Con Diakovasilis leads field into day three
Players from across the nation have journeyed to Melbourne for the second MAIN EVENT, so it’s only appropriate that four of Australia’s six states are represented in the top four spots on the chip count after day two.
In one of the more dramatic days of poker that the PMA team has covered, the starting field of 273 players was slashed to a final 50 – all now assured a minimum payout of $1900 – in less than seven hours of play.
It was only in the final hour of play that NSW’s Con Diakovasilis (pictured below) emerged among the big stacks before topping the count at day’s end. Close behind is South Australia’s Nicole Ferrett, who eliminated Frank Lovato on the bubble.
Jeremy Guiheux spent much of the afternoon in the lead or close to it and enters the final day third in chips, while Kodie Drew will be out to become the first Western Australian to make the final table of the MAIN EVENT.
Others of note to reach the money included South Australia’s McDonald brothers Ben and Russ, day 1B chip leader John Wilson, former APL Player of the Year Craig Ivey and Victoria’s Paul Sayers, who becomes the first player to cash in both editions of the MAIN EVENT in 2012.
And a special mention to Calum Wilson, who started day two with just 5600 in chips (barely enough for two orbits) but finished the day with 351,000 and a guaranteed payout. WP sir.
Join the PMA team live from Crown Melbourne at 10.10am (AEST) for the final day of the MAIN EVENT and the race to the first prize package worth more than $100,000.
Start of day 3 chip count
Con Diakovasilis (NSW) 798,000
Nicole Ferrett (SA) 768,000
Jeremy Guiheux (VIC) 628,000
Kodie Drew (WA) 609,000
James Meem (NSW) 524,000
Dave Brownlee (VIC) 517,000
Ryan Hunter (SA) 486,000
Rene Bischoff (NSW) 451,000
Aaron Purdue (NSW) 431,000
John Saratsopoulos (NSW) 426,000
John Wilson (WA) 405,000
Ben McDonald (SA) 378,000
Daniel Kidd (NSW) 375,000
Calum Wilson (NSW) 351,000
Jack Beynon (QLD) 340,000
Adi Dahari (NSW) 335,000
Yousif Yousif (NSW) 320,000
Paul Ayre (NSW) 315,000
Dean Goodwin (SA) 300,000
Tony Moss (NSW) 288,000
Alex McConaghy-Basley 285,000
Craig Ivey (SA) 280,000
Rebecca Catterwell (SA) 273,000
Paul Rich (VIC) 269,000
Neil Evans (VIC) 260,000
Russ McDonald (SA) 258,000
Marianne Crane (NSW) 229,000
John Jolly (QLD) 214,000
Zac Durkin (TAS) 213,000
Gary James (NSW) 203,000
Mark Wallis (VIC) 192,000
Mitchell Gallard (NSW) 187,000
Olivier Baux (NSW) 176,000
Mark Allerby (NSW) 160,000
Toby Giles (NSW) 150,000
Gail Jackson (NSW) 148,000
John Snelson (NSW) 146,000
Khalil Shnoudi (NSW) 123,000
Bill Allen (QLD) 121,000
John Mouawad (NSW) 117,000
Walter Haare (NSW) 102,000
Paul Sayers (VIC) 99,000
Michael Pambos (NSW) 84,000
Alex White (NSW) 82,000
Colleen McCloskey (NSW) 79,000
Saviour Agius (VIC) 70,000
Scott Dumay (NSW) 65,000
Jason Wright (WA) 65,000
Paul James (SA) 61,000
Peter Gruyters (VIC) 52,000
Bubble bursts to end day two
We’re in the money – the eliminations of Frank Lovato and Vicki Sylvester mean the final 50 has been decided for the second running of the MAIN EVENT, and all remaining players will earn a minimum payout of $1900.
Sylvester’s demise came after the last of her chips were committed with J-10 against the Q-8 of Calum Wilson. An 8 on the flop was enough to ship the chips to Wilson.
South Australia’s Nicole Ferrett (pictured above) then stamped her spot among the chip leaders when her pocket aces became a set on the flop against the pocket queens of Frank Lovato. As the bubble finisher, Lovato won an X-box 360.
We’ll have a full rundown of the remaining 50 players and their chip counts soon. In the meantime, it’s good afternoon from Crown Melbourne and onto the Players’ Party before tomorrow’s final day, which starts at 10.10am.
Two to go
The departures of Gavin Thorpe and David Logan mean we’re just two away from the money in the MAIN EVENT. It was an old-fashioned race between the pocket eights of John Wilson and Ah-Qc for Thorpe. The board flowed 2c-3c-5d-2d-9c leaving Thorpe sidelined agonisingly close to the money.
