APT Finale Macau: India’s Varun Gupta Wins Main Event Title For HK$300,400 (~₹24.81 Lakhs)

In a spectacular run, India’s Varun Gupta (cover image) put up a splendid performance on the final day of the APT Finale Macau Championships 2017 Main Event yesterday to emerge victorious.

Gupta had his work cut out for him, starting out sixth among eight finalists but he maneuvered his stack perfectly to eventually claim the title and the top prize of HK$300,400 (~₹24,81,107). Gupta made a heads-up deal with eventual runner-up Chinese Taipei’s Jack En-Ching Wu before taking down his first APT Championship Ring, APT Championship Trophy along with the Meister luxury watch for his finish.

The headline HK$11,000 Main Event drew 157 entries and on its final day, it came down to the final eight with every survivor looking to seize their first major Asian Poker Tour title. And well, it was an Indian who will bring the title home!

Gupta ended Day 3 with a decent stack of 331,000 however he was nowhere near eventual runner-up Jack Wu who bagged a mammoth 940,000 in chips.

Final Day Recap

The final eight-handed table began with Gupta quickly causing some serious damage. He first doubled up through Michael Soyza after calling Soyza’s raise-shove on a completed board that read . Soyza tabled for two pair while Gupta took down the hand with :12d for a rivered straight.

There was no stopping this Delhi-based cash game player as he went on to pick up many more sizable pots. One of the biggest hands for Gupta was against Austin Walton. With the board open . Gupta led out, Walton check-raised, and Gupta didn’t even bat an eyelash before snap-calling with for top pair. Walton showed for bottom pair and exited the event.

With four players left in the running after Norway based Kai Paulsen exited in fifth place, Gupta held over half the chips in play after winning a massive hand against Wu. At every round, Wu fired out hefty bets and Gupta continued to call. The board fanned out , and Gupta won it with his flush tabling .

Hong Kong`s Kwok Luen Hei became the fourth-place finisher and Shyh Chyn Lim fell next in third place.

Gupta entered the heads up round holding 1,595,000 to Wu’s 2,330,000. Both players soon agreed upon a deal with Wu guaranteed HK$310,000 and Gupta HK$280,400. The play then resumed for the title and the additional HK$20,000 reserved for the winner.

Despite Wu’s extensive experience, it didn’t take long for Gupta to seal the deal. He did tell the APT crew that this was the point when he felt most comfortable. The champion said, “To be honest, I think my genuine edge came when it was heads up. Again being from a cash game background, it’s easy to put down players like 3 betting spots and hero call spots. So I was much more comfortable when it was heads up.”

Gupta took down three pots to take over a command lead and although Wu fought back vigorously and retook the lead, Gupta was unrelenting and soon doubled up with pocket fours against the Ax 7x of Wu and the final hand followed soon thereafter. The final hand of the event saw Wu moving in with and Gupta called off holding . The board blanked out and Gupta shipped the event with king high!

The elated champion in a post interview said, “No doubt it is the best feeling one can get playing the first international trip and get in 1st position playing with the sickos and regulars. It’s amazing. Top of the world!”

We asked Gupta about his strategy coming into the final day. He said, “Since I belong to the cash game player category, my strategy was to play text book poker. Didn’t need to do much in this, get hands and get paid off, so easy life in short.. LOL”

Finally, when asked how he would be celebrating, he said, “Team India is going for a grand party tonight! Let’s celebrate today and get the job done again tomorrow.”

Final Table Results (HKD)

1. Varun Gupta – HK$300,400*

2. Jack En-Ching Wu – HK$310,000*

3. Shyh Chyn Lim – HK$6,000

4. Kwok Luen Hei – HK$113,800

5. Kai Paulsen – HK$94,200

6. Austin Walton – HK$77,600

7. Michael Soyza – HK$64,100

8. Anson Wong Fuk On – HK$53,500

*denotes heads-up deal

Team PokerGuru congratulates Gupta for his splendid performance. Keep following all the updates from APT Finale Macau right here on PokerGuru!