Jonathan Karamalikis Wins APPT Grand Final

Jonathan Karamalikis, an Australian poker pro who primarily plays online, outlasted a field of 289 players in order to win the PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour’s Grand Final, held in Sydney, Australia. Karamalikis won Australian $459,510 (approximately US$456,750) for his victory, the largest score of his career.

The win takes Karamalikis’ career live tournament winnings to just over $1 million. Prior to winning the APPT Grand Final, his biggest score had come when he won a $1,500 event at the 2010 Aussie Millions Poker Championship, where he took home about $113,000. According to the Hendon Mob Database, Karamilikis now ranked 9^th on Australia’s All-Time Money List (2005 World Series of Poker champion Joe Hachem leads the list with nearly $11 million).

In order to win his first major title, Karamalikis had to battle through a difficult final table. In fact, one of the biggest names in poker – Daniel Negreanu – was there, as were Roland de Wolfe and former APPT tournament winner Eddy Sabat. But the biggest names were also the first out, as Negreanu’s short stack could only take him to 9^th place, and de Wolfe soon followed him out in 8^th. Sabat didn’t last much longer, bowing out in 6^th place.

Eventually, Karamalikis found himself heads up with fellow Australian Benjamin McLean. After gaining the chip lead early in heads up play, Karamalikis soon took an overwhelming advantage. This meant McLean had to make a move quickly, and he got all of his chips in before the flop with A6 suited. Karamalikis called with pocket fives, which held up to give him the APPT title.

Karamalikis was the fourth consecutive Australian player to win the APPT Grand Final. Here are the payouts from the final table (with all amounts listed in Australian dollars):

1^st: Jonathan Karamalikis – $459,510
2^nd: Ben McLean – $294,780
3^rd: Tom Rafferty – $164,730
4^th: Peco Stojanovski – $121,380
5^th: Antoine Amourette – $97,970
6^th: Eddy Sabat – $79,765
7^th: Manuel Hansimikali – $65,025
8^th: Roland de Wolfe – $50,285
9^th: Daniel Negreanu – $36,415