2014 ANZPT Sydney - PokerMedia Australia 6-handed NLH $1100

Dean Blatt – Event 2 Champion

We have arrived at the end of the ANZPT Event 2, PokerMedia Australia $1,100 6 handed event. 113 players entered this event and at the end of the day Dean Blatt (pictured above) is the sole survivor and champion after overcoming a large deficit heads up.

As generally happens when play is short handed we saw plenty of aggression, creative plays and amazing reads on the final table. Here are the final placings for Event 2.

1st – Dean Blatt $30,800
2nd – Alex Fallon $20,625
3rd – Michael Kanaan $15,820
4th – George K $10,735
5th – Alessio Maisano $7,910
6th – Osama Hassan $5,930
7th – Victor Teng $4,235

From all of us here at PokerMedia Australia we would like to thank the management and staff from The Star Poker Room for the hospitality and the smooth operations of the tournament.

A special thanks to all of the players who assited us throughout the event and put up with our questions and flash photography. We look forward to Thursday where we will bring you all of the updates, action and fun that will be the ANZPT Sydney Main Event.

We have a champion!

With blinds just increased to 10000/20000. There is a limped pot and a flop of 5c-7c-8d. Both players check the flop and the 3c falls on the turn. Alex Fallon (pictured above) leads out for 35000 and Dean makes the call and we proceed to the river. The river is the 2c and we have four clubs on the board.

With this card Alex bets 50000 and is met by a massive all in from Dean. With Alex’s tournament life on the line he goes into the tank for a staggering 7 minutes but eventually makes the call.

Dean quickly tables the Ac-2s for the nut flush and Alex tables his Tc-7d for a worse flush.

Alex finishes in 2nd place and Dean Blatt is our Event 2 champion.

Hand 14 – Blatt takes the lead.

Dean Blatt is certainly dominating heads up right now. With the pot at 68000 and the board reading Ad-Qc-7s Dean leads for 35000 and this is met by a raise from Alex to 70000. Dean makes the call and we go to the turn.

The As lands on the turn and Alex fires out one stack of yellow chip for 100000, Dean calls after some deliberation.

The river is the Jh and Alex check calls the 175000 bet from Dean. Dean tables Ah-Th for the winning hand.

Dean is now on 1020000 in chips and has taken the lead over Alex who is holding approx 600000.

Hand 8 – Blatt has the momentum.

Dean Blatt opens to 34000 from the button and Alex calls. The flop falls the 9h-Qh-Ah and Alex leads for 45000 which Dean calls.

The turn is the 5d and both players check to see the Td land on the river. Alex fires out 80000 and Dean makes a quick call.

Dean tables Ax-3x for the winning hand and Alex’s Jx-Tx goes into the muck.

Dean now has 620000 in chips and is quickly equalizing the deficit he faced at the beginning of heads up.

Hand 6 – Blatt draws first blood.

The board reads Ad-3d-Qc-Qs and Alex bets out 50000. Dean goes into the tank and makes a reluctant call and we see the river fall the 8d. Alex checks and Dean bets out 80000. Alex calls and Dean tables trip queens with his Qh-9d.

Dean now has 52000 in chips.

The Final Battle.

We have reached the heads up segment of the tournament and Alex Fallon has a commanding chip leader with 1.29 million in chips which is over three times the amount of Dean Blatt’s stack which stands at 403000.

The runner up will receive $20,625 and the champion will receive the trophy and $30,800 in cash.

Heads up is here!

In one of the more interesting hands we have seen in this tournament we see Alex Fallon limp the button and Michael Kanaan checks his option in the Big Blind.

The flop falls 9s-Ac-5h and Michael checks, Alex bets out 35000 which is raised by Michael to 100000. The pressure is once again applied by Alex who three bets to 235000 and this is met by Michael moving all in for an additional 167000.

After some deliberation Alex makes the call and tables 8d-8c and has clearly read the situation well as Michael tables a stone cold bluff with Qs-3s.

The turn and river lay down the 5c and 7d and Michael is eliminated in 3rd place and is awarded $15,820 for his efforts.

Chip Counts

Play is now three handed and we just saw the blinds increase to 8000/16000 with a 1000 ante.

Chip Counts:

Alex Fallon – 830000
Michael Kanaan – 475000
Dean Blatt – 340000

George K out in 4th – $10,735

George K (pictured above) moves all in on the button for 15100 and action folds to Dean Blatt in the big blind who calls. George tables his Ah-Td and is behind to Dean’s As-Jh.

