Joshua McSwiney opened to 24,000 from under the gun before Jerry Xia moved all in for 290,000 in middle position. Action folded back around to McSwiney, who made the call.
Jerry Xia: A♥A♦
Joshua McSwiney: K♣K♥
Xia connected on the A♣9♦10♠3♥8♠ runout to cement his double, leaving McSwiney with just 12,000 chips on the bubble.
With Joshua McSwiney all in from the big blind, Jerry Xia made the call in middle position. Wai Au shoved and Xia folded, leaving McSwiney at risk heads up.
Joshua McSwiney: 4♠3♥
Wai Au: A♥K♣
McSwiney found two pair on the 4♣10♦3♦A♠9♣ runout, more than tripling his stack to remain alive.
Another busy day has come to a close at the Australian Poker Open, where it took nearly 40 hands on the direct money bubble to determine the final 18 players who bagged for Day 2 of the $1,500 Platinum Player Championships.
The action on Day 1b finally wrapped up late in the night at Doltone House Western Sydney at Club Marconi, where 142 entrants took a shot at building a stack and earning the minimum cash of AUD $2,300.
The big stack belongs to Hasan Onay, who amassed 1,433,000 to finish as the only player in seven figures on the leaderboard. That total is just behind Minkyu Jun, who maintains the over chip lead after bagging 1,521,000 on Day 1a.
The day’s registration bring the tournament total to 290 entries through the first two opening flights, with three more still to come. With players taking advantage of the unlimited reentry event, the $500,000 guarantee is surely within reach.
Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
Hasan Onay
Australia
1,433,000
2
Tty Ly
Australia
969,000
3
Chad Awerbuch
Australia
753,000
4
Sam Ioannou
Australia
599,000
5
Jerry Xia
Australia
569,000
6
David McAllister
Australia
561,000
7
Natalia Rozova
Australia
452,000
8
Louis Luo
Australia
366,000
9
Sheldon Mayer
Australia
317,000
10
Grant Wheeler
Australia
286,000
Onay entered after the second break of the day and promptly doubled his starting stack. A short time later, the eventual chip leader found pocket aces against the kings of Erden Ibrahim, padding his stack even further. From there, Onay was able to ride that momentum over the 1,000,000 chip mark, including a double knockout just before the bubble.
Among the notable names to come up short was Australian Poker Open AmbassadorBert Perry, who bought in for a second straight day. Perry was once again unable to build a stack and will have to try his luck on another starting flight.
The real excitement came on the direct money bubble, with 19 players remaining and just 18 getting paid. Despite just three tables of action, there was not a single all-in called through the first 21 hands of bubble play. In all, it took a total of 37 hands to bring an end to Day 1b, as Ehsan Amiri ran into pocket jacks and end the marathon night.
Amiri was even more unlucky, considering Joshua McSwiney ran kings into aces and was left with just a single big blind a few minutes earlier. McSwiney was then forced all in sitting in the big blind, but managed to triple up and stay alive from there.
The tournament will resume Friday, March 29 with Day 1c beginning at 2 p.m. local time, where a fresh group of players will sit down with a starting stack of 50,000 chips. The event features unlimited reentries, with late registration staying open until the start of Level 10. Play will once again conclude when 12.5% of the field remains, with all surviving players earning $2,300.
The 40-minute levels begin with blinds of 100/200 and a 200 big blind ante. Scheduled breaks will occur after every three levels.
The PokerNews live reporting team will have continuing coverage of this event, plus the Australian Poker Open Main Event, so stay tuned to all of the action from Sydney.