Another busy day has come to a close at the Australian Poker Open, where it took nearly 40 hands on the direct money bubble to determine the final 18 players who bagged for Day 2 of the $1,500 Platinum Player Championships.
The action on Day 1b finally wrapped up late in the night at Doltone House Western Sydney at Club Marconi, where 142 entrants took a shot at building a stack and earning the minimum cash of AUD $2,300.
The big stack belongs to Hasan Onay, who amassed 1,433,000 to finish as the only player in seven figures on the leaderboard. That total is just behind Minkyu Jun, who maintains the over chip lead after bagging 1,521,000 on Day 1a.
The day’s registration bring the tournament total to 290 entries through the first two opening flights, with three more still to come. With players taking advantage of the unlimited reentry event, the $500,000 guarantee is surely within reach.
Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hasan Onay | Australia | 1,433,000 |
| 2 | Tty Ly | Australia | 969,000 |
| 3 | Chad Awerbuch | Australia | 753,000 |
| 4 | Sam Ioannou | Australia | 599,000 |
| 5 | Jerry Xia | Australia | 569,000 |
| 6 | David McAllister | Australia | 561,000 |
| 7 | Natalia Rozova | Australia | 452,000 |
| 8 | Louis Luo | Australia | 366,000 |
| 9 | Sheldon Mayer | Australia | 317,000 |
| 10 | Grant Wheeler | Australia | 286,000 |
Onay entered after the second break of the day and promptly doubled his starting stack. A short time later, the eventual chip leader found pocket aces against the kings of Erden Ibrahim, padding his stack even further. From there, Onay was able to ride that momentum over the 1,000,000 chip mark, including a double knockout just before the bubble.
Among the notable names to come up short was Australian Poker Open Ambassador Bert Perry, who bought in for a second straight day. Perry was once again unable to build a stack and will have to try his luck on another starting flight.
The real excitement came on the direct money bubble, with 19 players remaining and just 18 getting paid. Despite just three tables of action, there was not a single all-in called through the first 21 hands of bubble play. In all, it took a total of 37 hands to bring an end to Day 1b, as Ehsan Amiri ran into pocket jacks and end the marathon night.
Amiri was even more unlucky, considering Joshua McSwiney ran kings into aces and was left with just a single big blind a few minutes earlier. McSwiney was then forced all in sitting in the big blind, but managed to triple up and stay alive from there.
The tournament will resume Friday, March 29 with Day 1c beginning at 2 p.m. local time, where a fresh group of players will sit down with a starting stack of 50,000 chips. The event features unlimited reentries, with late registration staying open until the start of Level 10. Play will once again conclude when 12.5% of the field remains, with all surviving players earning $2,300.
The 40-minute levels begin with blinds of 100/200 and a 200 big blind ante. Scheduled breaks will occur after every three levels.
The PokerNews live reporting team will have continuing coverage of this event, plus the Australian Poker Open Main Event, so stay tuned to all of the action from Sydney.
