Dejan Divkovic Wins the 2013 PokerStars.net ANZPT Perth Main Event ($114,000)
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After five days of poker action at Crown Perth in Western Australia, the victor of the third stop on Season 5 of the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour has been decided. For the rest of time the history books will say that Dejan Divkovic claimed the 2013 ANZPT Perth Main Event title and $114,000 to go along with it.
At the beginning of the day there were four players with relatively short stacks compared to the rest of the table. However, with the blinds starting at 3,000-6,000 with a 1,000 ante, and the average stack at over 70 big blinds, every player had plenty of time to run their stack up.
It would take half an hour of stagnant play before the first all-in, with David Fragomeni the eventual player to find the rail in 9th place. Fragomeni��s final hand saw him three-bet all-in from the cut-off holding 
, only to run into the 
of David Evans. The dealer spread out a 
board, with no help for Fragomeni meaning he had found the rail.
The next player to be eliminated was Luke Brabin. During Level 18, with blinds at 4,000-8,000, Iori Yogo opened the pot to 16,000 from the cutoff. Brabin called out of the big blind and the dealer turned over a 
flop. At this point Brabin check-shoved for 116,000 after Yogo led for 22,000. Yogo made the call, putting Brabin at risk. Brabin held 
and was not in good shape against Yogo��s 
and when a 
turn and a 
river completed the board, it was all over in 8th place for Brabin.
Not long after Brabin��s elimination and James Broom would be joining him on the rail. Despite doubling up early and staying active enough to run up a bit of a stack, Broom��s final hand would eventually occur.
Broom opened the hijack to 16,000. Dejan Divkovic was in the big blind and called as the dealer turned over a 
flop. Divkovic check-called a bet of 17,000 here and then checked the 
turn. This time when Divkovic checked and Broom bet 31,000, Divkovic would check-raise to 100,000. Broom called and a 
completed the board on the river. Divkovic took his time before betting 175,000 �C enough to put Broom all in. Broom made a reluctant call and turned over 
for flopped two pair, which wasn��t good enough for Divkovic��s 
for a turned straight.
There was a bit of a lull in the play following Broom��s elimination, but the action would pick up during level 19 with the blinds at 5,000-10,000. Beginning with an open to 20,000 from Divkovic from under the gun, Colin Wilford called out of the small blind and so too did Philip Gidley-King from the big blind. The 
flop would see Wilford check and Gidley-King bet 20,000. Both Divkovic and Wilford called and a hit the turn. This time the action was checked to Divkovic, who bet 65,000. Wilford moved all in for 155,000 and Gidley-King folded. Back on Divkovic and after some thought, he made the call, holding 
. Wilford was behind with his 
and the on the river changed nothing and with that Wilford was sent home in 6th place, collecting $23,000 for his time.
Just a few minutes after Wilford��s elimination and David Evans would find himself all-in preflop holding against the 
of Dale Marsland. The flop gave Marsland a set of tens and with no help for Wilford on
the turn or the river, it was all over in 5th place for a $27,300 score.
Heading into four-handed play and the remaining players had an average stack of around 100 big blinds. The shortest stack at this stage was Philip Gidley-King and it was no surprise to see him getting all his chips in the middle when he held 
on a 
flop. Gidley-King��s opponent was Yogo, who had flopped a set with his . Gidley-King hit his flush on the turn, but the board paired up on the 
river and with that Gidley-King was sent home in 4th place.
Dale Marsland had been the short stack for much of his last few orbits and understandably got all his chips in the middle when he woke up with in the big blind. Marsland had to come up against the of Iori Yogo and despite having a tonne of outs on the turn of a 
board, the on the river meant that Marsland would be going home in 3rd place.
With two players remaining it was the first time an ANZPT final table would have two nationalities from outside of Australia or New Zealand represented in the heads-up battle. It was Divkovic, from Bosnia, who held a slight chip lead over Japan��s Yogo. But it wouldn��t stay that way for long.
Shortly into heads-up play and Divkovic would leave Yogo crippled. Divkovic held an almost 10-1 chip lead at this point, but after a quick double up, Yogo would still have around 50 big blinds in his stack. It was looking like Yogo was going to claw his way back into contention, but inevitably the final hand of the tournament would play out and Yogo would find himself on the rail in 2nd place, collecting $72,000, while Divkovic was our champion.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dejan Divkovic | Bosnia | $114,000 |
| 2 | Iori Yogo | Japan | $72,000 |
| 3 | Dale Marsland | Australia | $41,000 |
| 4 | Philip Gidley-king | Australia | $32,800 |
| 5 | David Evans | Australia | $27,300 |
| 6 | Colin Wilford | Australia | $23,000 |
| 7 | James Broom | Australia | $18,500 |
| 8 | Luke Brabin | Australia | $14,200 |
| 9 | David Fragomeni | Australia | $10,900 |
A big congratulations to Dejan Divkovic for becoming the Season 5 ANZPT Perth champion. For that effort, Divkovic takes home $114,000 and all the glory that goes along with an ANZPT title.
Thanks to all the team here at Crown Perth in Western Australia and to the crew at PokerStars for another superb event. Be sure to join us in Sydney for the next ANZPT this coming March!