The APL Million, a combined effort between The Star and Full House Group’s Australian Poker League (APL) and 888 Poker League (888PL) was run and won over the weekend, breaking records as by far the biggest league based poker tournament in Australian history.
The APL and 888PL placed at least 667 players into this Million Dollar Guaranteed tournament and The Star added another 497 entrants through direct buyins and satellites to generate a whopping $1,455,000 prize pool with 1,164 entrants. Players came from all over Australia. There were over sixty representatives from WA, two hundred from VIC, seventy from QLD, twenty from SA and of course a LOT from NSW, who had the home ground advantage.
There were four day 1 flights in this massive event with just under 300 of the 1,164 starters making it through to day 2. Over a third of the players seated on Saturday were going to make the cash, 117th would be the first to make the cash and walk away with $2350 for their efforts! Once the cash bubble burst there was a flurry of all ins, double ups and eliminations!
Not only did a lot of the players at The Star Sydney make the cash on Saturday, but there was a VIP Invitational $10,000 minimum Prize Pool event that was open to all players who played the APL Million and their guest. With busses running to and from The Star Sydney this event sparked a lot of interest with 622 players taking their seats at Canterbury Hurlstone Park RSL. There was another $2500 in addons which lead to over $12,500 in the pool with players having a fantastic day at this excellent RSL. They then jumped back on the bus to head to the Star Sydney for a fantastic night out!
Day 3 started with just under 40 players hitting the felt, all with the $265,000 first prize on their mind, as well as the glory of course! Day 3 was full of fantastic play, laughs and a lot of cash being handed out! The play was 8 handed and finished right before 7pm with 8th being the final table bubble earning $33,000 for their weekends play!
The Player Party was on the stunning Sky Terrace, The Star Sydney, and was overlooking Sydney Harbour, with the sunset at the back and the moonrise over the city looking forward. The feast was not just for the eyes but also a literal feast as the delicious food continued throughout the night whilst the drinks flowed. With half the final table having a very quiet night while enjoying the view, the DJ played and everyone had a great time and the Sydney weather held out!
The Final Table came back on Monday to fight it out for the $265,000 First Prize. Four final table players qualified through the APL/888PL and three of The Star Sydney full time players, many were commenting that the APL Players did not have a chance. How wrong they were! Branko Usljebrka ended up taking out the APL Million for $265,000 In COLD HARD CASH!
I would like to thank the players, The Star Sydney, TD’s, Licensees, Regional Managers, Live Reporters and anyone who was involved in this fantastic tournament. We are hoping to secure the APL Million for next year and there will be some exciting news in the coming months. For the meantime, check out www.facebook.com/livereporting for all the up to date action.
Full payout list will be live on the websites shortly! Like www.facebook.com/APLMillion to stay up to date, with all the photos from the event being released in the next week we are thrilled with the way this year went and we hope you enjoy all the APL, 888PL regular events in the meantime, and of course if you are like Branko, there is the chance that you could win a regular event to get into a regional to win an APL Million Ticket and over $250,000+ There will be satellites starting in most states already!
