$1,500 Platinum Players Championship
Day 3 Completed
2025 Australian Poker Open
$1,500 Platinum Players Championship
Day: 3
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 3
2025 Australian Poker Open
Buy-in
1,500 AUD
Prize Pool
1,300,000 AUD
Entries
1,000
Level
31
Blinds
200,000 / 400,000
Ante
400,000
Entries
9
Players Left
1
Level 31
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
Johan Lees turned pressure into diamonds on the final day of the 2025 Australian Poker Open $1,500 Platinum Players Championship, surviving a 1,000-player minefield to walk away with the title, the trophy, and a career-best A$252,300 payday.
Held at the iconic Club Marconi inside Doltone House Western Sydney, the three-day event generated a massive A$1,300,000 prize pool and a finale that had the room holding its breath. Lees’ heads-up battle with Daniel Neilson was pure theatre—momentum swings, deep-level strategy, and one unforgettable moment where Lees stared down a massive bluff, nearly pulled the trigger, but let it go.
That hand could’ve broken him—but instead, it lit the spark. Lees regrouped, shifted gears, and mounted a fearless comeback to seal the win in thrilling fashion.
2025 PPC Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (A$) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johan Lees | Australia | $252,300 |
| 2 | Daniel Neilson | Australia | $147,300 |
| 3 | Reece Bedot | Australia | $102,300 |
| 4 | Anthony Xu | Australia | $74,300 |
| 5 | Jennifer Cassell | Australia | $57,800 |
| 6 | Dustin Tran | Australia | $42,300 |
| 7 | Jason Brown | Australia | $28,300 |
| 8 | Hai Kee | Australia | $19,300 |
| 9 | Zac Vigar | Australia | $16,600 |
Winner's Reaction
"I'm feeling pretty good," said Johan Lees moments after taking down the 2025 Australian Poker Open Platinum Players Championship. "It's crazy. You run deep and quite often it's pretty rare you actually get it done, so [I'm] feeling pretty stoked,".
It had been a tough stretch recently for Lees, who admitted, "I had a few moments, even in this series and lately, just had some self-doubt or just been self-critical in a few spots. So it's good to sort of move on and get a few results,".
He credited an early final table double with pocket eights against Hai Kee's jacks as an important turning point. "That was a pretty nice start to sort of get away from the bottom of the pack... just the cooler and lucky you that hand,".
Of course, the moment everyone was talking about was his dramatic tank-fold during heads-up play. "Yeah, that was a crazy hand. I don't know how long I went in the tank for, maybe five or ten minutes. I sort of opened the door for Daniel, who's very confident and capable of going for a bluff... if it was me, I would be over-bluffing that spot as well, like he did. Hence why I was thinking so long to call. But yeah, I know, it's just one of those spots where if you call wrong you just feel like an absolute idiot. I was razor thin. I was so close to calling there. But it worked out in the end. Otherwise, if I folded that and lost, it would be quite painful, to be honest,".
Facing off against Neilson made the victory even sweeter. "It adds to the story of just playing someone who's so accomplished and competent... and a lot of trash talk too, which is a lot of fun. That, to me, just makes a heads-up so much more fun and satisfying—even though my chance of winning the same is more than almost anyone else in the field,".
While the A$252,300 payday marked the biggest score of his career, Lees downplayed the financial aspect. "To be honest, the money is very nice. I don't want to sound ungrateful, but the money isn't what matters most to me. It's the competition and coming out on top. It's more of a scoreboard... just very satisfying to win the tournament,".
As for what’s next? "I'm taking it easy after APO. I'm going to Europe—just some family things—for a couple of months in Sweden and Spain. So no poker for a couple of months after APO,".
Lees was full of praise for the Australian Poker Open and the team behind it. "It's just one of the best, most well-run poker series that we have in Australia. We're spoilt for choice in Australia—it's like a series every single week—but APO definitely is the golden standard. So definitely will be here every year if I'm around,".
And yes, the win came with a fantasy sweat too. "It is [Team Jinxed]. I think the whole team is doing quite well. Ironically, I have a team of my own, and so I'm sort of killing my own team, but doing well for someone else—working for a different boss and not myself," he joked.
As for how he planned to celebrate the moment? "I'm not too sure, just try and take it easy—one beer at a time,".
Final Table Fireworks
With the unscheduled Day 3 kicking off at 3 p.m., the Australian poker community turned its focus to the final table of the PPC, where Jennifer Cassell and Neilson sat atop the chip counts and looked poised to make a run at the title. Neilson struck early, snatching the chip lead within a few hands after Reece Bedot picked the wrong moment to bluff.
A massive turning point came for the eventual champion in the early goings when he turned a set of eights to crack Kee's pocket jacks, sending himself soaring up the leaderboard. Kee, now on fumes, managed to ladder after Zac Vigar busted in ninth, but followed shortly after in eighth. Jason Brown was next to go in seventh.
Neilson continued to apply pressure and built a commanding stack, holding roughly half the chips in play by the time Dustin Tran fell in sixth. Lees, still short, clung on—and found the lifeline he needed when his pocket queens held against Bedot’s ace-seven for a critical double.
Cassell’s run ended in fifth when she shoved jack-five from the small blind, and Neilson light-heartedly slowrolled from the big with pocket aces. With four remaining, Lees picked up another key pot when his king-jack rivered a pair to beat Anthony Xu’s ace-nine, leaving Xu crippled.
