Jonathan Karamilikis used all of his I.Q, E.Q and luck to scramble back from a seemingly impossible heads-up position to defeat Ryan Otto in the AUD 20,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller at the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) at The Star Sydney.
The event pulled in 53-entrants, and at the end of Day 1, nine signed media contracts without looking at them.
Four players stood out.
Karamalikis was the most experienced of the final table incumbents, with $4.3m in live tournament earnings, and 12 wins under his belt, including beating a 422-entrant field in an AUD 2,500 No-Limit Hold’em event at the Victorian Poker Championships for AUD 198,970 in October.
Michael Egan won an 89-entrant WPT Cambodia High Roller for $64,870 at the end of November, and Roger Teska won the 373-entrant WPT Gardens Festival Main Event in July for $368,475. He also won the 394-entrant $25,500 MILLIONS World in 2018 for $2m.
Let’s check out the action.
Final Table Seat Draw
Seat 1: Julien Sitbon – 110,000
Seat 2: Bernie Stang – 142,000
Seat 3: Qiang Fu – 366,000
Seat 4: Jonathan Karamalikis – 128,000
Seat 5: Mladen Vukovic – 360,000
Seat 6: Tom Rafferty – 258,000
Seat 7: Ryan Otto – 630,000
Seat 8: Michael Egan – 204,000
Seat 9: Roger Teska – 461,000
The Nutshell Action
If you remove the ’n’ from Bernie Stang’s name, you get Stag, but Bernie didn’t have the opportunity to stick his antlers into anyone before Ryan Otto had his head on his wall.
Otto opened to 12,000 from the hijack, and Stang made the call from the big blind. The dealer laid the Kh7h6s onto the flop, Stang led for 15,000, Otto raised to 40,000, and Stang moved all-in quicker than an electric chair convulsion. Stang showed Ah3h for the nut flush draw, and Otto was ahead with AcKs for top pair. The 3s and 2s concluded the action, and Stang hit the rail.
Then we lost Tom Rafferty.
Rafferty limped into the pot from the small blind, and Otto checked his option in the next seat. The dealer stuck the innocuous-looking 9h3s2d onto the flop, Rafferty bet 10,000, Otto re-raised to 30,000, Rafferty raised to 85,000, and Otto called. The dealer placed the 4d onto the turn, and Rafferty moved all-in holding pocket jacks, and Otto called with 3h2h for a flopped two-pair hand. The 5h hit the river, and Rafferty missed the money by two spots.
The final six players made a profit after Julien Sitbon visited the cemetery that is the bubble position. The Frenchman got it in holding KhQc, and Roger Teska called and beat him with As8c.
Michael Egan was the first to leave the blockbuster with a few Aussie bucks in his back pocket when he exited in the sixth position. Ryan Otto was once again the Dr Manhattan of this one when his KhQc beat the Kh9c of Egan in a blind on blind battle.
Otto continued to be a one-person wrecking crew by removing Mladen Vukovic from the picture. Vukovic made it 18,000 to play from the cutoff and called when Otto three-bet to 60,000 from the button. The dealer placed 3h3c2s onto the flop, and Vukovic check-called a 30,000 Otto c-bet. The Td fell on the turn, and the same action ensued for 90,000. The final card was the 4s, Vukovic checked, Otto moved all-in, and the call came. Otto showed Ac5c for the straight, and Vukovic showed AsTs for a pair of tens, and that’s the last act he made before leaving his seat.
Ryan Otto – 1,300,000
Roger Teska – 594,000
Jonathan Karamalikis – 415,000
Qiang Fu – 316,000
Qiang Fu finished third in this event last year, and he had to make do with fourth in this one. Fu got it in pre-flop holding pocket kings against the AcKc of Jonathan Karamalikis, and an ace on the turn turned into an FU for Fu.
We reached heads-up when Otto eliminated Teska. The pair got it in pre-flop with Otto’s pocket four racing against Teska’s AcQd, and the fours held.
Heads-Up Tale of the Tape
Ryan Otto – 2,127,000
Jonathan Karamalikis – 537,000
Karamalikis began with a 4:1 chip deficit but clawed his way into the lead by the end of the first level. Karamalikis then looked the likelier to win until a cooler saw Otto retake the lead with pocket queens besting pocket jacks.
Karamalikis doubled back into the lead, and never let it go. The final hand saw his Qc8s beat the Ah5s of Otto when all-in pre-flop earning Karamalikis the first WSOPC gold ring of his career.
ITM Results
- Jonathan Karamalikis – $257,640
- Ryan Otto – $159,395
- Roger Teska – $104,430
- Qiang Fu – $72,140
- Mladen Vukovic – $52,900
- Michael Egan – $40,535