Michelle Psarras is one of Sydney’s most well-known poker players.

A friend to many around the entire country, Michelle has not only established herself as a fierce competitor, but is also a great support to many of her peers and the community.

Michelle’s poker journey began throughout her upbringing within a Greek family.

“Greeks are big with cards,” she explained. “There are so many variations (of card games) that we play.”

With her mum and brother, Michelle played “anything and everything” in terms of card games from a young age.

With a competitive nature and a love for card games, Texas Hold’em appealed to Michelle when she stumbled upon “Poker.com”. She learnt the game by playing on the site, before progressing to micro-stakes online and fine-tuning her craft in amongst the beginnings of her career in corporate finance.

Upon APL’s founding in 2005, Michelle began her live poker career. She attended St. George Leagues Club in the APL Sydney South region.

“I had no idea how to play live,” she recalled. “There were so many men. This was back when start stack was 1,000.”

She enjoyed the experience and played on a more regular basis, but stressed that the game was never a priority. “It was just a fun hobby.”

It was at these games where she first met her husband, George Psarras. Both of them were regulars at the venue and began dating a year later.

George introduced Michelle to poker beyond the nightly pub games, and encouraged her to take her game to the next level.

The two became engaged, and married in January of 2015. In 2016, George took first place in the Opening Event of the WSOP-Circuit series at The Star, Sydney. This earned him $90,000, and two days later they won more than $21,000 for winning the Teams Event together. This was the catalyst for the couple to enter the High Stakes world of poker.

“That’s when we made the switch, and we haven’t looked back since.”

They attended the Aussie Millions in Melbourne each year, and despite her reservations about playing amongst the toughest fields Australia had ever hosted, George’s constant affirmation gave Michelle further faith in her game.

“I go ‘Look George, I’m nowhere near good enough to be playing these games.’ But he goes ‘Yeah, but you’re observant and you watch and you learn. Get in there.’ To be the best, you’ve got to play with the best.”

“I’m not saying I’m the best. Let’s make that really clear, nowhere near. But that’s how he wanted me to learn. He wanted me playing with the best in the world.”

Michelle also made efforts to improve her game away from the tables, by surrounding herself with a group of people that would study and discuss hands together.

“Surround yourself with a good crowd, on and off the felt, both in poker and in life.”

Michelle’s career highlight came in early 2022 at the WPTDeepStacks Sydney series at The Star. It was one of the first major poker events post-covid, with record fields generating huge prize pools, from which Michelle benefited in the Opening Event.

Photo Credit - Poker Media Australia / The Star

From a $750 entry, Michelle bested a field of more than 1,200 entries to claim the title and over $130,000. It remains her best cash to date and her proudest achievement.

“Not because of the amount of money, but what I went through in the lead up.”

Not only was it coming out of lockdown, but in 2020 Michelle had been diagnosed with cancer. She kept the news private and spent much time going between doctors and hospitals. Upon the condition reaching Stage 2, she underwent life-saving surgery and avoided chemotherapy or radiation.

Prior to the Opening Event, she underwent further surgery and endured physical discomfort during the tournament itself.

Her competitiveness, she says, is often directed towards herself.

“Let’s fix our mistakes. What could I have done better?”

“What read did I make and not go through with, was I being stubborn.”

It is this constant mindset that allows Michelle to continually get better.

APL laid the groundwork for getting to Michelle where she is now, allowing her to meet George, as well as giving her the platform to begin a successful poker career.

Michelle still plays the local APL games every now and then, using it as an opportunity to socialise with friends. However, the stakes make little difference to her drive and approach to each game.

“I’m competitive, I don’t care if it’s a $100 buy in or $10,000. I want to win.”

The APL Million is a special series for Michelle, with the massive fields a huge attraction, but a chance to meet her friends on the Gold Coast even more so.

In August, Michelle earned herself a mixed-games title at the series, winning the H.O.P event, showcasing her Hold’em, Omaha, and Pineapple skills all within the same tournament to win almost $9,000. She’s made deep runs in multiple APL Million Main Events and says one of her goals is to add that title to her resume.

When she’s not playing poker or studying the game, Michelle involves herself in charity work. She also has a passion for baking and operates a business of her own, Kip Cakes. She often brings a delicious assortment of cupcakes and more to share at some of the games she attends, and many can attest to her fantastic skills leaving everyone wanting more!

Michelle reflected that one of the most important things she’s learned this year is to make sure to sustain a healthy life-poker balance. 

And just a couple of weeks ago, at APLPT Sydney at West HQ, Michelle and George won another Teams Event together. For George, it came as his first APLPT title and he was most happy as it earned him a spot alongside Michelle into the 2025 $100K Invitational.

Tom Rusnak - 

Meet Tom Rusnak, a familiar face on the APL Poker Tour with a formidable strike rate of reaching final tables in Pot-Limit Omaha events, and is best recognised for his eye-catching collection of colourful shirts.

Before venturing down under, Tom was born in the USA, where his first poker experiences were in the casinos of Las Vegas.

