preflop holding Ad-Ks, resulting in an all-in shove from his opponent with pocket sixes. Tang then looked in good shape to double up after hitting a 9s-7h-6s flop, but a 2s and 3s on turn and river put paid to his hopes after Smith made a flush to clinch the title.
Following his latest triumph, Elliot Smith has now earned $2,086,720 from live tournaments since his first cash back in 2007. The win also represents his second biggest score to date, with his biggest coming in 2009 after finishing the A$10,500 Aussie Millions Championship in third place for a A$700,000 ($497,258) payday.
Final Table Results (US$):
1: Elliot Smith $374,075
2: Tianyuan Tang $335,075
3: Daniel Laidlaw $224,120
4: Avraham Oziel $166,400
5: Aymon Hata $123,500
6: Yen Han Chen $91,650