PokerNews Cup Main Event, Day 1: Michael Dunworth Opens Early Lead

Day 1 of the inaugural PokerNews Cup $3,000 Main Event saw 428 players take to the felt at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, with top players such as Lee 'Final Table' Nelson, Tony G, Jeff Lisandro, 'Aussie' Sarah Bilney and Joe Hachem all joining the field. With so many of Australia's top pros on hand, strong table draws were the norm, with Hachem, Mark Vos, Sam Khouiss and Jason Gray all starting at the same table.

Action was fast and furious to start the day, as Jozef Berec busted before the end of the first orbit. On a flop of , Berec went all in and was called by Karsten Cobbing. Cobbing tabled for a set, while Berec held K-Q for top two pair. Berec had outs to a full house, but the river made quads for Cobbing and left Berec crippled. He got his last chips in the middle on the next hand holding , and was busted when Sam Khouiss found pocket jacks and made the easy call.

Emad Tahtouh was another early casualty, when he pushed all in on a board of 8-5-4 with A-4 for bottom pair. Peng Khoo called with K-5 for middle pair and caught a five on the turn to bust Tahtouh. 2005 WSOP Main Event Champion Joe Hachem also busted early in the day on a hand where he pushed all in over the top of Jason Gray's re-raise. Gray called with , and Hachem tabled . The board of brought no help for Hachem and he went to the rail before the end of Day 1.

Tony G's exit came when he raised pre-flop with A-K and found a caller in Julian Powell. Powell led out on the flop of and Tony G moved all in over the top. Powell made the call with for bottom pair and the flush draw, and the river filled his flush and put Tony G on his bike to ride to the rail. Mel Judah was one of the last players eliminated on Day 1, as he busted during the last level of the day. He moved all in over the top of Michael Dunworth from the big blind with pocket kings, and Dunworth made the call with A-Q. The ace in the door left Judah drawing to two outs, and no King on the turn or river sent Judah to the rail. Other notable players eliminated on Day 1 included Masaki Kagawa, Jeff Lisandro, Sarah Bilney, Gary Benson and PokerNews.com's own Damon Rasheed and Cory-Ann Joseph.

However, PokerNews.com Editor-in-Chief John 'Schecky' Caldwell continued his own solid play, following his victory in Event #4 with a strong first day here. Caldwell's end-of-day 126,300 in chips placed him just outside the top ten. Dunworth, after bouncing Judah, built a commanding chip lead at the end of Day 1 and sits atop the leaderboard with 283,400 in chips. Hank Hennigan, his nearest competitor, finished the day's action with 205,100. The top ten chip stacks looked like this as play ended on Day 1:

Michael Dunworth 283,400
Hank Hannigan 205,100
George Dunst 174,000
Thomas Huigsloot 170,700
Tim Balaban 156,000
Kristoffer Myhre 151,300
Will Cacuzza 148,300
Michael Chrisanthopoulos 142,100
Tom Rafferty 136,500
Sam Sayed 131,400

Join PokerNews at 12:30 Melbourne time [UTC/GMT +11:00] for all the coverage and interviews as the PokerNews Cup Main Event continues.

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