LIVE REPORTING: 2022 APL Million Centurion Day 1

Tommy Gun: Maguire bags chip lead after The Centurion Day 1; that’s a wrap!

By our unofficial counts, Tom Maguire has emerged as the chip leader following the bagging and tagging at the conclusion of Day 1 of The Centurion here at The APL Million 2022 series.

With an unprecedented volume of runners for this event, our current prize pool sits just below half a million dollars, all in thanks to the 220 entries registered today.

Maguire sat under our radar for the majority of Day 1, but when speaking to PMA afterwards, he highlighted that it was later in the day when he really started to both “play good and run good.”

Registration remains open for the first two levels of Day 2, where it is expected that the half-million dollar mark will be surpassed before the bags are opened for the recommencement of play.

This concludes today’s live coverage, but we’ll be back tomorrow when cards are in the air from 4pm AEST. Be sure to also follow our Facebook coverage here for all things APL Million.

Thanks for joining us, and we’ll see you again real soon. Good night!

Tommy Maguire

Three more hands

Tournament staff have paused the clock with five minutes remaining and our players will play through three more hands before bagging and tagging for the night.


An-and then a hero comes along

Jason Anand has been looking to get his photo in our live reporting blog all day. Upon being told he needs to be involved in a notable hand for that to happen, he had one goal for the rest of the day.

Opportunity presented itself when the player in the hijack opened to 4,500 and Anand smooth called with [pcnAdQs][/pcn] from the button.

On 985, Anand called the hijack’s bet of 8,500 on the flop, and the two saw the 9 on the turn. Anand once again called a bet, this time for the amount of 16,000.

The river fell the 6 and facing what was now a triple-barrel with a bet of 45,000.

Anand fell into the tank, we can only imagine that at the forefront of his mind was the chance to star in a PMA live blog post. It certainly worked well for him, as his ace-high was good against his opponent’s KQ.

Jason Anand227,000
Jason Anand

Shaw thing

In the last few hands of any first day of a tournament, it can be a case of “eat or be eaten”.

Plenty of aggression was on display amongst a strong field, in an attempt to apply as much pressure as possible.

Chris Shaw opened the action, Wai Au three-bet to 15,000 from the button, and Shaw hit back with a four-bet to 30,400 and got called.

Flop: Q5K

Shaw bet 22,000 and Au thought briefly before calling.

The turn 7 saw Shaw move all in. Some time passed before Au painfully let go of his hand.

Chris Shaw

Hoek, line and sinker

Dylan Garland has found a one outer to survive through to Day 2 of the Centurion, all at the expense of Steven Hoek.

With an open from William Lim to 7,000 from the hijack, Garland responded with an all in from the small blind, quickly followed by the same move by Steven Hoek.

Counts were verified as Lim thought over a decision: Garland with 34,300 and Hoek with 68,000.

Eventually the two blinds were left alone to battle as they showed their cards.

Hoek: QQ
Garland: 1010

The first four cards were good for Hoek, with the spread revealing A852.

With the Ten of Hearts not available as an out for Garland, there was only one card in the deck to save him.

Our dealer, Adam, made sure it came on the river, the miracle 10.

Dylan Garland77,600
Steven Hoek33,700

Level 8: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)

B-Lee-ding chips

Alex Lee was involved in two hands in quick succession that sent him packing in the closing stages of Day 1 of The Centurion.

Preflop action saw Yoon Kang open from UTG+1 to 3,500. Alex Lee re-popped from the cutoff to 10,500, only to be met with a Kang four-bet of 26,500. Lee tanked for so long that we had to switch reporters halfway through his decision making-process!

Eventually he made the call and the two went to see the first street.

Flop: 10Q2

Kang checked to Lee, who bet 28,300. Kang put the rest of his chips in over the top, leaving Lee with a total of 74,200 to match.

Lee called and turned over his A9, and upon seeing Kang’s AK, realised only a miracle backdoor straight-flush would save him.

There would be nothing of the like, Kang got the double after the runout came 10,10. Kang got the double and Lee was left with 76,800.

