World Poker Tour lands in Australia ; Liam Doyle wins the Opening Event

WPT has established itself as the most prestigious global poker tour in the world, and between September 27^th and October 7^th Australia is playing host to a WPT festival for the very first time in history.

The opening events are already in the books, and there are still many enthralling events yet to come, so allow us to bring you the latest from the Gold Coast.

Event 1 – AU$1,000 WPT Australia Opening Event – Winner: Liam Doyle

The first event on the schedule in Australia was the AU$1,000 (US$669) buy in opening event. The number of entries reached 292 before the close of registration, creating a prize pool of AU$292,000 (US$195,348). Of those who began the event, 37 would go on to get paid, with almost AU$65,000 set aside for 1^st place.

As the action got down to the final stages, Cam Adams was sent to the rail in 3^rd place to set up a heads-up match between Mexico’s Angel Guillen-Pereda and New Zealander Liam Doyle. After trading pots for a while, Doyle managed to gain the upper hand in the match before finishing off his opponent to claim the title. This win is a huge step forward for Doyle, who claims his first recorded live title and biggest lifetime score by some distance.

The final payouts are as follows:
1^st – Liam Doyle (New Zealand) – AU$64,368 (US$43,062)
2^nd – Angel Guillen – AU$45,260
3^rd – Cam Adams – AU$29,112
4^th – Ash Gupta – AU$18,177
5^th – Connie Graham – AU$14,031
6^th – Alan Yousif – AU$11,622
7^th – Dean Boskovic – AU$9,767
8^th – Amir Abbas – AU$8,030
9^th – Adam Thaggard – AU$6,436

Event 2 – AU$600 Super Stack Freezeout – Winner: George Kurubilis

The second event in this festival saw 198 runners pull up a seat and stake their claim to the title. The AU$600 (US$401) buy ins accumulated to form a total prize pool of AU$118,800 (US$79,477) with 25 players going on to get paid. Almost AU$30,000 awaited the champion.

As the final battle lines were drawn up, Taner Durust and George Kurubilis were the fortunate challengers who had managed to navigate their way through the field. Heads-up play commenced with the elimination of Octavian Voegele and it did not take long for Kurubilis to stamp his authority on proceedings, taking control of the match and eventually wrestling the title away from Durust. With just over US$21,000 in live cashes to his name before this event began, Kurubilis has drastically increased his live cashes with this score.

Here are the final payouts:
1^st – George Kurubilis (Australia) – AU$29,572 (US$19,784)
2^nd – Taner Durust – AU$20,360
3^rd – Octavian Voegele – AU$12,177
4^th – Samuel Deering – AU$7,407
5^th – Robert Damelian – AU$5,720
6^th – Jonathan Pye – AU$4,740
7^th – Joshua Smith – AU$4,039
8^th – Jahdi Khouri – AU$3,493
9^th – Rojas Berdugo – AU$2,957

Event 3 – AU$300 Turbo Freezeout – Winner: Kai Yeung

The third event at Star Gold Coast was the AU$300 (US$201) buy in Turbo Freezeout event. The field size for the tournament grew to 237, generating a total prize pool of AU$71,100 (US$47,566). A total of 30 players went on to pick up winnings with five figures up top for the winner.

As the final hands of the tournament played out, just three remained. Carlos Youssef’s attempts to push himself up the chip counts hit turbulence, resulting in him hitting the rail shortly after.

This left Australian Kai Yeung to potentially give the festival its first female winner, but she first had to deal with Andy Mathis. After a few pots had been traded, the momentum began to move towards Yeung, and she did not let the opportunity slip, finishing her opponent off to take the victory.

Here are the final payouts:
1^st – Kai Yeung (Australia) – AU$16,624 (US$11,121)
2^nd – Andy Mathis – AU$11,673
3^rd – Carlos Youssef – AU$7,288
4^th – Michael Chrisanth – AU$4,433
5^th – Mark Bevan – AU$3,423
6^th – William Wong – AU$2,837
7^th – Craig Abernethy – AU$2,417
8^th – James Nimmo – AU$2,062
9^th – Shurane Vijayaram – AU$1,662

Still to come

With WPT Australia just getting started, the best events are yet to begin. The coming days will bring numerous exciting events, and here is our pick of them.

• Among the interesting events still to come is the AU$660 (US$442) Big Bounty event. Getting underway on October 2^nd, the tournament will feature 30-minute blind levels with half of the buy in set aside as a bounty on each player.
• Stepping things up a gear on October 3^rd is the AU$5K (US$3,345) Single Day event. This High Roller allows for a single re-entry and will feature 30-minute blinds with boosted starting stacks of 25,000 chips.
• The Main Event kicks off on October 4^th with the first of three starting flights. The AU$2,500 (US$1,673) tournament allows for a single re-entry and will see players starting with 30,000 chips.
• Following on October 6^th is the 2 Day AU$5K (US$3,345) Challenge event. Players have a single re-entry available, starting stacks of 25,000 and 45-minute blind levels.

Article by Craig Bradshaw