After two days of high-stakes action, just eleven players remain in the hunt for the 2025 Australian Poker Open A$3,300 Main Event title — and it’s Kahle Burns who leads the charge heading into the final day.
Burns bagged a towering 6,640,000 in chips to top the leaderboard after a dramatic Day 2 inside Club Marconi at Doltone House Western Sydney, where 86 players returned to chase their share of the A$2,001,000 prize pool. Now, just one day stands between the remaining contenders and the prestigious APO trophy.
End of Day Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kahle Burns | Australia | 6,640,000 | 83 |
| 2 | Steven Zhou | Australia | 6,200,000 | 78 |
| 3 | Paawan Bansal | India | 5,180,000 | 65 |
| 4 | Nelson Dong | Australia | 3,990,000 | 50 |
| 5 | Chad Awerbuch | Australia | 3,590,000 | 45 |
| 6 | Yuanting Wang | Australia | 2,710,000 | 34 |
| 7 | Louis Luo | Australia | 2,550,000 | 32 |
| 8 | David Pham (AU) | Australia | 1,300,000 | 16 |
| 9 | Romain Morvan | France | 1,070,000 | 13 |
| 10 | Luke Edwards | Australia | 785,000 | 10 |
| 11 | Kiavash Arbabi | Australia | 520,000 | 7 |
The field took their seats for Day 2 and thanks to one of the opening flights ending with a 5,000 big blind, the tournament clock was rolled all the way back. That adjustment effectively doubled the stacks for many players, creating a deeper and more dynamic restart.
Much of the attention was on five of the six finalists from the A$10,000 Trojan, which paused earlier in the week with six players remaining. The plan was to crown a champion on Saturday, but that’s now on hold until Sunday after Burns advanced to Day 3 of the Main Event.
Burns’ survival came by way of a dramatic escape. All in and dominated with pocket kings against David Pham’s pocket aces, the Aussie looked destined for the rail. But after a clean runout through the turn, the river delivered a miracle king to keep his APO campaign alive—and derail plans for a Trojan conclusion.
Noel Jaber, another Trojan finalist, looked poised for a deep Main Event run of his own after methodically building a stack throughout the day. But it all unraveled late. After losing two key pots to Burns, Jaber called a three-bet and committed the rest of his chips on the turn with second pair—only to be snapped off by a set. He exited in 12th, leaving the stage with a wry parting shot: “I’ll get you in the high roller.”
Meanwhile, fellow Trojan finalists Weiran Pu, Joshua McSwiney, and Joseph Antar also fell short of Day 3. Pu’s queens were cracked by Steven Zhou’s aces just before the final three-table redraw, ending hopes of a Trojan-Main Event double for any of the six.
Steven Zhou bagged the second-biggest stack and was responsible for the elimination of Toby Joyce in a chip lead pot just after the redraw. Zhou decided just to call with ace-king in the big blind and put in a double check-raise before lead-shoving the river with a full house. Joyce went deep into the tank and eventually called with top pair, which ended his run in the Main Event.
Paawan Bansal, Chad Awerbuch, Yuanting Wang, and Romain Morvan all made it into the last day of play. The player with the most work to do is Kiavash Arbabi, who will come back around seven big blinds and a dream
Don’t miss a moment of the action as PokerNews brings you live updates, chip counts, key hands, and exclusive photos from the final day of the 2025 APO Main Event — kicking off Saturday at 2 p.m. local time.
