Australian pro Cooper Feltham won the WPT Prime Australia Championship at The Star Sydney, defeating Ling Liu heads-up for AUD $187,793 in a final that nearly delivered poker history. Liu, who at one stage held a commanding chip lead in the heads-up battle, was pushing to become the first female champion in WPT Prime history before Feltham stormed back to complete the win.
A Massive Field for the WPT Prime Australia Championship
The AUD $1,500 buy-in event proved to be a huge draw, pulling in 1,036 entries and building a prize pool of AUD $1,346,800. That kind of turnout reflects how far the WPT Prime brand has grown in the Australian market, offering a relatively modest buy-in alongside a marquee WPT Championship title and a coveted seat in the WPT Prime Championship at the Wynn Las Vegas as part of the package for the eventual winner.
Feltham began the final day of play sitting sixth among the remaining contenders, hardly the position of a favorite in a field this size. From there he had to fight through the rest of the unusually stacked, entirely Australian final table before the tournament ultimately came down to himself and Liu.
Ling Liu’s Bid to Make History
The heads-up match between Feltham and Liu produced serious swings before it was over. At one point Liu built a substantial chip lead and looked to be in firm control, a position that would have set up a shot at becoming the first woman ever to win a WPT Prime Championship title, a milestone that would have resonated well beyond this single event given how rare that accomplishment remains across major tournament brands. Instead, Feltham clawed the lead back and eventually reversed the match in his favor.
The tournament was decided on a dramatic final hand. Liu moved in holding A-7 and was racing against Feltham’s A-2. The board ran out 4, jack, 4, 3, 5, completing a five high straight, a wheel, for Feltham on the river and sealing the title in a single dramatic card. The two players agreed to a heads-up deal before the hand was dealt, with Feltham banking AUD $187,793 and Liu taking home AUD $161,127 as runner-up.
For readers wanting a refresher on exactly how a hand like that resolves, our poker hand rankings guide explains why a five high straight beats a pair or two pair in these all-in spots, a detail that made all the difference on this final hand.
A Career Best Result for Feltham
Feltham entered the tournament with more than $1 million USD in career live tournament earnings, already an established pro on the Australian circuit, but this win represents comfortably the most significant title of his career to date. Beating a field of over a thousand entries to win a WPT branded Championship, especially after starting the final day mid pack, is the kind of result that can shift a player’s entire trajectory on the live circuit heading into the next season.
The win also comes with more than just the cash prize. As WPT Prime Australia Champion, Feltham earns a seat in the WPT Prime Championship at the Wynn Las Vegas, giving him a direct route onto one of the most prestigious stages in North American live poker without having to grind through a separate qualifying process.
A Signature Moment for WPT Prime in Australia
Beyond the individual result, the tournament’s numbers say plenty about where the WPT Prime brand sits in the Australian market right now. Drawing over a thousand entries and a prize pool north of AUD $1.3 million for a buy-in under $1,500 keeps the series accessible to recreational players while still producing a title with real weight behind it. The near miss for Liu, who came agonizingly close to a historic breakthrough for women in WPT competition, will likely be remembered as one of the defining storylines of the series regardless of who ultimately lifted the trophy.
With the WPT Prime calendar continuing to expand internationally, results like this one at The Star Sydney reinforce why the tour has become a fixture for both grinders chasing career best scores and marquee names looking to add another title to their resume.
The Star Sydney has increasingly served as a hub for major Australian tournament series, and a field of this size at a mid range buy-in event shows the appetite for high quality WPT branded tournaments continues to grow well beyond the traditional strongholds of Las Vegas and the United States. For the WPT Prime Championship later in the year at the Wynn Las Vegas, Feltham now arrives not just with a seat secured but with the momentum of a career defining title behind him, while Liu’s near miss ensures her name will already be attached to the tour’s growing highlight reel heading into that next stop.
