The Australian Poker Tour (APT) Gold Coast festival has set a new mid-tier series record, pulling in a staggering $2,021,670 in total prize pools.
It was the icing on the cake for the APT’s most successful series to date, attracting plenty of big names including Australian cricketing legend Shane Warne and his son Jackson, as well as boxing great Jeff Horn and continued to highlight the burgeoning talent pool of full-time and professional players this country has to offer.
Aussie veterans Brian Furness and Duncan McKinnon were amongst those to take home some APT crystalware; Furness defeated a field of 294 en route to winning the Opening Event, while McKinnon fended off Yita Choong heads-up for a $50K payday in the Dracakis Players Championship.
The new generation of grinders and international imports also made their mark throughout the course of the series. After claiming his first QPC ring last month, Brazilian ex-pat Dwan Setton is now on the verge of completing the mid-tier ‘Triple Crown’ after going all the way in the APT Goliath.
In other major results, Jo Snell bolstered his leading margin in the APT All-Time Money List, taking out the inaugural $5K Experience, while Melburnian Bert Perry claimed his second APT title for the year in the NLH/PLO Rotation.
And although Sydney’s David Rodwell took home the APT Gold Coast Main Event title, all eyes were on 8-6-2 Mix Max winner Aitor Marin, who had the potential to clinch the APT Player of the Series race in dramatic fashion.
Needing at least a runner-up finish in the Big Dance, the Spaniard fell agonisingly short in third, which resulted in Short Deck champion Kiale Matthews claiming his second POTS title, having won his first in Brisbane last October.
APT GOLD COAST MAIN EVENT ($200 buy-in, 950 entries, 95 players paid)*
| 1st | David Rodwell | $35,500 |
| 2nd | Todd Aguila | $22,300 |
| 3rd | Aitor Marin | $15,500 |
| 4th | Carmen Willcombe | $10,500 |
| 5th | Ben Kirkham | $8,250 |
| 6th | Chen Yung Chiang | $6,000 |
| 7th | Sue Davis | $4,200 |
| 8th | Terrence^ | $3,500 |
| 9th | Phil Thorpe | $2,800 |
APT CEO David Miles was naturally “over the moon” with the results, however with the next series pencilled in for late June in Sydney, both he and his team are already hard at work at making significant changes to the schedule, with a key focus on elevating the Main Event experience.
“Since we’ve added in more High Roller and feature events like the Grind, the Players Championship and the Goliath over the last few years, the Main Event has almost lost its status as the pinnacle of our series,” Miles explained.
“We’re now at a point where we have a large core group of staff we can rely on to facilitate a $600 buy-in Main Event that will now be fully dealt.”
“It also means that the overall prize pool [based on projected numbers] will be roughly $300K-$350K, making it more appealing to everyone, plus gives us more opportunities for our affiliate leagues to run multiple satellites.”
For more information on all things APT, including full results from all events and feature table replays, log onto australianpokertour.com.au or search for APTLive on Facebook.
All images courtesy of Gigi Fab (Australian Poker Tour).
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