A short time later, Lee was involved in a three-bet pot with AQ, action saw him all in on a flop of 89J. Lee’s opponent, holding QJ had the lead and all the draws in the world, though they weren’t needed as the turn and river of 2,7 finished the job.

Yoon Kang255,000
Alex LeeBUSTED!

Bee-Au-tiful

We caught the action on the river when Wai Au had moved all-in for 91,700 on a board of 710243. With about 60,000 in the pot, there was plenty to play for, and so Stephen Bee made the call.

Bee’s cards slid into the muck as he matched the bet, when Au turned over 44.

The set was good enough to get Au a solid stack increase late in the day’s play whilst Bee was left crippled.

Wai Au243,000
Stephen Bee45,000
Wai Au

A round of counts

On the subject of confidence votes: we can safely say that the players have voted with their feet and in favour for The APL Million Centurion, as we’re now at 214 entries and just one full table away from reaching a half-million dollar prize pool.

And with $500 five-handed flips now running on demand, we may well hit that mark by the end of the night … and there’s still another two levels of late rego tomorrow afternoon!

Mena Tawfik445,000
Didier Guerin386,000
James Camilleri336,000
Jenny Chhauv290,300
Najeem Ajez239,500
Dan Smiljanic238,400
Michael Gross236,000
Scott Wilson222,300
Yita Choong205,800
Mike Rowley187,000
Ben Turner186,300
Greg Hoy185,000
Alex Lynskey174,000
Ben Kirkham168,300
Roman Priplotski166,000
Liam Murray162,800
Stephen Bee160,500
Alex Lee155,400
Janet Wyvill145,900
Danie Gabriel144,800
Yang Lei140,200
Milton Trickey135,800
Joe Hachemn123,900
Guy O’Keefe122,000
Romain Morvan115,000
Dan O’Shea105,800
Steven Huynh102,000
Matty Guilleaume100,000

Level 7: 800/1,600 (1,600)

Have a stretch!

Our Centurion contenders are now on their last 15-minute break of the evening.


Chips a-many for Jenny

Jenny Chhauv continues to climb the chip counts, this time thanks to a hand that saw the elimination of Josh Mansell.

Action opened with Chris Colaneri opening from UTG, a three-bet to 11,000 from Mansell was raised by Chhauv in the small blind to 26,000. Colaneri got out of the way before Mansell called.

On a flop of A79, Chhauv checked to Mansell, who moved all in for less than the size of the pot. To say Chhauv snap-called would be an understatement, as she showed her top set with AA. Mansell accepted defeat with his AK, and the runout bought no miracle.

Colaneri told the table that he folded pocket nines, making the hand more remarkable if true!

Jenny Chhauv305,000
Chris Colaneri44,000
Josh MansellBUSTED!
Jenny Chhauv

“Oh, I’m in a hand”

In the back of our APL Million poker room, we have some flips taking place to give players a chance to gain entry, or re-entry, into The Centurion for a lower-price. 1-in-5 chance for $500 per hand, win it and you’re in.

Najeem Ajez, still in the tournament and also above starting stack, decided to enter the flip.

Simultaneously, the action of Ajez’s table saw an open to 3,000 from the UTG player, Ajez flatted from UTG+1, the hijack called and Romain Morvan on the button bumped the price up to 14,000.

Folding to Ajez, he pushed all in for 127,800, the hijack folded, and Morvan was sent into the tank.

In that time, each of the five hands of the flip were called out one-by-one over the microphone (Ajez had been dealt 4-2 off-suit), the board was dealt (Ajez did not win, congratulations to Jason Anand) and Ajez lamented the loss.

Ajez zoned back in, realising he’s still a part of the hand in play. He looked around and saw Morvan in the contemplation station.

“Are you still thinking?” he lightheartedly quipped.

Morvan responded, “I’ve never played you before!”

Ajez let him know, “Now you can!”

Finally, Morvan slid his hand to the muck. Before it was irretrievable, Ajez proposed a deal:

“If you show me what you folded, I’ll show you my hand.”