So close for Casas
Alan Casas has been confirmed as the 55th-place finisher after he shoved all-in with A-7 for almost 100,000. Calum Wilson made the call and found his A-K in good shape. So it proved as the board ran out A-2-8-3-9. There are several other short stacks under immediate threat in the nervous march to the money.
Five away from the money
Players are about to take their final break for day two with 55 players in contention for a finish in the money. The rail is packed three deep as they crane their necks to watch the action on the remaining seven tables.
With thanks to bookmaker.com.au, the odds for the MAIN EVENT champion are Jeremy Guiheux ($10), Con Diakovasilis ($11), Kodie Drew ($12), Aaron Purdue ($19), Alex McConaghy-Basley ($19), Ryan Hunter ($19) and Ben McDonald ($21).
Guiheux remains the chip leader on about 650,000, with the chip average up to 250,000. When play resumes, the blinds will be at level 21 (8000/16,000 with an ante of 2000).
Nothing but Ayre
Paul Ayre has been staying under the radar but was in the right place at the right time to send two players to the rail. Shivan Abdine shoved with Ks-10s, with McBride following him into the pot for about half the size of the all-in with Ad-Kd. Ayre called and showed pocket nines, which duly saluted thanks to the board of 3s-Jd-3c-4d-Qh. He’s up to 450,000. The field is down to 56, six away from the money and the end of play for the day.
It’s a pity for Pitty
If we hadn’t seen it … Alex Pitty shoved for 167,000 from the hijack but Tony Moss (pictured above) hadn’t heard the bet and announced raise. It was As-7s for Pitty and Kd-Js for Moss, who scooped the pot worth 280,000 after the board was dealt 9c-Jd-3d-Jc-8s. The field is at 59 players midway through level 20 (6000/12,000 with an ante of 1000).
Brutal end for big Mac
We keep expecting play to slow up as we approach the money, but players keep tumbling from the MAIN EVENT field to leave just 61 players in the field. A staggering 212 have been KOed since the start of play. The latest departure was James Nonnenmacher, who watched the pocket 10s of Rebecca Catterwell river a full house on a board of Ah-Ac-7s-8d-Ad against his Kh-Qs.
The tournament area just erupted after Ryan Hunter and Paul McIntyre battled for a pot worth more than 500,000. It was aces for McIntyre and kings for Hunter, and it was looking good for the Tasmanian after a flop of Ad-10d-6s. But the turn Jd and river Qd made a straight for Hunter and left McIntyre with barely 10,000. He bowed out a few hands later when his Ah-4h failed to improve against the pocket jacks of Vicki Sylvester.
Jeremy jumps into lead
Another four players have been eliminated, leaving 66 players in contention for one of 50 spots in the money. Henry Tran was just floored by a one-two combo from Paul Sayers (his A-J improved to a straight against Tran’s set of kings), then John Jolly made a flush against Tran’s two-pair. Jeffrey Valance has also been eliminated.
With 10 minutes to play in level 19, the chip leader is Jeremy Guiheux on 610,000 ahead of Alex McConaghy-Basley (415,000) and Con Diakovasilis (400,000), who shot up the count after taking down a big pot against recent Sydney Champs Main Event winner Dean Yuen.
Lynton left wondering
Blinds are up to 5000/10,000 (ante 1000) as we enter the ninth level of play on day two of the MAIN EVENT here at Crown Melbourne. The battle for a slice of the $461,000 prizepool is down to 70 players with 50 players to finish in the money.
After leading the field into day two, Ben Lynton has just departed after losing two pivotal hands – in the first, Toby Giles rivered a flush against Lynton’s flopped pair of jacks. Paul McIntyre then used pocket aces to end Lynton’s tournament after he’d shoved with pocket jacks.
James White, Grant Meyer, Troy Valentini, Louie Srour and George Palermo have also left the tournament area in the past few minutes, while the chip average is now just shy of 200,000.
