2013 APPT Melbourne Day 1a: John Lombardo Leads; Joe Hachem Among 65 Survivors
The latest stop on Season 7 of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) began on Thursday evening as the APPT Melbourne Main Event took center stage at the Crown Poker Room in Melbourne, Australia.
The $3,000 buy-in event attracted 111 players on the first of two Day 1 flights. Each of those players was in with a chance to join past APPT Melbourne champions Leo Boxell and Sam Razavi on the winner’s podium, but at the end of the night only 65 remained. Leading the way with a stack of 128,200 was John Lombardo.
Throughout most of the day it was Matthew Edwards atop the leader board. Edwards eliminated a player late in the day as he held 8♦5♠ against A♥J♠ on a 7♣6♣8♥10♣6♦ board, and it was looking like no player would surpass him. But Lombardo found the right cards and plenty of chips to swoop into the lead.
Some of the most notable names in Australian poker were at the felt on Day 1a, including 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Joe Hachem, recently appointed Full Tilt ANZPT Ambassador Liam O’Rourke, WSOP gold bracelet winners Jarred Graham and Andrew Hinrichsen, and 2013 Aussie Millions runner-up Joe Cabret.
Of the above players it was only O’Rourke who hit the rail, while Hachem, Graham, Hinrichsen and Cabret all survived. Cabret even managed to thrive, finishing Day 1a with 117,200 and the fourth largest stack overall. Some of the other players who bagged up plenty of chips include Sal Fazzino, Andrew Rogers, Ashley Warner and Tino Lechich.
APPT Melbourne Day 1a Top 10
| Player | Chips |
|---|---|
| John Lombardo | 128,200 |
| Matthew Edwards | 123,600 |
| Sal Fazzino | 122,800 |
| Joe Cabret | 117,200 |
| Richard Harvey | 113,000 |
| Ashley Warner | 107,000 |
| Jason Gray | 97,300 |
| Andrew Rogers | 95,100 |
| Henry Szmelcer | 86,800 |
| Nick Dallimore | 83,500 |
A few of the players who weren’t as fortunate and found themselves on the rail throughout the day were Jesse “On The Mac” McKenzie, Ryan Hong, Michael Pedley, Tim “weygang” English, 2007 APPT Sydney champ Grant Levy and 2008 APPT Sydney champ Martin Rowe.
Rowe’s final hand of the tournament created a bit of chatter around the rail because it was 2008 APPT Sydney runner-up Jason Gray who dealt the elimination. Gray ultimately got his revenge when on the river of a 5♠A♥2♥4♣2♦ board he thought for several moments before moving all in to force Rowe to a decision for his entire stack. Rowe thought long and hard, removing his hat and headphones as the rest of the table watched on. Eventually Rowe mustered up a call with A♣Q♠ but Gray had the straight with his A♠3♥.
The second and final Day 1 flight of the APPT Melbourne Main Event is looking to host a much larger field than Day 1a, so be sure to join the PokerNews Live Reporting Team for all the continued action from the Asia Pacific Poker Tour.
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