Morvan obliged, and turned over 1010

Ajez had a cheeky grin on his face as he revealed his 88

“Entertaining” is an understatement!

Najeem Ajez149,000
Romain Morvan196,000

Swallow only moving higher

It looks as though we may have a new chip leader with Steve Swallow the beneficiary of a huge pot at the expense of Joe Hachem.

All the action took place pre-flop, with an open from Swallow to 3,000 met with a Hachem three-bet to 8,000. Swallow decided to four-bet to 29,000, and Hachem piled his chips in the middle with a five-bet shove of over 110,000. Swallow eventually made the call and the two showed down their hands.

With Swallow holding pocket Queens, and Hachem with pocket Tens, and a non-changing board, Hachem found himself at the re-entry desk with Swallow raking in a huge volume of chips.

Steve Swallow435,700
Joe HachemBUSTED!
Steve Swallow

APL MILLION DEEP FREEZE: A ‘Vogt’ of confidence

All bets count! Steven Vogt has recorded a career-best win of $30,500 after taking down the APL Million Deep Freeze, denying Andrew Gonn his second APL major title in the process.

The unprecedented turnout resulted in the final table of the $600 buy-in marquee event being moved to the following day, which also featured APLPT Champion Nathan Rose and 2022 WSOP Millionaire Maker fourth-place finisher Yita Choong.

EVENT #2 | APL MILLION DEEP FREEZE ($600 buy-in, 242 entries, 27 players paid)*

PlaceNameAmount
1stSteven Vogt$30,500
2ndAndrew Gonn$19,690
3rdYita Choong$12,710
4thDylan Garland$10,165
5thNathan Rose$8,005
6thJenny Chhauv$6,350
7thRichard Tang$5,080
8thLeo Kim$4,130
9thJaisan Patel$3,175
*Denotes three-handed deal; full results available at https://playapl.com/news/2022-apl-million-winner-results

Level 6: 600/1,200 (1,200)

Ngata’s got ‘em

Aroha Ngata’s back in action and has managed to secure some chips through Joshua Schwelluns.

Action folded to Ngata who raised to 2,600 on the button; Schwelluns three-bet it to 7,600, which forced the big blind player out of the way before Ngata came back with a four-bet worth 17,600.

Schwelluns called, then checked after the flop of 10510.  Ngata opened for 10,500 and Schwelluns called before check-raising to 50,000 after Ngata’s open of 25,000 on the turn of the 10

Ngata snap-called all-in, turning up QQ which had Schwelluns’ J5 dominated.  The river K was merely a formality.

“How can you not believe me?” Ngata exclaimed as she raked in her chips.  “It’s the first hand I’ve played on the button!”

Aroha Ngata158,600
Joshua Schwelluns300,300
Aroha Ngata

Mina on the comeback

Mina Gerges is now back in the poker scene after having recently been involved in a car accident, but although he chipped down early, he was able to grind back into a comfortable position.

On a board of K3K9, Gerger took action after a checked-through flop and lead for 3,000 on the turn after its was checked to him once more. His opponent called.

The river fell the A, and checked to Gerges who bet 6,500 to gain a fold and an improvement to his stack.

It’s great to see Gerges back in action and we at PMA wish him all the best.

Mina Gerges59,200
Mina Gerges

Jiggities for Jigs

Jigs Reyes was the centre of another big hand. 

We caught the action from the turn on a board of 9748. Reyes lead for 13,000 into a pot of about 30,000.

Qais Shanasa made the call and the two saw a board-pairing river of 9.

Reyes checked it over to Shanasa, who bet 32,000. 

“Do you have it?” Reyes pondered.

After a few moments of thought, Reyes made the call with JJ and got the good news with Shanasa showing down K4.

Jigs Reyes293,000
Qais Shanasa87,000
Qais Shanasa

Chip counts at the break

Up to 176 total entries now, with 138 runners still in the mix, including the Australian Poker Hall of Fame Legend himself, Joe Hachem.