Chip count (as at start of level 18)
Aaron Purdue NSW 456000
Alex McConaghy-Basley 437000
Jeremy Guiheux VIC 435000
John Saratsopoulos NSW 416000
Ben McDonald SA 403000
Russ McDonald SA 386500
Craig Ivey SA 377500
Grant Meyer NSW 355000
Neil Evans VIC 340000
John Mouawad NSW 309500
Kodie Drew WA 281500
Peter Gruyters VIC 280000
Dean Yuen NSW 255000
Dave Brownlee VIC 250000
Daniel Kidd NSW 243000
Alex Pitty NSW 240000
Dean Goodwin SA 234500
Paul Rich VIC 210000
John Snelson NSW 210000
Rebecca Catterwell SA 206000
Marianne Crane NSW 205000
Scott Dumay NSW 203000
Con Diakovasilis NSW 200000
Mick Kearin VIC 194000
Yousif Yousif NSW 192000
Adi Dahari NSW 188000
Bill Allen QLD 185000
John Wilson WA 180000
John Jolly QLD 170000
Tony Moss NSW 168500
Alan Casas NSW 163000
Mitchell Gallard NSW 160000
Colleen McCloskey NSW 160000
Gavin Thorpe VIC 159500
Michael Pambos NSW 153000
Jack Beynon QLD 152000
James Meem NSW 147500
Henry Tran NSW 140000
Toby Giles NSW 138500
Calum Wilson NSW 137000
Mohammad Shalbaf NSW 137000
Ryan Hunter SA 136000
Frank Lovato NSW 135500
John Yianni VIC 135000
Alex White NSW 124500
Troy McMillan QLD 124000
Peter James SA 122500
Adrian Hodge TAS 121000
Gail Jackson NSW 118000
Caleb Evans NSW 117000
Karen Shilleto QLD 117000
Alex Samarian NSW 116500
Olivier Baux NSW 115000
Paul McIntyre TAS 113000
Paul Ayre NSW 109000
Joe Giaquinta VIC 107000
Troy Valentini NSW 100500
James Nonnenmacher NSW 98500
Walter Haare NSW 95500
Rene Bischoff NSW 92000
Gloria Tyas VIC 91000
Richard Parker TAS 80000
Harry Manikas NSW 78000
Vicki Sylvester NSW 75000
Larry Adams WA 75000
Mark Allerby NSW 70000
Saviour Agius VIC 69000
Jason McDonald TAS 68000
Zac Durkin TAS 67500
Darren Schneider VIC 65000
Khalil Shnoudi NSW 61000
Jeffrey Valance NSW 61000
James White NSW 61000
Roy Adams QLD 61000
Nicole Ferrett SA 58000
Matt Winter VIC 56000
Kon Kapsalis NSW 55000
Ben Lynton VIC 52000
David Logan NSW 48000
William McBride VIC 43500
Mark Wallis VIC 35100
Ergun Behattin NSW 11000
Quad nines just fine for Durkin
Three players saw a flop of K-9-6 on table 16, after which Tasmania’s Zac Durkin declared all-in. One player folded, then Mark Wallis called. Both showed a set – nines for Durkin and kings for Wallis. Bang – the case 9 sailed down the river to double Durkin to around 180,000.
The list of recent eliminations includes Caleb Evans, Ergun Behattin, Barbara Gibson, Fred Alam, Con-Ross Gatis, Kirsty Wisby, Shaun Dredge, Bradley Dohlberg, Mark Hgatuaine, Geoff Eason and Roy Adams. We’re down to 83 players midway through level 18 and the chip average is 166,600.
SA all the way
Players are heading out of the poker room for a quick snack on their second break of the day. The five biggest stacks in play appear to belong to Ben McDonald (399,000), Jeremy Guiheux (393,000), Russ McDonald (330,000), Craig Ivey (300,000) and John Mouawad (300,000). Three of the top four players hail from South Australia.
Tournament staff have also just announced that play will continue today until we reach the money at the top 50. Less than 90 players will return for level 18 (4000/8000, ante 500), with the chip average at almost 154,000.
Guiheux on the go
Jeremy Guiheux (pictured above) is a man on the move after taking don to massive pots. He sent Josh McNaughton to the rail when his Ad-Kc held up against Ac-6h (board Ah-8h-2c-5d-Qc) to take his stack to 320,000.
He’s now the first player to have broken through the 500,000-chip barrier. His Ac-Jc found a jack on the river against the pocket eights of Phil King as the board flowed 3c-3s-3d-7c-Js.
King joins Lauren Brownlee, Sandra Soper and Stephen Day among the most recent eliminations. The field is down to 95, average stack is more than 145,000 and there’s just over 30 minutes remaining in level 17.
Kassiotes KOed
Just 108 players will enter the 17th level of the MAIN EVENT (3000/6000, ante 500) after an action-packed start to day two. That list won’t include the name of Peter Kassiotes, who went from chip leader to the rail within an hour. His last stand came with A-5 against the A-K of Jeffrey Szeto and pocket sevens of Olivier Baux. The board came 5-4-4-Q-3, second Kassiotes and Szeto on their way.
