Friday, February 22, 2019 8:26 PM Local Time
Austin Apicella Wins Fifth Career Gold Ring
Austin Apicella - Event #10 Winner - Posing with Friends
Austin Apicella came away with his fifth career World Series of Poker gold ring Friday evening at the Rio Circuit series. The 35-year-old from Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas topped a field of 413 entrants in Event #10: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Double Stack (30-Minute Levels) to secure the achievement.
Event #10 was originally scheduled as a one-day tournament. However, a starting field of over 400 entries assured that a champion would not be crowned within 24 hours. Day 1 was ceased at the end of Level 26 and the Day 2 restart was set for 3 p.m.
“It didn’t bother me,” Apicella mentioned about the change in plans. “I was in a good spot the whole tournament, honestly; picked my spots good; always had position on the chip leader and just took advantage of that.”
Apicella began Day 2 as third in chips among 16 advancing players. He maintained the same position going into the unofficial final table of 10 and rode his stack to heads up. Steven Jones was Apicella's final opponent. Jones began with a sizable chip lead, but Apicella would fight back, leading to an epic, back-and-forth battle.
“It was a good heads up match, very swingy,” said Apicella.
After a crazy duel, full of big, chip swings and multiple all ins won by each player, Apicella finally scooped every chip in play. Jones had to settle for the runner-up spot, good for $18,529, while Apicella picked up $29,985 along with gold ring number five.
Apicella’s gold-ring spree surfaced during a two-year span between the end of 2012 and 2014. During that time, he claimed two Harvey’s Lake Tahoe titles, including his debut ring, a win at Harrah’s New Orleans, and a win at Choctaw Durant. Now, Apicella has added a win at the Rio to round out five first-place finishes on the WSOP Circuit.
“It feels great,” Apicella said after returning to the winner’s circle.
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