Mark Fester Wins Record-Breaking WPTDeepStacks Sydney Main Event
The World Poker Tour (WPT) has been red-hot ever since live poker has returned with rolling thunder throughout the world. Yet another record was broken, this time from the Land Down Under, with the WPTDeepStacks (WPTDS) Sydney A$1,500 Main Event establishing a new attendance record with 2,023 entries generating a A$2,690,590 ($2,013,212) prize pool.
Mark Fester took the most advantage of the massive field as he went on to defeat Nicholas Wright heads-up at the Star Casino Sydney to win the trophy and the A$412,981 ($309,025) top prize.
“It all happened very quickly, three hands into heads up and it was all over, Fester shared with Poker Media Australia who was on hand live-reporting the event. “Everyone is very excited. I’m very excited. But I think when the dust settles that I’ll realize that I’m a WPT Champion, and that’s awesome!”
2022 WPTDS Sydney Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (A$) | Prize (USD) |
| 1 | Mark Fester | Australia | A$412,981 | $309,025 |
| 2 | Nicholas Wright | Australia | A$275,328 | $206,022 |
| 3 | Anthony Cierco | France | A$204,270 | $152,851 |
| 4 | Luke Mccredie | Australia | A$152,906 | $114,416 |
| 5 | Benedikt Eberle | Austria | A$115,507 | $86,431 |
| 6 | Lirui Zhang | China | A$88,090 | $65,916 |
| 7 | Darius Bucinskas | Australia | A$67,803 | $50,736 |
| 8 | Spencer Davies | Australia | A$52,655 | $39,401 |
| 9 | Marco Perri | Australia | A$41,274 | $30,884 |
Final Day Action
The final day began with just 23 hopefuls remaining, each guaranteed a healthy payout of A$14,099 ($10,550). Benedikt Eberle began the day as the chip leader and as players began to drop maintained a slim chip lead over runner-up Wright by the time the final table of nine players kicked off.
Wright became the final table captain soon after it began after his ace-jack held to send Marco Perri to the rail with ace-ten.
Eberle chipped up after his ace-five suited was good enough to eliminate Spencer Davies with ace-trey.
The momentum, however, was still with Wright as he sent both Lirui Zhang and Darius Bucinskas packing during which time, Fester managed to chip up to second place.
Eberle could have gotten back into the mix if he could have only won a coin flip. Instead, he had to settle for fifth place when his sevens were unable to survive against Fester’s ace-queen after an ace hit the flop.
Fester then eliminated Luke McCredie with his king-eight dominating his opponent’s six-five suited but subsequently lost some chips and was on the bottom of the pack with three players left by the time the next break took place.
After the break, Fester went on a run and had more than half the chips in play. Wright then ousted Anthony Cierco in third place to nearly even the stacks heading into heads-up play when his ace-jack crushed his opponent’s ace-six.
Massive Heads-Up Cooler
Heads-up action didn’t last long, in fact only three hands. Fester managed to chip up during each of the first two hands before he delivered a massive cooler as the final blow to Wright.
Wright limp-called preflop with K K and was up against Fester’s A 10 . Wright improved to the top set on the K 5 Q flop and called a bet by Fester who continued with a gutshot straight draw among other potential outs.
The J turn completed Fester’s Broadway draw and Wright once again check-called a bet by his opponent. Wright was unable to improve to a full house on the 8 river. Wright led out for a big bet and called off the rest after Fester shoved over the top to come one player shy of winning the title.
Congrats again to Mark Fester for winning the historic WPTDS Sydney Main Event!
*Images and hand information courtesy of Poker Media Australia.