Alan Casas (pictured above) has also just scooped a nice pot when his pocket aces prevailed against the Jd-10d of Dean Schneider – the board running out 6h-Qs-4d-6s-9h. He’s up to 210,000. We’ve also just seen timely double-ups for short stacks Ryan Hunter and Walter Haare. However, the MAIN EVENT dreams have ended for Mario Puglisi, Brad Rowland and Alex Keshisian.
Say, that chip leader looks familiar
We’d barely finished the complete chip count when Russ McDonald found himself joined by a well known face at the top of the list – his brother Ben! The co-host of popular poker podcast The Rail, was all in-pre-flop with one of the chip leaders, Peter Kassiotes, still in the hand to his immediate left.
He eventually made the call, and showed A-Q offsuit. McDonald showed pocket kings, and raked in a pot of more than 440,000 after the board ran out 5s-7h-9s-8s-10c. He’s since lost another big pot to Oliver Baux to be almost felted.
Others eliminated in the past hour include Alex Wayne, Matthew Muir, Colin Lee, Jo McDonald, Kon Kapsalis, Nathan Purton, Sarah Gatt, Archie Logan, David Heycott, Larry Adams, Abraham Daoud, Chris Vale, Craig Micallef, Matthew Presland and Robert Relph.
Since the start of play, the field has been whittled down from 273 to less than 120 – that’s in just three hours! The average stack is just over 115,000.
Chip count (at the start of level 15)
Russ McDonald SA 307100
Peter Kassiotes NSW 260000
Shivan Abdine NSW 240000
Adi Dahari NSW 235000
John Saratsopoulos NSW 222000
Michael Pambos NSW 205000
Jeremy Guiheux VIC 202000
Paul Ayre NSW 199000
Ben McDonald SA 192000
Bill Allen QLD 185000
Michael Breheny VIC 180000
John Wilson WA 177800
Henry Tran NSW 174100
Craig Ivey SA 173000
James Meem NSW 170900
Alex McConaghy-Basley 168000
John Mouawad NSW 167500
Alya Manji 162400
Rebecca Catterwell SA 160000
John Yianni VIC 160000
Nicole Ferrett SA 159500
Dean Yuen NSW 158000
Adrian Hodge TAS 157000
Joshua McNaughton VIC 157000
Paul Rich VIC 152500
Joshua Matthews QLD 149000
Sarah Gatt NSW 148000
Larry Adams WA 146000
Jason Wright WA 142000
Alan Casas NSW 139300
Frank Lovato NSW 139000
Abraham Daoud NSW 133000
Kodie Drew WA 132000
John Jolly QLD 131500
Marianne Crane NSW 131000
Rene Bischoff NSW 130000
Mick Kearin VIC 128000
Troy Valentini NSW 122000
Gloria Tyas VIC 120000
Matthew Luketic VIC 117000
Gary Ross NSW 117000
Con-Ross Gatis SA 115300
Scott Dumay NSW 115000
James White NSW 115000
Gary James NSW 113100
Stephen Day VIC 110900
Tony Tavella NSW 110000
Tony Moss NSW 107000
Daniel Kidd NSW 101000
Mitchell Gallard NSW 98000
Aaron Purdue NSW 96000
Mark Wallis VIC 95500
Alex Pitty NSW 93000
Richard Hutchens VIC 91000
Saviour Agius VIC 89000
Yousif Yousif NSW 86500
Craig Micallef QLD 86000
Calum Wilson NSW 85600
Ryan Hunter SA 85000
Toby Giles NSW 85000
Alex Wayne NSW 84000
Khalil Shnoudi NSW 83000
James Nonnenmacher NSW 83000
Peter James SA 82000
Geoff Eason VIC 82000
Neil Evans VIC 80000
Paul Sayers VIC 80000
Jeffrey Valance NSW 80000
Mark Ngatuaine NSW 78400
Emmanuel Svourenos NSW 75000
Jack Beynon QLD 75000
Dean Goodwin SA 74800
Barbara Gibson QLD 73800
Matthew Presland TAS 73000
Ken Skinner VIC 73000
Archie Davis VIC 73000
Gavin Thorpe VIC 72000
Darren Schneider VIC 70000
Grant Meyer NSW 70000
Dean Schneider VIC 69400
Mario Puglisi NSW 69100
Fadi Shnoudi NSW 68000
Sandra Soper NSW 67400
Paul McIntyre TAS 67000
Caleb Evans NSW 66000
William McBride VIC 65000
Zac Durkin TAS 64000
Archie Logan VIC 63300
Alex Keshishian 61000
Chris Vale NSW 60100
Jo McDonald SA 60000
Mark Allerby NSW 59300
Matthew Muir NSW 59000
Bradley Dohlberg NSW 58000
Kirsty Wisby TAS 57000
