The Day 1e field has now grown over 150 entries late in Level 4, taking the tournament over a significant milestong.
The overall prize pool is now more than double the guarantee, climbing over the $1,000,000 mark.
Late registration in the final opening flight will close at the start of Level 10.
Paul Hoang limped from under the gun before Amir Abbas raised to 1,000 in middle position. Mael Guillou called in the hijack and Andrew Tang came along in the small blind, while Hoang also called.
Action checked around to Guillou on the 3♥4♦Q♥ flop, who fired 1,400. Tang and Abbas called, with Hoang getting out of the way.
All three players then checked the Q♠ turn and the dealer revealed the 5♠ river. Tang led out for 3,700 and Guillou took a moment before tossing in the call.
Tang showed Q♥J♣ for trip queens, raking in the pot as Guillou mucked.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
59,000
59,000
|
59,000 |
|
53,000
3,000
|
3,000 |
|
44,500
-5,500
|
-5,500 |
|
|
43,000
43,000
|
43,000 |
Olaf Breuer limped in middle position and Amin Chehade also called in the cutoff. Peter Herrmann slid out a raise to 700 on the button before Ehsan Amiri three-bet to 2,000 in the big blind.
Breuer and Chehade folded,. while Herrmann called to the A♠A♣Q♣ flop. Amiri led out for 500 and the call was made.
The dealer flipped over the 4♣ turn and Amiri fired again, this time for 4,000. Herrmann folded quickly, and Amiri picked up an early pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
54,500
54,500
|
54,500 |
|
|
49,800
49,800
|
49,800 |
|
|
49,400
-600
|
-600 |
|
|
47,500
-2,500
|
-2,500 |
As the prize pool continues to grow in the $1,500 Platinum Player Championships, the anticipation and excitement builds with it. The race to creating a $1,000,000 pool concludes today, as the magical number is certainly within reach given field sizes over the first four starting flights at the Australian Poker Open.
With a total of 637 entries thus far, the prize pool sits at AUD $824,200, already far beyond the guarantee of $500,000. But there is just one last chance to chase the money at Doltone House Western Sydney at Club Marconi, and it comes at 2 p.m. local time on Day 1e.
The prize pool is not the only million in play, as the chip counts have produced an exclusive club over the first four flights of the event. Just five players have managed to hit the 1,000,000 mark at the end of the night, sitting with what is likely to be 200 big blinds entering Day 2 on Monday, April 1.
In all, a total of 80 players have bagged with a minimum cash of $2,300. The number that will join that group today will not be determined until late registration comes to a close before the start of Level 10.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minkyu Jun | Australia | 1,521,000 |
| 2 | Hasan Onay | Australia | 1,433,000 |
| 3 | Greg Davison | Australia | 1,078,000 |
| 4 | Justin Woo | Australia | 1,000,000 |
| 5 | Ken Demlakian | Australia | 1,000,000 |
| 6 | Tty Ly | Australia | 969,000 |
| 7 | Shane Pearce | Australia | 916,000 |
| 8 | Jason Pritchard | Australia | 835,000 |
| 9 | Justin Tsui | United Kingdom | 822,000 |
| 10 | Matt Rolfe | Australia | 773,000 |
Minkyu Jun’s big lead from Day 1a continues to hold up as the largest stack to this point. The other chip leader from each day are Hasan Onay on Day 1b, Justin Woo from Day 1c and Ken Demlakian just last night on Day 1d.
The final opening flight will kick off at 2 p.m. local time, where players will sit down with 50,000 chips and play until 12.5% of the field remains. Levels will continue to be 40 minutes long on Day 1e, starting with blinds of 100/200 with a 200 big blind ante.
Breaks will occur at the end of every three levels, which includes a 30-minute dinner break after Level 6. Late registration will close prior to the start of Level 10, and players can continue to take advantage of unlimited reentries until that time.
One last chance to earn a spot in the latest monster prize pool at the Australian Poker Open, and PokerNews will have it all covered here in Sydney so be sure to follow along.
