Cooper Feltham Wins WPT Australia Prime Championship for AUD 187,793

Cooper Feltham started the final table of the WPT Prime Championship with just 17 big blinds. By the end of the night, he had survived a huge flip, made one of the calls of the tournament, watched a huge heads-up lead disappear, and then fought his way back to the trophy.

The Australian defeated Ling Liu heads-up at The Star Sydney , denying Liu the chance to become the first female WPT Prime champion in WPT history.

Feltham collected AUD 187,793 (~$133,579) following a heads-up deal, along with the trophy and an AUD 1,500 WPT Prime Championship ticket for Las Vegas in December. Liu earned AUD 161,127 (~$114,595) for her runner-up finish.

The AUD 1,500 Championship attracted 1,036 entries and generated a AUD 1,346,800 prize pool, with start-of-day chip leader Liu Yang completing the podium in third place for AUD 99,000 (~$71,476).

#14 Prime Championship Event (1,500 AUD)

Total Prize USD

$972,355

Total Prize

1.3M AUD

Entries

1,036

ITM

131

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	A$187,793 $133,579	CF Cooper Feltham Australia	3,151.39
2	A$161,127 $114,595	LL Ling Liu Australia	2,228.37
3	A$99,000 $71,476	LY Liu Yang Australia	1,819.45
4	A$74,000 $53,426	SS Sasha Skalrud Australia	1,575.69
5	A$56,500 $40,792	KI Kenta Ito Australia	1,409.34
6	A$43,000 $31,045	JW Jinyu Wang Australia	1,286.55
7	A$33,000 $23,825	LL Louis Luo Australia	1,191.11
8	A$26,000 $18,771	JC Jiaxu Chen Australia	1,114.18
9	A$22,000 $15,883	DF Daniel Francis Australia	1,050.46

Check the 131 Payouts & Results ...

Cooper Feltham: “It’s Kind of Cool to Actually Get It”

Feltham was still coming to terms with the victory when he spoke to Somuchpoker shortly after lifting the trophy.

“Definitely a few. It’s very heavy as well,” he said when asked how many times he had already looked at the trophy and wondered whether the victory was real.

“You don’t really play tournaments and think you’re going to win. I mean, you come in with a plan to win, but when you’re actually here at the end, it’s kind of cool to actually get it.”

Feltham had been among the frontrunners long before the final table, bagging the overall chip lead from the starting flights before carrying a healthy stack through Day 2.

“It’s a marathon, so there’s a lot happening, but definitely bagging a stack like that helps a lot. It was very smooth sailing all the way to the FT.”

“I didn’t get all-in at risk once, until the final table that is. It’s definitely nice to bag such a big stack, so it definitely helps.”

That changed when Feltham returned for the final table sixth of nine and eventually found himself with his tournament life on the line.

“The idea at the start was to wait out people to bust, which happened early on, and then I had to get it in with sixes against ace-ten.”

“Once I won that, then the hands started coming.”

Cooper Feltham Battles Back From 17 Big Blinds

Feltham began the nine-handed final table sixth in chips with 17 big blinds. Yang was a long way ahead at the top as the only player in eight-figure territory, while Kenta Ito and Sasha Skalrud were his nearest challengers.

Daniel Francis was the first player eliminated, finishing ninth for AUD 22,000 after Yang spiked a queen to send him home earlier than planned.

Feltham then found himself in immediate danger.

Louis Luo shoved the button and Feltham called from the small blind for his tournament life with slightly fewer chips. Feltham’s pocket sixes held against ace-ten, improving to a set on the river and leaving Luo with just a single big blind.

Jiaxu Chen was eliminated shortly afterward in eighth for AUD 26,000 after running second pair into Ito’s top pair, before Luo followed in seventh.

Feltham’s recovery continued against Jinyu Wang. After picking up pocket aces and taking down a pot without showdown, Feltham found pocket kings on the very next deal. Wang moved all-in from the small blind with ace-ten and Feltham called. Wang paired his ten on the flop but could not improve any further, sending him out in sixth place for AUD 43,000.

King-High Call Keeps Feltham Moving

Getting from five players down to four proved considerably more difficult.

Almost five hours passed without an elimination as the chip lead moved around the table and the shorter stacks repeatedly found ways to survive.