Jamie Farley VIC 57000
Peter Gruyters VIC 57000
John Snelson NSW 55000
David Heycott NSW 54000
Harry Manikas NSW 54000
Dave Brownlee VIC 53700
Stephen Long NSW 53500
Matt Winter VIC 53400
David Logan NSW 53000
Alex White NSW 52700
Brad Rowland NSW 52000
Joel Wealands NSW 51900
Steve McMahon 50600
Justine Camilleri VIC 50000
Chris Byrne NSW 49000
Vic Duncan VIC 48100
Lynn Valaire NSW 48000
Josh Parsons QLD 47000
Olivier Baux NSW 46000
Gail Jackson NSW 45000
Shaun Dredge NSW 45000
Karen Shilleto QLD 45000
Alex Parisi NSW 44500
Lauren Brownlee NSW 44000
Stephen Tognolini VIC 43300
Anne Marie Friedrichs QLD 43000
Deanne Ryland QLD 42400
Troy McMillan QLD 40000
Rob Campbell VIC 39100
George Venianakis NSW 38000
Joe Giaquinta VIC 35000
Mark Reay VIC 34000
Colin Lee NSW 34000
Mark Beckett NSW 33000
Quin James NSW 32200
Stephen Harmon NSW 32000
Con Diakovasilis NSW 31000
Frank Laoulach NSW 31000
Tom Cooper NSW 31000
Phil King VIC 30000
Vicki Sylvester NSW 30000
Kon Kapsalis NSW 29800
Nathan Purton TAS 28700
Walter Haare NSW 26000
Glenn Bennet NSW 25000
Louie Srour NSW 23700
Rosalinda Etheridge NSW 23600
Fred Alam NSW 21000
Jeffrey Szeto NSW 21000
Matt Hampton VIC 20000
Jason McDonald TAS 13000
Ergun Behattin NSW 5600
Pauline Kennedy VIC 3900
Sun sets on Queensland hope
Anne Marie Friedrichs is free to enjoy the sights of Melbourne after her MAIN EVENT ended at the hands of Mick Kearin. His Kd-Js made trips on a board of 6d-2d-Jh-Ad-Jc against the As-3c of the Queensland player.
Jeremy Guiheux has just stacked up after his As-Qd played against the Ah-Jh of Alex Parisi and Ad-3s of Stephen Harmon on a board that fell 5d-10h-2s-2c-8s.
The tournament is also over for Manoj Kapoor, Sabine Randall, Glenn Bennet, Mala Kita, Gary Ross, Paul Collings, Lynn Valaire, Vic Duncan, Matthew Luketic, Rosalinda Etheridge, Steve McMahon, Aaron Young, Daniel Keast, Ross Davies, Tom Cooper and Mohammed Taleb.
McDonald tops the bookie’s board
Time for an update of the odds on the MAIN EVENT with thanks to the boys from bookmaker.com.au. Chip leader Russ McDonald is priced at a $21 favourite followed by Peter Kassiotes ($26), Shivan Abdine ($31), Jason Abel ($41), Matt Muir ($41) and Paul Ayre ($41). For more markets, click here.
Watch for Adrian Hodge to make a move in the market after he just claimed a scalp with pocket aces against pocket 10s to take down a pot worth just over 250,000. Others railed early in this level include Sonia McCabe, Ken Skinner, Pauline Kennedy, Kushlani Sitsabesan, Justine Camilleri, Matt Hampton, Fadi Shnoudi and Stephen Long.
… and we’re back
The Rebuy Mayhem tournament has just kicked-off in the Crown Poker room with a big contingent of 888PL, APL and Pub Poker players making the most of the opportunity to avoid the less than perfect spring weather outside.
Meanwhile in the MAIN EVENT, the 170 players who survived the first three 40-minute levels of the day have just returned from their first break of the day. Blinds are up to 2000/4000 with an ante of 400. South Australia’s Russ McDonald is the current chip leader on 307,000.
Wilson straightens out Brownlee
After a tough start to the day, WA’s John Wilson has bolstered his stack back to almost 160,000 after taking down a massive hand against Dave Brownlee. The Victorian held pocket aces but watched as Wilson’s K-Q improved to a straight on a board of 10-J-7-9-Q.
Alex McConaghey, who qualified via the Last Chance Satellite here at Crown on Thursday night, is also among the big movers this morning. We just watched him dispatch Nicole Summerside with a flush against her A-K to build his stack to 185,000.
