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$3,300 APO Main Event
Day 1fg Completed
2025 Australian Poker Open
$3,300 APO Main Event
Day: 1fg
Event Info
2025 Australian Poker Open
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1fg
Buy-in
3,300 AUD
Prize Pool
2,001,000 AUD
Total Entries
690
Level
31
Blinds
200,000 / 400,000
Ante
400,000
Entries
386
Players Left
47
Players Left 1 / 690
Filter
Level 17
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
It took several bullets, but poker tournament phenom Kahle Burns finally found his footing on the penultimate starting flight of the Australian Poker Open Main Event. Burns ended with an eye-watering 1,590,000 to take the top spot in Day 1g of the 36 remaining players for that flight — which was half a million more than his next closest competitor Louis Luo, who ended as the only other player to breach the seven-figure mark with 1,009,000.
Burns got off to a hot start inside the Club Marconi at Doltone House Western Sydney before making his epic ascent at the feature table, where he grew a stack of 300,000 to over 1,500,000 by the time he was sent back to the floor. Burns maintained his stack through a prolonged bubble to end with 1,590,000.
An impromptu "turbo flight" (Day 1g) featuring 20-minute blinds was added due to popular demand and ended shortly after Day 1f. The seventh and final flight drew an addtional 91 entries to bring the grand total of entries across all flights to 689 — over 100 more than last year's Main Event total of 549. Armon van Wijk emerged as the chip leader in Day 1g after bagging up 916,000.
Day 1fg Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kahle Burns | Australia | 1,590,000 | 106 |
| 2 | Louis Luo | Australia | 1,009,000 | 67 |
| 3 | Daniel Gan | Australia | 972,000 | 65 |
| 4 | Armon van Wijk | Australia | 916,000 | 61 |
| 5 | Paawan Bansal | India | 862,000 | 57 |
| 6 | Nelson Dong | Australia | 826,000 | 55 |
| 7 | David Pham (AU) | Australia | 763,000 | 51 |
| 8 | Steven Zhou | Australia | 735,000 | 49 |
| 9 | Yuanting Wang | Australia | 729,000 | 49 |
| 10 | Ricardo Bono | Australia | 683,000 | 46 |
Day 1f Highlights
Day 1f got off to a lively start and was expected to be the largest flight yet. Unsurprisingly, a starting field of 28 steadily grew until eventually reaching 295 entries — nearly doubling the combined entries from the first five flights.
The always energetic Michael O'Grady, who took down the Diamond Cup earlier in the series, more than tripled his starting stack and appeared to be cruising, but slipped late in the evening and busted shortly before the bubble.
APO regular Nelson Dong managed to grab the chip lead briefly after winning a big pot off of Robert Spano, but would eventually get surpassed in the last couple of levels. Dong still ended with a top ten stack, however, after bagging 826,000.
An exceptionally long bubble period lasted a full two levels longer than any other flight, with many players stalling until it was declared that hand-for-hand play would begin two off of the Day 2 bubble instead of one.
Gavin Ogilvy was eliminated two off the money shortly after hand-for-hand was announced, but the stone bubble lasted several hands without any all in and calls. With many players under 10 big blinds, it was only a matter of time before the action was forced, and eventually, both Yan Yan and Victor Dai got all in preflop at separate tables.
Yan had shoved with king-queen and run into Collin Tran's ace-king and failed to improve, while Dai played a game of chicken with Ricardo Bono after shoving over Bono's preflop raise with queen-trey. Bono tank-called with king-eight suited — much to Dai's dismay, and board gave Bono a flush to eliminate Dai and put an end to Day 1f.
Day 2 is set to get underway on Friday, April 25 at noon local time and will begin on Level 12, which features blinds of 2,500/5,000/5,000. The plan for Day 2 is to play until a final table of nine is reached.
All the remaining players have already cashed in for $A5,000, but it's still a long road to claim APO Main Event glory. Be sure to keep it with PokerNews for continuing coverage leading up to the final table and eventual crowning of the next Main Event Champion!
Level 17
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Level 17
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Now that the bubble has finally burst, players have breathed a sigh of relief and are currently bagging and tagging for the evening.
Stay tuned for a recap of the day.
Level 17
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
After many hands without an all in and a call, both Yan Yan and and Victor Dai found themselves all in and at risk preflop.
In the first hand, a short-stacked Yan shoved for under 100,000 and was called by Collin Tran from directly behind.
Yan Yan: K♦Q♠
Collin Tran: A♦K♣
Yan was dominated, and the 10♦7♦3♣3♠3♦ runout left him second-best against Tran's Big Slick to be eliminated.
At another table, Victor Dai was eliminated after shoving against an open by Ricardo Bono. Bono called after a lengthy tank and the board was run.
Victor Dai: Q♣3♥
Ricardo Bono: K♥8♥
The dealer brought the A♠3♣9♥6♥4♥ — leaving Dai second best against Bono's flush to be eliminated.
Level 17
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
In the 888th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway, Mike Holtz, and Kyna England talk about a WSOP gold bracelet while out on bail, who recently pleaded guilty to intent to commit murder against his wife. It's a sad tale, but the victim is now openly sharing her tale of survival and the horrific aftermath.
The crew then talks about Maurice Hawkins, who has yet to address the $100K+ judgment against him despite racking up wins and big paydays, and offers a behind-the-scenes look at the new poker room slated to open next month at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.
Other stories include the second-largest Bad Beat Jackpot in history being hit, recent tournament winners including Christian Harder and from the Irish Poker Open, and another edition of New Vlogs on the Block featuring JW Wilder’s Parody Poker.
Finally, given it's the 888th episode of the show, it only made sense to celebrate 888poker. As such, Chad sat down with 888poker Ambassador Nick Eastwood, who has established himself as one of the industry's premier content producers.
The podcast is sponsored by the #1 free-to-play WSOP app. Remember to use the bonus code "POKERNEWS" if you download and play for an extra 1,000,000 in chips!
A new PokerNews Podcast will drop weekly every Thursday at 8a PT / 11a ET / 4p UK time. Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you do not miss an episode!
Level 17
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Since Ryan Kuperholz's last double up, there has yet to be an all in and a call.
Stay tuned as this prolonged bubble will eventually burst.
Level: 17
Blinds: 10,000/15,000
Ante: 15,000
Level 16
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Shan Huang opened to 24,000 from early position and just behind him, Ryan Kuperholz shoved for his last 158,000. Action folded back to Huang, who called after a lengthy tank to put Cooper at risk.
Ryan Kuperholz: Q♠Q♥
Shan Huang: 3♣3♥
Kuperholz was in great shape with his overpair, and the 5♣7♦8♣K♦8♥ runout came clean to award him the double up one spot shy of Day 2.
Level 16
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Gavin Ogilvy shoved for his last 75,000 from the cutoff and Pawaan Bansal called in the big blind to put him at risk.
Gavin Ogilvy: K♦5♦
Pawaan Bansal: A♥10♠
The board ran out 10♣6♠3♠9♠9♥ — leaving Bansal best with tens-up and eliminating Ogilvy two spots shy of a Day-2 berth.
