Six remain
The second day of APT Brisbane’s TLPT Opening Event has come to a close; no further eliminations before the end of Level 23.
Returning tomorrow at 1pm local time, Kahle Burns continues to hold to chip lead, whilst Chris Zenonos and Jordan Westmorland bring up the rear – both on exactly the same chip stack.
TLPT Opening Event Final Table
| Seat | Player | Chips |
| 1 | Thomas Ward | 3,780,000 |
| 2 | Kahle Burns | 8,050,000 |
| 3 | Jordan Westmorland | 2,015,000 |
| 4 | Kang Gao | 3,470,000 |
| 5 | Mostafa Haidary | 4,520,000 |
| 6 | Chris Zenonos | 2,015,000 |
Whilst the story of Vicky She came to an end, New Zealand’s Thomas Ward sent the collective audience on Facebook, YouTube, and physically on the rail, into raptures.
Kang Gao opened the action under-the-gun, with action folding round to Ward. Ward looked down at 8♠8♣, more than enough of a hand to 3-bet jam. He did so, but when the blinds got out of the way, Gao snap called with A♥A♣. With no help on board for Ward, he was crippled and left once again with under a big blind – half a big blind this time.
The very next hand, Ward’s last 75,000 went in with A♥2♠ – and when Jordan Westmorland isolated to force Gao out of the hand, successfully survived against 8♣3♣ to chip up to 350,000. Ward would then steal the blinds the next hand, shoving with Q♦Q♣ and finding no customers, Vicky She folding her big blind.
A little while later, Burns opened to 300,000 under-the-gun. Jordan Westmorland 3-bet to 1.2million, leaving himself 890,000 behind. Things then got interesting, as Mostafa Haidary 4-bet jammed for 4.885million, sending Ward into the tank with A♣K♣.
Ward eventually made the call for his remaining 575,000. Burns and Westmorland quickly folded, and Ward saw he was flipping against the Q♦Q♣ of Haidary – but it was Thomas Ward. He wasn’t flipping at this point, it’s written in the stars – and so no one was truly surprised when the board ran out 4♥10♥A♠8♦7♦.
Ward then proceeded to eliminate Adam Kharman, as we described earlier, to get back to the stack he has now.
We did promise more to the Thomas Ward Saga – Ward has now been knocked down to less than half a big blind in the business end of the same tournament and recovered to be among the chip leaders TWICE!
Some more eliminations
The players elected to continue playing after reaching the Final Table, considering how quickly they reached the Final Table after the dinner break.
| Place | Player | Prize |
| 7 | Adam Kharman | $27,000 |
| 8 | Vicky She | $23,000 |
| 9 | Andres Vasquez | $20,000 |
Andres Vasquez hit the rail effectively immediately, running A♥10♣ into the A♠J♦ of the big stack of Kahle Burns. Neither player improved and the Jack played for Burns, Vasquez collecting a small pay jump for his 9th place finish.
Next to go was, and a massive congratulations must be extended to, Vicky She – the high stakes cash game dealer playing in her first ever tournament achieving a final table result, before getting knocked in a one-two punch. Jordan Westmorland was the first villain, his K♥Q♣ running into She’s Q♥Q♦, but getting there on the 10♠9♥8♠A♦J♥. It was Burns, however, who collected a second scalp to increase his lead – his A♥J♣ flopping a straight on the K♣10♣Q♠ flop, with She’s Q♣Q♦ unable to pair the board on the 6♠, 9♠ run out. For her first major cash, She will collect $23,000.
The Thomas Ward saga has had another absolutely incredible twist; but for now – just know that Adam Kharman called all in preflop with A♠Q♥ to put himself at risk, after Thomas Ward shoved for 2.25million; Kharman with about half that. Ward tabled K♠J♠ and connected immediately, holding through the entire J♣10♥2♦8♦4♦ board to eliminate Kharman in 7th.
One for the story books?
There are two amazing stories forming at the TLPT Opening Event. The concurrent saga of Thomas Ward’s comeback from just 10,000 chips (quarter of a big blind at the time) and fairy tale of Vicky She’s first major tournament are both still very much alive.
