The 2024 APL Million was record-breaking for Australian Poker, and it couldn't have happened without the dedicated and passionate Aussie poker community. Let's hear from some of our most recent winners and their poker journeys.

• George Zhang, NSW

• Brock Munro, NSW

• Robert Liu, NSW

The recent APL Million Series played host to a swarm of yellow bucket hats around the room at Southport Sharks, with five members of the squad taking trophies back home to Sydney’s North West.

APL spoke with a few players from the Hills District of Sydney, finding out about the origins of the famous headwear and how their poker journeys began. It was 2014 when George Zhang played his first live poker tournament, an APL Freeroll at Ryde-Eastwood Leagues Club.

“It took me a while to get my first cash, I came up empty in my first 20 tournaments in a row.” he reflected.

“They would have all been freerolls, and then on occasions when I was feeling a bit frisky, I’d play a $10-$20 buy-in.”

It took a few years for George to move up in stakes, but qualifier events such as APL’s NSW State Champs and Pro Open gave the opportunity to play in bigger games. After the pandemic struck, George found the chance to be a part of larger series thanks to the APL Poker Tour.

“What surprised me was that post-Covid provided so much more poker, with the APLPT offering great tournaments in the $100-$1,000 range.”

Since then, George managed a good work/life balance whilst building up his bankroll to play the majority of the recent APL Million.

“I fired eight bullets into the Main Event and didn’t cash, which isn’t great. But looking back to where I started, it’s cool that my poker journey has progressed to the level where I’m lucky enough to be able to do this.”

When asked about how poker has affected his life away from the felt, George said, “Poker kind of prepares you for the adversities in life, and much like poker there is short term variance. But if you keep making the right decisions day-to-day then things will work out for you.”

Despite a disappointing Main Event for George personally, he collected eight cashes in other events throughout the series, including a runner-up finish in the Monster Stack for over $22,000 as well as a win in the Monday Mayhem Hyper Turbo to earn a coveted APL Million trophy.

“It felt really good when I scored the trophy, it put me in contention for the POTS leaderboard and our team in contention for the Fantasy. It was quite important to me. Even though it was a lower buy-in, it was good to get the monkey off my back after coming second a few times.”

It contributed to a hugely successful series overall for the yellow bucket hat team, and George spoke of the positive impact of having his mates by his side at each poker series.

“It’s really important to have friends that encourage you. Sometimes poker can be a lonely game, so having a strong support group around you - especially if you’re succeeding as a team - lifts your spirits so much, even if things aren’t going well individually.”

The origins of the yellow bucket hat date back to the 2022 APL Million, with George detailing the backstory.

“I was the one who bought the yellow bucket hat to begin with,” he began.

“Our mate Eric (Xu) came second in the Jackstar at the 2022 APL Million, and he had this bright yellow ‘Champion’ hoodie. I thought it (the bucket hats) would be a good way to represent the Hills community, so we bought 40 or 50 of them and handed them out amongst our mates.”

“It’s also an easy way to find each other at events!”

Looking back to where it all started, George reiterated the vital role of APL in this pathway to the level where he can now compete at the APL Million.

“It is possible to go from freerolls to the highest stakes, and APL provides that.

 

Brock Munro came away with perhaps the biggest success story from the yellow bucket hat crew, finishing seventh in the APL Million Main Event for over $100,000.

It all began with a trip to the casino at 18 years of age. Brock held an anti-gambling mindset and cast his eye around in search of a game that was more skill-based.

That’s how he learned about poker, leading him to play his local APL freeroll at Castle Hill RSL. 

“I just started out playing freerolls until I figured out what I was doing,” he explained. “I got more into it, learning how to play better.”

He progressed into $20-$30 buy-ins over time and in 2022, he found his first big success at APLPT Sydney.

Brock came 6th in the APLPT Main Event for just shy of $5,000 for his first notable score.

“It was a bit of a catalyst moment for me, I thought maybe I’m not too bad.”

A trip to the Gold Coast the following month was intended to be a holiday, but the 2022 APL Million was making waves and he took the chance to play.

“I bought into the Jackstar, cause I wanted to play a big tournament while I was there. I ended up min cashing,” he said.