The board is run out to reveal 7h-3c-4c-Ac-Qh and George is eliminated in 4th place and receives a payout of $10,735

Fallon on the warpath.

Alex Fallon (pictured above) cannot make a mistake at the moment and his reads are spot on.

On a board of 6s-5s-9c-2h Alex bets out 25000 into a 40000 pot and Dean Blatt makes a reluctant call.

The river lands the Ac and Alex checks and Dean fires at the pot 43000 in chips.

Alex goes into the tank momentarily and then makes a call showing 7x-5x for mid pair and Dean mucks his hand.

With that hand Alex’s chip stack has increased to over 900000 and he has a very large lead over the rest of the field.

A New Blind Level

Blinds have increased to 6000/12000 with a 1000 ante. Play has slowed down somewhat since we hit four handed with chips been traded and Kanaan the only player really accumulating.

Chip Stacks:

Alex Fallon – 684000
Michael Kanaan – 495000
Dean Blatt – 303000
George K – 146000

Kanaan Carving it up.

In another battle of the blinds Michael completes his small blind bet and George K raises to 40000. The flop falls 7c-Ts-5s and George bets 40000 which is promptly raised by Michael to 100000. George makes the call and the turn lands the 7h.

Kanaan moves all in and George goes into the tank.

Whilst in the tanke we have had the pleasure of David Borg joining the rail and his colour commentary has been quite witty and at this time he calls for George to “run it twice”.

George K chuckles and then folds.

It’s break time!

Well thats two blind levels and we have seen three player sent to the rail leaving us with four competing for the trophy. With the most recent elimination Alex Fallon has taken a commanding lead with a stack of 685000 almost twice the amount of his nearest competitor.

Current chip stacks are:

Michael Kanaan – 370000
George K – 338000
Alex Fallon – 685000
Dean Blatt – 345000

When play commences blinds will be 5000/10000 with a 500 ante and the average stack is now 423750.

Alessio Maisano Eliminated – $7,910

We see another player eliminated in a tricky blinds vs blind situation. Action folds to Alessio (pictured above) in the small blind who makes it 16000 to go and Alex Fallon completes from the big blind and we go to a flop of 7x-4x-2x.

The action heats up here as Alessio checks and Alex fires out a bet of 43500 which is promptly raised all in by Alessio for a further 75000 more.

Alex snap calls and finds himself in cooler town when he tables 4x-2x for two pair but a mile behind the flopped set of Alex’s 2x-2x.

The turn and river both brick out and Alessio goes home in 5th position.

4 players remain and the next eliminated player will be $10,735 richer.

Alex Fallon gaining momentum on the final table.

Michael Kanaan raises from the cutoff to 16000 and Alex completes from the Big Blind.

The flop is 7c-Qs-4d and Alex leads at Michael for 16000.

The turn is the 6h and Alex again leads but this time for 44500 and is again met by a call by the preflop aggressor. The river is the 3d and Alex wastes no time in pushing a stack into the middle and the dealer quickly counts it down and announces 66500. Michael tanks for a minute or two but eventually folds and awards the pot of 130000 to Alex.

Osama outed in 6th spot – $5,930

In a battle of the blinds Michael Kanaan makes it 18000 to go and Osama Hassan (pictured above) decides now is the time to gamble with his short stack and squeezes in his 53000 stack.

Michael quickly makes the call and tables Tx-Tx and Osama is a 4 – 1 underdog holding 3x-3x. The board completely blanks for Osama and he heads to the rail with a well meaning smile!

The next out will receive $7,910

First blind level down!

Blinds are 4000/8000 and antes will be 500. The next player eliminated will receive $5,930.

Current chip stacks:

Michael Kanaan – 390000
Dean Blatt – 360000
Alessio Maisano – 360000
George K – 285000
Alex Fallon – 233000
Osama Hassan – 53000

Victor Teng out in 7th – $4,235

Victor Teng (pictured above) moves all in from early position for 81000 and is met by a call from George K. Both players table their cards and Victor is off to the races holding 9x-9x up against George’s Ax-Kx.

The board runs out Tx-7x-3x-5x and Victor is looking very good until the dreaded A falls on the river to give the hand to George.

Victor quickly left the tournament area and was visibly upset about this beat. We would however like to compliment Victor on his play at the tables and his demeanor; it was a pleasure to watch him play.

