Tony Ma had a rail tonight for heads-up, as his partner came down to watch him once he got two-ways with Cam Stewart. And she got quite a show, as Ma largely dictated the play through the endgame tonight.
Always ready with a smile and a joke, Ma’s friendly table image may mask his aggressive play style and sharp knowledge of the game, but rest assured, behind the jokes, he’s a man who understands the game he is playing.
He held the lead through most of heads up, getting there after a huge hand against Zeyu Huang, where his kings held up to leave the leader on fumes and send himself to a big lead. Stewart dealt the final blow to Huang to get them heads up, but he was at the disadvantage most of the way.
He did manage to chip up to the lead at one point, but Ma quickly got it back. Stewart was no easy target, however, showing a pretty solid understanding of the dynamics of heads-up poker himself. The pair battled for nearly two hours, almost as long as it had taken to get from 9 down to 2.
Stewart found ways to stay alive when he needed to, but Ma had him on his heels for most of the run, chipping him down after he doubled. There were only about 50 big blinds in play by the time the final hand ran, and both players were connected and suited.
Ma had the best of it with nine-eight of diamonds against nine-seven of clubs for Stewart. Ma had most of the chips, and Stewart shoved the short stack. Ma called it down and hit his eight, though he was ahead the whole way.
This was Ma’s 5th live win, and it will add about $8k USD to his live earnings, which should push him over the $400k mark, depending on the exchange rate.
