That concludes our coverage of the Heads Up Championship. We enjoyed some enthralling, high quality heads up play over the last few days and congratulations to Jeff "ActionJeff" Garza and all of the prize winners!
Stay tuned to Poker News tomorrow for live coverage of the final table of the Main Event as the seven remaining players compete for the first place prize of $1.65 million dollars! See you then!
After crippling Masaaki Kagawa in the previous hand, Jeff Garza started to put relentless pressure on his opponent by going all in on multiple occasions. Kagawa finally found a hand to call with, holding but was in trouble against the dominating held by Garza.
The board ran out and Masaaki Kagawa is eliminated from the event. He collects AU$60,000 for his runner-up finish.
On a flop of Masaaki Kagawa checked and Jeff Garza bet out 3,000 to which Kagawa called. The turn came the and Garza moved all in and Kagawa quickly called.
Garza:
Kagawa:
Kagawa hit his straight but Garza had made his flush on the very same card. The river lands the and Garza takes down a monster pot to leave Kagawa with only around 5,500 chips.
The third heads up match between Jeff Garza and Masaaki Kagawa is evenly poised with little action so far to report.
However we can report a dealer change, with Jonno Pittock (Crown Poker Director of Tournament Operations) taking charge and dealing the final match in this event himself!
As Pittock rolled up his sleeves and sat down, Masaaki Kagawa raised his eyebrows and said "YOU are dealing?!?"
Pittock replied, "Yep. Never forget where you came from!"
A short-stacked Masaaki Kagawa pushed all in pre-flop with and held the best hand against Jeff Garza's .
The flop of looked safe for Kagawa to find a double up after he hit top pair, but amazingly the turn and river came to give Garza a backdoor straight to level the final at 1-1!
On a flop of Jeff Garza led out with a 1,500 bet and Masaaki Kagawa bumped it up to 8,000. Garza thought for a moment before moving all in and Kagawa made the call.
Garza:
Kagawa:
Garza's top pair was in the lead as he tried to avoid a heart to complete Kagawa's flush. The turn was the and river and Garza doubles up once again to leave Kagawa with only around 7,000 chips.
Jeff Garza was all in pre-flop with his tournament on the line holding against the of Masaaki Kagawa.
The flop was huge for Kagawa as it came to give him a pair and nut flush draw, yet he still trailed Garza's pair of jacks. The on the turn and the on the river didn't help Kagawa, and Garza finds a much needed double up to get his chip stack back to a narrow lead.