by Pokerati Promo, Nov 20, 2014 | 12:22 am

Australian poker player Andrew Dales has been on a hot streak of late, and that has culminated with a recent big money win at the Adelaide Champs 2014 Main Event. Dales scooped a solid $38,000 prize a couple of days ago at Adelaide Casino, and that is a welcome addition to anybody’s prize fund.

It was the second highest pot that Dales has won in his career to date. On February 21st 2013, he picked up a cool $64,000 at the No Limit Hold’em Main Event in Melbourne as runner up to Amjed Slewa. Slewa took $100,000 for his first place at Crown Casino.

More recently there was a $23,000 windfall in the World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific No Limit Hold’em Terminator and, when combined together, they give Dales the best form of his career. His third spot behind Scot Calcagno and Nelson Maccini was very satisfying after some back and forth play. Dales came close on hand 97, going all in and the flop falling in his favour. The river card sent Dales packing though, and that would end his tournament, albeit with a steady third to his credit.

Calcagno’s $53,000 was by far his biggest win, and Maccini’s $32,817 was also his career peak so far.

However, for Dales the first place victory in Adelaide was one to be revered, as he came in chip leader on the final day and managed to see out a tumultuous few hours to keep his lead and take the win. Below are the results from the final day, with the base prize money starting at $6500.

2014 Adelaide Champs Main Event – Results

1st: Andrew Dales- $38080

2nd: Joseph Vinecombe – $24150
3rd: Joe Reina – $14860
4th: Scott Flanank – $9290
5th: Patrick Healy – $6500

Vinecombe was always going to be up against it at the start of play with a huge deficit, though he did manage to take some big pots. It wouldn’t be enough in the end but he can be happy with his own $24,000 take home pay.

Vinecombe was no stranger to the event and won first prize at Adelaide Casino himself back in 2012, taking $43,612 as Poker Zone champion. He hasn’t been able to maintain consistent form though.

Last year’s winner Piyush Gupta was eliminated on the second day of play which shot down his hopes of another victory. He’ll be disappointed not to not even make it to the final six this year when he went home $48,160 richer in the same month in 2013.

Dales is keeping the prize money rolling and he’ll certainly have his eye on the more coveted seats at next year’s Asia Pacific World Series of Poker. His returns have been substantial so far in 2014, but when you compared them to the likes of Scott Davies’ $850,136 in the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event and Mike Leah’s $600,000 in the $25,000 High Roller No Limit Hold’em, you can see why there’ll be higher aspirations for the next time round.

As Dales continues to hit up the live circuit in pursuit of prize money, he will also be continuing to ply his trade in the online Australian casino market where he has also had plenty of success. He’s banked more than $73,000 with PokerStars.com, and $25,000 with Full Tilt, so his bread and butter in the world of the internet will always serve as a useful tool.

Many of the today’s career professionals slog it out in front of a screen as a primary role, and Dales shows just why that is the case (as well as last year’s winner Guptam who is well in excess of $300,000 in the internet game). Though the rules apply live or online, the fierce competition at tables in the big competitions makes for some tough nights.

Dales will be more confident than ever off the back of some huge results in prestigious tournaments, so you can expect to see more of the Australian in 2015. He is looking to add to the $180,000 he has already accrued in a successful playing career, and hit the big stakes where that kind of figure can often be eclipsed in one night.