Blatt accumulates chips rapidly

In a three way pot we will see Dean Blatt, Victor Teng and Osama Hassan go to a flop of Js-3s-8s with the pot already at at 80000.

All players will check the flop and the turn reveals the 5s giving a four card flush.

Osama and Dean both check and Victor Teng will fire out 21000. The value is too good and both players call.

The river lands the 6s and the board is flushed up!

All players check and Dean Blatt rolls Ks-7s for the second nut flush and the pot.

You just cannot trust Sydney traffic!

Michael Kanaan (not pictured above) is our current chip leader and unfortunately has been caught in traffic. Final tables wait for no man (I guess) and thus cards are in the air whilst this stack sits there sullenly waiting for it’s owner.

The Final Table is underway.

The final table has commenced with blinds at 3000/6000 with a 500 ante. We will provide images of our final table shortly we are currently experiencing some technical difficulties in regards to cameras and chargeable batteries that don’t quite charge.

Here are the payouts for our final seven players.

1st – $30,800
2nd – $20,635
3rd – $15,820
4th – $10,735
5th – $7910
6th – $5930
7th – $4235

And here is the seating draw for the final table and chip stacks at the commencemnt of play:

Seat 1 – Michael Kanaan 373,500
Seat 2 – Victor Teng 127,000
Seat 3 – Osama Hasaan 247,500
Seat 4 – George K 181,000
Seat 5 – Alessio Maisano 372,000
Seat 6 – Alex Fallon 151,500
Seat 7 – Dean Blatt 245,500

We wish all of the final table players the best of luck!

That’s it for day 1

The Final Table is now set for Event 2 of ANZPT Sydney. The PokerMedia Australia short handed event has proven to be a great success with 113 players building a prize pool of $113,000. We commenced the day at 2.15pm sharp and the action over the first few levels wasn’t as quick as we expected.

As the day drew on the level of activity and energy definitely gathered momentum as we saw our chipleaders from the previous break quickly become middle of the pack, or worse eliminated. After eight hours of play, we saw more and more players fall by the wayside and the eliminations continued to occur at a breakneck pace. We were soon quickly down to the bubble of the tournament.

Unfortunately the honor of being the bubble fell to Marco Ng whose KK could not hold up to the A6 of Michael Kanaan. And with that elimination our final 12 players was decided.

Michael Kanaan 297,900
Dean Blatt 260,000
James Sekhas 227,000
Alessio Maisano 198,000
George K 158,000
Craig Blight 155,000
Victor Teng 90,000
Osama Hasaan 83,000
Eva Docekalova 79,000
Alex Fallon 63,400
Milan Gurung 51,000
James O’Brien 30,000

These 12 took their seats again a little after 2am and began play once more. After almost 12 hours of play blinds were 2000/4000 with a 400 ante and the average stacks was 141,250.

It wasn’t long until we saw our next elimination when James O’Brien couldn’t get anything happening with his short stack and a three outer on the river finished up his tournament for him. By 3.10am the final table had been decided after the following players had been eliminated.

12th – James O’Brien $2825
11th – Eva Docekolova $2825
10th – James Sekhas $2825
9th – Milan Gurung $4235
8th – Craig Blight $4235

The remaining seven players will compete for the lions share of the $113,000 prize pool and one of these seven will walk away with $30,800. The table draw and chip counts are below.

Play will resume at 4pm today with 4 minutes remaining on the clock with blinds at 3000/6000 with a 500 ante. PokerMedia Australia will be here to bring you all the live reporting action we can as we crown the champion of the PokerMedia Australia short handed event for ANZPT Sydney.

8th – Craig Blight $4235

We hear the familiar “All in and call” from the dealer and rush to the table to see the board showing 5c-4d-Qc and both Craig Blight and Dean Blatt have managed to get it all in.

Craig: Ks-Qs
Dean: Ac-Ah

The turn and river both bring rag cards and with that Craig is set home in 8th spot and our final table is decided.

9th – Milan Gurung $4235

In some heavy pre-flop action Milan will get it all in with his 9x-9x and be called by Osama Hassan holding Ad-8c. The flop is relatively safe for Milan as it reveals 3c-4c-Ks. However the Ah on the turn seals Milan’s fate as the river bricks for him and sends him home two places short of the final table.

10th – James Sekhas $2825

It’s a pity that James Sekhas has now left the building as we definitely found him to be entertaining at the table and full of energy; which is what you need when you’re into your 13 hour reporting an event.

