A long Day 1d lasting nearly 15 levels and attracting 83 entrants has come to an end in the Australian Poker Open Main Event. John Perry emerged as the overall chip leader of the 11 remaining players after bagging up a massive stack worth 982,000. Perry's next-closest competitor for Day 1d is Australia's own Jackson Young, who ended with 763,000. Rounding out the top three was Pranav Bhatt, who bagged up 527,000 here at the luxurious Club Marconi at Doltone House Western Sydney.
Perry, who is a regular in the Australian poker scene with $1.6 million in live-tournament earnings, claimed a few key knockouts late in the evening to surge into the chip lead, including Nelson Dong after cracking Dong's kings on the stone bubble.
APO Main Event Day 1d Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Perry | New Zealand | 982,000 | 98 |
| 2 | Jackson Young | Australia | 763,000 | 76 |
| 3 | Pranav Bhatt | Australia | 527,000 | 53 |
| 4 | Joe Antar | Australia | 483,000 | 48 |
| 5 | Lewis Murray | Australia | 329,000 | 33 |
| 6 | Weiran Pu | China | 253,000 | 25 |
| 7 | Paris Sitzoukis | Australia | 236,000 | 24 |
| 8 | Stev Lackovic | Australia | 189,000 | 19 |
| 9 | Zhen Chen | China | 150,000 | 15 |
| 10 | Adam Kharman | Australia | 134,000 | 13 |
Day 1d Highlights
A muted start saw eight players sit down for the beginning of Level 1, but there was no lack of action as players steadily filled more seats throughout the day.
Lewis Murray vaulted up the chip counts early on after eliminating Gavin Ogilvy with a full house versus a straight. From that point on, Murray was able to maintain his momentum into a Day-2 berth.
Paris Sitzoukis also made it through to Day 2, thanks in part to catching a miracle river against Daniel Klinger's pocket aces shortly after late-registration had closed.
Action slowed considerably with 14 players left, with several players managing to double up as tension mounted approaching the Day-2 bubble. After nearly a full level without an elimination, Shanon Sung became another unfortunate victim to Perry after running pocket tens into Perry's pocket queens.
The next two eliminations came rapidly to put an end to Day 1d, first with Ehsan Amiri running pocket sixes into Joe Antar's pocket kings and followed quickly by Dong's elimination to Perry.
The penultimate starting flight for the APO Main Event is Day 1e, which is scheduled to begin at noon on Monday, April 21. All players who failed to earn a Day-2 berth can reenter an unlimited amount of times in the remaining starting flights up until late-registration closes.
Be sure to stick with PokerNews as we continue to bring you the action leading to the next Main Event Champion here at the 2025 Australia Poker Open!
