2013 WSOP Asia Pacific Event #2 Day 1: Andrew Gaw Leads With 29 Remaining
The second bracelet event of the 2013 World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific began Sunday at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia. The AUD$1,650 Pot-Limit Omaha event attracted 172 players, creating a prize pool of AUD$258,000, and after eight levels of play on Day 1 only 29 players were left competing for the AUD$69,662 top prize.
Andrew Gaw will be the frontrunner when play resumes on Sunday. Gaw bagged 69,800 in chips early Monday morning when play came to a close. Among the notables chasing Gaw on Monday will be Dan Shak, Marvin Rettenmaier, Joe Hachem, Sam Trickett and Mike Leah.
Event #2 Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew Gaw | 69,800 |
| 2 | Bekhaled Kanel | 67,300 |
| 3 | Ben Mclean | 59,600 |
| 4 | Berenice Fraser | 48,600 |
| 5 | Bruno Portaro | 43,100 |
| 6 | Daniel Shak | 42,900 |
| 7 | Danny Huynh | 35,200 |
| 8 | Dean Yuen | 34,400 |
| 9 | George Bleazeski | 30,600 |
| 10 | Ivan Zalac | 27,600 |
Gaw's biggest pot came courtesy of Rettenmaier late in the day. According to WSOP.com, the two players saw a flop of K♥2♠8♥ with one player already all in. Rettenmaier bet 3,825, and Gaw called to see the 5♥ fall on the turn. Rettenmaier fired again, this time for 8,225, and Gaw opted to move all in for an additional 2,525. Rettenmaier called, and the hands were revealed:
Short stack: A♣A♠J♠10♣
Gaw: 7♥6♥5♣4♦
Rettenmaier: 8♣8♦A♥Q♦
Gaw was out in front with a flush and his hand held up through the 6♣ river. He finished the day barely ahead of Aussie player Antonis Kambouroglou, known as "Toothpick Tony" Down Under.
Eight-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey made his WSOP-APAC debut in Event #2, but was unable to survive the day. Ivey arrived minutes before registration closed, and his day ended just hours later when he got his short stack in with 5♠6♦K♦A♦ on a flop of 7♠8♦8♠. While his ace-king high was in front of his opponent's A♣6♣9♠4♠, the 10♠ on the river completed the other player's flush to send Ivey packing.
Also hitting the rail on Day 1 were Daniel Negreanu, Benny Spindler, JC Tran, Nam Le and Erik Seidel.
Day 2 will begin at 12 p.m. local time on Monday and won't end until a final table is reached. Stay tuned to PokerNews.com for a full recap at the conclusion of play.
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