LIVE REPORTING: 2023 WPT Prime Gold Coast $10K Super High Roller Day 1

Edi Fang leads after Day 1 of WPT Prime Gold Coast $10K Super High Roller – that’s a wrap!

With the conclusion of Level 13, players bagged and tagged up for the night, with 23 players surviving out of 85 total entries.

Leading the pack is Edi Fang, whose knockout blitz of opponents on the felt through the night netted him a bag with just shy of 4 million in chips.

Edi Fang

Fang was very happy with his performance through the day and was already thinking about strategy ahead of tomorrow’s return for Day 2.

Play is due to recommence tomorrow (Monday) from 1:00pm AEST. We will be back soon with our full recap of today’s action, with the Day 2 seat draw to be published in the morning.

Be sure to join us again as we bring you our continued Live Reporting coverage, but until then, from all of us here at PokerMedia Australia, it’s ‘bye for now!


Cam slams Pham

In one of the last hands before our players bagged and tagged, Alan Pham was eliminated at the hands of Ashton Campbell.

Pham was all in for the last of his 300,000 stack with K♥Q♠, going up against Campbell’s A♠7♦.

The board laid up a two pair with Jacks and Fours through J♣4♦J♥2♠4♥, with the higher kicker in Campbell’s hand sending Pham to the rail.

Ashton Campbell1,105,000
Alan PhamBUSTED!

Senic sent packing

Andrej Senic went to showdown with Josh McCully, going all in for 395,0000 from the cutoff over a spread of J♥8♥9♠8♦7♥.

Senic had rivered a straight with A♠10♣, but was sent packing as Josh McCully had turned over pockets 9♣9♦ for the turned full house.

Josh McCully1,250,000
Andrej SenicBUSTED!

Zhu cut loose

Zheming Zhu was eliminated after going all in with K♠Q♣, unable to beat Octavian Voegele’s 6♣6♠ as it spiked a set on the turn and held through 4♠2♦J♥6♥A♥.

Chris Tran soon joined him on the rail, busting to Sam Higgs after his Q♠10♠ couldn’t fend off Higgs’ A♥8♦ and watched as it connected a runner-runner straight through 6♠7♦2♣5♥9♣.

Octavian Voegele940,000
Sam Higgs800,000
Chris TranBUSTED!
Zheming ZhuBUSTED!

Chu chewed up

Khac-Trung Tran has elimininataed Justin Chu after calling his all in, with Tran’s A♥K♦ racing in front of Chu’s suited A♣10♣.

Chu couldn’t find a card on the spread of 8♦Q♣Q♦J♠6♥ to complete his up and down straight draw, and was cleaned out as his run ended.

Khac-Trung Tran1,510,000
Justin ChuBUSTED!

Higgs doubles

Sam Higgs went all in preflop, and was called by Chris Tran, with both players laying up pockets.

Tran was behind with J♣J♦ as Higgs laid down a monster A♦A♠, smashing through the runout K♣10♠8♥4♣9♦ securing him the double up and leaving Tran severely short.

Sam Higgs650,000
Chris Tran25,000

Anand ascending

Jason Anand was seen standing after he went all in against Octavia Voegele, with our reporter finding Anand’s hand A♦J♣ facing off to Voegele’s pockets 2x2x.

Anand recounted that they both had checked the flop A♠2♦J♠, and checked down on the J♦ turn. On the 8♦ river, Voegele bet before Anand went all in, with the trap perfectly set as they both had filled up to a full house.

Voegele called as Anand showed his Jacks full of Aces, beating the Twos full of Jacks, and took in the pot to boost his stack to a healthy 1.35M.

Jason Anand1,350,000
Octavia Voegele260,000
Jason Anand

Senic sweeps through

Patrick Murphy put the last of his 100,000 stack all in preflop and was snapped up by Andrej Senic.

Murphy’s suited A♥7♥ was trailing far behind Senic’s Q♣Q♦ pockets, and couldn’t catch up through a quiet board of K♣6♦2♦9♦5♥.

Andrej Senic400,000
Patrick MurphyBUSTED!

Level 13: 10,000/20,000 (20,000)

Break!

