Michael Kanaan won the 2017 WSOP Sydney Main Event for $394,837. The young pro from Sydney first burst onto the live poker scene in 2011 after winning ANZPT Sydney Tournament for $203,202. This win was Kanaan’s biggest one and his total live earnings now reach well beyond $1,2 million.
The highlight event attracted a total of 1,067 players across 4 starting flights. After intense battles of four days, it was Michael Kanaan who emerged the champion to add one more title to his kitty.
The key hand for Kanaan was pocket Kings vs. pocket Queens against 7th place finisher Sam Hassan. Yes, Kanaan took the huge pot with his pocket Kings and the hand gave him the chip lead.
“That was the big double up that made me chip leader. He had been running so good that I needed to take his chips from him. He had been unstoppable for three days and after this hand, he was eliminated a few hands later,” Kanaan said.
In the heads-up, Kanaan battled with Michael ‘Popsy’ Fraser, who eventually settled for the runner-up finish taking home over $183,000 after losing with A-10 against Kanaan, who had the A-K suited.
“I really just focussed on staying disciplined. I used to have a lot of trouble in my game where I would just spew off my stack by making bad choices. I have really worked on keeping my composure at the table and just making the best decision I can every time,” Kanaan said after his grand win.
Final Table Payouts (USD):
- Michael Kanaan – $394,837
- Michael Fraser – $244,086
- John Pachos – $181,390
- Nabil Edgtton – $136,362
- Sean Lannon – $103,691
- Karam Bahi – $79,768
- Sam Alhassan – $62,078
- Vincent Huang – $48,868
- Daniel Embleton – $38,924
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