Seat 1: Thomas Ward, 25 (Wellington, New Zealand) - 1,335,000 in chips
New Zealander Thomas Ward considers his occupation a professional Counter Strike and poker play, the latter of which he has played for six years. He says his biggest poker influence is Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang, and looks forward to a time when he can say he's a fellow teammate.
On top of finishing runner-up in the 2014 APPT Auckland Main Event, Thomas Ward has also seen some success in APPT and APT events throughout Macau. His tournament was nearly over when a cooler saw him all in with pocket kings against an opponent's pocket aces but Ward was able to spike a king to stay alive and score a big double up.