Pranav Bhatt opened to 20,000 from the hijack and just behind him, Joe Antar shoved for 106,000 total. Action folded back around to Bhatt, who called to put Antar at risk.
Joe Antar: K♠J♠
Pranav Bhatt: K♣10♣
Antar had Bhatt dominated, and the 8♥9♣2♠K♥3♣ runout kept him best with his jack kicker for the double up.
Joe Antar opened to 20,000 from the hijack and was three-bet by Ehsan Amiri in the cutoff. Action folded back to Antar, who shoved.
Amiri called all in for a bit over 200,000 total and a showdown was held.
Ehsan Amiri: 6♣6♥
Joe Antar: K♠K♦
Amiri would need some help against Antar's cowboys, but the A♠3♦A♥5♦5♥ runout kept Amiri second-best and he was eliminated two spots shy of a Day-2 berth.
Action folded to the blinds, where Nelson Dong shoved for approximately 50,000 from the small blind. John Perry peeked at his cards and put in calling chips to put Dong at risk.
Nelson Dong: K♠K♣
John Perry: Q♣10♥
Dong was in great shape to double with his cowboys and remained ahead on the 8♦8♥9♦ flop, although it improved Perry to a gutshot straight draw.
The J♣ turn got a collective gasp from everyone at the table, as it vaulted Perry into the lead with a straight.
Dong still had outs to a full house, but the 7♠ river bricked out — ending Day 1d in dramatic fashion.
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
Jackson Young
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.
Ehsan Amiri
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!