As we approach the first break of the day, the list of recent casualties includes Kelvin Wu, Phillip Dong, Richard Allen, Peter Stathakis, Scott Webster, Alan Lane, Joanne Furner, Anthony Karam, Dez Zahl, Brett Johnson, Daryl Lee, Alec Luke, Dave Collins, Nicole Summerside, Ray Griffin, Marius Wytenburg, Thanh Phan and Cheryll Allerby.
Farewell to Fisher
We’ve entered the last level before the first break of the day (1500/3000 with an ante of 300) just as the runner-up from the first MAIN EVENT, Marion Fisher (pictured below), headed for the rail. It was Ad-Qs for Fisher against the pocket queens of John Jolly – the Sydney grandmother wished her tablemates the best of luck after the board was dealt 2c-Kd-9c-9h-Jd.
Other who failed to make it to level 14 were Paul Whitehouse, Sean Henderson, Melissa Hawker, Kimberly Gibbs, Tristan Pace and Michael Richardson. Incredibly, almost 100 of the 273 players who took their seats at the start of the day were eliminated.
Brownlee strikes gold
Ballarat qualifier Dave Brownlee has sent two players to the rail on the same hand when his A-K landed a king on the river against pocket queens and A-J.
Oliver Baux just carved a swathe of chips from the stack of Peter Kassiotes after his pocket queens prevailed over the pocket jacks of Andrew McCracken and the A-K of Kassiotes. He’s down to 256,000 ahead of Russ McDonald (223,000) and Shivan Abdine (196,000).
Steven Ramsey, Scott Murrin, Michael Rogers, Dora Sarantakos, Casey Alexander, Peter Read, Randy Gibson, Matthew Hanna, Keith Walker, Greg Hopkins, David Camilleri, Stephen Gordon, Adam Muarem, Shane Peart, John Dearie, Michael O’Connell, Zoran Stanojevic, Alex Johnston and Mark Detering have all been eliminated during this level.
Abdine on the move
We’re into the second level of the day (1200/2400 with an ante of 300) with at least 30 players KOed during the first 40 minutes of day two. At the other end of the count, the highly rated Shivan Abdine (pictured above) has claimed two scalps in the early going and has improved his stack to just shy of 110,000.
Meanwhile, the MAIN EVENT is over for Peter Matthews, Justin Ghattas, Tony Allen, Dave Mathieson, Jason Featherstone, Emil Dannaoui, Ian Dalidowicz, Michael Annells, Phillip Hansen, Mike Subacius, Troy Pathon, Hagop Keshishian, Pat Dillon, Jean Close, Allan Russell, George Elias, Damien Stanley and Adam Berry.
Kassiotes back on top
Sean Henderson finished fifth in the first edition of the MAIN EVENT and has started strongly in his claim to become the first player to make back-to-back final tables. It was pocket fives for Henderson against K-J of Gail Jackson, with a board of 8-5-3-7-J improving the Queenslander’s hand to a set.
Peter Kassiotes is also off to a flyer, regaining his chip lead just prior to the end of the first level of the day. With the board showing J-K-K-A-9, he bet 45,000 with the call coming from Colleen McCloskey. He showed A-K to take down the biggest pot of the day so far.
Dropping like flies
The cry of “lost one” is echoing through the Crown Poker room as the short stacks are picked off like hot chips from a beach side car park. The list of departures includes Karl Tafea, Michael Craig, Michael Doumani, Brian Sockalingum, Mohammad Shalbam, Emmanuel Petris, Clay Bremner, Tina Kennedy, Adam Watts, Stephen Smith, Mary Orta, Jack Mears and Roberto Fratti,
One of the big movers in the early going has been Queensland’s Anne Marie Friedrichs, who sent Mohammad Shalbaf to the rail with some carefully crafted play after her A-J improved to a pair of jacks on the flop against pocket nines.
Good morning Melbourne!
Saturday morning, 10am … it’s an hour of the week that many poker players are thinking about calling it a night, but not here at Crown where more than 270 players will take their seats for day two of the MAIN EVENT.
It’s a tough start to the day for many of the survivors, who clearly availed themselves of the myriad entertainment and dining options here at Crown last night. But a quick coffee (or bourbon and coke for one punter leaning against the rail next to our media desk) will put things right for the long day ahead.