Our players are on their final break for the night, returning to complete one more level before bagging and tagging for Day 2 tomorrow (Monday).


Jarrod jilted

Jarrod Thatcher found himself running short as he jammed all in preflop from late position, snapped up by Malcolm Traynor on the button to take the action heads up.

Thatcher was leading top pair with K♥J♦ on the flop of Q♣4♥K♦ against Traynor’s A♠Q♥, but following the 3♣ turn, Traynor took back the advantage with A♥ for the two pair to eliminate Thatcher.

Malcolm Traynor800,000
Jarrod ThatcherBUSTED!

Pham doubles up

Alan Pham, the recent WPT Prime Gold Coast $3K PLO High Roller champion, is still grinding his way through, scoring a nice double up off Zheming Zhu to run his chips back up.

Pham went all in preflop, going heads up with Zhu who called with A♣J♥. Pham had him pipped with A♦Q♠, with the board running dry 2♦5♣3♦7♦K♥.

Alan Pham420,000
Zheming Zhu192,000

Geoffrey goes

Octavia Voegele is building her stack closer to a million after busting Geoffrey Mooney, who final tabled the WPT Prime Gold Coast Mystery Bounty event earlier this series.

Voegele held the edge over Mooney with A♥J♠ to his Q♥J♣, with the board running dry 3♣2♦8♦7♣8♥.

Octavia Voegele700,000
Geoffrey MooneyBUSTED!

Gan’s blazing

A big eliminination after we entered level 12, in the form of Alex Markopolous who has clearly had a big downswing since we last saw his stack just two levels earlier.

Our reporter found him all in after the pot had built to some 700,000 chips, with his cards facing head ups against Haozhe Gan.

Markopolous’s A♣J♦ had a strong top pair and kicker on the flop of 9♦5♦A♥, but Gan’s A♦7♥ had hit two pair on the 7♣ turn.

The river 5♥ offered little change in the outcome, with Gan taking down the pot to clean out Markopolous.

Gan’s stack has now moved a few whiskers away from 2 million in chips.

Haozhe Gan1,944,000
Alex MarkopolousBUSTED!

Level 12: 10,000/15,000 (15,000)

Voegele vexes Anand

Octavia Voegele has doubled up through Jason Anand, after going all in preflop and Anand called her off with pockets J♣J♥.

Voegele was trailing preflop holding A♣Q♥, but hit the first window on the flop and improved to top two pair on the turn, through a spread Q♠5♥4♣A♠9♠.

Octavia Voegele570,000
Jason Anand380,000

Zheng zinged

Over on table 18, action was all in on the turn, with the board laid up 10♥5♣9♣Q♥ as Robert Spano jammed A♣A♥ and Ziyue Zheng called him with J♥9♥, chasing an up-and-down straight, flush, or a straight flush draw.

Unfortunately for Zheng, he bricked out on the 6♦ river, with Spano’s Aces holding out, crippling his stack to barely over 1BB.

Robert Spano360,000
Ziyue Zheng15,000

Amiri rising

Ehsan Amiri has eliminated Steve Burgess after he went all in from the blinds preflop and Amiri snapped him off from the button.

Amiri’s 10♣10♠ overpowered Burgess’ A♠5♥ and swept effortlessly through the board of 6♥8♦2♦K♠9♦.

Ehsan Amiri436,000
Steve BurgessBUSTED!
Ehsan Amiri

Higgs holds

Action went all in on the flop of 5♠3♦6♥, going heads up between Sam Higgs who peeled J♣J♠, and Khac-Trung Tran who was breathing down an up-and-down straight draw holding A♦4♦.

Tran bricked out on the 10♣ and 3♥ river, giving Higgs a double up to keep grinding.

Khac-Trung Tran1,243,000
Sam Higgs620,000

Level 11: 6,000/12,000 (12,000)

Fang on fire

A succession of 3 eliminations at the hand of Edi Fang have seen his stack explode past 2 million to hold the chip lead as we witnessed the last few hands for this level.

Michael Egan was the first to be sent to the rail after his Q♣Q♠ couldn’t beat Fang’s K♥K♠ on an Ace-high dry run of 9♦6♠J♣7♠A♣.