Michael Ratnik
National Operations Manager
|
First Name
|
Last Name
|
Place
|
Prize
|
|
Branko
|
Usljebrka
|
1st
|
$ 265,000.00
|
|
Martin
|
Rowe
|
2nd
|
$ 165,000.00
|
|
Adrian
|
Attenborough
|
3rd
|
$ 120,000.00
|
|
Renay
|
Murray
|
4th
|
$ 91,000.00
|
|
Mayer
|
Sheldon
|
5th
|
$ 70,000.00
|
|
Emmanuel
|
Derecho
|
6th
|
$ 54,000.00
|
|
John
|
Thomson
|
7th
|
$ 42,000.00
|
|
Luke
|
Martinelli
|
8th
|
$ 33,000.00
|
|
Meroslav
|
Merenda
|
9th
|
$ 27,000.00
|
|
Michael
|
Doumani
|
10th
|
$ 21,400.00
|
|
Brendon
|
Rubie
|
11th
|
$ 21,400.00
|
|
Seyed
|
Nasab
|
12th
|
$ 21,400.00
|
|
Peco
|
Stojanovski
|
13th
|
$ 17,900.00
|
|
Mohammad
|
Musaghazi
|
14th
|
$ 17,900.00
|
|
Daniel
|
Pehlivan
|
15th
|
$ 17,900.00
|
|
Michael
|
Frazi
|
16th
|
$ 14,300.00
|
|
Jimmy
|
Sim
|
17th
|
$ 14,300.00
|
|
Daryl
|
Vine
|
18th
|
$ 14,300.00
|
|
Mark
|
Cooke
|
19th
|
$ 11,800.00
|
|
Phillip
|
Huang
|
20th
|
$ 11,800.00
|
|
Ryan
|
Hunter
|
21st
|
$ 11,800.00
|
|
Andrew
|
Miller
|
22nd
|
$ 10,000.00
|
|
Marc
|
Liddell
|
23rd
|
$ 10,000.00
|
|
Norman
|
Sierak
|
24th
|
$ 10,000.00
|
|
Au
|
Chung
|
25th
|
$ 8,500.00
|
|
Francesco
|
Ferraro
|
26th
|
$ 8,500.00
|
|
Steve
|
Pappas
|
27th
|
$ 8,500.00
|
|
Jacob
|
Horowitz
|
28th
|
$ 7,300.00
|
|
Hoi Wing
|
Cheung
|
29th
|
$ 7,300.00
|
|
Richard J.
|
Kellett
|
30th
|
$ 7,300.00
|
|
Zhi
|
Ma
|
31st
|
$ 6,400.00
|
|
David
|
Nguyen
|
32nd
|
$ 6,400.00
|
|
Jim
|
Pizanias
|
33rd
|
$ 6,400.00
|
|
Joanne
|
Down
|
34th
|
$ 5,550.00
|
|
Zac
|
Vigar
|
35th
|
$ 5,550.00
|
|
Timothy
|
Kirkman
|
36th
|
$ 5,550.00
|
|
Patrick
|
Vartuli
|
37th
|
$ 4,900.00
|
|
Sum
|
Trinh
|
38th
|
$ 4,900.00
|
|
Brad
|
Kohler
|
39th
|
$ 4,900.00
|
|
Robert
|
Sweid
|
40th
|
$ 4,900.00
|
|
Wej
|
Jin
|
41st
|
$ 4,900.00
|
|
Robert
|
Damelian
|
42nd
|
$ 4,900.00
|
|
Andrew
|
Mitchell
|
43rd
|
$ 4,900.00
|
|
Lynda
|
Drake
|
44th
|
$ 4,900.00
|
|
James
|
Langford
|
45th
|
$ 4,900.00
|
|
Cameron
|
Ridd
|
46th
|
$ 4,400.00
|
|
Jason
|
Bligh
|
47th
|
$ 4,400.00
|
|
Nathan
|
Susnig
|
48th
|
$ 4,400.00
|
|
Thomas
|
Lau
|
49th
|
$ 4,400.00
|
|
Mele
|
Poulivaati
|
50th
|
$ 4,400.00
|
|
Hao
|
Li
|
51st
|
$ 4,400.00
|
|
Toby
|
Marsh
|
52nd
|
$ 4,400.00
|
|
Erdinc
|
Ibrahim
|
53rd
|
$ 4,400.00
|
|
Daniel
|
Hope
|
54th
|
$ 4,400.00
|
|
Vincent
|
Xu
|
55th
|
$ 4,000.00
|
|
Melvyn
|
Judah
|
56th
|
$ 4,000.00
|
|
Thonghath
|
Chanthaboury
|
57th
|
$ 4,000.00
|
|
Johnny
|
Kavana
|
58th
|
$ 4,000.00
|
|
Salvatore
|
Lucisano
|
59th
|
$ 4,000.00
|
|
Paul
|
Ribaud
|
60th
|
$ 4,000.00
|
|
Petros
|
Aristidou
|
61st
|
$ 4,000.00
|
|
Jacqueline
|
Bailey
|
62nd
|
$ 4,000.00
|
|
Darrell
|
Kerr
|
63rd
|
$ 4,000.00
|
|
Ismail
|
Ismail
|
64th
|
$ 3,600.00
|
|
Antonio
|
Tavella
|
65th
|
$ 3,600.00
|
|
Nathan
|
Histon
|
66th
|
$ 3,600.00
|
|
Ricky
|
Lee
|
67th
|
$ 3,600.00
|
|
Keith
|
Walker
|
68th
|
$ 3,600.00
|
|
Esstathia
|
Bouyioukos
|
69th
|
$ 3,600.00
|
|
Matti J.
