An amazing week went down for Australian pro Michael Addamo as he claimed not one, but two tournaments in the recently concluded 2021 Poker Masters 12-event lineup. The outstanding feat earned the pro a combined $1.84 million in winnings, a coveted Purple Jacket, and an additional $50,000 for topping the overall series leaderboard. On his way to victory, Addamo faced and outlasted the industry’s toughest players including two-time GPI Player of the Year Alex Foxen, Event #10: $25,000 No Limit Hold’em champion Mikita Badziakouski, and two-time bracelet winner Nick Petrangelo.
“It’s been an incredible run of winning a lot of all-ins – it’s just insane, I don’t think I’ve won two tournaments in quick succession of this size before, so this is definitely probably the biggest one, I’d say”, commented Addamo following his win.
“I’ve put in so many hours studying the game, and I still feel like every time I get humbled and that there’s still so many things to learn. But it’s incredibly important and you can see who has been putting in the work and who hasn’t.”
Adding in to his record of achievements, Addamo’s total live earnings has now eclipsed the $10 million mark, with his best live cash improved to a massive $1.16 million for his performance in the series’ final event, as tracked by The Hendon Mob.
With major events such as the $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl and the 52nd annual World Series of Poker kicking off as the month ends, poker fans are already excited to see whether tournament poker beast Addamo would continue on with this heater. So far, the skilled pro had already revealed his interest in continuing to play big tournament buy-ins of over $100K while at the same time, keeping up with all the other top players of the game.
Event #11: $50,000 No Limit Hold’em
Making his way through only his second event for the series, Addamo proved to be a dominant force as he moved to Day 2 of Event #11: $50,000 No Limit Hold’em as the chip leader. The tournament attracted a total of 34 entries and created a prize pool of $1.7 million, with only the last five players guaranteed a minimum payout of $119,000.
While equally impressive pros Jason Koon, David Coleman, Alex Foxen, and Cary Katz were looking to secure the $680,000 top prize, all their efforts would quickly fail into the hands of Addamo, who knocked each and every one of his opponents in the final table play. A good run of cards partnered with the Australian pro’s solid tournament skill set, it appeared Addamo had it in the bag every time his chips went in the middle. By the event’s final hand, it was Koon’s king-nine which failed to outrun Addamo’s king-jack, and left him to settle for runner-up finish along with $442,000 in prize money.
“It was incredible, I had a great stretch of hands and I pretty much had it the whole time on the final table, so I can’t credit it to any good bluffing skills. Just good fortune”, Addamo told PokerGO News.
Final Table Results
1st Michael Addamo – Australia – $680,000
2nd Jason Koon – United States – $442,000
3rd David Coleman – United States – $272,000
4th Alex Foxen – United States – $187,000
5th Cary Katz – United States – $119,000
Event #12: $100,000 No Limit Hold’em
Dubbed as one of the best MTT players in the world, Addamo is definitely a force to reckon with having claimed an even heftier payday following his eleventh event win. For double the buy-in, Event #12: $100,000 No Limit Hold’em met 29 entrants and recorded a burly $2.9 million prize pool to conclude the series. Fresh off his win, Addamo emerged as the sole seven-figure winner of the tournament having bested Nick Petrangelo in heads up play.
In similar fashion, the first two casualties of the final event (Mikita Baziakouski in 5th and Stanley Tang in 4th) succumbed to the hands of Addamo, while third place finisher Alex Foxen was sent to the rail by Petrangelo. At this point, Addamo had already secured the 2021 Poker Masters leaderboard prize of $50,000 and Purple Jacket having made it to the heads up stage. Opponents Petrangelo, Badziakouski and Foxen, who were also in the running for the overall series victory, dropped their hopes in claiming the coveted award.
It didn’t take long for Addamo to secure the final win having carried a 4:1 chip advantage against Petrangelo. After calling off with the best hand vs a failed bluff, Addamo bagged the $1,160,000 top prize and boosted his total winnings to a whopping $1,840,000. As for Petrangelo, the American pro claimed $754,000 for his third cash in the series and also a runner-up finish in the final Poker Masters leaderboard.
Final Table Results
1st Michael Addamo – Australia – $1,160,000
2nd Nick Petrangelo – United States – $754,000
3rd Alex Foxen – United States – $464,000
4th Stanley Tang – United States – $319,000
5th Mikita Badziakouski – Belarus – $203,000
2021 Poker Masters Leaderboard
1st Michael Addamo – 808 points – 2 wins, 2 cashes – $1,840,000
2nd Nick Petrangelo – 402 points – 0 wins, 3 cashes – $929,800
3rd Lou Garza – 376 points – 0 wins, 4 cashes – $550,200
4th Daniel Negreanu – 372 points – 1 win, 3 cashes – $433,400
5th Brock Wilson – 358 points – 1 win, 3 cashes – $414,300
6th Chris Brewer – 349 points – 1 win, 4 cashes – $538,300
7th Jason Koon – 345 points – 0 wins, 3 cashes – $552,400
8th Alex Foxen – 294 points – 0 wins, 3 cashes – $722,250
9th Sean Perry – 280 points – 1 win, 3 cashes – $280,000
10th Stephen Chidwick – 271 points – 1 win, 3 cashes – $296,100
