Congratulations to Jonathan Karamalikis, 2010 PokerStars.net APPT Sydney Grand Final Champion (A$459,510)!
The 2010 PokerStars.net APPT Sydney Grand Final is all said and done. After an amazing final table of play, Jonathan Karamalikis finished as the last man standing, taking home a whopping first-place prize worth A$459,510 and the trophy!
Karamalikis was one of the handful of big names that made their way to this final table. He was joined at the beginning of the day by superstars Daniel Negreanu, who is also a Team PokerStars Pro, Roland de Wolfe, and Eddy Sabat. Those three finished in ninth, eighth and sixth, respectively.
When it got down to heads-up play, Karamalikis was pitted against PokerStars qualifier Ben McLean. The two battled back and forth with the chip lead changing hands multiple times. Eventually though, Karamalikis started to pull away.
After Karamalikis turned the nut flush in the most important hand of heads-up play, he was able to extract great value from McLean who held top pair, top kicker. That hand really crippled McLean as he was left with about 16 big blinds. From there, the end was just a few hands away.
Karamalikis finished things off on the final hand by winning a flip with the 
against the 
for McLean. The board ran out in favor of Karamalikis to give him a full house. His crowd roared and rushed down the stairs to greet the new champion.
A great event was held here once again at Star City Hotel & Casino in Sydney, Australia. A big thanks goes out to all the staff and players who made this event possible. It's one we can't wait to do again next year!
Congratulations to all the winners and especially to the man they call "Dong" - Jonathan Karamalikis!
As Ali Khalil would say, "We're out... like a boss!"