Tom’s nomadic lifestyle began at a young age, moving from his birthplace in Pennsylvania to Florida, where trips to Disney World were commonplace throughout his childhood.

As he reached adulthood, Tom found himself living in Phoenix, Arizona - just a one hour plane ride from Las Vegas.

With 24 flights a day - one per hour, access to the strip didn’t get much easier than that for him. He made the trip two or three times a year on average.

Despite never playing any form of poker growing up, Tom quickly found a love for the game and predominantly frequented the seven-card stud tables between 1981 and 1990.

He then met an Australian girlfriend, and eventually migrated down under, arriving to live in Sydney on Christmas Day of 1993.

Tom put poker on hold as he found his feet in the country, working in the IT sector and becoming a father of two boys and a girl.

As his children grew older, Tom rediscovered poker in 2008 and sought out local nightly events to play.

“My first ever Hold’em game was my very first APL game at Club Marconi,” he recalled.

“I’m pretty sure I folded pocket Queens to a single raise pre-flop! I just wasn’t sure of the ranges, it was all new to me.”

“Back then my goal was to just last as long as I could in a game. Folding a lot was a big thing,‘cause the longer I lasted, the more successful I thought I was”

“I would have played for three years before I won my first game.”

When Tom did break through for his debut win, it was in 2011 at Rooty Hill RSL, now West HQ. It was a Monday night game, the only poker event he would play each week, but he made the most of it at that time. His first win was quickly followed by two more in the subsequent Monday evening games, prevailing for three on the trot!

“Poker was just once a week, because of family obligations.”

During this period in Tom’s life, he faced adversity away from the poker table, with his 16-year-old son Chris diagnosed with Leukaemia in 2010.

Months of hardship hit the family as a result, with Tom spending many sleepless nights bedside at Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick.

In this time, Tom devised a plot for a novel, and wrote away.

“Most of that was written in hospital rooms with him. So it was just sort of a dream one night that I got the idea.”

Random Override tells the story of Andy, a teenager with a fascination for online poker. Andy finds a method of controlling the deck to control the outcome of hands. The stakes become higher than just a poker game as he faces dangerous competition from others that have also discovered the method.

Tom modelled the character of Andy in the likeness of his son. He joked that he blended the best characteristics of Chris with Tom's own "bad habits... like an obsession with poker!"

This passion project gave Tom an avenue for creativity, and helped him through the ordeal. Thankfully, Chris made a full recovery thanks to a bone marrow transplant, and was declared as cured within five years of the initial diagnosis.

“God bless the Red Cross,” Tom added.

“He’s 30 now, he lives in Victoria. He does IT as well, but quite different to me. I do it on mainframe computers and he does it on iPhones.”

As a result of what Chris went through, Tom’s daughter shifted her career path from law to the medical sector.

“She studied medicine and she’s now a resident at Napean Hospital. She changed because of what she saw the hospitals do for Chris.

In 2017, Tom picked up his first big score of note, winning the NSW Pro Open in July for $5,000 in cash as well as a $1,500 APL Million seat.

Despite this, it was a fifth place finish in the August 2017 edition of the Pro Open that Tom regarded as his best accomplishment.

“I made the final table the month after I won it,” he began to describe why he thought so highly of the result. “Both fields were over 400 players.”

“Winning one, well, anybody can fluke it. But final tabling that second time!”

Despite the experience of playing in big fields with big money up for grabs, Tom continued to play his regular nightly APL games around the $25 buy-in price point.

It’s only in the past two years that Tom has played some of the bigger games on offer, thanks to the APL Poker Tour.

In this time, he has veered away from Hold’em and focussed on improving his PLO game.

“I’m a bit bored with Hold’em, I lack the confidence to play at a high level compared to the young guns that play the game so well.”

Through continual study of PLO, Tom has succeeded most in the four-card format.

Tom boasts a collection of APL trophies for Hold’em, Crazy Pineapple, 4-Card PLO, 5-card PLO, as well as a NLH/PLO rotation event.

His most recent victory came in the $350 Pot Limit Omaha - 5 Card event at the 2024 APL Million series. He bested a field of 190 entries, and took the title after a five-way deal to also collect more than $8,000.

“(The APL Million) was such an amazing experience, with the size of the fields. That’s why I’ve already booked my accommodation for the 2025 series!”

Tom has amassed 11 in-the-money finishes on the APL tour in PLO events, with countless more final table appearances, and that is what drives Tom the most.

“The true bubble for me is the final table bubble. It’s more important than the money bubble. Just to get the photo with Chris!”

Tom has stressed he does not play for the money, but rather for the enjoyment of the game. His competitive desire drives him to want to win trophies, not cash.

“I’m happy to bubble twice if I can win once.”

For beginners, Tom advises to ensure fun is the first priority, to make it a social experience.

And for those wishing to delve into PLO, Tom says, “Fold more. Just because you’ve got four or five cards, everyone else does too!”