|
Konttinen
|
70th
|
$ 3,600.00
|
|
Marcial
|
Dias
|
71st
|
$ 3,600.00
|
|
Gaetano
|
Scaravilli
|
72nd
|
$ 3,600.00
|
|
Nathan
|
Elder
|
73rd
|
$ 3,300.00
|
|
Steven
|
Yahko
|
74th
|
$ 3,300.00
|
|
David
|
Finlay
|
75th
|
$ 3,300.00
|
|
Robert
|
Spano
|
76th
|
$ 3,300.00
|
|
Michael L.
|
Wood
|
77th
|
$ 3,300.00
|
|
George
|
Mavridis
|
78th
|
$ 3,300.00
|
|
Marcus
|
Pellegrino
|
79th
|
$ 3,300.00
|
|
Wendy
|
Horan
|
80th
|
$ 3,300.00
|
|
Lance
|
Patison
|
81st
|
$ 3,300.00
|
|
Raja
|
Gogoi
|
82nd
|
$ 3,050.00
|
|
Connie
|
Graham
|
83rd
|
$ 3,050.00
|
|
Terence
|
Revell
|
84th
|
$ 3,050.00
|
|
Ehsan
|
Amiri
|
85th
|
$ 3,050.00
|
|
Miroslav
|
Cujic
|
86th
|
$ 3,050.00
|
|
James
|
Boardman
|
87th
|
$ 3,050.00
|
|
Chris
|
Wallace
|
88th
|
$ 3,050.00
|
|
Kelly
|
Dubberly
|
89th
|
$ 3,050.00
|
|
James
|
Broom
|
90th
|
$ 3,050.00
|
|
Janet
|
Brooks
|
91st
|
$ 2,800.00
|
|
San Van
|
Mai
|
92nd
|
$ 2,800.00
|
|
Junying
|
Zhang
|
93rd
|
$ 2,800.00
|
|
Matt
|
Rooke
|
94th
|
$ 2,800.00
|
|
Joel
|
Galvin
|
95th
|
$ 2,800.00
|
|
Nurlan
|
Boobekov
|
96th
|
$ 2,800.00
|
|
Natt
|
Armstrong
|
97th
|
$ 2,800.00
|
|
Andrew
|
Li
|
98th
|
$ 2,800.00
|
|
Hayden
|
Walsh
|
99th
|
$ 2,800.00
|
|
Andrew
|
Lock
|
100th
|
$ 2,550.00
|
|
Yifan
|
Zhou
|
101st
|
$ 2,550.00
|
|
Pratik
|
Mehta
|
102nd
|
$ 2,550.00
|
|
Victor
|
Teng
|
103rd
|
$ 2,550.00
|
|
Nick Minjia
|
Tang
|
104th
|
$ 2,550.00
|
|
Hauman
|
Darbani
|
105th
|
$ 2,550.00
|
|
Simon
|
Shaw
|
106th
|
$ 2,550.00
|
|
James
|
Allen
|
107th
|
$ 2,550.00
|
|
Luca
|
Borreggine
|
108th
|
$ 2,550.00
|
|
Anthony
|
Quattrone
|
109th
|
$ 2,350.00
|
|
Paul
|
Collings
|
110th
|
$ 2,350.00
|
|
Angelo
|
Hamataj
|
111th
|
$ 2,350.00
|
|
Shaun
|
Zammit
|
112th
|
$ 2,350.00
|
|
Bob
|
Sabo
|
113th
|
$ 2,350.00
|
|
Kahlia
|
Thompson
|
114th
|
$ 2,350.00
|
|
Michael
|
Mayar
|
115th
|
$ 2,350.00
|
|
Nabil
|
Edgtton
|
116th
|
$ 2,350.00
|
|
Daniel
|
Pacini
|
117th
|
$ 2,350.00
|
|
|
|
$ 1,455,000.00
|
|