“I then took a break, and every time I’ve taken a break from poker, I’ve come back stronger. I spend time studying the game in breaks and then try applying new things when I return to play.”

2024 has seen Brock increase his volume, playing events more regularly. Although he didn’t plan on it, he made five attempts to bag for Day 2 of the APL Million Main Event. 

“I kept getting coolered throughout the series,” he began. “In my fourth bullet I busted set-over-set, I walked outside and sort of just calmed myself down. I said I’m going one more, I’m gonna lock in.”

“The rest is history, I guess.”

$100,200 came as a bitter-sweet score, as Brock held a strong advantage in the stack counts ahead of the final table.

“It was heartbreaking going in as chip leader and coming in seventh, these big runs don’t come around often.”

Brock treated himself to a new car, and came away with the confidence that he can compete against the best.

He attributed a lot of his success to his group of mates.

“The boys have a massive impact, everyone had a successful series, which gives you the motivation to keep trying,” he reflected. 

“I had a great rail. Their support is awesome. Every all-in, everyone was standing up, calling for cards.”

“Now I think there’s an intimidation factor when someone sits at your table with a yellow bucket hat!”

Brock looked back fondly at how far he’d come from his first APL freeroll, with the dream alive to someday win a Main Event.

 

Also donning a yellow bucket hat throughout the APL Million series was Robert Liu, who alongside Zhang, hails from Sydney’s North West.

Robert’s card game career began in high school as a competitive Magic: The Gathering player, a game that shares many similarities to poker in the areas of strategic play, the element of luck, and the use of bluffing. 

Robert travelled the globe playing competitively, where at one point he stood as the top-ranked under 18’s player in Australia.

“After a while I realised there was no money in it, so it wasn’t sustainable long term,” he detailed. “Some of my mates in the game transitioned to poker and they recommended it for me.”

Rob jumped straight into the deep end, playing $2/$3 cash games at casinos.

“I watched Casino Royale a couple of times,” he laughed. “I was making stupid mistakes, and ended up losing a few thousand dollars.”

“I realised I wasn’t as good as I thought I was, and decided I should probably start from the bottom.”

He played APL freerolls and $10 buy-ins from the age of 18, and grew his skillset from there.

After a year of playing, the opportunity arose for Robert to become a Tournament Director for APL’s Hills District. 

“I graduated from Uni in 2018, so I was TD’ing until then.”

He worked a full time job throughout the pandemic, building his bankroll in order to move up in stakes. He began tracking his statistics from June 2022, where he declared, “This money’s for poker, if I lose it, I can make peace with it.”

Since then, he has garnered a Hendon Mob profile of more than $160,000 USD, with two five-figure scores still to be added from a recent Kings poker series where he collected two titles.

His preparation around poker involves many hours spent studying weekly, bouncing ideas off his mates, and dabbling in coaching. 

“Prior to Day Two’s, I look up everyone on my table, and ask my team if they’ve played against them before, and for any notes they may have.”

Robert has learned valuable lessons from poker, reflecting on his feelings during downswings, “You have some dark times, I’ve always gambled responsibility. You start questioning yourself, how good you might be.”

“It’s all about understanding the maths in variance. It’s very possible to be someone who is making good decisions, but running way below EV (Expected Value) and constantly losing, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

After almost a decade in the game, Robert feels he has achieved a strong mental approach to the hard times, “It’s like a muscle, each time it happens, you get more and more used to it.”

His journey with the APL Million Main Event began as part of the Live Reporting team at The Star, Sydney in 2017. 

Now, over seven years later, he comes off the back of the 2024 APL Million series having cashed in five events as well as winning a trophy.

In terms of his future goals, Robert says he’s content with what he has achieved so far, but has aspirations to play in bigger buy-ins. 

“I’d like to play a $5k or $8k (buy-in), but I won’t do it unless it’s, a) within my bankroll, and b) I can win in that field. I don’t want to light money on fire.”

It’s this disciplined approach to the game that Robert lists as his biggest piece of advice to new players, “Play within your bankroll.”

It was an expensive lesson to learn after jumping straight into cash games with limited experience. However, through the APL pathway, Robert has grown to become one of the more successful Sydney-based poker players in recent times.