James raises to 13000 from the cutoff and Alessio makes the call from the small blind.The flop is the As-2s-8s and Alessio checks, James then bets 16000 and is met by the reraise to 45000 from Alessio. James moves all in and Allesio snaps.

James – Ah-Kh
Alessio – Qd-6s

James is drawing practically dead on the flop and needs a running AK. The turn and river produce the Td and 7s and James is eliminated in 10th spot. At this point in time Osama questions the tournament directors as to why the final table isn’t being formed; it would appear that Osama has momentarly forgotten he is playing the PokerMedia Australia 6 handed event!

11th Eva Docekolova – $2,825

On a board of the 3h-Ks-6s George K leads for 20,000 into a pot worth 30000. Alessio makes the call and Eva Docekalova (pictured above) moves all in for her remaining 41,600. George makes the call and then Alessio moves all in over the top and he easily covers George. George tanks for quite some time and eventually folds.

Eva shows down Kx-3x for two pair but unfortuantely Alessio has 3x-3x for the flopped set and Eva is chasing one of two Kings remaining in the deck.

12th James O’Brien – $2825

James O’Brien (pictured above) has wielded his short stack effectively all day and for that he has cashed. In this hand Craig opens from early position to 9000 and James ships his stack in for a total of 20,700. Action folds to Craig who makes the call and tables Qh-9s. James displays As-3c.

The flop is 4h-2h-3d giving Craig the pair and a redraw to the wheel straight. The turn is the 8s but unfortunately the river destroys Craig’s hope of a higher placed finish when the Qd lands to give Craig the higher pair.

James Shekas showboats his reading skills

In an unusual display at the poker table James Shekas opens to 9000 and is shipped on by Eva D who has 70,000. James announces that he is in front but won’t call in this spot with A-T. James then proceeds to make a deal with Eva that if he can read her hand correctly and folds she will have to show her hand. With Eva’s agreement in place James correctly announces K-Q and Eva nods and rolls her cards over to expose K-Q offsuit.

Players have reached the cash

In the last hand before the break we lost Marco Ng who re raised his short stack all in from the big blind with Kx-Kx. Michael Kanaan was priced in to call with his Ax-7x. The flop produced an Ace and Marco was drawing very slim and bricked the rest of the board. We are now in the money and players are on break.

Here are the final 12 and their respective stacks.

Michael Kanaan 297,900
Dean Blat t 260,000
James Sekhas 227,000
Alessio Maisano 198,000
George K 158,000
Craig Blight 155,000
Victor Teng 90,000
Osama Hasaan 83,000
Eva Docekalova 79,000
Alex Fallon 63,400
Milan Gurung 51,000
James O’Brien 30,000

Players are now on a break and will redraw for their seats when they return.

We are on the bubble

We have just lost Errolyn Strang in 14th spot and we are now on the bubble for this event.

Errolyn played a very good game today but unfortunately her short stack could not hold up when she shipped from the hijack with Kx-Qx and was called by James Sekhas with Ac-9c. The board bricked for Errolyn when it ran out Tx-5x-Jx-5x-Tx

Recent eliminations

We have recently lost Tom G in 16th and Didier in 15th place. 14 players remain and we are two spots from the cash.

Aggressive poker is winning poker

Or so it would seem as we haven’t seen many flops recently but instead 3 and 4 bets are the in thing with many players currently ramping up the aggressive play as we approach the bubble. We have lost one player in the form of Suraj Dutt who was short-stacked and made a move and got very unlucky.

17 players in the mix

The Tournament Directors have replayed the hand and awarded the correct pots and we are back playing. There are now 17 players left in the tournament. Here is the current seating draw and respective chip stacks. Dean Blatt still holds the chip lead with 190000 in chips.

Table 1

S1 – Suraj Dutt 34,700
S2 – James Sekhas 130,000
S3 – Didier Guiran 36,000
S4 – Alessio Maisano 104,000
S5 – Osama Hassan 110,000
S6 – Eva Docekalova 126,000

Table 2

S1 – Patrick Crivell 20,000
S2 – Craig Blight 70,000
S3 – Jason O’Brien 27,000
S4 – Vacant
S5 – Dean Blatt 190,000
S6 – Victor Teng 148,000

Table 3

S1 – Michael Kannan 180,000
S2 – Marco Ng 80,000
S3 – Gerge K 100,000
S4 – Alex Falon 92,000
S5 – Milan Gurung 125,000
S6 – Errolyn Strang 108,000

Play on hold

In that last hand (the “monster”) by our calculations Hassan is owed well over 100,000 in chips however he has just realised his stack is just a bit short as it sits on around 40000.