Only a few minutes later, Fang saw to the double knockouts of Meerwais Hussaini and another player as they went all in, and Fang snapped them off.

Fang: Q♠7♠
Hussaini: Q♣Q♥
Opponent: A♦Q♦

The 3♦3♠9♦ gave Hussaini the lead with two pair, and offered a nut flush draw to the player with AQ, but Fang hit a backdoor flush with K♠ turn and 2♠ river.

Edi Fang2,100,000
Michael EganBUSTED!
Meerwais HussainiBUSTED!

All wrong for Wright

Nick Wright went all in preflop with J♣J♠ and was snapped up by Khac-Trung Tran who had him edged out with Q♥Q♠.

It went all wrong for Wright as he couldn’t find any outs on a straight forward board of 3♦3♠7♣A♣8♠, and was sent to the rail.

Khac-Trung Tran1,560,000
Nick WrightBUSTED!

Onwards Edwards

Luke Edwards has won a double up off Adrian Pacheco, after shoving all in short with 3♣3♥ against A♣2♦.

Neither hit on the board of Q♠J♣6♥K♣7♠, with Edwards’s pockets holding for a double to keep on fighting.

Adrian Pacheco315,000
Luke Edwards180,000

Markopoulos Now

Alex Markopolous has broken the Million chips milestone, after eliminating Daniel Hachem.

Hachem was all in short stack with a suited A♥6♥, tailing behind Markopolous holding a stronger A♦K♥.

Hachem found a pair on the flop, and was holding against Markopolous until the river gave the latter the higher King pair, on the board of 8♥6♦J♠5♥K♦.

Markopolous is currently on a super high roll, fresh off his Super High Roller win at Stacked Poker Championship only last month.

Alex Markopolous1,050,000
Daniel HachemBUSTED!
Alex Markopoulos

Best busts

Gavin Best jammed all in preflop with A♦7♦, snapped up by Rod Meneses holding Q♣9♣.

The flop 8♥Q♦5♣ gave Meneses the top pair, with the 8♣ turn offering to improve his hand to a flush draw against Best, who needed an Ace. The river denied Best with a 7♥, busting him out.

Rod Meneses425,000
Gavin BestBUSTED!

Rolling in the dough

With registration for re-entries locked out at 85 total entries after the end of our last break, the payouts have now been finalised, with a total prize pool of $816,000.

The top 11 finishers will score a minimum cash of $22,848, with the top prize paying out $263,160.

The full list of remaining payouts are listed below:

PlaceAmount
1st$263,160
2nd$159,120
3rd$98,940
4th$66,923
5th$51,000
6th$40,800
7th$33,864
8th$28,560
9th$26,316
10th$24,480
11th$22,848

Updated Counts

A quick update below on the top chip leaders in our remaining field of 54 players.

Haozhe Gan and Sean Ragozzini are still holding steady, but have been overtaken by Mata Ye who is sitting up top with 1.232M after a big upswing in the last few levels.

Ye, who is still fresh from his cash in the WPT Prime Gold Coast $3K PLO High Roller event earlier this week, is currently in hot form.

Mata Ye1,232,000
Haozhe Gan809,000
Sean Ragozzini777,000
Adrian Pacheco770,000
Michael Egan711,000
Edi Fang468,000
Mata Ye

Level 10: 5,000/10,000 (10,000)

Break!

Our players are on a quick 15-minute break.


Fang bites back

It’s been a massive day of uber coolers in the 10K Super High Roller today, and we have had another elimination after Aces faced off against Kings.

Patrick Murphy went all in with A♣A♦, overshadowing Edi Fang’s K♣K♠ at the preflop heads up.

Murphy was quickly pushed back as Fang hit a set on the flop, and was sent to the rail on the run out of 3♣9♣K♦4♠7♣.

Fang found another victim, Kevin Lee, after Lee went all in preflop with K♣J♠ as his stack ran down short to 86,000.

Fang snapped with A♣10♥, holding the advantage all the way through 4♦7♠9♥7♥4♥ and taking Lee out.

Edi Fang800,000
Kevin LeeBUSTED!
Patrick MurphyBUSTED!

