Chua Leads Record-Breaking Day 1b of ANZPT Melbourne
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What a massive day!
When it all began the tournament staff, and the ANZPT team, were hoping to see a field of around 260. That would mean we would reach a seven-figure prize pool and this would be the largest ANZPT in history. By the time registration closed, 274 players had hit the felt, meaning the total field was 516 players and the prize pool weighed in at $1,032,000 – the largest ANZPT ever!
The eventual champion of this event will take home $253,000 and at the end of Day 1b, 94 players had kept themselves in contention for that top prize. The player who finished up the night with the biggest smile would have been Vincent Chua. It was the third last hand of the night that would see Chua move into the lead. Chua ultimately finished up with 210,100 in chips, well ahead of Shy Jachimowicz with 177,300. Both Chua and Jachimowicz will now go into Day 2 with the two largest stacks.
Some of the others who finished Day 1b with plenty of chips include Fabian Craib (129,500), Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang (123,800) and Luke Edwards (115,300). They will be joined on Day 2 by players such as Matthew Rolfe (99,200), Steven Zhou (98,800), 2005 WSOP Main Event champ Joe Hachem (93,800), Anthony Aston (76,900), Luke Sharpe (71,900), Jazz Mathers (67,500), Matt Wakeman (50,300), Jackie Glazier (36,000) and Liam O’Rourke (30,000). You can find all the end-of-day chip counts and a Day 2 seating draw just below in the live reporting blog.
Unlike all of those players listed in the Day 2 seating draw, there were dozens of players eliminated on Day 1b. Some of those who couldn’t make it through the night include [Removed:17], Daniel Neilson, David Steicke, Brendon Rubie, Michael Kanaan, Jesse McKenzie, APPT Queenstown champ Jono Bredin and 2012 ANZ Player of the Year Mishel Anunu, just to name a few!
All of the 94 survivors from Day 1b will now join with those from Day 1a, meaning 179 players will return for Day 2. Those players will be back to it from 12:30 p.m. local time on Sunday. Being that this is a three-day event, tomorrow will see us play well into the money and start working towards a final table. Be sure to return for continued live updates of the 2014 ANZPT Melbourne Main Event!