In the bag!
Both the Dracakis Players Championship and the TLPT Main Event have drawn to a close for Day 1; all the chips have been bagged, tagged, and put away.
In the Dracakis Players Championship, just 29 survive from 116 entries, with no more late registration available. Andres Vasquez, after a 9th place finish in The Lord Poker Tour Opening Event yesterday, will carry the lead overnight into Day 2.
Others to bag a stack include Dipper Zenonos, Thomas Ward, JP Rounce-Sue, and Benjamin Leblond, all of whom are coming off the back of final table appearances in either the TLPT Opening Event or the Australian PLO 8-Max National Championships. Western Australian Dale Marsland found a bag also, seeking further success after captaining WA to a title defence in the State Of Origin tournament on Friday.
Dracakis Players Championship – End of Day 1 counts
| Player | Chips |
| Andres Vasquez | 472,500 |
| Yi Zhu | 364,500 |
| Andrew Moreno | 358,000 |
| Lachlan Crilly | 339,500 |
| Dale Marsland | 328,500 |
| Chris “Dipper” Zenonos | 272,500 |
| Will Wong | 272,500 |
| Jacque Ramsden | 269,500 |
| Benjamin Leblond | 245,000 |
| Sam Haddad | 243,000 |
| Guangyu Wang | 233,000 |
| Keven O’Donahue | 201,500 |
| Victor Li | 195,000 |
| Danielle Noja | 188,500 |
| Faraz Ayyaz | 177,000 |
| Jeison Berdugo | 160,000 |
| Jigsy Reyes | 159,500 |
| Noman Mirza | 154,000 |
| Thomas Ward | 154,000 |
| JP Rounce-Sue | 150,500 |
| Damian Stanley | 133,500 |
| Terry Johnson | 124,000 |
| Neng Zhao | 118,500 |
| Shem Goltz | 105,000 |
| Tony Hachem | 97,500 |
| Steven Smith | 89,500 |
| Lucho Vargas | 72,000 |
| Jake Cope | 65,500 |
| Sherif Derias | 64,500 |
The TLPT Main Event across the room, sporting a $15,000 buyin, has so far attracted 18 entries. Due to a delayed start, though, late registration will actually be open for three more levels in Day 2 tomorrow; we’re expecting that number to grow. APT and TLPT are estimating that the TLPT Main Event will accumulate a prize pool of around a million dollars.
Of the 18, just 13 remain. Leading the way – and how’s this for a story; the only player to have re-entered after actually being the first to be eliminated earlier on today – is Quan Zhou, who our readers may remember was the team captain for Team China-International on Friday. Zhou will be the only player to start Day 2 with over 1million in chippies. Andy Lee is hot on his heels, having bagged just shy of a million himself.
The quality in the field is really a lot to list. New Zealand’s numero uno in All Time Earnings in Sosia Jiang. A 2024 WSOP $5K 6-Max Champion in Mostafa Haidary. Today’s TLPT Opening Event winner in Kahle Burns. A 2018 WSOP Main Event final tablist in Alex Lynskey. Others to find a bag include WPT Ambassador Angel Guillen, APT Ambassador and NSW SOO Team Captain Didier Guerin, and New Zealand’s SOO Team Captain Hamish Crawshaw.
Malcolm Trayner and Gary Lin were among those unable to find a bag; we’ll have to wait to see if they decide to fire again tomorrow.
$15K TLPT Main Event – End of Day 1 counts
| Player | Chips |
| Quan Zhou | 1,077,000 |
| Andy Lee | 958,000 |
| Adam Kharman | 718,000 |
| Mostafa Haidary | 699,000 |
| Angel Guillen | 661,000 |
| Alex Lynskey | 660,000 |
| Kahle Burns | 630,000 |
| Sosia Jiang | 626,000 |
| Hamish Crawshaw | 528,000 |
| Toni Kaukau | 392,000 |
| Ivan Zhang | 126,000 |
| Didier Guerin | 93,000 |
| Renji Mao | 33,000 |
From all of us here at PMA, that is goodnight! We will be back once more tomorrow to bring you the action from APT Brisbane.