Two-time APLPT Champion Daniel Dessiman has also taken his seat, along with Will Wong, Karl Symonds and Romain Morvan.

Joshua Schwelluns385,000
Mena Tawfik358,700
Elise Depauw340,000
Octavian Voegele320,000
Max Chau285,900
Ashneel Sharma210,000
Yita Choong201,000
Jason Anand193,000
Matthew Ginn180,000
David Luong180,000
Ben Turner175,100
Stephen Bee173,100
Dan Smiljanic159,000
Joe Hachem140,300
Patrick Barba140,000
Daniel Gabriel136,500
Josh Norvock131,000
Yang Lei130,000
Romain Morvan122,300
Matty Guilleaume118,000
Will Wong100,200
Daniel Dessiman65,500
Steven Hoek64,000
Karl Symonds57,500

Level 5: 500/1,000 (1,000)

Let’s eat!

Players are now on a 45-minute dinner break. Back soon!


No Luong shot

David Luong was ecstatic to share this hand with our reporter. A hand that saw him bust a player and jump up the chip count.

A hijack open to 1,600 and a cutoff three-bet to 5,000 gave Luong an opportunity to try and squeeze with A9, attempting to win a nice pot pre-flop. Making it 13,000 from the big blind, it wasn’t to be as the cutoff stuck around to see a flop after the hijack got out of the way.

Flop: 486

Luong continued for 7,000 and was met with a call. The turn of the 10 didn’t help Luong, but destined he remained persistent and fired another bet, this time for 16,000.

Described by Luong as the equivalent of: 🎶AAAAAAAH!🎶 or “Hearing the sounds of the angels singing”: the river came the 7, handing Luong the straight.

Luong moved all in, and was quickly called. Upon Luong showing down his hand, his opponent mucked but showed a five for a smaller straight.

David Luong180,000
David Luong

Mogul Voegele

Octavian Voegele has tripled his start stack, in thanks to an earlier hand reported, and a a few big ones since.

He recalled a hand to our reporter where he managed to scoop another large pot, and a scalp in the process.

The under the gun player opened the action to 2,000, Voegele in UTG+1 called, and the big blind defended.

On a flop of AK8, the big blind checked, UTG continued for 2,500, and Voegele called.

The big blind decided to raise to 13,000, UTG called once more and Voegele raised to 42,500, the big blind shoved to force UTG out of the hand and Voegele called.

Voegele: AK
UTG: K8

The runout didn’t change anything for either player and Voegele scooped the pot for himself.

Octavian Voegele320,000
Octavian Voegele

APL MILLION OPENING EVENT RAPID-FIRE ACCUMULATOR: Burnin’ down the house!

Time now for the first of our APL Million result recaps, thanks to our friends at the Australian Poker League!

The aptly named Clinton Burns took first honours here at Southport Sharks, running hot at the final table of the Rapid Fire Accumulator to win $6,700 in cash after chopping with runner-up Bryan Le and third-place finisher, Conrad Wolfgramm.

This year’s APL Million marked the first major series for which Burns has travelled outside of Townsville, coming down with his mates from the “Puddle Poker” crew; the result also surpasses his ninth-place finish in last year’s Jackstar Super High Roller at the APL Ville 600.

EVENT #1 | APL MILLION OPENING EVENT RAPID-FIRE ACCUMULATOR ($120 buy-in, 402 entries, 45 players paid)

PlaceNameAmount
1stClinton Burns$6,700*
2ndBryan Le$6,000*
3rdConrad Wolfgramm$6,080*
4thTibor Kovacs$2,855
5thSeoungmin Baek$2,115
6thHasian Hyde$1,710
7thCam Offner$1,310
8thJonathan Levy$1,110
9thDamien Walsh$930
*Denotes three-handed deal; full results available at https://playapl.com/news/2022-apl-million-winner-results

Level 4: 400/800 (800)

“Ah geez” Ajez

Najeem Ajez, with his Big Bounty trophy acting as a card protector, almost sent his stack count soaring in a hand against Robert Damelian.

