Lombardo Bursts Into the Lead on Day 1a of APPT Melbourne
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The next stop on Season 7 of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour began on tonight as the APPT Melbourne Main Event took centre stage at the Crown Poker Room in Melbourne, Australia.
Exactly 111 players ponied up the $3,000 buy-in on the first of two Day 1 flights. Each of these players was in with a chance to join past APPT Melbourne champions Leo Boxell and Sam Razavi on the winner��s podium, but at the end of the night only 65 remained. Leading the way with a stack of 128,200 is John Lombardo.
Throughout most of the day it was Matthew Edwards who was the chip leader. When Edwards eliminated a player late in the day, it was looking like no player would surpass Edwards. Then Lombardo found the right cards and plenty of chips to swoop into the lead.
When Day 1a began some of the most notable names in Australian poker were at the felt, including 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Joe Hachem, recently appointed Full Tilt ANZPT Ambassador Liam O��Rourke, WSOP gold bracelet winners Jarred Graham and Andrew Hinrichsen, and 2013 Aussie Millions runner-up Joe Cabret.
Of the above players it was only O��Rourke who hit the rail, while Hachem, Graham, Hinrichsen and Cabret all survived. Cabret even managed to thrive, finishing Day 1a with 117,200 and the fourth largest stack over all. Some of the other players who bagged up plenty of chips include Sal Fazzino, Andrew Rogers, Ashley Warner and Tino Lechich.
A few of the players who weren��t as fortunate as the above and found themselves on the rail throughout the day included Jesse ��On The Mac�� McKenzie, Ryan Hong, Michael Pedley, Tim ��weygang�� English, 2007 APPT Sydney champ Grant Levy and 2008 APPT Sydney champ Martin Rowe.
The second and final Day 1 flight of the APPT Melbourne Main Event is looking to host a much larger field than Day 1a, so make sure to join the PokerNews Live Reporting Team from 12.10pm local time for all the continued action from the Asia Pacific Poker Tour.