With the chip average just over 50,000, scores of short stacks are going to come under immediate threat as the blinds start today at 1000/2000 with an ante of 200. And expect plenty of movement at the top of the chip count, which starts with Ben Lynton (196,300) leading from Russ McDonald (192,500), John Yianni (189,400), Michael Breheny (180,300) and John Wilson (171,700). Today’s schedule comprises 12 levels of 40 minutes with the following structure:
Level 12: 1000/2000 (ante 200)
Level 13: 1200/2400 (ante 300)
Level 14: 1500/3000 (ante 300)
BREAK
Level 15: 2000/4000 (ante 400)
Level 16: 2500/5000 (ante 500)
Level 17: 3000/6000 (ante 500)
BREAK
Level 18: 4000/8000 (ante 500)
Level 19: 5000/10,000 (ante 1000)
Level 20: 6000/12,000 (ante 1000)
BREAK
Level 21: 8000/16,000 (ante 2000)
Level 22: 10,000/20,000 (ante 2000)
Level 23: 12,000/24,000 (ante 3000)
Start of day 2 chip count
Ben Lynton 196,300
Russ McDonald 192,500
John Yianni 189,400
Michael Breheny 180,300
John Wilson 171,700
Alexandre Samarian 163,300
Peter Kassiotes 141,800
Stephen Long 134,000
Ryan Hunter 128,600
Colleen McCloskey 127,400
Alan Casas 126,000
John Mouawad 123,700
Matthew Muir 118,800
Frank Lovato 117,000
Matthew Luketic 110,900
Gail Jackson 107,800
Paul Rich 107,600
Dean Goodwin 105,500
Saviour Agius 105,400
John Saratsopoulos 105,000
James Meem 104,300
Craig Ivey 103,100
Joshua Parsons 103,100
Rene Bischoff 100,600
Troy Valentini 98,300
Geoff Eason 97,100
Alexandre Averianov 96,600
Alya Manji 94,100
Fady Alam 93,800
George Venianakis 91,400
Michael Pambos 91,100
Joshua Matthews 87,700
Michael Richardson 87,300
Peter Stathakis 85,300
Constantine Gatis 84,300
Abrahim Daoud 84,300
Vic Duncan 83,100
Shaun Dredge 82,400
Frank Laoulach 80,000
Sabine Randall 77,600
David Logan 77,400
Bradley Rowland 77,000
Raymond Griffin 76,500
Stephen Day 76,100
Ian Dalidowicz 75,700
Fadi Shnoudi 75,500
Paul Collings 74,900
Rebecca Catterwell 74,700
Khalil Shnoudi 74,400
Larry Adams 74,100
Mohamed Taleb 73,800
Shivan Abdine 73,100
Grant Meyer 73,100
Jamie Farley 72,000
Kenneth Skinner 71,700
Alexander Pitty 71,400
Mitchell Gallard 71,000
Troy McMillan 70,800
Corey Blazely 69,700
Neil Evans 67,900
Sandra Soper 67,600
Darren Schneider 67,500
Huo Phan 67,200
Billy Allen 66,200
Mala Kita 65,900
John Degiambattista 65,600
Sonia McCabe 64,700
Adrian Hodge 63,600
Con Diakovasilis 63,500
Justine Camilleri 63,200
Paul Sayers 63,000
Ben McDonald 62,300
Jason Wright 62,100
Arthur Davis 61,100
Joshua McNaughton 61,000
Anthony Moss 60,600
Adnan Muarem 60,600
Michael Kearin 60,600
Marion Fisher 60,400
Jeffrey Szeto 59,400
Quin James 59,300
Matthew Winter 59,100
Jason McDonald 58,800
Alex Keshishian 58,600
Michael Doumani 58,600
Tristan Pace 58,300
Mark Wallis 58,000
James Nonnenenmacher 57,900
Christopher Vale 57,600
Jason Featherstone 57,100
Paul McIntyre 57,000
Kahle Burns 56,500
Lauren Brownlee 56,400
Joel Wealands 56,200
George Palermo 56,000
William McBride 55,700
Christopher Byrne 55,000
David Snelson 54,900
Maria Garcia 54,700
David Heycott 54,600
Nicole Ferrett 52,000
Emmanuel Svourenos 51,900
Jesse Chung 51,200
Jeff Vallance 51,000
Phillip Dong 50,000
Archie Logan 50,000
Dean Yuen 49,600
Mario Puglisi 49,400
Roy Adams 49000
Richard Hutchens 48,400
Alex McConaghy-Beasley 47,500
Tobias Giles 47,300
Alex White 46,900
Annemaree Friederichs 46,000