Edwards wins Australian Mixed Game Championships
Mixed games never get enough love, but they always have been a true opportunity for some of the games best to showcase their skill in a whole variety of poker formats and stakes, from grassroots to the $50K Poker Players Championship at the WSOP – an event some believe to be the epitome of poker.
Australia certainly has some mixed game superstars in our roster, with the likes of Rob Campbell (2019 2-7 Lowball bracelet winner and 2019 WSOP Player Of The Year) and James Obst (2x WSOP bracelet winner – one in Razz and one in Stud) just the tip of the wealth of skill in mixed games on home shores. Obst is, of course, no stranger to No Limit Hold’em success either – he won the 2024 WPT Australia Championship not even a month ago.
For Luke Edwards and Matthew Ginn, powerhouses in their own right, it’s now an even match up – Ginn defeated Edwards heads up in the 8-Game event at the APL Million, and now today, Edwards got his own back – defeating Ginn heads up to take victory and his first APT title in the Australian Mixed Game Championships HEROS event.
Congratulations Luke!
Numbers are in
The Dracakis Players Championship has now passed the end of Late Registration; garnering 116 entries in total, including re-entries.
That means that the prize pool for the Dracakis Players Championship has reached $110,200 from buyins; but that isn’t all, as the event is famed for the Championship Ring that comes with victory.
The ring, valued at AU$12,000, has been added to the prize pool by tournament sponsors Dracakis Jewellers ever since the tournaments inception.
Someone finally beat Travis
Travis Endersby couldn’t be stopped on Friday in the State Of Origin tournament, winning two of his shoot-out tables and coming second in the other to ‘carry’ Western Australia to a successful title defence.
He was little more than a bystander for most of the action since joining the Feature Table, not picking up many hands or getting much action when he did.
So when action folded to Endersby in the small blind, he tried to get some momentum going, shoving on Sam Haddad’s big blind with K♠J♥… only for Haddad to immediately snap call with A♠A♣. Ah.
Well, we’ve all been there – and for Endersby, at least it was ‘over’ somewhat quickly; Haddad flopped top set and held on the 2♦A♦Q♠5♦4♥ board.
| Player | Chips |
| Sam Haddad | 85,200 |
| Travis Endersby | BUSTED! |
Berdu-going
Jeison Berdugo, approaching the danger zone with a shortening stack and having just gone through the blinds, shoved for his last 23,400 – 11.5 big blinds – from the button with Q♥J♥.
Joe Sandaev, who had originally opened from the hijack with 9♦9♣, asked for a count before making the call in short order.
Sandaev made a set in the window as the board ran out 8♣5♥9♠6♠Q♣, sending Berdugo to the rail around the start of Level 10 – Level 10, incidentally, is the last level of Late Registration.
| Player | Chips |
| Joe Sandaev | 126,800 |
| Jeison Berdugo | BUSTED! |
Kharman headed the Wong way
Adam Kharman elected to jam with 3♦3♣ from the hijack for his remaining 35,000 – effectively 22 big blinds.
It looked for a moment as though he was going to steal the blinds, as each player folded in turn – until Will Wong made the call from the big blind, tabling 9♥9♣ to put Kharman at risk.
Kharman, who put out an outstanding performance to finish second only to WA’s Travis Endersby in the Player Of Origin leaderboard on Friday, was unable to catch up on the 2♦A♦2♠5♠A♥ board, despite picking up some extra outs on the turn, and headed for the exit.
Speaking of Endersby, he has since joined the feature table line-up, in seat 4 between Will Wong and Sam Haddad
| Player | Chips |
| Will Wong | 148,400 |
| Travis Endersby | 48,500 |
| Adam Kharman | BUSTED! |
A new feature table
After Steven Smith went on a massive sun run, the Dracakis Players Championship took the last break of the day.
The Feature Table was rotated, with an outer table selected to come and take their shine under the cameras. Once again, a reminder that in addition to our coverage, you can watch the live (30minute delay) stream on Twitch, YouTube and the APTLive Facebook page, wherever you are.