The tournament directors have called a halt to play as they review the cameras and replay the hand to ensure everyone is awarded what they were owed correctly.

James Sekhas has already volunteered to pay Hasaan what he is owed from his stack and readily admits an error has occurred somewhere with the pot calculation.

And then there were three

The action has increased dramatically and in a very small amount of time we have lost another table and now have 18 players remaining.

We are six more eliminations away from players hitting the cash. We will provide an updated chip count as soon as possible!

It’s a MONSTER!

With 40,000 in the pot and the board reading 3h-4h-9s we have some very heave action with Hassan shoving his entire 19,300 stack into the pot as first action.

Boustani then makes it 40000 to go and James Sekhas shoves his entire 100,000 stack in over the top. Boustani calls and the cards are tabled.

Hassan = 9x-9x
Boustani = Jx-Jx
Sekhis – Kx-Kx

Hassan has flopped the world by hitting his set and Boustani is drawing to one of two J’s left inthe deck. The turn and river brick for him as the 8c-7d land.

Dean Blatt leads the field with 21 remaining

Dean Blatt is our current chip leader with 185,000 and is followed closely behind by Michael Kanaan on 150,000. Here is the current table draw and chip stacks.

Table 1

S1 – Zac Boustani 86,000
S2 – James Sekhas 102,000
S3 – Didier Guerin 32,000
S4 – Alessio Maisano 106,000
S5 – Osama Hassan 38,900
S6 – Eva Docekalova 134,000

Table 2

S1 – Vacant
S2 – Craig Blight 75,000
S3 – Jason O’Brien 27,000
S4 – Greg Cook 96,000
S5 – Dean Blatt (pictured above) 185,000
S6 – Victor Teng 111,600

Table 3

S1 – Michael Kanaan 150,000
S2 – Marco Ng 85,000
S3 – Paul Tartak 27,000
S4 – Alex Falon 109,000
S5 – Milan Gurung 45,000
S6 – Vacant

Table 4

S1 – Tom G 13,000
S2 – Vacant
S3 – Patrick Crivell 26,000
S4 – Suraj Dutt 77,000
S5 – Errolyn Strang 50,000
S6 – George K 80,000

Breaks are hard to find

Players are now on a ten minute break and will return with blinds at 1000/2000 with a 300 ante. The average stack is currently 80,714. We will be back soon with the final 23 players and their current chip stacks.

23 players remain

With less than ten minutes to the next break play has sped up and chips are flying across tables. We join the action with 20000 in the pot and the board reading Ax-9x-8s-6h and James Sekhas leading at the pot for 7000.

James faces a raise from Colin Down to 16,000 and James doesn’t mess about by moving all-in. Colin calls as well and shows 7c-3s and has put his tournament life on the line with an up and down straight draw.

James tables Jc-Js for a pair and the river brings him safety in the form of another J.

Nima no more!

Nima Moghini has been on a roller coaster of a ride today but unfortunately his adventure has come to an end at the hands of Alessio Maisano. Alessio raised from the cutoff to 3,600 and found two callers in the small blind and Nima in the Big blind. The flop fell 4c-Ts-6s and the players check to Alessio who bets out 6000 and finds the only caller in Nima.

The 5s lands on the turn and Nima checks, Alessio leads out for 5500 and Nima moves all in. Alessio cannot call quick enough and tables Ks-9s for the second nut flush and Nima rolls 3d-5h and is drawing dead. Nima finishes in 25th.

Strang fights back

On a flop of 8s-3d-5c we find Errolyn Strang facing a bet of 3500 into a pot of 10000. Errolyn ships her stack on 28700 into the middle and her opponent makes the call whilst shaking his head in dismay.

Errolyn tables 7c-6c for the up and down straight draw and her opponent tables Ah-Qd. The turn lands the Ad and Errolyn is on the ropes, but the river lands and its a 9c to complete her straight! Strang doubles and is now on 65,000.

Moghini getting active

Hand 1: With 8000 in the middle and a board reading Kh-7d-2s Nima Moghini fires out 3100 and is called by Didier Guerin in position. Both players check the Kh and see a river of the 5d. Moghini bets 7300 and Dider makes a crying call and tables 9c-9d. Didier ships the pot as Moghini flashes Ac-2c.