Hu headed out

Po Hu sent the last of his stack into the middle from the blinds, going all in preflop with K♣Q♠ and facing Khac-Trung Tran for the heads up with A♦5♦.

The flop 9♦J♣J♦ offered both a straight draw to Hu, as well as a nut flush draw for Tran, who held the higher Ace kicker as the board ran out a two-pair on the 9♠ turn and 5♣ river.

Khac-Trung Tran824,000
Po HuBUSTED!

Level 9: 4,000/8,000 (8,000)

Burgess building

Steven Burgess went all in preflop with Q♣Q♥, going heads up with Ajez who called with A♠J♣.

Burgess smashed through 8♥3♣2♣10♦5♠ to double up above the average stack.

Steven Burgess433,000
Najeem Ajez345,000

Zhu too good

Michael Sleiman went heads up with Zheming Zhu, after some preflop action culminated in an all in and call.

Zhu had Sleiman’s Q♣Q♥ dominated with A♣A♥, and shot overhead through a dry board of 4♥6♠K♣9♦8♣.

Zheming Zhu578,000
Michael Sleiman256,000

Two pair for Tu

On a flop of A♣5♦5♠, Tu Le led out for 9,000 and Michael Egan called. Both players opted to check on the Q♣ turn.

With the 8♣ river, Le fired out a 35,000 bet and Egan called. Le turned over A♥K♣ for the two-pair and Egan mucked, levelling out their stacks at the half-million mark.

Michael Egan542,000
Tu Le498,000

Level 8: 3,000/6,000 (6,000)

Kelvin heating up

A bit of action firing up preflop as Edi Fang opened on the button, Kelvin Li raised to 34,000, Fang 3-bet to 76,000 then called Li’s 4-bet all in for 338,000.

Li: K♣K♥
Fang: 10♦10♠

Li secured a cruise through 2♥A♥2♣3♦J♣, boosting his stack as he slashed Fang’s stack to 188,000.

Not long thereafter, Fang found a double up through Jason Sampson to recover his stack, shoving all in with Q♦Q♠ against Sampson’s A♥J♥, with his Queens prevailing on the spread of 10♠4♣8♦4♥6♦ to defeat Sampson and send him to the rail.

Kelvin Li686,000
Edi Fang389,000
Jason SampsonBUSTED!

Thatcher just hatchin’

Jarrod Thatcher is just getting warmed up after scoring a generous double up off Po Hu. Currently sitting at the top of the Player of the Festival leaderboard with 825 points, Thatcher has a lot to play for as he looks to continue his pole position on the leaderboard.

From the cutoff, Thatcher bet 10,000 preflop, before calling Hu’s raise to 36,000 from the small blind.

The flop came 8♣4♥3♣, and Thatcher called Hu for 31,000. On the 2♣ turn, Hu checked then snap-called Thatcher’s all in.

Thatcher: A♦A♠
Hu: K♥K♠

Thatcher got a clean run on 8♣4♥3♣2♣2♥, taking out a chunk of Hu’s stack.

On the very next hand, Hu doubled up off another opponent, after he went all in again with Kings, with the very same suited Kings K♥K♠ holding out against K♣Q♣ suited-connectors to sweep through 6♦7♣10♥3♠10♦ for the two-pair.

The statistical odds of Hu getting the exact same hole cards twice in a row is 1 in 1,758,276.

Wow!

Jarrod Thatcher545,000
Po Hu75,000

Updated Counts

A quick short-list of the top chip counts from our field of 53 players, with the average stack currently sitting at the 330,000 mark.

Haozhe Gan is our new chipleader who has broken through the 1 million chips mark, holding a massive lead over the second chip leader, Sean Ragozzini, who has maintained his stack at just over 600,000.

PlayerChips
Haozhe Gan1,022,000
Sean Ragozzini616,000
Adrian Pacheco571,000
Michael Egan529,000
Steven Burgess527,000
Mata Ye504,000
Rod Meneses472,000
Gavin Best471,500
Edi Fang468,000
Alan Pham430,000

Level 7: 3,000/5,000 (5,000)

Break!

Players are currently on a 30-minute dinner break.

As part of this tournament series there is a special offer to players – a $55 freshly hand-made sushi box from Kiyomi. Our reporters had a sample and we can confirm it is absolutely mouth-watering.

