Record breaking turnout at WPTDeepStacks Gold Coast; Will Davies wins the Main Event; final festival results

Another huge success for the World Poker Tour in Australia with the WPTDeepStacks Gold Coast 2021 breaking multiple tour records at The Star Gold Coast. The festival ran from May 21 to 31 with the Main Event attracting a massive 1,113 entries. This was the largest ever WPT Asia Pacific Main Event turnout in history, surpassing the previous record held by WPT 2014 National China of 898 entries. The series also drew a record high 3,446 entries across ten championship events, and when adding in the incredibly popular satellite games, the series gathered an overall record total of 4,475 festival entries. One other record setter was the Main Event prize pool of AU$ 1,502,550 which was the highest ever amassed by The Star Gold Coast.

That concludes another thrilling WPTDeepStacks Gold Coast. The series paid out a grand total of AU$ 3,147,550. Here are the final results.

Event #6: MAIN EVENT – WILL DAVIES – AU$ 252,729

After five days of side games, the spotlight shined bright on the WPDTS Main Event and despite having no guarantee offered, it produced a record breaking WPT Asia Pacific Main Event field of 1,113 entries (Day 1A = 340, Day 1B = 330, Day 1C = 443). With a turnout of that size, it was no surprise to see superstars in attendance. According to WPT Asia Pacific news reports, among them were WSOP 2005 Main Event champion Joe Hachem, WPT 2019 Australia champion Hari Varma, Alex Lynskey, Gary Benson, Mel Judah, Jonathan Karamalikis, Ashish Gupta, and Luke Martinelli to name a few. The AU$ 1,502,500 prize pool was also a record for The Star Gold Coast and was higher than the 2019 WPT Australia Main Event AU$ 1,480,500 pot.

The Main Event ran from May 27 to 31 with 165 advancing into Day 2, and only 10 into the final day led by Mike Maddocks. This was Maddocks’s second final table having finished 3rd at the Opening Event. Also at the table was the highly decorated WPT champion and WSOPC ring winner Alex Lynskey. Ranked third in chips, Lynskey was favored to win. However, for both Maddocks and Lynskey, their efforts were stopped short by Will Davies who seized the glory and the handsome AU$ 252,729 first prize. This was Davies’s first ever WPT win and largest career score.

Hailing from Manchester, England, Davies is backed by a long list of achievements collected over twelve years. Based on The Hendon Mob, his first major win was in 2015 for ~US$ 100,997 at the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Main Event. In 2016, he ran deep at the partypoker WPT UK, taking 3rd for ~US$ 89,237. Then three years later, Davies locked up a WSOP Circuit ring at the WSOPC UK Closer event. His big win here puts him well over the US$ 1 Million marker in live tournament earnings.

For runner-up Maddocks, his performance at the festival was nothing short of superb. He earned a career high score of AU$ 177,166 to add to the AU$ 29,414 he picked up for 3rd place at the Opening Event. For 3rd placer Lynskey, it was another six figure payout to add to his portfolio. He is closing in on US$ 4 Million in live tournament earnings.

Date: May 27 to May 31
Buy in: AU$ 1,500
Entries: 1,113
Prize pool: AU$ 1,502,550
ITM: 140 places

Final table payouts

1st William Davies – AU$ 252,729
2nd Mike Maddocks – AU$ 177,166
3rd Alex Lynskey – AU$ 114,960
4th Sheldon Mayer – AU$ 85,210
5th Joseph Sandaev – AU$ 64,429
6th Omer Silajdzija – AU$ 52,063
7th Nuno Da Silva – AU$ 43,018
8th Ratul Sayak – AU$ 34,108
9th Josh Yeomans – AU$ 25,288

Event #9: $5K Challenge – SEAN RAGOZZINI – AU$ 140,481

Event #9: $5K Challenge had the highest price tag of all the events and it too drew an impressive field of 98 entries for a pot worth AU$ 460,600. Many heavy hitters were in attendance such as Sosia Jiang who cashed out AU$ 12,667 but missed the final table by two spots and ANZPT 2010 Main Event champion Jonathan Karamalikis who fell in 3rd place. The battle came down between two well known Asia Pacific circuit players Sean Ragozzini and Vincent Huang. In the end, Ragozzini prevailed to ship the AU$ 140,481 first prize and the WPTDS surboardboard trophy. This was Ragozzini’s second largest career takedown and second six figure score. In July 2019, he topped The Star Sydney Champs High Roller event for AU$ 223,361. For runner up Vincent Huang, a healthy payday as well of AU$ 86,363.

Buy in: AU$ 5,000
Entries: 98
Prize pool: AU$ 460,600
ITM: 13 places

Final table payouts

1st Sean Ragozzini – AU$ 140,481
2nd Vincent Huang – AU$ 86,363
3rd Jonathan Karamalikis – AU$ 52,969
4th Alan Zheng – AU$ 34,545
5th Jordan Wentworth – AU$ 26,945
6th Yita Choong – AU$ 21,533
7th Damien Lynch – AU$ 18,309
8th Tolly Sakellariou – AU$ 15,981
9th Martin Ward – AU$ 14,048

Event #4: $330 Pot Limit Omaha – SIMON THWAITES – AU$ 17,172

Thrilling finish at Event #4: $330 Pot Limit Omaha with Opening Event champion Idris Hassan nearly capturing a second win however, Hassan couldn’t get past Simon Thwaites to take runner up instead. For Thwaites, this was a first ever WPT win. He pocketed a cool AU$ 17,172 (~US$ 13,285). Prior to this win, Thwaites only had one WPT achievement which was a 3rd place finish in 2019 at the WPTDS New Zealand Main Event for AU$ 42,439. Acknowledgment as well for Matt Baitieri who reached two final tables. Baitieri finished 7th here and 8th at the Opening Event.

