PokerGO Cup Event #5 Won by Anthony Hu for $268,000

The fifth tournament of the 2023 PokerGOCup heralds the start of the second half of the series, so in winning the event for $268,800 and topping the overall leaderboard, Anthony Hu has put himself in pole position to win the whole series. After eliminating Jeremy Ausmus and overcoming the poker legend Erik Seidel heads-up, Hu took the title, the trophy and bragging rights in Las Vegas.

Maue Misses the Money

With 56 entrants, the money went up and the players were reduced a little as this No Limit hold’em Event #5 cost $15,000 rather than $10,000 to play like each of the first four events. With a talented field, only the final table of eight players would make a profit on their initial investment.

It was the German player Leonard Maue who missed out on the final table and therefore the minimum cash. All-in with king-eight of diamonds, Maue was flipping a coin against the pocket sevens belonging to Anthony Hu, who didn’t hit on the A-J-T flop. The turn of a deuce was no help to Hu either, meaning only a two-outer could bust Maue on the bubble. That came, however, on the river as the seven of clubs arrived to send everyone else into the money places.

The final table of eight featured players as short-stacked as Dylan DeStefano (250,000) and Brian Kim (405,000) right up to chip leader Jeremy Ausmus (1,350,000), with Ed Sebesta (1,225,000) not far behind. The eventual winner, Anthony Hu, wasn’t far behind on 1.1 million chips.

Angelic Queens No Good for Ausmus

With the final eight kicking off immediately on Day 1 after the bubble burst, the $840,000 prizepool was up for grabs and everyone wanted the biggest piece of it – $268,800. Japanese player Masashi Oya was the first player to fall short in that ambition. Oya shoved with ace-king but would need to hit as Anthony Hu called with pocket jacks. The ten-high board sent Oya to the rail with $33,600 as a min-cash.

Ed Sebesta has already won an event and made the money three times and ‘Cousin Eddie’ as Brent Hanks and Jeff Platt christened him in the PokerGO commentary box once again made the money. All-in with pocket queens on the board showing 9-7-2 with two diamonds, Sebesta had a real sweat as Hu had called with ten-eight and while he missed both flushes and straights on the turn, a jack on the river eliminated ‘Ed’ for $42,000 in seventh place.

When play resumed on the final day, the final six were led by Anthony Hu, and with a huge stack of over 2.8 million chips. That was some way clear of Jeremy Ausmus in second on 1.125m, but the popular player whose voice has been ringing in the ears of poker fans everywhere busted to Hu when Ausmus’ “angelic queens” turned demonic as Hu’s ace-king hit an ace on both flop and river.

Erik Seidel Comes Close

With five players still in the hunt for the top prize and glittering gold trophy, the next player to leave was Brian Kim, who laddered impressively to fifth place for $67,200 having been very short with eight left. Kim’s jack-seven was good enough for him to call all-in on a flop of 9-7-5 and he made the correct call, with Anthony Hu’s cheeky move with jack-eight well behind. That was until a ten on the river completed a dramatic gutshot straight draw and the chip leader got richer while Kim walked away from the felt.

With four players remaining, it was previous event winner Aram Zobian who busted, crashing out to Hu’s turned straight for a score of $84,000. A short time later, play was heads up, as Dylan DeStefano cashed again in this PokerGO Cup series, winning $117,600 when his king-queen couldn’t overtake Hu’s ace-king.

Heads-up, it was Hu’s to lose and after previously declaring himself ready to win the series, the American took the leaderboard summit in style, dominating the entire final table. On a flop of 7-4-3, Seidel c-bet with pocket tens, but Hu called, and after both players checked the ace turn, a river of a six got all the remaining chips into the middle. Seidel shoved, but Hu called and showed pocket sevens which had flopped top set, giving him the title and $268,800, while the nine-time WSOP winner Seidel had to be happy with $176,400 and second place.