Welcome to the final day of the 2014 World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific. Today, the AU$10,000 Main Event, a tournament that attracted 329 players and created a prize pool of $3,125,000, will see the final six players return for the televised final table, which will air with a 30-minute delay on ESPN2 beginning at 4 p.m. local time (1 a.m. ET).
The man best positioned to make a run at the AU$850,136 first prize is a familiar face on the poker circuit in Jack Salter. Earlier this year Salter won an Aussie Millions side event and then followed that up with an European Poker Tour Grand Final runner-up finish. Now, Salter is in prime position to capture his first bracelet. His 3.225 million in chips is 35 big blinds ahead of Scott Davies, who sits in second with 2,210,000. This marks Davies' eighth WSOP cash and second final table of 2014.
Macau and Melbourne regular Henry Wang played an exciting brand of poker and sits in third place, whereas 2010 WSOP Player of the Year and two-time bracelet winner Kassela sits in fourth overall. Kyle Montgomery, who finished as the Day 2 chip leader, and local player Ang Italiano round up the rear. Italiano having won her seat into this event for just AU$130 after played two "Phase One" $65 satellites. She lost the first, but won the second to earn entry into an AU$250 "Phase Two." She then won that before winning a AU$1,100 "Phase Three" to win her seat in this Main Event. Can she possibly turn it into a championship bracelet?
Here's how the final table stacks up:
Seat
Player
Country
Chips
Big Blinds
1
Frank Kassela
USA
1,250,000
42
2
Scott Davies
USA
2,210,000
74
3
Kyle Montgomery
USA
950,000
32
4
Henry Wang
Taiwan
1,700,000
57
5
Ang Italiano
Australia
510,000
17
6
Jack Salter
England
3,255,000
109
Cards will be in the air at 3:30 p.m. local time in Crown Melbourne's Studio 3. The PokerNews Live Reporting team will provide extensive hand-for-hand coverage on our way to crowning a winner, so stay tuned. Don't forget to tune into ESPN2 at 4:00 p.m. local time (1 a.m. ET) if you want to watch the final six player duke it out.
The 27-year-old poker player from England entered 2014 looking to make a name for himself. "Even over a few years time, with the size of these fields, all you can do is keep trying to get deep," Salter told PokerNews' Chad Holloway during an April interview. "Maybe the huge score will never come, but hopefully even if that happens I’ll still be able to do well enough to stay in the game."
Not only did the huge score come shortly after that interview, but this performance here in the 2014 World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific Main Event surely helps prove that Salter has what it takes to stay in the game for quite a bit of time. Later in the same month of April, Salter finished runner-up in the European Poker Tour Grand Final Main Event for a massive €765,000. Now he's the chip leader of this one with six players left and over AU$850,000 up top.
At the beginning of 2014, Salter attended the Aussie Millions right here at Crown Melbourne. He walked away with one title after winning the AU$5,000 Six-Max No-Limit Hold'em for AU$114,000, and that sparked his breakout year.
With the big chip lead on the rest of the table — 3,255,000 in chips and 109 big blinds — plus the skills he earned through cutting his teeth in online poker sit-n-gos, Salter is certainly the favorite.
Ang Italiano enters the final day of the tournament as the short stack, with 510,000 in chips and just 17 big blinds, but she's already won much more than she ever hoped for in this event.
Italiano having won her seat into this event for just AU$130. She played two "Phase One" AU$65 satellites and won her second to earn entry into an AU$250 "Phase Two." She won that before winning a AU$1,100 "Phase Three" to win her seat in this Main Event. That means she's seen a 91,260% increase on her original investment being guaranteed at least AU$118,769.
Although nearly all of Italiano's cashes come from Australia, her previous largest cash came from all the way over in Las Vegas. In 2007, Italiano placed in the money in the WSOP Main Event for $20,320, and she has career earnings of $87,656.
Married with two children, the 60-year-old Italiano lists her profession as a ceramic teacher and also a restaurateur. She's a local to Melbourne and will no doubt have plenty of supporters in her section rooting her on. Late on Day 4, the rail was comprised of a good handful of people cheering for Italiano as her run from a small AU$65 satellite to the final table has been nothing short of amazing.
Taiwan's Henry Wang is a 50-year-old retired teacher, and he lists his greatest accomplishment as being able to retire at 45 years old. Wang is now locked and loaded for Day 5 of the 2014 World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific Main Event hoping to pad that retirement fund a bit more.
According to HendonMob.com, Wang boasts $82,940 in live tournament earnings, and that's all come from events in Macau dating back to 2011. His best cash was for just under $20,000, but that will pale in comparison to the result he'll end up with here, as he's already locked up at least AU$118,769.
With 1,700,000 in chips, Wang is third overall entering the final day. He lists his favorite sports team as the Atlanta Hawks and will be looking to become this final table's "Human Highlight Film," just like Dominique Wilkins was for the Hawks.
Kyle Montgomery is a 27-year-old professional poker player who transplanted himself from Indiana in the US to right here in Melbourne, Australia. He lists his greatest poker accomplishment as becoming a Supernova Elite on PokerStars "many times," although this final table could certainly change that.
Looking into the record books, no live tournament cashes were found for Montgomery, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have game. It takes a lot of tough grinding to become a Superova Elite, and even former World Series of Poker Main Event champion Greg Merson gave a shoutout to Montgomery on Twitter, calling him "one of the sickest grinders I know."
