Even torrential rain and flooding in the days leading up to the series couldn’t stop the cream of Sydney’s poker crop from descending on Castle Hill RSL for the latest rendition of the APL Poker Tour Sydney.
With 24 events across five days of action, APLPT Sydney not only smashed the $500,000 series estimate, its massive $727,355 prize pool was almost $100k more than the last time the APL visited the Harbour City in early March (which generated a $631,440 series prize pool). With a little help from the weather, those numbers look certain to grow even further in the coming years.
While there were plenty of highlights from APLPT Sydney, the star of the show was Richie Samia – the local Sydneysider emerging from a massive field of 1,260 starters to win the Main Event.
Samia, who finished third in the Poker Palace Autumn Poker Championships Main Event in March for a $40,000 payday, added another $36,300 to his kitty with this result. Heading into Day 2 as one of the short stacks on his table, he put the foot down to take the chip lead into the Final Table before eventually seeing off Sean Campbell heads-up.
Samia also wins a $1,500 APL Million Main Event ticket for his efforts and told PokerMedia Australia that he plans to turn that ticket into another title at Southport Sharks in August.
APLPT SYDNEY MAIN EVENT ($175 buy-in, 1,260 entries, $189,000 prizepool)
| Position | Name | Prize (AU$) |
| 1st | Richie Samia | $36,300 |
| 2nd | Sean Campbell | $21,840 |
| 3rd | Joshua Clinton | $12,390 |
| 4th | Matthew Yan | $10,030 |
| 5th | Birdal Ilbay | $6,800 |
| 6th | Brock Munro | $4,910 |
| 7th | Phil Monds | $4,160 |
| 8th | Lauren Gabriel | $3,590 |
| 9th | John Camilleri | $2,550 |
Also scoring a hefty payday was fellow Sydney local in Jason Yu Lau, who topped a field of 139 starters in the $1,250 Jackstar Super High Roller to claim its $39,750 first prize.
The quietly spoken Yu got the best of a Final Table that featured APLPT Centurion Brand Ambassador Justin Wong and Survivor Australia Season 6 runner-up George Mladenov to lift a trophy that is quickly becoming one of the most sought after pieces of silverware on the Aussie poker scene.
APLPT SYDNEY JACKSTAR SHR ($1,250 buy-in, 139 entries, $152,900 prizepool)
| Position | Name | Prize (AU$) |
| 1st | Jason Yu Lau | $39,750 |
| 2nd | David Sullivan | $26,750 |
| 3rd | George Mladenov | $17,585 |
| 4th | Daniel Johnson | $13,760 |
| 5th | Danny Wood | $10,705 |
| 6th | George Zhang | $9,175 |
| 7th | Justin Wong | $7,645 |
| 8th | Graham Purdue | $6,120 |
| 9th | Harry Basle | $4,585 |
Speaking of the Centurion, Magnus Iversen lived the poker dream by turning a $140 satellite ticket into victory in the big dance. Iversen not only won his way through to the Centurion but then proceeded to best a field of 43 starters to claim the $34,830. In doing so he also denied Ming Zhu, who won the Centurion in Sydney in March, from achieving the double after a fascinating heads-up battle.
APLPT SYDNEY THE CENTURION ($2,500 buy-in, 43 entries, $96,750 prizepool)
| Position | Name | Prize (AU$) |
| 1st | Magnus Iversen | $34,830 |
| 2nd | Ming Zhu | $22,250 |
| 3rd | Zhen Zhang | $14,515 |
| 4th | Charles Tsai | $10,640 |
| 5th | Toby Giles | $7,740 |
| 6th | Darren Moves | $6,775 |
Next stop for the APL is the one we’ve all been waiting for – the APL Million at the Gold Coast’s Southport Sharks from 5 to 15 August 2022. Returning for the first time since early 2020, this year’s series will feature a record 43 championship events across the 11-day schedule, with buy-ins ranging from $80 to $5,000 and culminating in the $1,500 APL Million Main Event which promises a guaranteed $250,000 first prize.
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