While Australia fell just short of claiming the first bracelet on native soil in Event 1, Collopy was busy taking control of Event 2, $1,650 PLO with a monumental momentum swing.
Down to just 8,000 chips at one point Collopy went on a remarkable string of hands to pile up 209,200 to end the night and grab a roughly 90k lead on the next closest player – Minh Nguyen at 122,200.
Check our live updates for more on Collopy’s run to the chip lead. Known online as "Mr_BigQueso," Collopy has well over $2m in online earnings to go along with 600k+ in live earnings.
Shak, Leah, Rettenmaier in the Way
Despite the major chip advantage Collopy won’t have a clear path to the finish as several tough players join him in the final nine.
Poker “hobbyist” Dan Shak – on an epic heater so far in 2013 - is third with 102,700 and as always will be a tough out as the field gets even smaller.
Lighter in chips but still substantial threats to take down the second bracelet on offer in Australia are both Mike Leah and Marvin Rettenmaier.
Leah is a longtime online crusher with plenty of deep runs offline while Party Poker pro Rettenmaier has back-to-back WPT titles among his myriad poker accomplishments.
The official final nine and chip counts:
1. Jim Collopy - 209,200 2. Minh Nguyen - 122,200 3. Dan Shak - 102,700 4. Tino Lechich - 85,000 5. Paul Sharbanee - 77,200 6. Mike Leah - 71,200 7. Martin Kozlov - 47,400 8. Marvin Rettenmaier - 33,500 9. Scott Reid - 28,400Action picks up tomorrow at 12:30pm local time (9:30 pm ET) with full live streaming and hand-for-hand updates available right here on PokerListings.com.
ElkY, Ivey, Negreanu Threaten in 8-Game
Just 32 players moved on to Day 2 in Event 3, $2,200 Mixed Game, but the remaining field is heavy on star power.
Virtually all of the biggest names in poker signed their names on chip bags with Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier leading the heavy hitters with 31,100 although they all still trail chip leader Brandon Wong with 42,925.
Phil Ivey made his first Day 2 with 21,425 while Chau Giang (20,850), Barry Greenstein (18,375) and Mel Judah (17,500) did likewise.
Daniel Negreanu (16,700), Dan Kelly (16,050), Jonathan Duhamel (14,650), Eugene Katchalov (6,025) and Phil Hellmuth (5,625) will also join the party tomorrow.
The top 10 in chips heading into tomorrow:
1. Brandon Wong 42,925 2. Robert Campbell 33,350 3. Joe Cabret 31,150 4. Bertrand Grospellier 31,100 5. Jan Suchanek 25,225 6. Corbin White 24,550 7. Phil Ivey 21,425 8. Chau Giang 20,850 9. Barry Greenstein 18,375 10. Sam Khoueis 18,050Action picks up again at 9 pm ET and will play down to the final table. Follow along with the live updates right here. Check today's recap video from Melbourne below:
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