Hey mate, there is a new live poker tour in Straya at the end of April! That’s right, the Top Joy Poker Australia (TJPA) Sydney Poker Championships is taking place at the Canterbury League Club from April 29 until May 9, 2024. It is the first venture of the Top Joy Poker Tour (TJPT) to the land down under.
Top Joy Poker Australia Main Event
Top Joy Poker Australia kicks off on April 29, 2024 and a total of 27 different events await with various buy-in levels. Accomplished poker pro Mel Judah serves as the tournament director for the entire series. The Australian Poker Hall of Fame Inductee has two WSOP bracelets and a WPT Main Event title to his name, having also finished third in the 1997 WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas as well.
All eyes will be set on the marquee Main Event, which comes with an eye-watering prize pool of at least A$ 1 Million (~USD 650,000). Initially, the guarantee was even double of that amount but was recently revised.
The marquee tournament of the series features a buy-in of A$ 2,500 (~USD 1,650) and four starting days between May 3 to 5. Three flights with a 45-minute level duration and a turbo heat with 30-minute levels are available, all of which allow up to two re-entries. Expect the structure to be very deep as another four tournament days follow until May 9 to determine the Main Event champion.
2024 TJPA Sydney Poker Championships Main Event
Buy-in: A$ 2,500 (~USD 1,629)
Guarantee: A$1,000,000 (~USD 650,000)
Starting Stack: 40,000 chips
Day 1A: Friday, May 3, 2024
Day 1B: Saturday, May 4, 2024
Day 1C: Sunday, May 5, 2024
Day 1D turbo: Sunday, May 5, 2024
Day 2: Monday, May 6, 2024
Day 3: Tuesday, May 7, 2024
Day 4: Wednesday, May 8, 2024
Day 5: Thursday, May 9, 2024
Other Tournament Highlights
For the brand new event on Australian soil, there is something for everyone available on the schedule. It all kicks off on the opening day on April 29 with the A$ 550 TJPA Sydney Launch Event, which features a guarantee of A$ 200,000. Players can join the action on three starting flights on consecutive days while separate one-day tournaments also run alongside as well.
The latest craze shall not be missed either. A A$ Mystery Bounty Event kicks off on May 1 and 2, all those advancing will then hope for the lucky pull on May 3 when the tournament plays down to a winner.
It isn’t about two cards only either as several Pot Limit Omaha and even a Mixed NLH/PLO tournament are part of the schedule as well. Two Charity Events will also attract some attention beyond the poker table on May 4 and 5, especially for the winner of the Pink Ladies Charity Event. On top of the cash prize in the A$ 175 buy-in, the champion also receives a A$ 3K Fiji Holiday package for two sponsored by Croc Poker.
The weekend shenanigans also provide another “regular” knockout tournament with Event #15 Super KO Bounty NLH on May 5. The very next day, the same price tag of A$ 880 applies for Event #18 Super DeepStack Turbo as it combines the best of both worlds – many chips and fast-paced action. Three hours later, a A$ 440 Team Event kicks off when you want to share the run-good and bad beats.
TJPA Sydney Launch Event
Date/s: April 29 – May 3, 2024
Buy-In: A$ 550 (~ USD 360)
Guarantee: A$ 200,000 (~USD 132,000)
Mystery Bounty Event
Date/s: May 1-3, 2024
Buy-In: A$ 1,100 (~ USD 717)
Pink Ladies Charity Event
Date/s: May 4, 2024
Buy-In: A$ 175 (~ USD 114)
Additional A$ 3K Fiji Holiday Package for 2
What About the High Rollers?
Don’t worry, there are also a trio of higher-stakes competitions on the schedule as well for the players with deeper pockets. The first of them takes place on May 2 and 3, as Event #8 High Roller costs A$ 5,500 (~USD 3,590) to enter.
May 7 features the start of Event #20: Super High Roller, which provides 100,000 in chips to begin with but sets back the bankroll by a whopping A$ 10,600 (~USD 6,900). The tournament plays down to a winner the next day and is swiftly followed by Event #23 PLO High Roller, which has a buy-in of A$ 5,300 (~USD 3,4550).
These three tournaments were initially featured with the name of well-known Lithuanian gambler Antanas Guoga, perhaps more famously known under his moniker of Tony G in the world of poker. He has long-standing connections to Australia but his name has since vanished from the TJPA banners.
But even if Tony G won’t be there to send his opponents on their bike, it will be one of the biggest live poker events in Down Under so far right on the heels of the WPT Prime stop at Gold Coast.
Top Joy Poker Australia – Schedule
About Top Joy Poker Tour
Top Joy Poker Tour emerged as a new live poker series in mainland China back in 2019 with inaugural events hosted at the Mo Li Poker Sport Club in Tianjin before also expanding to new locations within the country such as Cangshan, Shanghai, Changsha, and Nantong.
In 2023, TJPT went one leap further and established an international stop in South Korea. The first grand-scale series by the brand outside of China took place from September 28 to October 2, 2023, at the Swiss Grand Hotel in Seoul. Then recently, the brand staged a very successful cooperation with Poker Dream in Malaysia whereas the Main Event set a new record prize pool of RM 10,767,152 (~USD 2,268,000) with many Chinese players taking part in the festival.
*Article by Christian Zetzsche
Tricia David
Tricia David has long experience as a recreational poker player and has been covering poker events since 2010 for numerous outfits in Asia. She spent one year working part time with Poker Portal Asia then became editor and lead writer for all event coverage of the Philippine Poker Tour (PPT). Under the PPT, she overlooked content for their website, and produced live updates on all their events. In addition, she served as the live and online events website content writer for the Asian Poker Tour. Currently, she does live events reporting in Asia for online news site Somuchpoker and is also one of their news contributors.
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