Moments later, Lees finished the job—his king-four flopping top pair to outdraw Xu’s pocket queens and send him out in fourth. From there, Lees found another surge when his queen-eight turned a flush against Bedot’s nine-seven, which had also turned a weaker flush. Lees got full value and left Bedot short.
Bedot was eliminated soon after, with Lees’ ace-seven far ahead of his opponent’s ace-deuce to send him out in third—and set the stage for the final duel.
From the Brink to the Throne
Neilson entered heads-up play with a three-to-two chip lead, and a fascinating pot soon widened the gap—stretching his advantage to four-to-one and putting him within reach of the title.
Lees opened with queen-nine, and Neilson defended with jack-four. On a king-high flop, Neilson check-called a small bet, and both players checked the turn. The river brought a nine, and Neilson led out before Lees raised. Neilson then moved all in, sending Lees deep into the tank. After around seven agonizing minutes, he folded—and Neilson’s bluff got through.
But Lees wasn’t done. He clawed his way back with a massive double-up, his eight-deuce flopping two pair against Neilson’s queen-ten, which turned a ten. The river bricked, and for the first time during the final table, Lees held the lead.
Then, in the very next hand, it was over.
Lees limped, Neilson raised, and Lees called. On an ace-high flop, Neilson bet, then fired again on the turn. Lees called both streets. On the river, Neilson shoved—but Lees quickly called with ace-four for top pair. Neilson revealed king-high, and just like that, Lees closed it out.
In the span of two hands, Lees flipped the script, completed the comeback, and was crowned the 2025 APO PPC champion—taking home the trophy and a career-best A$252,300.
Level 31
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
Johan Lees limped in from the button and Daniel Neilson raised to 1,400,000. Lees called.
They saw a flop of A♣3♠5♣ and Neilson bet 700,000, which Lees called to see the 8♠ drop on the turn. Neilson pondered for a few seconds then put out a bet of 3,100,000, which Lees called.
A 6♥ completed the runout and with around 12,000,000 left in his stack, Neilson marched his army of chips into the middle. Lees quickly rechecked his cards and asked for a count, It was exactly 11,650,000 and upon getting the confirmation, he called.
Neilson then rolled over K♠Q♠ for just king-high, and Lees showed the winner with A♠4♥, ending him the title.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
50,000,000
17,000,000
|
17,000,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 31
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
Daniel Neilson raised to 800,000 on the button and Johan Lees called from the big blind.
The flop came down 8♣4♥2♠ and Lees check-called a bet of 1,500,000 from Neilson to see the 10♠ land on the turn. Lees checked again, then Neilson fired 4,000,000. Lees shoved 14,000,000, and Neilson called.
Johan Lees: 8♥2♦ 
Daniel Neilson: Q♥10♥
Lees had flopped two pair and found the perfect turn to get the chips in. Neilson had outs to clinch the title, but couldn't find any as the Lees boated up when the 2♥ hit the river.
Wow!
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
33,000,000
16,000,000
|
16,000,000 |
|
|
17,000,000
16,000,000
|
16,000,000 |
Level 31
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
Johan Lees made it 900,000 to go with Q♣9♣ and Daniel Neilson called holding J♣10♣ to see a flop of 8♣Q♥5♠, where Neilson check-called a bet of 500,000.
An A♣ hit the turn and again Neilson checked, and again Lees bet, this time for 1,700,000. Neilson called.
A Q♠ dropped on the river and Neilson reached for chips, then led for 1,300,000. Lees, with his rivered trips, shoved for 8,400,000. Neilson snap-folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
33,000,000
2,000,000
|
2,000,000 |
|
|
17,000,000
2,000,000
|
2,000,000 |
Level 31
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
35,000,000
5,000,000
|
5,000,000 |
|
|
15,000,000
5,000,000
|
5,000,000 |
Level: 31
Blinds: 200,000/400,000
Ante: 400,000
Level 30
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Johan Lees made it 700,000 with Q♣9♠ and Daniel Neilson called holding J♠4♦ to see a flop of 3♥4♠K♦, where Neilson check-called a bet of 500,000 from Lees.
A 7♣ on the turn went check-check to the 9♦ river, where Neilson bet 900,000. Lees took some time before he counted out a raise of 3,500,000. Neilson looked at the board for a few moments then shoved all in, giving Lees a test for his remaining 10,000,000.
Lees propped himself up on his chair while he tried to piece together the hand, but seemed in agony while he did so. Eventually, after over five minutes in the tank, Lees did fold, and Neilson's bluff got through.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
40,000,000
6,000,000
|
6,000,000 |
|
|
10,000,000
6,000,000
|
6,000,000 |
Level 30
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Johan Lees opened to 750,000 with Q♣8♣ and Daniel Neilson called holding K♣4♥.
The flop came 10♠2♥3♣ where Neilson check-called a bet of 600,000 to the K♦ turn, which went check-check.
A 4♦ dropped on the river and Neilson led out for 2,500,000. Lees thought for a while but opted to fold, earning Neilson the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
34,000,000
2,925,000
|
2,925,000 |
|
|
16,000,000
2,925,000
|
2,925,000 |
Level 30
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
The players have had their break and the battle for the title is about to commence!
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
31,075,000
75,000
|
75,000 |
|
|
18,925,000
75,000
|
75,000 |
