The busiest day of the Australian Poker Open thus far saw 164 entries in the $1,500 Platinum Player Championships, bringing the overall tournament total to 455 with two more opening flights to be played.
It was a celebratory mood inside the beautiful Doltone House Western Sydney at Club Marconi, as tournament officials announced that the first three events of the festival all surpassed their advertised guarantees, including the AUD $500,000 on this event. That mark was passed on Level 5, and grew to $591,500 by the time late registration closed.
Leading the way is Justin Woo, who became the fourth member of the 1,000,000 chip club overall in the event when he finished the night on the number exactly.
Another 20 players filled a bag at the end of night, joining 37 from the first two flights of the tournament. All of them have earned a minimum of AUD $2,300, looking for much more when they return on Monday, April 1. That bubble number was originally set at 21, but a pair of knockouts on the bubble left the final cash of the night split between two players.
Day 1c Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Woo | Australia | 1,000,000 |
| 2 | Shane Pearce | Australia | 916,000 |
| 3 | Matt Rolfe | Australia | 773,000 |
| 4 | Erden Ibrahim | Australia | 757,000 |
| 5 | Nicholas Wright | Australia | 715,000 |
| 6 | Alex Lynskey | Australia | 697,000 |
| 7 | Amin Riyazati | Australia | 525,000 |
| 8 | Andreas Vasiliou | Australia | 509,000 |
| 9 | Liam Murray | Australia | 377,000 |
| 10 | Wei Chin Huang | Taiwan | 339,000 |
Woo was no the only player to hit the million-chip mark on Friday. Shane Pearce held the chip lead with a seven-figure stack, but lost a bit of ground to sit in second spot. Erden Ibrahim built a stack with kings after the final break of the night, also giving back some of those chips before finishing inside the top five.
Another notable name with a big stack in Alex Lynskey, who finished seventh in the 2018 WSOP Main Event. Lynskey also captured a WSOP Circuit Main Event title that year, one of several wins he has registered in Australia. The veteran sits sixth after Day 1c, looking to make another deep run in his home country.
The real fireworks came on the very last action of the night, as both Ken Demlakian and Steffan Thomas busted during hand-for-hand play on the direct money bubble. Woo was responsible for one of those knockouts, finding pocket kings to finish off Thomas while Demlakian was the shortest stack remaining at that point. The two split the minimum cash of $2,300 as the rest of the players bagged for the night.
There are just two more starting flights to be played, beginning with Day 1d on Saturday, March 30 at 11 a.m. local time. The tournament prize pool will grow even further as players return with a starting stack of 50,000 chips, with unlimited reentries still in play.
Blind levels continue to be 40 minutes length, starting with blinds of 100/200 and a 200 big blind ante. Scheduled breaks will occur after every three levels, and the field will play down to the top 12.5% remaining. Late registration is open until end of Level 9.
Don��t miss any of the action, as the PokerNews team has you covered with live reporting from the floor here in Sydney.