The 16-piece sushi box includes seared salmon roll with avocado, Terimayo fullblood wagyu 9+ roll with cucumber, Yakiniku ocean trout with imami sansho, lime kingfish furikake, yuzu kosha tuna with wasabi salsa and seared nikiri soy scallop with spicy aioli.

Available as a special offer until Monday 6 March, you can pre-order (via the QR codes) a freshly hand-made sushi box from Kiyomi to be delivered to the tournament zone for just $55.00*.

Pre-orders can be placed between 10.00am-12.00pm daily and you can select a delivery time from 2.00pm, 2.30pm, 3.00pm, 3.30pm and 4.00pm.

*No further discounts apply. 


Sampson on fumes

On a spread of 9♥4♣2♦10♥, Jason Sampson went all in on the turn holding 6♦4♠, going heads up with Alex Lee who snapped him off short with Q♥10♣.

Lee held through the A♦ river to take out the pot,.leaving Sampson on fumes with under 10BB.

Alex Lee344,000
Jason Sampson35,500

Lightning Rod

Ken Demlakian went all in with a short stack and was snapped up by Rod Meneses.

Demlakian: Q♦8♦
Meneses: A♣K♣

Meneses made the top pair and improved to a full house through K♠3♥J♠3♠3♣, taking his stack past the half million mark.

Rod Meneses550,000
Ken DemlakianBUSTED!

Sampson struck

Alex Lee went all in pre flop holding Q♣J♥, called off by Jason Sampson for the heads up with K♠10♥.

Lee connected a flush and double up through 9♣7♣9♠6♣4♣.

Alex Lee212,000
Jason Sampson158,000

Dan doubles

Daniel Hachem found a double up through Martin Finger, after going all in preflop with 5♣5♠ and Finger called, turning up J♦J♠.

Luckily for Hachem, his pockets came back in front on the flop with a spiked set, and filled up to a boat on the river through Q♣5♦2♣4♠Q♦.

Martin Finger152,000
Daniel Hachem75,000

O’GrAAdy!

Daniel Hachem opened to 8,000, Jason Sampson raised to 25,000, then Michael O’Grady 3-bet to 65,000, before Hachem 4-bet all in for 258,000.

Sampson folded as O’Grady snap-called for the heads up.

O’Grady: A♣A♠
Hachem: K♦K♥

Board: 5♥J♣8♥9♠7♠

Uber-cooler!

Michael O’Grady563,000
Daniel Hachem35,500

Level 6: 2,000/4,000 (4,000)

Higgs busto

Sam Higgs found his stack running short at 54,000 when he went all in preflop from late position, and was snapped up by Kelvin Li.

Li: A♦Q♦
Higgs: K♠J♠

Neither player hit on the board of 5♦3♥10♦6♠6♥, with Li holding Ace high all the way to bust Higgs.

Kelvin Li206,000
Sam HiggsBUSTED!

Level 5: 1,500/3,000 (3,000)

Martinelli on the move

Luke Martinelli opened to 6,000 from the cutoff, called by Kelvin Lee in the big blind. On the flop Q♥7♥A♠, Li check-called for 5,000.

They both checked down the 8♥ turn, and the 9♠ river. Li showed K♣J♣ for the bricked straight draw as Martinelli turned up Q♣J♥ for the second-top pair, taking the pot.

Luke Martinelli166,000
Kelvin Li133,000
Luke Martinelli

O’Grady spins up

Our reporter came across to a table where 42,500 chips had amassed in the pot, to a flop and turn of 2♦5♥8♠Q♠.

Michael O’Grady bet 25,000, then called Alex Lee’s raise to 55,000 on the turn. The river came 7♦ and O’Grady led out for 75,000, pressuring Lee to fold.

Michael O’Grady285,000
Alex Lee150,000

Updated Counts

A quick shortlist of the top chip counts from our field of 45 players has been listed below.

Our current chip leader, Sean Ragozzini, cashed last year in the WPT Prime World Championship at Las Vegas, and also had strong finish on the final table in the High Roller event at the inaugural WPT Australia event in 2022. Ragozzini looks set for another great run after setting up early with a stack of 627,000.