Feltham remained involved and produced one of the calls of the final table against Liu. Liu completed from the small blind and Feltham checked the big blind. Feltham called a flop bet before both players checked the turn. Liu fired 1,200,000 on the river, and Feltham used a time bank before making the call with just king-high .

It was good, as Liu could only show nine-high, sending the pot to Feltham and continuing his climb up the counts.

Seventeen-Million Flip Sends Feltham Into the Lead

The biggest hand of Feltham’s tournament to that point came shortly before the dinner break, when Feltham and Skalrud got into a huge flip for over a third of the chips in play. Feltham had jacks, and Skalrud had ace-queen. A low runout was favorable for Feltham to double up and put him way above the rest at the top.

Feltham came back from the dinner break with the chip lead, and Ito became the first casualty after the restart, falling to Feltham, whose stack was continuing to increase.

Feltham Clears the Path to Heads-Up

Skalrud was next to fall.

Feltham shoved the small blind and Skalrud called off in the big blind with ace-six. Feltham had two live cards with nine-seven and managed to bink a seven on the river to end Skalrud’s run in fourth for AUD 74,000.

That left Feltham, Yang and Liu competing for the title.

Yang had started the day with the chip lead and had remained near the top of the counts for much of the final table, but Feltham ultimately brought his run to an end.

Feltham shoved with a stack covering the table and Yang called from the big blind, despite Liu having only a third of his chips.

The hand came down to a flip. Feltham had the small pair, and Yang had Big Slick. Yang picked up a gutshot to Broadway on the flop, but the turn and river failed to improve him.

Yang departed in third for AUD 99,000 (~$71,476), sending Feltham into heads-up with a huge advantage. Feltham held around 38 million chips against fewer than four million for Liu. However, that advantage would not last.

Liu Erases Huge Heads-Up Deficit

Liu doubled on one of the first hands of heads-up play with king-ten against the ace-six of Feltham, as she improved to a boat. Another double followed soon afterward, and Liu continued closing the gap when she picked off a Feltham river bluff with nothing more than ace-high.

Feltham knew the momentum had shifted and had plenty of respect for the player sitting across the table.

“Ling’s a fantastic player. She’s absolutely brilliant,” Feltham said.

“Once she doubled up twice, I sort of just waved the white flag and said, look, let’s be smart about this and do a deal, and then play for a little bit.”

“A player like that that I respect a lot, I’m going to do that quite a bit.”

With the stacks considerably closer, the pair paused the action to discuss a deal.

Feltham locked up AUD 177,793, while Liu secured AUD 161,127. Another AUD 10,000, the WPT Prime Championship ticket and the trophy remained on the table for the winner.

Liu’s comeback continued after the agreement. Feltham and Liu got it all-in on the flop, with Feltham ahead, holding a pair and a flush draw. A fortunate turn improved Liu to a higher pair, and she faded the river to take the chip lead for the first time, putting her in position to make history as the first female WPT Prime champion.

Feltham Regains Control Before River Wheel Seals Title

Feltham responded immediately.

Liu went for a triple-barrel bluff, but Feltham called her down with third pair to take back the lead. Then, Feltham expertly extracted value from Liu on the flop, turn, and river with top pair, putting himself firmly back in the driver’s seat, with Liu needing a double.

She found one final opportunity.

Liu moved all-in from the button for around 20 big blinds, and Feltham called. Both players held an ace, but Liu’s seven-kicker had her ahead and in position to potentially reclaim the heads-up chip lead.

The flop created some chop possibilities for Feltham before the turn gave him a wheel draw.

The river completed it, and the tournament had its champion.

Feltham made the wheel on the river , bringing Liu’s comeback to an end and confirming him as the WPT Prime Championship winner.

The two embraced as the tournament concluded.

His route to the title had taken him from sixth at the start of the final table, down to one of the shortest stacks, up to the chip lead, back behind during heads-up, and finally back on top when the last river card fell.

Feltham will now head to Las Vegas in December to use the WPT Prime Championship ticket that came with his victory.

Asked what story he hoped to be telling Somuchpoker when they meet again in Vegas, Feltham had an ambitious answer.

“That I’ve won the 10K there and the 1,500. I’ll win everything, hopefully.”

The WPT Prime Championship may be over, but WPT Australia 2026 continues at The Star Sydney, with the WPT Australia Championship still to come.

All images courtesy of Star Poker.

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