Buy in: AU$ 330
Entries: 247
Prize pool: AU$ 74,100
ITM: 31 places

Final 7 payouts

1st Simon Thwaites – AU$ 17,172
2nd Idris Hassan – AU$ 12,067
3rd Amir Abbas – AU$ 7,595
4th Jozef Ricciardello – AU$ 4,620
5th Charles Willis – AU$ 3,568
6th Bradley Newman – AU$ 2,957
7th Matt Baitieri – AU$ 2,519

Event #5: $440 Big Bounty – DAVID BECKHAUS – US$ 19,222

Another first time WPT winner awarded with David Beckhaus outlasting 401 other runners at Event #5: $440 Big Bounty. For his triumph, Beckhaus seized the AU$ 16,522 first prize, and according to the WPT Asia news report, Beckhaus also claimed 13.5 in bounty rewards amounting to AU$ 2,700. This was Beckhaus’s first ever career win and largest tournament score. Acknowledgment as well to Musang Kim for reaching two final tables. Kim placed 9th here and 6th at the Event #3: $330 NLH Freezeout.

Buy in: AU$ 440
Entries: 402
Prize pool: AU$ 160,800
ITM: 51 places

Final table payouts (bounties not included)

1st David Beckhaus – AU$ 16,522
2nd Mina Gerges – AU$ 11,574
3rd Suraj Kara – AU$ 7,422
4th Joseph Russo – AU$ 4,953
5th Chad Awerbuch – AU$ 3,811
6th Veselin Zmukic – AU$ 3,156
7th Lachlan Henningsen – AU$ 2,649
8th Lem Demlakian – AU$ 2,151
9th Musang Kim – AU$ 1,652

Event #7: $440 Mega Stack Super Turbo Freezeout – LACHLAN DYKES – AU$ 18,548

The second tournament with a freezeout format was the Event #7: $440 Mega Stack Super Turbo with 186 players taking on the challenge. The final table saw Andrew Slan back in the round having finished 5th at the first freezeout event. Once again, Slan was stopped before the finish line, exiting in 6th place. Bringing it home was Lachlan Dykes for a first ever WPT win and career high score of AU$ 18,548.

Buy in: AU$ 440
Players: 186
Prize pool: AU$ 71,600
ITM: 23 places

Final table payouts

1st Lachlan Dykes – AU$ 18,548
2nd Vikrant Gupta – AU$ 12,441
3rd Charles Caris – AU$ 7,339
4th Farid Sarkis – AU$ 4,464
5th Michael Johnson – AU$ 3,448
6th Andrew Slan – AU$ 2,857
7th Russell Watkins – AU$ 2,434
8th Thomas Hourvitz – AU$ 2,141
9th Chin Hoe Tan – AU$ 1,855

Event #8: $550 Pot Limit Omaha – HANAN BRAUN – AU$ 23,438

PLO was quite popular with the first one drawing 247 entries and the higher buy-in Event #8: $550 Pot Limit Omaha attracting 185. This built up a AU$ 92,500 prize pool with 24 earning a share. Hanan Braun took it to the limit to claim a career high AU$ 23,438 payout. This was Braun’s first ever win which he can proudly boast of with his unique WPTDS surfboard trophy. Another player running well was Mina Gerges who reached a second final table. Gerges previously finished 2nd at the Event #5: $440 Big Bounty.

Buy in: AU$ 550
Entries: 185
Prize pool: AU$ 92,500
ITM: 24 places

Final 7 payouts

1st Hanan Braun – AU$ 23,438
2nd Steven Baker – AU$ 15,990
3rd Adam Monaghan – AU$ 9,481
4th Belinda Oosthuizen – AU$ 5,767
5th Mina Gerges – AU$ 4,454
6th Xingwei Tong – AU$ 3,691
7th Natalia Rozova – AU$ 3,145

Event #10: $440 Mega Stack Freezeout – KARSTEN KOBBING – AU$ 26,103

297 players came out with guns blazing at the Event #10: $440 Mega Stack Freezeout. This was the last event offered. The final table saw Suraj Kara back for a second visit, however, he could only take it as far as 8th place. Emerging victorious was Karsten Kobbing for a first ever WPT win. Kobbing lifted the last WPT surfboard trophy and turned his AU$ 440 buy in into a sweet AU$ 26,103 payout.

Buy in: AU$ 440
Players: 297
Prize pool: AU$ 118,800
ITM: 38 places

Final table payouts

1st Karsten Kobbing – AU$ 26,103
2nd Troy Mclean – AU$ 18,312
3rd Andrew Wilkinson – AU$ 11,773
4th Pravishil Singh – AU$ 7,389
5th Phil Hogan – AU$ 5,702
6th Tim Caban – AU$ 4,722
7th Nives Caccato – AU$ 3,968
8th Suraj Kara – AU$ 3,261
9th David Bond – AU$ 2,610