2013 WSOP Asia Pacific Event #3 Day 1: Brandon Wong Leads; Ivey and Negreanu Advance
Event #3 of the inaugural World Series of Poker Asia Pacific (APAC) kicked off Monday at Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia. Eighty-one players registered for the AUD$2,200 Mixed Event, creating a prize pool of AUD$162,000, with AUD$51,840 and a WSOP Asia-Pacific bracelet going to the eventual winner on Wednesday. Brandon Wong, who bagged up 42,000 in chips at the end of the night, led the 32 remaining players after Day 1. Others finding success on Day 1 were Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Phil Ivey and Barry Greenstein.
Event #3 Day 1 Unofficial Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brandon Wong | 42,925 |
| 2 | Robert Campbell | 33,350 |
| 3 | Joe Cabret | 31,150 |
| 4 | Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier | 31,100 |
| 5 | Jan Suchanek | 25,225 |
| 6 | Corbin White | 24,550 |
| 7 | Phil Ivey | 21,425 |
| 8 | Dale Townsend | 17,300 |
| 9 | Barry Greenstein | 18,325 |
| 10 | Sam Khouiss | 18,050 |
Event #3 brought out the biggest poker names in the world, three of whom were seated at the same table for much of Day 1. Crowds gathered in the Crown Poker Room to watch Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey duke it out late in the day. The three pros — arguably the three most recognizable men in poker — were also joined by Aussie poker legend Mel Judah and Poker PROductions' Mori Eskandani. Poker PROductions is behind the hit poker television shows like High Stakes Poker, Poker After Dark and the NBC Heads Up Poker Championship.
80 players in 8 game mix, never seen 60 of them, but I have @PhilIvey @RealKidPoker Mel Judah, Mori Eskandani Fun table #StackedTable
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth)
Eskandani was the only notable among them who failed to advance to Day 2. Ivey finished the day as one of the leaders, while Negreanu bagged a healthy stack of 16,700 (just above the average) and Hellmuth snuck through with 5,675. Other notables returning on Tuesday include Dan Kelly (16,060), Jonathan Duhamel (14,650), Chad Brown (8,500), Eugene Katchalov (6,025) and Mike Leah (7,175), who decided to register after he secured a seat at the Event #2 final table Monday evening.
Some of the notables eliminated on Day 1 were Joe Hachem, Joseph Cheong, David Steicke, JC Tran, Stephen Chidwick, Mohsin Charania and Leo Boxell.
Day 2 will begin at 12 p.m. local time on Tuesday and play down until the final table is reached. Only the top nine finishers will collect a guaranteed payday worth at least AUD$5,158. Stay tuned to PokerNews for a recap at the conclusion of play.
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