Ajez bet 25,000 from the cutoff on a board of K96, Damelian raised to 56,000 forcing Ajez into the tank for over a minute.

Eventually raising all-in, Damelian called and the two tabled their holdings.

Ajez: K9
Damelian: A3

The turn and river came A,3 to hand Damelian a win from behind and prevent Ajez from entering the very top of the big stacks.

Robert Damelian217,000
Najeem Ajez68,500

Garland in the mix

Fresh after a fourth place finish amongst a huge field in Day 1’s (and also Day 2’s) Deep Freeze, Dylan Garland has got himself a seat in The Centurion.

Spotted by our reporter, Garland sent a player into the tank for three minutes.

On a board of 884K6, Garland placed 25,500 on the river. Eventually his opponent called and Garland showed his A8 to claim the pot.

Dylan Garland142,500
Dyland Garland

Reyes, re-Reyes

Luke Martinelli has been dealt a cruel blow, losing many of the chips he’d built up early on in the tournament to Jigs Reyes.

Reyes opened pre-flop to 1.200 from UTG+1, and found a caller in middle position; Martinelli placed a three-bet from the cutoff to 5,000, then Raeyes hit back with a four-bet to 16,500.

Middle position folded and Raeyes called to see a flop KJ10.

Reyes led for 12,000 and Martinelli made the call.

On a turn of 7, Raeyes bet 51,000, only for Martinelli to push all-in.

Reyes quickly called and the two tabled their hands.

Reyes: AQ
Martinelli: 1010

The river 2 did not pair the board and Reyes found a huge double up.

Jigs Reyes217,500
Luke Martinelli80,000

Assorted chip counts

Now up to 141 entries, according to the tournament clock, which puts our current prize pool at more than $312,000. It’s a venerable who’s who of the Aussie poker elite here at Sharks, with Yang Lei, Alex Hansen, Daniel Gabriel and Hasian Hyde just some of the notables recently spotted.

James Camilleri252,000
Yita Choong196,000
Mike Rowley184,000
Joshua Schwelluns180,000
Didier Guerin170,000
Ben Kirkham143,000
Patrick Barba132,000
Liam Murray127,000
Stephen Bee126,400
Elise Depauw111,300
Chris Zenenos111,000
Jigs Reyes109,700
Greg Hoy100,000
Steven Hoek95,000
Matty Guilleaume80,300
Nuno Da Silva60,200
Joe Antar48,000
Milton Trickey47,800
Yang Lei12,700

Level 3: 300/600 (600)

Break time!

Our players are now on their first 15-minute break of the night.


Lynskey Binkski

Our reporter caught action from the flop between Alex Lynskey and Bruno Portaro.

On 353, Lynskey had a 10,500 in front of him in the small blind position with Portaro having raised to 25,000 sitting under the gun.

After approximately a minute, Lynskey called to see a turn of 9 to which he checked to Portaro.

Portaro bet 25,000, and Lynskey quickly moved all in. Portaro sigh-called with AA only to get the bad news when Lynskey showed K3.

The 2 river couldn’t change the result and Portaro was sent to contemplate whether to re-enter.

Alex Lynskey205,000
Bruno Portaro BUSTED!
Bruno Portaro laments the loss of his chips

Kroesen along nicely

Ricky Kroesen has begun to grow his stack nicely. After Scott Wilson opened from the hijack, Kroesen defended his big blind to see a flop of Q86.

Kroesen check-called a bet of 1,100 from Wilson to get to a turn of 5.

Upon a turn lead for 5,600 from Kroesen, Wilson open folded his Ace-King to let Kroeson take it down.

Ricky Kroesen127,500
Scott Wilson75,500

River of dreams

Octavian Voegele has taken a huge pot from Janet Wyvil, with both players all in on the river on a board of KK34Q.

Wyvil had a flush on the turn with her 76, however the river turned Voegele’s KQfrom trips into a full house.

Octavian Voegele226,000
Janet Wyvil7,000

Century of Centurions

We’ve just ticked over the 100 mark, raise the bat everyone, but take your guard and start over. We could be in for a big one. With 105 runners and counting, this is heading towards something special.

