News

From A$20K Best Cash to WPT Champion: Alex Thompson Breaks Through in Sydney

3 minutes ago

Samantha Doyle 3 minutes ago

Share this article

Alex Thompson wins WPT Australia Main Event for A$450,900 after leading the final table.
Cooper Feltham stages a comeback to secure WPT Prime title and A$187,793.
Strong local showing with five of six Main Event finalists from Australia.

Alex Thompson arrived at the WPT Australia final table with roughly US$100,000 in recorded live earnings. By the time the last card was dealt, he had won more than three times that amount in one tournament.

The Australian took down the A$5,000 WPT Australia Championship for A$450,900, beating 527 entries at The Star Sydney and adding his name to the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup.

The victory closed the headline event of WPT’s return to Sydney, where the festival paired a WPT Main Tour title with WPT Prime on the same three-week schedule.

JOIN THE WORLD POKER TOURUse Code: HEAVENPLAY NOW

Thompson Never Gives Up the Lead

The final table began with Thompson on 8.615 million, ahead of Filip Radic on 6.61 million.

Radic struck first by eliminating Ryan Henry in sixth, but Thompson quickly took over the table himself. Tingjia Huang was next to go after calling Thompson through three streets only to be shown a queen-high straight.

Jack Sweet exited in fourth when his ace-four ran into pocket nines, before Pranav Bhatt pushed with ace-queen and found Thompson waiting with five-four.

It was hardly a conventional dominating hand, but Thompson paired the four on the flop and held to reach heads-up.

WPT Australia Winner Alex Thompson — Alex Thompson Winning the WPT Australia Championship

Radic then shoved six-five suited from the button for three million. Thompson made the call with jack-ten, and although Radic picked up a straight draw on the flop, he missed twice to bring the tournament to an end.

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Alex Thompson	Australia	A$450,900
2	Filip Radic	Australia	A$290,000
3	Pranav Bhatt	Australia	A$214,000
4	Jack Sweet	Australia	A$159,000
5	Tingjia Huang	Australia	A$119,000
6	Ryan Henry	New Zealand	A$89,000

WPT Prime Produces a Very Different Comeback

Cooper Feltham’s WPT Prime victory was almost the opposite story.

Rather than entering the final table in control, Feltham returned with only 17 big blinds and sat sixth in chips. He still managed to work through a 1,036-entry field and finish with A$187,793.

Cooper Feltham Wins WPT Prime Australia Championship — Cooper Feltham Winning the A$1,500 WPT Prime Australia Championship

His defining stretch included a king-high call against Ling Liu and a huge pre-flop race where pocket jacks held against Sasha Skalrud’s ace-queen.

Liu later recovered from a heads-up deficit of roughly 38 million to under four million, eventually taking the lead before a deal was agreed. Feltham ultimately closed it when his ace-two rivered a wheel against Liu’s better ace.

Place	Player	Prize
1	Cooper Feltham	A$187,793
2	Ling Liu	A$161,127
3	Liu Yang	A$99,000
4	Sasha Skalrud	A$74,000
5	Kenta Ito	A$56,500

WPT Australia has been part of the Main Tour since 2022, but the latest Sydney stop delivered a particularly local finish. Five of the six Main Event finalists were Australian, with Thompson beating fellow Australian Radic heads-up for the festival’s biggest prize.