2 Oct
The 17-day event started in the city’s famous Crown Casino, with its first tournament, a four-day long $1,100 Accumulator No Limit Hold’em event, having started a short time ago.
A total of 174 players have turned out to participate in the first flight of that event, and more players are forecasted to enter in the next starting flight.
Melbourne may be far from the USA, but that has not deterred some of that country’s top poker players from descending upon the city for the WSOP APAC.
One famous face who took his seat in the first starting flight of the accumulator event is last year’s WSOP Main Event winner Ryan Riess. The 24-year-old shot to poker fame overnight after winning over $8 million in the Main Event, and he will be aiming to add more dollars and gold bracelets to his list of poker achievements.
Fellow American poker shark Vanessa Rousso has also put her name down for the first event at this year’s WSOP APAC. The 15-time WSOP in the money finisher and eight time WPT in the money finisher had a strong start to the Accumulator event.
That is something Rousso hopes will continue through the tournament, as she aims to win her first ever WSOP bracelet.
Some of Australia’s top poker players have also wasted no time in their quest for WSOP APAC glory. Aaron Lim made the five hour flight from the western Australian city of Perth to take part in this year’s event.
Lim made WSOP APAC history as the first Australian to win a gold bracelet at last year’s inaugural event. He is also the only Aussie to currently hold a WSOP APAC gold bracelet, and will be hoping to make even more history by adding more bracelets to his accolades.
Another local player who has taken to the felt in the first event is WSOP Europe gold bracelet winner Jackie Glazier. The 40-year-old Melbournian won her first and only WSOP gold bracelet in October last year and was the last woman standing at last year’s WSOP Main Event (she finished 31st).
A total of 10 WSOP gold bracelets are up for grabs at this year’s Asia Pacific event, double the amount that were up for grabs last year.
The flagship tournament in the WSOP APAC, the $10,000 Main Event, is set to get underway on Sunday October 12.
Daniel Negreanu has the distinction of being the first, and currently only winner of the WSOP APAC Main Event. According to Negreanu’s Twitter account, the poker superstar has arrived in Melbourne, which means he is likely to defend his Main Event crown.
PokerTube will provide readers with all of the major WSOP Asia Pacific Updates of over the next two weeks.