Danielle Noja leads the table with a 208,000 stack, whilst the Australian poker community will undoubtedly be familiar with Adam Kharman, Will Wong, and Sam Haddad. Benjamin Leblond, fresh off a runner-up finish in the Australian PLO 8-Max National Championships, once again joined the Feature Table, but this time was on the shorter end of the chip counts.
| Seat | Player | Chips |
| 1 | Danielle Noja | 208,000 |
| 2 | Jeison Berdugo | 75,400 |
| 3 | Will Wong | 83,200 |
| 4 | Guangyu Wang | 50,800 |
| 5 | Sam Haddad | 89,200 |
| 6 | Gabriel Pedros | 24,200 |
| 7 | Adam Kharman | 46,000 |
| 8 | Benjamin Leblond | 44,900 |
That’s gotta hurt
Hadi Noordin opened the action with A♥Q♠ before Steven Smith looked down once again at K♦K♣, electing to pump it up to 6,000.
APL Million Main Event winner Amin Riyazati took the aggressive line, a 4-bet to 18,000 with A♠K♥ succeeding in reducing the hand to heads up, forcing a fold from the short-stacked Noordin.
Smith then went unconventional; firstly flat calling the 4-bet before immediately leading out for 40,000 on a 6♠4♣5♦ flop. Smith left himself just 19,500 behind with that bet.
Riyazati appeared flummoxed and tanked for a couple of minutes before putting Smith to the test for the rest of it – only for Smith to flat call and double through once more after the 9♥, 4♠ run out.
Riyazati, left with nine big blinds after that hand, was eliminated shortly after.
| Player | Chips |
| Steven Smith | 159,500 |
| Hadi Noordin | 14,700 |
| Amin Riyazati | BUSTED! |
Coldest of decks
Blinds in the Dracakis Players Championship were 500/1,000 (1,000) when Duncan McKinnon opened to 2,000 with A♠K♠.
Halfway around the table, the somewhat short-stacked Steven Smith 3-bet to 6,000, approximately 20% of his stack, with K♥K♦.
Rob Spano then 4-bet jammed from Smith’s immediate left, a total of 54,600. McKinnon re-jammed and Smith snapped it off to send all three to a showdown.
The flop of 5♦9♦8♥ didn’t appear too dangerous for Smith. “A ten is a really good card!” called Spano, after the J♣ hit the turn.
The 5♠ river wasn’t what Spano or McKinnon needed, but for Smith, he’s risen from just 12,000 an hour ago to a sizeable stack; a great indication of just how fantastic the Dracakis Players Championship structure is.
| Player | Chips |
| Steven Smith | 89,500 |
| Rob Spano | 52,200 |
| Duncan McKinnon | 37,100 |
Feature Table up and running again
The APT Feature Table, with commentary from Harvey Silver and Brayden Jinks, is currently being live streamed on Twitch, YouTube and the APTLive Facebook page.
Coverage will commence with action from the Dracakis Players Championship.
The table line-up at the start of coverage is headlined by Rob Spano; the Australian who featured as the ‘Icon’ player for New South Wales team on Friday. APL Million Main Event winner Amin Riyazati also features, in direct position on Rob Spano’s left.
| Seat | Player | Chips |
| 1 | Dan Allouche | 72,600 |
| 2 | John Casiotis | 29,000 |
| 3 | Hadi Noordin | 24,300 |
| 4 | Francisco Maria | 50,000 |
| 5 | Steven Smith | 12,000 |
| 6 | Rob Spano | 51,700 |
| 7 | Amin Riyazati | 64,800 |
| 8 | Duncan McKinnon | 109,900 |
TLPT Main Event underway
The second event of The Lord Poker Tour series at APT Brisbane is underway at voco Brisbane.
So far, the $15,000 buy in event has attracted 7 entries. Quan Zhou, who captained the Team China-International side in Thursday’s State Of Origin tournament, hit the rail earlier today, leaving six remaining.
