Asia Pacific Poker Tour history will not be made tonight. It wasn’t from lack of effort though.

It was only a short while ago that we discussed the possibility of Billy “The Croc” Argyros becoming he first player to win two APPT titles.

The former APPT Melbourne champion had started the day as the short stack, but had dealt the fatal blow to Thomas Mcgarrity in fourth place and with that, had the chip lead when three-handed play began.

Then Argyros lost the first big pot that would send him towards imminent elimination.

Billy Argyros – 3rd place

The end of Croc’s tournament began when Jiajun Liu had folded the button and Cyril Andre limped from the small blind. Argyros was in the big blind and raised it up to 255,000. Andre called and the dealer spread out a J♠ K♥ 3♠ flop.

Andre checked here and Argyros fired out a continuation bet of 250,000. Andre responded with a check-raise to 525,000 and Argyros quickly made the classic PokerStars LIVE Macau triangle symbol, signalling he wanted to move all in. Liu instantly called.

Argyros had a somewhat interesting 8♠ 2♠ for a flush draw, while Andre had top two pair with his K♠ J♦ .

Argyros was out of his chair hoping to see a spade on the board, but the all he would see was hearts as the 2♥ turn and the 9♥ river would leave Argyros with around 3 million in chips after reaching a high of around 5.5 million.

From here, Argyros lost a few small pots and found himself with well under 3 million before the final hand of his tournament would take place.

With blinds at 50,000/100,000, Andre raised it up to 250,000 from the small blind. Argyros called from the big blind and the two players watched on as a Q♠ 9♠ 5♥ flop was dealt on the felt. Andre led out for 265,000 here and Argyros raised it up to 800,000. Andre moved all in, having Argyros covered by 15,000 in chips. Argyros had around 1.45 million behind.

Argyros took to his feet, announced the call, and turned over J♠ 3♠ – a familiar flush draw.

Andre had A♣ A♦ .

Argyros gathered up his two plush crocodile toys and called for a spade.

The K♦ turn didn’t give Argyros the flush, but he had a couple more outs and was now calling for either a spade or a ten to make the straight.

The river was a J♣ . No spade. No ten. Argyros was sent home in third place.

For that effort, Argyros added a large $HK940,000 (~US$120,000) to his immense tournament record and solidified himself as one of Australia’s all-time great poker players.

So, with that, it is Cyril Andre Vs. Jiajun Liu for the title.

France Vs. China.

Just over 5 million in chips Vs. just under 5 million.

The trophy that both players want to get their hands on

Stay tuned to the live reports at the top of the APPT8 Macau page to find out how it plays out and who becomes the latest Asia Pacific Poker Tour champion!

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