David Brownlee 45,900
Karen Shilleto 45,600
Jeremy Guiheux 45,600
David Collins 45,200
Peter Matthews 45,100
Thomas Cooper 45,000
Andres Poblet 43,600
Richard Allen 43,500
Colin Lee 43,300
Gavin Thorpe 42,900
Paul James 42,200
Konstantinos Kapsalis 42,200
Daniel Kidd 42,000
Vicki Sylvester 41,900
Adi Dahari 41,500
Damien Stanley 41,200
Michael Annells 41,200
Gloria Tyas 41,200
Ross Davies 41,000
Justin Ghattas 40,800
Desmond Zahl 40,600
Yousif Yousif 40,600
Nicole Summerside 39,900
Wete Haare 39,800
Brad Dohlberg 39,500
Mohammad Shalbaf 39,000
Mark Beckett 38,800
Rob Campbell 38,800
Alex Wayne 38,500
Allan Russell 38,300
John Dearie 38,100
Matthew Presland 37,400
Paul Whitehouse 36,800
Stephen Harmon 36,800
Justin Watson 36,700
Kelvin Wu 36,200
Scott Webster 35,500
Phillip King 35,400
Darrell Kerr 35,200
Sam Sainsbury 35,000
Casey Alexander 33,500
Caleb Evans 33,200
Stephen Smith 33,200
Keith Walker 33,100
Pauline Kennedy 32,900
Zoran Stanojevic 32,600
Glenn Bennet 32,200
Stephen Tognolini 32,100
Nathan Purton 31,900
Matthew Hanna 31,400
Linda Gilmore 31,300
Peter Gruyters 31,200
Scott Murrin 30,900
Mark Allerby 30,700
Sean Bermingham 30,600
Michael Subacius 30,400
Mitchell Oates 30,200
John Jolly 29,900
Mathew Hampton 29,300
Emil Dannaoui 29,100
Cody Edwards 28,900
Aaron Young 28,600
Garry James 28,000
Michael Rogers 28,000
Christopher Paewai 28,000
Kushlani Sitsabesan 27,800
James Mace 27,300
Michael O’Connell 26,900
Hunter Clavan 26,600
Aaron Purdue 26,600
Tina Kennedy 26,400
Olataga Tafea 26,400
Olivier Baux 26,200
Melissa Hawker 26,200
Robert McKim 26,100
Troy Pathon 26,100
Shaun Elliott 26,000
Peter Alber 25,700
Clay Bremner 25,400
Randy Gibson 25,100
Connie Diakovasilis 24,800
Jack Beynon 24,600
Matthew Free 24,600
Mark Detering 24,300
Brett Johnson 24,300
Mark Tuainepare 24,000
Brian Sockalingum 23,900
Andrew McCracken 23,600
Scott Dumay 23,400
Carmino Desciscio 23,200
Tony Grosso 23,200
Dean Schneider 23,000
Harry Manikas 22,800
David Taylor 22,700
Zachary Durkin 22,200
Craig Micallef 22,200
Gary Waddell 21,900
Joshua Klaer 21,600
Alan Lane 21,400
Jean Close 20,900
John Erikson 20,800
Amanda Brient 20,500
Louie Elias Srour 20,400
Steven McMahon 20,100
Sean Henderson 19,900
Kirsty Wisby 19,700
Sergio Kacanas 19,100
Melissa Bolger 18,900
Graeme Cutler 18,800
Gary Ross 18,700
Joseph Giaquinta 18,200
Daniel Keast 18,100
Dora Sarantakos 17,000
Kimberley Gibbs 16,800
David Mathieson 16,400
Marius Wytenburg 16,300
Barbara Gibson 16,000
George Elias 15,700
Mark Reay 15,500
Dorothy Bagshaw 15,500
Alec Luke 15,300
Barry King 14,700
Gregory Hopkins 14,600
Carly Cox 14,500
Jonas McDonald 13,800
Phillip Hansen 13,700
Adam Berry 13,400
Tony Allen 13,000
Pat Dillon 12,900
Stephen Gordon 12,700
Geoffrey Sparkes 11,100
Kodie Drew 10,400
Ergun Behattin 10,000
Kevin Tufnell 10,000
Steven Ramsey 10,000
Manoj Kapoor 10,000
Daryl Lee 10,000
James White 10,000
Peter Read 10,000
Alexander Parisi 10,000
Cheryl Allerby 10,000
David Camilleri 10,000
Marianne Crane 10,000
Sarah Gatt 10,000
Alexander Johnston 10,000
Paul Ayre 10,000
Hagop Keshishian 10,000
Minhhai Tran 10,000
Robert Relph 10,000
Tony Mosca 9900
Shane Peart 9900
Achim Weissegger 9800
Roberto Fratti 9500
Jack Mears 8800
Adam Watts 8300
Mohamed Ismail 7600
Calum Wilson 5600
Michael Craig 1600
Joanne M Furner 1400
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