Montgomery's favorite sports teams are the Indianapolis Colts and Indiana Pacers. The Colts quarterback, Andrew Luck, is know for his young, athletic ability with great intelligence and a knack for pulling off late comebacks. A comeback is what Montgomery will be hoping to do here as he enters the final day fifth in chips with 950,000.
In the first four years of his live tournament endeavors, Scott Davies hadn't earned more than $70,300 in a single year. He's going to top that just from this result alone and will add to the $218,829 he's earned in 2014 having a career year.
He also has the chance to earn his largest live tournament score ever if he can finish in fifth place or higher. Given that Davies will enter Day 5 with the second most chips, we like his chances to do just that.
Davies is originally from New Jersey in the US, but he now resides in Vancouver, Canada. He attended the University of Miami, and the Miami Hurricanes are his favorite sports team. He's 33 years old and has both graduated law school and passed the bar exam.
Davies is making his eighth World Series of Poker cash of the year in this event. His best came in the $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em during the summer where he finished in fourth place for $111,942.
Frank Kassela has been recording cashes in live poker tournaments for over a decade, but it wasn't until 2010 that he truly emerged onto the scene thanks to an excellent performance at the World Series of Poker.
It was that year that Kassela won two gold bracelets, finished third in the $25,000 Six-Max No-Limit Hold'em event, and cashed three other times to earn the honor of the 2010 WSOP Player of the Year. For that performance, Kassela's banner will forever hang on the walls during the summer, and he'll be looking to add to his story with a win here in the 2014 WSOP Asia-Pacific Main Event.
Outside of his great 2010 WSOP, Kassela made the final table of the $50,000 Poker Players' Championship this year, placing sixth for $212,829, and he cashed in the $40,000 No-Limit Hold'em 40th Anniversary Event in 2009 for $71,858.
Kassela is married, 46 years old, and has five children. He also has $2,638,222 in live tournament earnings and will be adding at least AU$118,769 to that total today. He is a small business owner and resides in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Coming into this final table, Kassela is fourth in chips with 1,250,000.
Hand #13: Kyle Montgomery had the button to start the hand, and Jack Salter opened from under the gun to 65,000. Henry Wang called from the small blind, and then checked the flop to the preflop raiser. Salter bet 130,000, and Wang folded.
hand #14: From under the gun, Frank Kassela raised to 90,000. Action folded to Ang Italiano in the small blind, and she took some time to think over her decision before making the call. Jack Salter folded from the big blind, and the flop came down .
Italiano quickly moved all in on the flop, and Kassela snapped her off with the for top pair. Italiano was caught with her hand in the cookie jar holding the .
The turn brought the , and that gave Italiano an entire new world of hope as she picked up straight and flush draws to go along with her over card ace. Her rail of supporters cheered profusely for Italiano to hit, but all the deck could produce was the on the river and she was done.
Italiano was certainly the true "feel good" story of this final table, having won her seat into this event for just AU$130. She played two "Phase One" AU$65 satellites and won her second to earn entry into an AU$250 "Phase Two." She won that before winning a AU$1,100 "Phase Three" to win her seat in this Main Event. That means she saw a 91,260% increase on her original investment after walking away with a payday of AU$118,769.
Hand #21: Jack Salter had the button and action folded to him. He raised to 65,000, and then Frank Kassela, who made this final table looking for a third gold bracelet, reraised to 100,000 out of the small blind. Play got back to Salter, and he made it 240,000 to go with a four-bet. Kassela didn't back down and reraised to 525,000 with around 600,000-700,000 behind. Salter just called, and the two were going to a flop with over a million chips in the middle.
On the flop, Kassela moved all in almost immediately. Salter double checked his hand and then quickly called. Kassela showed the , and Salter had the .
The turn was the , the landed on the river, and Kassela was off to the rail.
Hand #27: Jack Salter raised to 85,000 and claimed the blinds and antes, he showed ace-jack.
Hand #28: Scott Davies raised to 80,000 from the cutoff and Salter called in the big blind. The Brit check-called 110,000 on the flop and then bet the turn for 195,000 to take down the pot.
Hand #29: Salter limped from the small blind and Davies checked his option one seat over. On the flop, Salter led out and Davies quickly mucked his cards.
Hand #30: Henry Wang made it 85,000 to go and scooped the blinds and antes.
Hand #31: Salter raised to 85,000, Davies three-bet to 205,000 on the button and Kyle Montgomery moved all in from the small blind. Wang in the big blind as well as Salter folded whereas Davies called.
Montgomery:
Davies:
Before the flop was dealt, Davies asked for his one time. "I never asked for it in my life," he said with a grin on the face. The flop was good for Davies and the on the turn changed nothing either. While Montgomery remained very calm, Davies walked around the table, impatiently waiting for the river to fall. The completed the board and the rail of Davies cheered loudly.
Montgomery was eliminated in 4th place for a payday of AU$231,287 and Davies is now almost even in chips with Salter.
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flop to the preflop raiser. Salter bet 130,000, and Wang folded.
.
.
, and that gave Italiano an entire new world of hope as she picked up straight and flush draws to go along with her over card ace. Her rail of supporters cheered profusely for Italiano to hit, but all the deck could produce was the 
on the river and she was done.
flop, Kassela moved all in almost immediately. Salter double checked his hand and then quickly called. Kassela showed the 
, and Salter had the 
, the 
turn for 195,000 to take down the pot.
flop was good for Davies and the 
on the turn changed nothing either. While Montgomery remained very calm, Davies walked around the table, impatiently waiting for the river to fall. The 