Our prize pool currently sits at almost $250,000 and is going up each minute. With registrations open until tomorrow, can we dare to dream of half a million? or more?

Level 2: 200/400

Schwell beginnings

It’s a nice start for Joshua Schwellnus, picking up a nice pot off Didier Guerin.

After Schwellnus opened from UTG+1, Guerin called directly to his left to see a flop of J8K.

Both players checked to see a turn of 8, when Schwellnus bet 1,100.

Guerin called and they saw the river come the 6. This time Schwellnus checked it to Guerin who bet 3,000, only for a check-raise to 8,000 to come in.

After a moment in the tank, Guerin folded to hand Schwellnus the pot.

Joshua Schwellnus140,000
Didier Guerin95,000

Early knockout

Nathaniel Hutton has found the rail early at the hands of James Camilleri.

On a board of 98Q69 three players held three monster hands and each of them were all in.

Camilleri: 96
Corey Kempson: 88
Nathaniel Hutton: J10

The boat vs boat vs straight scenario spells one of our first eliminations of the tournament and an early chip leader.

James Camilleri257,000
Corey Kempson16,000
Nathaniel HuttonBUSTED!
James Camilleri

Familiar faces

Notable events attract notable names, and notable names a-plenty there be.

From WSOP 2018 Main Event Finalist, Alex Lynskey, to Sydney Champs 2022 Main Event Runner-Up, Yita Choong, there is plenty of firepower amongst the field.


Shuffle up and deal!

Cards are in the air now as we get underway with 57 starters taking there seats, with many more on their way for this $2,500 entry premier event.

With 100,000 in each player’s start stack, as well as 60-minute levels, there is plenty of wiggle room early on as players look to grind their counts up into Days 2 and 3.

LevelSmall BlindBig BlindBB Ante
1200400
2300600
3300600600
4400800800
55001,0001,000
66001,2001,200
78001,6001,600
81,0002,0002,000

Level 1: 200/400

One in a million

From wherever you may be watching, in Australia, New Zealand or around the world, hello there and welcome to PokerMedia Australia‘s Live Reporting coverage of The APL Million!

It’s already been a huge start to the series here at Southport Sharks, with players flocking in from all corners of the nation to be a part of the Australian Poker League’s iconic festival which has returned after a two-year hiatus.

Already, we’ve seen massive numbers across the board for every event to date, and The APL Million Main Event is shaping up to be the biggest ever, with 444 entries taken in over the first two Day 1 flights and thus well on track to exceed the $1 million prize pool guarantee.

We’re also expecting a bumper field for today’s Centurion, one of the largest jewels in the APL crown. Based on the plethora of notables already spotted throughout the last three days, this will be arguably one of the toughest fields ever assembled in APL history.

Naturally, it’s only fitting that together with our friends at LCAPoker that we bring you comprehensive coverage until the final river falls, so keep your browsers open and refreshed here at PMA and tune into PlayAPL.tv from 4pm AEST for feature table action.

And to keep up with all the updates, images and results from the APL Million, be sure to check out the APL on all their socials: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

2022 APL MILLION – PMA LIVE REPORTING SCHEDULE

DateTime (AEST)Event
Mon 08 Aug4pmThe Centurion Day 1
Tue 09 Aug4pmThe Centurion Day 2
Wed 10 Aug12pmThe Centurion Day 3 (Final Table)*
3pmJackstar Super High Roller Day 1
Thu 11 Aug12pmJackstar Super High Roller Day 2*
Sat 13 Aug11:30amAPL Million Main Event Day 2
Sun 14 Aug11:30amAPL Million Main Event Day 3
Mon 15 Aug12:30pmAPL Million Main Event Day 4 (Final Table)*
1pm$5K High Roller Shot Clock Challenge Day 2
*Live Reporting coverage will cease upon reaching the final table; elimination updates will then be provided in stream time (30-minute delay), available at playAPL.tv.

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