All great stories have a villain, though, and 2024 WSOP $5K 6-max Champion Mostafa Haidary was trying his very best to end both fairy tales tonight. With the field playing 6-max from 24 players down to Final Table, Haidary was in his element and knew it.
A big turning point came when Haidary, who had been frequently opening at the time, opened under-the-gun and action folded all the way around to Thomas Ward in the big blind. Ward, holding K♣Q♣ and with double Haidary’s stack, settled on a jam – but Haidary quickly called with A♥Q♠ and held through to swap the stacks around.
Haidary would then collect some more from Vicky; Haidary opened again to 200,000 before Vicky 3-bet to 400,000 from the next seat over with A♦10♣. When action folded back around to Haidary, he called with K♠J♦ to take a flop – and immediately flopped top two on the 2♦J♣K♦ board. Haidary check-called 250,000 from Vicky, both players checked the 9♣ turn, and then Haidary fired 650,000 on the A♠ river to a call from Vicky.
TLPT Opening Event Final Table set
Armon van Wijk was eliminated shortly after the bubble burst to collect a min cash, and it was then some time before Thursday’s “NSW Icon Player” Rob Spano would join the rail, eliminated on an outer table.
With the field reduced to 9 players, play was paused to allow for photos and a redraw – presenting your TLPT Opening Event Final Table!
Seated (L-R): Mo Haidary, Chris Zenonos, Andres Vasquez, Vicky She
TLPT Opening Event – Final Table seating and chip counts
| Seat | Player | Chips |
| 1 | Thomas Ward | 2,095,000 |
| 2 | Adam Kharman | 2,300,000 |
| 3 | Andres Vasquez | 985,000 |
| 4 | Kahle Burns | 7,070,000 |
| 5 | Jordan Westmorland | 1,140,000 |
| 6 | Kang Gao | 870,000 |
| 7 | Vicky She | 2,465,000 |
| 8 | Mostafa Haidary | 5,900,000 |
| 9 | Chris Zenonos | 1,015,000 |
Kahle Burns carries a major chip lead going into the final table with just a tad over 7million; one of Australia’s best players, he’s shown absolutely no signs of slowing down all day.
Mostafa Haidary also has a chunk of change after collecting some from Thomas Ward and Vicky She in very quick succession – more details on that later.
TLPT Opening Event – remaining payouts
| Place | Payout |
| 1st | $201,850 |
| 2nd | $130,000 |
| 3rd | $87,000 |
| 4th | $60,100 |
| 5th | $46,900 |
| 6th | $35,100 |
| 7th | $27,000 |
| 8th | $23,000 |
| 9th | $20,000 |
Chen bubbles
China’s Yi Sha Chen, still on the hunt for her first major title, will have to wait once more after finding herself as the stone bubble for APT Brisbane’s TLPT Opening Event.
Chen was the first to be eliminated after the extended dinner break, during which several players (and commentators) took the opportunity to head on into the APT Brisbane player party and mingle.
Chen was unable to improve her Ace-Ten holding on a board of 4-4-J-Q-J, falling to an unknown players pocket Kings.
The departure of Chen leaves Vicky She as the sole remaining female player; Vicky is seated on the Feature Table – which is currently being live streamed on YouTube and Facebook – with a deep stack of over 3million. Vicky is currently playing her first ever live tournament; a dealer and cash game player in the past, what an incredible tournament to play for her first – and a massive congratulations to Vicky on making the money.
The remaining 11 players have now made the money; a minimum cash of $17,500 for both 10th and 11th place, while $201,850 is up to for the eventual Champion.
Dinner break
The remaining 12 players have departed on a 90-minute dinner break, in a change to the structure agreed between Australian Poker Tour and the players.
The big story is of course Thomas Ward; the Kiwi has continued to go from strength to strength, after picking off a Perry Jeffs bluff with Aces, Ward opened the very next hand with 5♥5♦ to see Jeffs shove for 680,000.
Ward immediately asked for a count; but could he ever fold when everything has been going so right? No, of course not. Making the call, he found himself racing against the A♣K♥ of Jeffs.
