Chin Yaw Chan Takes Overall Lead After Day 1b at The Star Gold Coast; Lynn Gilmartin Bags Big

Day 1b Chip Leader Chin Yaw Chan

It was another very successful day of live poker action at the luxurious The Star Gold Coast and the marquee event of the World Poker Tour Prime Gold Coast Championship is on track to potentially set a new record for the mid-stakes live poker series. The Saturday shenanigans extended from the nearby dance floor to the poker tables as the marquee 2024 WPT Prime Gold Coast AU$2,000 Championship Main Event produced an even bigger tally.

The turnout for the second of three starting days surpassed the initial flight and 478 additional entries boosted the attendance so far to 817, which is just a shade over 400 entries short of the 1,224 entries the event attracted one year ago. With another big field to be expected on Day 1c, even the record for the WPT Prime Main Event attendance in the Asia-Pacific region is in sight – that honour belongs to WPT Prime Taiwan so far with 1,359 entries in August 2023.

Not only the field size was bigger but a new overall chip leader was crowned as well. New Zealand’s Chin Yaw Chan emerged atop the leaderboard with a massive stack of 983,000 after he scored a huge double in the final level of the night against 2024 WPT Cambodia Main Event runner-up Joshua Mccully. The Aussie busted in the final hands but will be back with another attempt in the third and final flight on Sunday, April 21, 2024.

Another local hero to make the headlines today was none other than WPT anchor Lynn Gilmartin, who steadily built her growing tower of chips and ended the night with 522,000 in chips. That is good enough for ninth place on Day 1b and nearly two times the average at bagging and tagging.

Top 10 Chip Counts sfter Day 1b

1st: Chin Yaw Chan – 983,000 (98 bb)
2nd: Daniel Smiljanic – 748,000 (75 bb)
3rd: Alex Lee – 725,000 (73 bb)
4th: Nathan Houterman – 717,000 (72 bb)
5th: Jason Gilbert – 607,000 (61 bb)
6th: Yunda Xie – 589,000 (59 bb)
7th: Errolyn Strang – 579,000 (58 bb)
8th: Peter Natoli – 526,000 (53 bb)
9th: Lynn Gilmartin – 522,000 (52 bb)
10th: Ashton Campbell – 515,000 (52 bb)

All smiles for WPT anchor Lynn Gilmartin today

One to watch out for in tonight’s top ten on the leaderboard is Singapore’s Alex Lee, who has had some of his most successful live poker tournaments on Australian soil. While the initial attempt was not crowned by success, Lee ran hot when it mattered in the late stages and secured a stack of 725,000. Likeweise, 2022 WPT Prime Gold Coast Opening Event winner Daniel Smiljanic had a stellar day on the felt and finished in second place with 748,000.

Similar to Day 1a, the top 12.5% of the field were not reached and missed by seven eliminations, which will ensure an imminent money bubble in the opening stages of Day 2 on Monday. 

Alex Lee Bags Big on Day 1b

The final starting day is slated to kick off at 11.30 local time in the poker room at The Star Gold Coast on Sunday, April 21, 2024. Late registration and re-entries are available for the first nine levels and following break until approximately 6 p.m. local time.

So far, 109 players have advanced to Day 2 and they will be joined by the Day 1c survivors to then begin the race to the money bubble and nine-handed final table.

Stay tuned right here on WPT.com to follow all the thrilling Aussie live poker action.