12:30am: Bubble-wrap!
Much to the field’s dismay, play for Day 1 of the Bonza Bounty has had to conclude on the stone bubble for the money, with 61 players still left after a more than 20 minutes of hand-for-hand played to try to burst it.
This concludes a wonderful day at The Star Gold Coast which saw Tanya Sue claim the title of the Ladies Australian Championship, meanwhile it was Patrick Meng coming away with the trophy in the $675 PLO.
Stay tuned for a chat with our overnight Bonza Bounty chip leader, Taylor Grube!
11:00pm: Bonza Bounty on a Rampage
The numbers soared in today’s Bonza Bounty event, seeing 480 total entries take the field in this two day event.
We’re into the final level of play, and once again, it’s Amin Riyazati keeping his chip count near the top of the ranks, with a stack count more than triple the tournament average!
Top 60 players will earn a place-prize, with the min-cash at $691, and a first place prize of $37,936.
61 players remain in contention, and one of them is Ethan Yau, best known as ‘Rampage Poker’, who famously won the $25,000 entry High Roller event at the WPT World Championship at The Wynn, Las Vegas last December for a prize of nearly $900,000 US Dollars!
9:30pm: Patrick Meng takes the PLO Action Clock trophy!
Western Australia’s Patrick Meng has picked up his maiden WPT title in the PLO Action Clock event!
A four-way deal was made at the closing stages of the final table, with chip leader Michael Doumani collecting a lion’s share of the remaining cash.
Meng had collected live poker tournament wins before, but not in the four-card variant of the game, and was thrilled to do so today!
Final Table results
| Place | Name | Prize |
| 1st | Patrick Meng | $27,000* |
| 2nd | Michael Doumani | $42,452* |
| 3rd | Matthew Wingham | $27,000* |
| 4th | Armon Van Wijk | $22,000* |
| 5th | Fedon Phaedonos | $11,087 |
| 6th | Nima Hosseini | $9,196 |
| 7th | Zhengmin Zhang | $7,702 |
| 8th | David Sebesfi | $6,255 |
| 9th | Darren Moss | $4,831 |
7:15pm: PLO Final Table
Sydney’s Michael Doumani holds a huge chip lead heading into the Final Table of the $675 PLO Action Clock Event. David Sebesfi lost a huge pot on the final table bubble when his A♠A♣4♣3♥ was faced against K♠K♥4♠3♦ all in pre-flop.
The board ran out 9♠6♣7♦K♣10♦ to hand his opponent a set, and had Sebesfi relinquishing the chip lead.
Final Table line-up
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | David Sebesfi | 760,000 |
| 2 | Guangrui Meng | 800,000 |
| 3 | Fedon Phasdonos | 850,000 |
| 4 | Darren Moss | 475,000 |
| 5 | Zheming Zhang | 335,000 |
| 6 | Matthew Wingham | 2,925,000 |
| 7 | Armon Van Wiik | 400,000 |
| 8 | Michael Doumani | 3,600,000 |
| 9 | Nima Hasseini | 1,250,000 |
6:00pm Chats with champions!
Watch below to see Tanya Sue and her son JP, as they react to their family’s success in winning two WPT Australia Series events already!
4:15pm: Winning is hereditary!
Tanya Sue becomes the second member of her family to claim a title this WPT Australia Festival! Sue emerges victorious in the Ladies Australian Championship after her son Jon Peter “JP” Rounce-Sue won the Opening Event on Sunday!
Heads-up against Yuen Ching “Flora” Pun, it was an internationally-flavoured battle between New Zealand and Hong Kong, with the Kiwis prevailing.
With JP on the rail supporting his mum, Sue was subject to pep-talks at various stages of the final table. Whatever words were shared were fruitful, with the first place prize including a $6,000 WPT Ladies World Championship Passport, funded by The Star Gold Coast as part of their mission to foster the growth of women in poker.
PMA managed to sit alongside both mother and son for a chat after the win, stay tuned!
Final table results
| Place | Name | Prize |
| 1st | Tanya Sue | $16,320 |
| 2nd | Yuen Ching “Flora” Pun | $9,320 |
| 3rd | Andrea Adorjan | $5,856 |
| 4th | Natalia Rozova | $3,960 |
| 5th | Hua Wei Lin | $3,000 |
| 6th | Mayuko Sawada | $2,448 |
| 7th | Jenny Phillips | $2,112 |
| 8th | Emma Apostolou | $1,872 |
| 9th | Harmony Tenenbaum | $1,632 |
2:30pm: Sebesfi sun-running, Ladies Championship down to five
Over in the PLO Action Clock, play is down to its last three tables. 24 players remain from the total field of 389. At the first break of the day, David Sebesfi has continued his form to perpetuate his chip lead.
Fellow Sydneysider Michael Doumani sits next in the counts, as the only other player currently tipping past six-figures in their stack.