The flop of 3♣J♣10♣ was actually in Jeffs’ favour, as the equities favoured the overcards and nut flush draw. The equities would then flip almost exactly on the 3♦ turn, before the 9♦ completed the board and sealed Ward’s climb from – just a reminder – one quarter of a big blind to table chip leader with 2.6million at the time; and he’s added more since!
Australia’s Kahle Burns has remained as the tournaments overall chip leader for much of the day; on an outer table Burns has amassed a stack of 4.175million going into dinner. Just 12 players remain going into the 90 minute break – when they return at 10pm local time just 11 will make the money.
Who will go home empty handed? The way it’s going, not Thomas Ward.
TLPT Opening Event – chip counts at dinner break
Feature Table
| Seat | Player | Chips |
| 1 | Andres Vasquez | 1,365,000 |
| 2 | Kang Gao | 1,730,000 |
| 3 | Thomas Ward | 3,280,000 |
| 4 | Mostafa Haidary | 1,930,000 |
| 5 | Vicky She | 3,290,000 |
| 6 | Armon van Wijk | 730,000 |
Outer Table
| Seat | Player | Chips |
| 1 | Kahle Burns | 4,175,000 |
| 2 | Rob Spano | 1,185,000 |
| 3 | Jordan Westmorland | 1,060,000 |
| 4 | Adam Kharman | 3,145,000 |
| 5 | Chris Zenonos | 1,220,000 |
| 6 | Yisha Chen | 640,000 |
Warding off defeat
No one likes the phrase “chip and a chair” – except when it works.
Third on New Zealand’s All Time Money List, Thomas Ward found himself crippled down to just one quarter of a big blind; after losing a flip with 3♥3♦ against the A♠J♣ of Hamish Crawshaw.
A few hands later, he would throw them in without looking under-the-gun, only to table J♦10♣ and win against the J♣8♣ of Andres Vasquez. Up to 70,000.
Forced all in on the next hand with K♥6♠, Ward found another double; his King high good after both himself and Yoon Kang missed the board. Up to 110,000. Ward shoved the small blind on the next hand and Mostafa Haidary relinquished his blinds. Up to 190,000. Was this to be a comeback for the ages?
Crawshaw, after crippling Ward to begin with, then found himself eliminated after his A♣K♣ came up short against the A♥6♣ of Armon van Wijk; van Wijk spiking a backdoor straight on a board of 7♠4♠7♦3♥5♠.
Ward shoved preflop and stole the blinds. Up to 290,000. Commentators, loving it. Comments on Facebook and YouTube live stream, loving it. But the best was yet to come.
Andres Vasquez applied pressure, shoving on Ward’s big blind… only for Ward to snap call. Vasquez had A♦7♠, but Ward’s 6♥6♣ would hold on the Q♦5♦3♠3♥4♣ board – commentators now unashamedly “Team Ward” calling for the hold the whole way.
A shove and a steal once more, and now Ward found himself with 640,000, well back in this; and then, Armon van Wijk opened to 100,000. Thomas Ward looked down at K♦K♣ and shoved, seeing a double up in his future – only for van Wijk to snap call, tabling A♠A♥.
“He’ll be looking for a kiNG AND IT’S THERE!”; You could hear the excitement in commentator Brayden Jinks’ voice as the K♠ appeared in the window, the rest of the board irrelevant as Thomas Ward scooped in yet another pot.
From 10,000 to 1.275million – Ward is definitely one to keep an eye on tonight.
Trayner, Sandaev double dominated
A couple of key hands from the feature table, then, as the stacks have swung backwards and forwards around the table.
Joe Sandaev moved in for 570,000 with K♥J♣ from the small blind over an Andres Vasquez button open, only to see Thomas Ward wake up in the big blind with 9♥9♦ and under-call, before Vasquez got out of the way.
The board ran out seven high, which granted a full double and then some to Ward, whilst crippling Sandaev.
Shortly after, Mostafa Haidary – who was the WSOP 2024 $5K 6-Max NLHE bracelet winner – opened with J♥10♣ in the cut-off. Malcolm Trayner – also a WSOP 2024 bracelet winner in the $1K Mystery Million event for US$1million – jammed from the next seat over with A♣Q♦.