Late registration for the event will be open into Day 2; we’re expecting late entries throughout as APT’s renowned Dracakis Players Championship is also currently in session – a number of players expected to play the TLPT Main Event are currently seated in that tournament.
TLPT Main Event – current entrants
| Player | Starting stack |
| Hamish Crawshaw | 400,000 |
| Kahle Burns | 400,000 |
| Sosia Jiang | 400,000 |
| Gary Lin | 400,000 |
| Tony Kaukau | 400,000 |
| Alex Lynskey | 400,000 |
Was it ever in doubt?
Kahle Burns simply crushed the final table of the TLPT Opening Event.
Sealing the deal by shoving with 5♦5♣ and holding up in the flip against Jordan Westmorland’s Q♥10♣ – Westmorland unable to improve on the 8♣8♥6♥9♠A♣ board – Burns adds a TLPT trophy and the $201,850 that came with it to his seemingly never-ending list of accolades.
Despite not playing as frequently as he perhaps used to, Burns – who sits second on Australia’s All Time Money List – clearly hasn’t lost his touch. His career includes two WSOPE bracelets in 2019, an Aussie Millions ring in the 2020 $100K Challenge, and most recently, a Triton Super High Roller victory in 2022 for 1.7million.
For Westmorland, it’s bittersweet. The American pro surely feels an affinity for Australia; his only previous recorded victory was the 2019 Melbourne Poker Championships Main Event, good for AU$217,255 at the time.
Nevertheless, Westmorland’s consistency shines through – a long string of final table performances includes the EPT San Remo Main Event and an EPT Prague side event, an ANZPT Queenstown Main Event, a WSOPE High Roller, several big tournaments in Macau such as the Macau Poker Cup and Asian Championship Of Poker, in addition to bubbling the final table of the WSOP APAC back in 2013, an event infamously won by none other than Daniel Negreanu.
PMA will return later today to bring you action from the TLPT Main Event Day 1. With a $15,000 buyin and estimating a $1million prize pool, it’s sure to be a tournament not to be missed, with plenty more big names in town.
TLPT Opening Event – Results
| Place | Country | Player | Prize |
| 1 | Australia | Kahle Burns | $201,850 |
| 2 | USA | Jordan Westmorland | $130,000 |
| 3 | New Zealand | Thomas Ward | $87,000 |
| 4 | Australia | Chris “Dipper” Zenonos | $60,100 |
| 5 | Australia | Mostafa Haidary | $46,900 |
| 6 | China | Kang Gao | $35,100 |
| 7 | Australia | Adam Kharman | $27,000 |
| 8 | China | Vicky She | $23,000 |
| 9 | Colombia | Andres Vasquez | $20,000 |
| 10 | Australia | Rob Spano | $17,500 |
| 11 | Australia | Armon van Wijk | $17,500 |
The Thomas Ward Saga comes to an end
One of possibly the all-time greatest runs in Australian poker, if not globally, has come to an end.
Thomas Ward’s rise and fall from less than a big blind to among the chipleaders in dramatic fashion not once, but twice, during Day 2 was certainly attention-grabbing.
Almost eliminated with 17 players remaining and then again early on the final table, Ward survived both close calls to enter 3-handed play second in chips and guaranteed an $87,000 pay-out.
Ward lost a chunk of change to Kahle Burns, correctly folding trip sixes on the river after betting 1.6million and getting jammed on by Burns, before shoving himself from the button a few hands later.
Ward, all-in for 3,380,000 with 3♠3♦, had to give a wry smile as he ran headlong into Jordan Westmorland’s 9♥9♣ lurking in the big blind.
Despite rivering a set, it was no good for Ward on the 2♦7♣5♣J♣3♣ board, the flush for Westmorland enough to take it down – and leave Ward with just over a big blind. Could he do it a third time?