Top five chip counts
| Player | Chips |
| David Sebesfi | 1,486,000 |
| Michael Doumani | 1,050,000 |
| Keiron Laifoo | 919,000 |
| Matthew Wingham | 900,000 |
| Mahdi Rasouli | 785,000 |
Over in the Ladies Australian Championship, just five players remain in play as they return from a break.
The chip lead has shifted to Tanya Sue, with the blinds currently 10,000/20,000/20,000.
Chip counts at break
| Name | Chips |
| Tanya Sue | 845,000 |
| Natalia Rozova | 525,000 |
| Yuen Ching Pun | 485,000 |
| Hua Wei Lin | 340,000 |
| Andrea Adorjan | 205,000 |
Recent eliminations
| Place | Name | Prize |
| 6th | Mayuko Sawada | $2,448 |
| 7th | Jenny Phillips | $2,112 |
| 8th | Emma Apostolou | $1,872 |
| 9th | Harmony Tenenbaum | $1,632 |
12:45pm: Ladies Australian Championship Final Table
Day 2 of the Ladies Australian Championship had barely ticked past an hour of play before we reached the Final Table. The field was sent into the money after the knockout of Japan’s Shiina Okamoto in 11th place, then Qi Xin’s elimination in 10th place got us from two tables down to one!
The chip lead has remained with Andrea Adorjan, who holds more than a 200,000 margin over Yuen Chin Pun and Natalia Rozova.
Final Table line-up
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Emma Apostolou | 112,000 |
| 2 | Mayuko Sawada | 187,000 |
| 3 | Tanya Sue | 294,000 |
| 4 | Hua Wei Lin | 270,000 |
| 5 | Andrea Adorjan | 568,000 |
| 6 | Jenny Phillips | 273,000 |
| 7 | Harmony Tenenbaum | 30,000 |
| 8 | Natalia Rozova | 333,000 |
| 9 | Yuen Ching Pun | 334,000 |
12:00pm: Survived and thrived – a chat with Amin Riyazati
The Outback Survivor Bounty champion was crowned yesterday evening, and it’s Amin Riyazati in the winner’s photo. Riyazati spoke in depth with PMA about the achievement, which also doubled as his best live tournament cash!
As part of his prize, he earns himself a $6,000 WPT Prime World Championship Passport to the Wynn Las Vegas!
Check out what he had to say below!
11:00am: Final preparations
We’re 15 minutes away from resumption in the Ladies Australian Championship and 30 minutes from beginning Day 2 of the $675 PLO Action Clock.
David Sebesfi leads the way in the four-card format, with 40 entrants returning to the felt.
Shortly after chips were bagged in the ladies’ event, Andrea Adorjan joined us for a chat to discuss her approach to Day 2 as the chip leader. Check it out in the video below!
Creating opportunities
From wherever you’re watching in Australia, New Zealand or around the world, hello and welcome back to PokerMedia Australia‘s continued coverage of the WPT Australia series!
Today marks the official midway point of the festival, and here at The Star Gold Coast, we’re witnessing another evolution in poker, with more and more people from all walks of life taking their shot at fame, fortune and glory.
In particular, we are privileged to be ringside for the inaugural WPT Australia Ladies Championship, which will see 14 players return today for Day 2 from a starting field of 80, where one woman will earn themselves a top prize of $16,320, plus a seat into the coveted WPT Ladies Championship at The Wynn Las Vegas.
There’s also been a surge in the popularity of the game throughout many parts of the world post-COVID, particularly in Japan and India, where we are now seeing players from both countries experience success on the world stage.
Irrespective of age, gender, cultural background, orientation or ability, poker is a game that doesn’t discriminate – and this is certainly the case for Zisimos Jordan, who identifies as a Deaf man and has been grinding the mainstream circuit in recent years after his breakout victory in the 2017 Deaf Poker Australia Championship.
Our team at PMA caught up with Zisimos a couple of days ago in this very special bilingual edition (Auslan and English) of our ‘Deep Dive’ video series, which you can watch on our YouTube channel now.
It’s important to recognise that lower limit and bespoke tournaments, such as Ladies or Deaf poker events, continue to play a pivotal role in growing and maintaining the popularity of our game, and that we as a community have a responsibility and duty of care to provide a platform to those who are looking to take that next step in their poker journey.
And as we have seen first-hand in Las Vegas, creating a culture of positivity and support, whilst honouring those who have paved the way for success, ultimately does more to protect the future of our game.
So with that in mind, we look forward to seeing more of you join us on and around the Aussie felt, and PMA will be front and centre to bring you the latest updates when play resumes from 11:15am today. See you then!
PMA is a proud supporter and Official Media Partner of Deaf Poker Australia (DPA).
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From wherever you’re watching in Australia, New Zealand or around the world, hello and welcome to PokerMedia Australia!
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