Unfortunately for Trayner, Armon van Wijk then re-shoved from the very next seat over with A♦K♣, and would eliminate the WSOP bracelet winner by kicker on the 4♥9♠5♣A♥4♦ board.
Sandaev got his very short stack in with A♥J♥, but it was just his turn to run into it; Haidary with A♦Q♥ around the table enough to eliminate Sandaev on the 9♠A♠K♠5♣7♣ run-out.
| Player | Chips |
| Mostafa Haidary | 2,020,000 |
| Armon van Wijk | 1,475,000 |
| Thomas Ward | 985,000 |
| Andres Vasquez | 740,000 |
| Joe Sandaev | BUSTED! |
| Malcolm Trayner | BUSTED! |
The two players eliminated will be replaced on the feature table by Yoon Kang (600,000), and Hamish Crawshaw (450,000), as the tournament moves down to just three tables – 18 players – remaining. The blinds have also progressed, now up to 20,000/40,000 (40,000).
Redraw!
With 24 players left in the TLPT Opening Event, the players have redrawn onto 4 tables; playing 6-max from now until the end.
On the Feature Table, streaming on both YouTube and the APTLive Facebook page, this is the line up!
| Seat | Player | Chips |
| 1 | Andres Vasquez | 1,115,000 |
| 2 | Joe Sandaev | 765,000 |
| 3 | Thomas Ward | 335,000 |
| 4 | Mostafa Haidary | 1,540,000 |
| 5 | Malcolm Trayner | 500,000 |
| 6 | Armon van Wijk | 965,000 |
The event as a whole has smashed the $500K guarantee, reaching a total prize pool of $665,960. 11 players will reach the money today, with $17,500 for a minimum cash for 10th and 11th, whilst the pay-outs up top are mouth watering – with $201,850 up top for the Champion.
| Place | Payout |
| 1st | $201,850 |
| 2nd | $130,000 |
| 3rd | $87,000 |
| 4th | $60,100 |
| 5th | $46,900 |
| 6th | $35,100 |
| 7th | $27,000 |
| 8th | $23,000 |
| 9th | $20,000 |
| 10-11th | $17,500 |
Burns heating up
At the second break in action here at the TLPT Opening Event at APT Brisbane, it’s Victoria’s Kahle Burns who has sparked into action, sizzling to the top of the counts.
Burns, who sits 2nd on Australia’s All Time Money List, had almost double the stack of anyone else at the break; not just the only person over 2million, but the first player to eclipse 3million in chips.
Adam Kharman may have run into a difficult spot in the last stanza. Whilst still a formidable stack, Kharman has dropped back down to “just a cool million”.
25 players remain from the 95 entries in the event, which will be playing down to a final table today.
TLPT Opening Event – leading chip counts end of Level 15
| Player | Chips |
| Kahle Burns | 3,130,000 |
| Mostafa Haidary | 1,690,000 |
| Chris Zenonos | 1,480,000 |
| Yoon Kang | 1,210,000 |
| Adam Kharman | 1,000,000 |
High flying Kharman
Adam Kharman continued climbing throughout the first portion of today’s TLPT Opening Event Day 2, which is now locked out, with no more late registration available. As of the first break Adam had extended a clear lead over the field, with nearly 2million in his stack – and how good does that stack look!
All in all, the high stakes event attracted 95 entries including some of the highest profile players in Australia and many notable pros from overseas. WSOP bracelet winners, WPT champions, Aussie Millions ring winners, Wynn Millions champions; you name it, we have them competing here at APT Brisbane.
2022 Treasury Poker Festival Main Event Champion Adrian Sportelli appeared to hold the second biggest stack in the field at that time. That really just gives us at PMA a good excuse to re-use this picture.
TLPT Opening Event – leading chip counts end of Level 12
| Player | Chips |
| Adam Kharman | 1,975,000 |
| Adrian Sportelli | 1,180,000 |
| Kang Gao | 1,169,000 |
| Jacque Ramsden | 982,000 |
We’ll bring you another round of chip counts at the second break, before bringing you all of the action from 6:30pm local time.
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