No; effectively forced all in, Ward had the best hand preflop with K♠J♦ up against Burns’ 10♥9♦, but fell behind immediately – the 9♥ appearing in the window – unable to catch up.
| Player | Chips |
| Kahle Burns | 17,950,000 |
| Jordan Westmorland | 5,800,000 |
| Thomas Ward | BUSTED! |
Dipper dips
Brisbane local Chris “Dipper” Zenonos has found the rail in 4th after taking two hits in quick succession.
With blinds at 100,000/200,000, Dipper defended his big blind to an under-the-gun 400,000 open from Thomas Ward. Dipper, holding A♣4♦, made top pair on the 7♣K♦A♠ flop and check-called continuation bet to the tune of 350,000 from Ward.
Dipper then check-called again on the 6♠ turn, this time for 850,000, before checking a third time on the 8♦ river. Ward elected to jam, putting Dipper to the test for several time banks – Dipper tanked for nearly three minutes before letting it go. Later on stream, he would find out that it was a stunning three-barrel bluff from Ward with Q♥J♥; one that Dipper oh-so-nearly sniffed out.
A dealer change straight after, and Dipper shortly found himself at risk – shoving with Q♥J♠ and running into the 10♥10♣ of Jordan Westmorland. Neither player improved on the run-out and Dipper earned $60,100 for his fourth place finish.
| Player | Chips |
| Kahle Burns | 11,095,000 |
| Thomas Ward | 6,805,000 |
| Jordan Westmorland | 5,580,000 |
| Chris “Dipper” Zenonos | BUSTED! |
Burns on fire
Mostafa Haidary shoved for his remaining 3,170,000 from the blinds over a Kahle Burns cut-off open. After Zenonos got out of the way quick smart, Burns made the call moments after confirming the amount.
Haidary, the 2024 WSOP $5K NLH 6-Max Champion – widely considered to be one of the hardest bracelets to win – had made the move with K♠6♠ only to find out that the big stack of Burns had a genuine hand in the 10♠10♦. A straight draw on the 8♠7♦5♣ flop did not eventuate for Haidary on the A♣, 7♥ run-out, reducing the field to 4.
With that elimination, Burns’ stack increased to 48% of the chips in play. For a player of Burns’ quality, could this be a done deal?
| Player | Chips |
| Kahle Burns | 11,370,000 |
| Mostafa Haidary | BUSTED! |
The Saga continues
Anyone who watched read our blog or watched the stream yesterday will no doubt be aware of The Thomas Ward Saga.
We’re certainly hoping to see a continuance of the plot; for anyone unaware, Ward was crippled and left with just a quarter of a big blind with 17 players remaining, and turned that amazingly back into a stack of 3million plus over a series of hands to make the money.
Then, on the final table, history repeated itself – left with half a big blind after running into Kang Gao’s pocket Aces, Ward ran it up once more, culminating in Ward himself being responsible for the elimination of Adam Kharman in 7th place.
The definitive example of “a chip and a chair”, indeed!
The aforementioned Gao, meanwhile, has gone full circle; eliminated by Jordan Westmorland’s A♥A♦ to hit the rail in 6th place for $35,100.
| Player | Chips |
| Thomas Ward | 4,430,000 |
| Jordan Westmorland | 3,985,000 |
| Kang Gao | BUSTED! |
Champion to be decided
Welcome back to PokerMedia Australia’s live blog of the 2024 APT Brisbane Super Series.
Today is shaping as another day full of action, starting with the final table of the $7.5k TLPT Opening Event and boasting some of the biggest names on the local poker scene.
From a starting field of 95, just six remain – headed by high stakes specialist and Australian Poker Hall of Fame member Kahle Burns. With almost double the chips of next best Mostafa Haidary, Burns will be tough to run down although there is plenty of quality remaining. Haidary himself secured a WSOP bracelet just a few months ago while Thomas Ward, Jordan Westmorland, Kang Gao, and Chris Zenonos are no stranger to high pressure moments.
A cool $201,850 awaits the winner while all six remaining players have locked up a minimum payday of $35,100.
We’ll also be bringing you updates from the opening day of the $15k TLPT Main Event today, so stay tuned for all the action from APT Brisbane!
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 |
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