Running up behind him is Gavin Best with 525,000 chips. Best won last year’s WPT Prime Gold Coast $5K Challenge and is also looking to take down another WPT Prime Gold Coast title.

NameChips
Sean Ragozzini627,000
Gavin Best525,000
Ziyue ‘Eric’ Zheng487,000
Rod Meneses485,000
Edi Fang460,500
Michael Egan400,000

Level 4: 1,500/2,500 (2,500)

Break!

Our players have taken a quick 15 minute break to stretch their legs and take a breather.


Meneses chips up

On a flop of A♦6♥3♠, Ken Demlakian checked-raised to 22,000 after Rod Meneses’ 8,000 bet. Both players checked down the 3♦ turn.

On the river 6♠, Demlakian bet 40,000 and was called by Meneses who turned over A♥Q♣ before Demlakian mucked.

Rod Meneses438,500
Ken Demlakian132,000

Level 3: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)

Hussan the man!

On a spread to the turn of K♣3♦Q♣8♦, Huss Hussan bet 40,000 and was called by Ken Demlakian, who had re-entered the tournament.

Both players checked down the 10♠ river, turning up their cards. Demlakian showed Q♥ X for the second-top pair, but Hussan had him crushed with A♣A♦.

Hussein Hassan315,000
Ken Demlakian193,500
Hussein Hassan

Ragozzini rockets up

Action was three-handed to a flop of 5♣8♦6♥. The pot built quickly after Sean Ragozzini bet 9,000, Ken Demlakian called, Po Hu raised to 30,000, and Ragozzini re-raised to 70,000. Demlakian called, and Ragozzini then called slightly short after Hu went all in for 232,500 and Demlakian called.

Ragozzini: 8♥8♠
Hu: 5♦5♥
Demlakian: 8♣7♣

Runout: 5♣8♦6♥K♥J♣

On the following hand, Demlakian sent the last of his 32,500 stack into the middle on the flop, and was called off by Hu.

Leading on the flop of Q♦10♠A♥ with A♦9♦, Demlakian had the carpet pulled from under his feet as Hu’s K♣Q♥ hit two pair on the turn K♥, and held out on the 2♠ river.

Sean Ragozzini620,000
Po Hu82,000
Ken DemlakianBUSTED!

Level 2: 1,000/1,500 (1,500)

Who’s that face?

As our field increases to 38 entries across four tables, we’ve taken a quick round of photos of notable faces. Know that face, but just don’t know the name? We’ve got you covered!


Ashton smashed

Kevin Lee opened to 5,500, with Kelvin Li and Cam Ashton calling. Rod Meneses raised from the big blind to 25,000, with only Li and Ashton calling.

On the 6♥2♥K♣ flop, Meneses bet 37,000, with Cam Ashton calling for two runners to the J♣ turn. Ashton went all in from the small blind with only 20,000 left and was snapped up by Meneses.

Meneses: Q♥Q♠
Ashton: 9♥3♥

Ashton was chasing down a heart to complete his flush draw, but bricked on the runout: 6♥2♥K♣J♣2♠

Rod Meneses328,000
Cam AshtonBUSTED!

Demlakian dominating

The action went four-handed to the flop of J♦10♣3♥.

Ken Demlakian bet 6,000 UTG, and Michael Falcon was the lone caller from the cutoff. On the A♦ turn, they both checked to the A♠ river.

Demlakian bet 18,000, forcing a fold from Falcon.

Ken Demlakian308,000
Michael Falcon116,500
Ken Demlakian

Shuffle up and deal!

Our field has started off with 20 players taking to their seats, starting at 500/1000 (1000) with relaxed 40-minute blind levels and unlimited re-entries until the end of Level 9.

Our field will play until the end of level 13, or a final table of 9 players.

LevelSmall BlindBig BlindBig Blind Ante
15001,0001,000
21,0001,5001,500
31,0002,0002,000
41,5002,5002,500
51,5003,0003,000
62,0004,0004,000
73,0005,0005,000
83,0006,0006,000
94,0008,0008,000
105,00010,00010,000
116,00012,00012,000
1210,00015,00015,000
1310,00020,00020,000

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


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