Hand 2: The board reads 5d-Jc-8h-3c and the action has built up a 6000 pot. Moghini is on the button and in position and has placed out a bet of 3600. His opponent, Alessio Maisano, is out of position in the BB and raises it to 10000. Nima makes the call and the 6h lands on the river. Alessio leads out for all of his stack which is 9400, after some deliberation Nima makes the call and Alessio shows down 8c-8s for the flopped set and the win. Alessio doubles up and Nima has taken a hit to his stack over the past two hands.

John Thompson drummed out

The player on the button raises to 2800 and the small blind immediately goes all-in for 23,500 over the top. John Thompson in the BB moves all in as well but for the lesser amount of 18300. After some consideration the player on the button gets out of the way. John is holding As-Qc and finds himself in a race for his tournament life against his opponents 7c-7h.

The board runs out 5h-Ts-5s-6c-9d and John is eliminated. It was sad to see John leave the tournament as he had earlier serenaded the whole field with his dulcet tones. The field is now down to 30 and we have five tables in play.

It’s crunch time!

31 players remain in the tournament and the blinds have just increased to 600/1200 with antes of 200. The average stack is currently just under 55000. There are quite a few shortstacks out here looking for a double up.

Aaron Benton for his tournament life

Aaron Benton is facing a pre-flop raise to 4000 from Errolyn Strang. Aaron responds by moving his entire stack into the middle and is snapped called by Errolyn.

Aaron – Ad-Qc
Errolyn – Kc-Kh

The board is quickly delivered and Aaron’s hopes are diminished even quicker when the cards fall 4d-5c-Th-Ks-Tc to give Errolyn the full house. There are now 32 players remaining.

Victor Teng takes a hit

The pot in the middle is worth 6000 and the board is showing Jh-6d-2h and Victor Teng leads for 2500 and is promptly reraised by James Sekhas to 6100, Victor makes the call. Both players check the turn of the 5s and the Qc arrives on the river. James fires out a bet of 10800 and Victor Teng snap calls but mucks his hand with a wry grin when James shows 3s-4s for the turned gutshot straight. With that Victor falls below the 100,000 mark.

Nothing like a good sweat

With the flop showing Jd-Kc-2c Aaron Benton is facing a bet of 3000 from George K. The pot is worth a little over 5000 and Aaron re raises to 10000 after requesting a count of Geroge’s stack. George after taking a brief moment moves all in for his remaining 26100 and Aaron quickly makes the call.

George K – Ad-Kh
Aaron Benton – Jc-6c

Aaron is drawing for any club, 6 or J and the turn and the river brick for him when they fall the 3s and 4s respectivelly.

Leaders of the pack

40 players remain in the tournament and that means we are 28 eliminations away from awarding the bubble a pat on the back and a hearty handshake! With that in mind here are our current chip leaders:

Victor Teng (pictured above) – 121,000
Didier Guerin – 116,000
Greg Cook – 104,600
Dean Blatt – 87,000
Eva Docekalova – 85,000
Michael Kanaan – 79,900
Craig Blight – 63,500
Aaron Benton – 56,000
Errolyn Strang – 42,000

Katie Sekhas busted

With action folding to Katie on the button she ships in her stack of 9500 to which her opponent in the SB re raises to 22000. The Big Blind folds and Katie tables Js-Td and finds herself in some trouble when her opponent tables Ac-7c. The board runs out 7h-8h-8d-2s-Qc to send Katie to the rail.

Payouts have been announced

The starting field has been confirmed as 113 players which means there is $113,000 in prize pool. The top 12 finishers will all walk away with a portion of that prize pool and the skilled champion will cash to the tune of $30,800. Here is the breakdown.

1st – $30,800
2nd – $20,635
3rd – $15,820
4th – $10,735
5th – $7910
6th – $5930
7-9th – $4235
10-12th – $2825

Good luck to the remaining 47 players in the PokerMedia Australia $1,100 6 handed event.

Crivell moving on up!

The board is showing 8d-3s-2s and Patrick Crivell finds himself facing a bet of 1375 from his opponent on the button. Crivell raises to 3200 and his opponent makes the call. The turn brings the Qc and Crivell leads out for 4900 and again there is a call from his nemesis.

The river falls the 9d and Patrick bets out 3100 to which his opponent promptly requests a count of Patrick’s stack and follows this with a raise to 22000. Patrick goes into the tank and eventually makes the call and tables Ks-Qs and his opponent quickly folds. Patrick is now on 66000.

Balsinger gone!

A player who is under the gun opens to 1200 and action folds to Jake Balsinger who makes it 3450 and promptly finds himself facing a four bet to 6775 from another player on his left. The UTG player folds his hand and Jake ships in his whole stack and his opponent makes a crying call with Tc-Td.

Jake is looking good with his Qh-Qd and the flop runs out 8h-2c-5d. Unfortunately the Th spikes the turn and Jake is drawing to one of two outs and desperately needs a Q to hit. The river bricks out with a 4s and Jake Balsinger is sent to the rail.

Michael “The Engineer” Kanaan

Blinds are 200/400 with a 50 ante when our pre flop aggressor open to 1000 on the button. Michael is in the Big Blind and re raises to 2500 to which the button re raises all in for over 24,000. Michael deliberates momentarily and then makes the call and shows down Ad-8d to be a major favourite against his opponent’s Ac-Ts. The board runs out blank until an 8 spikes on the river to give the hand to the underdog and to double up Michael.

Dinner break and updates

Players have now gone on a 30-minute dinner break. 113 players have taken their seats in this tournament today and currently we have 69 players remaining. When play resumes blinds will be 200/400 with a 50 ante and the average stack will be 24565.Here are the chip leaders and some of the notables still in play:

James Sekhas – 79,000
Nima Moghimi (pictured above) – 70,000
Victor Teng – 63,250
Dejan Boskivic – 59,000
Greg Cook – 55,000
Osama Hassan – 53,325
Jake Balsinger – 46,875
Craig Blight – 46,500
Aaron Benton – 43,200
Jamal Ishac – 36,000
Siddharth Gunasekran – 33,000
Antonis “Toothpick Tony” Kambouroglou – 30,000

Table 10 – Strang v Moghimi

We pick up the action on a flop of 9s-7h-4s. Strang leads into the pot for 1600 and after some careful deliberation Moghimi makes the call and the turn presents the Th.

Strang fires 2700 and Moghimi again tanks and makes the call. The 5s lands on the river.Board: 9s-7h-4s-Th-5sStrang then ships 9200 into the middle and Moghimi asks for a count instantly. Again Moghimi goes into the tank but eventually folds his hands. It is at this time theat Moghimi speaks to our reporter to vent his frustrations stating that he had the 7c-6c and believes he was facing a bluff but couldn’t pull the trigger.

His opponent comes over to confirm his suspicion stating that she had Ah-Qh for a busted flush draw. We wonder if this moment will come back to haunt Moghimi!

That’s a good call!

We arrive at the table to find the board displaying 9h-4h-7c-Ah and Milan Gurung is facing a bet of 2600 from his opponent. Milan reluctantly makes the call and then checks the As as it falls on the river.

His opponent in the hands waits a few beats before announcing all in and forcing Milan to make a decision for his tournament life. Milan handles his chips and finally makes the call tabling Js-9c easily beating his opponents 2d-4d.

Unofficial chip leaders

Our top 5 in chips are currently:

Siddharth Gunasekran (pictured above) – 52,450
Victor Teng – 46,350
Najeem Ajez – 37,000
Jake Balsinger – 35,100
Kevin Pryde – 29,450

We will continue to update you with chip counts throughout the rest of play.

Chip updates

Players have just returned from their first break of the day and here are some chip counts from some of the more notable entrants in this event.

Jake Balsinger – 35,100
Aaron Benton – 22,350
Patrick Healy – 19,000
Errolyn Strang – 28,600
Victor Teng – 46,350
Tony Hachem – 7950

The Inside Word on … the Australian Grand Prix

The flag will drop to start the 2014 Formula One season at 5pm today. For a complete rundown on the Australian Grand Prix and some suggested tips for the race, check out the preview on The Inside Word (click here). Go Daniel Ricciardo!!

Hyper Turbo Satellites are good!

But now Star Poker provide the quickest (and most fun) turbo satellites ever! Players can now win their ANZPT Main Event entry via entering the $220 Flip Satellite. All 10 players will take their seat with one chip in front of them and then one hand will be played with all players all in for their tournament life. The lucky winner walks away with an ANZPT Main Event seat.

There is table talk and then there is Table 9

Table 9 is our favorite table thus far in the tournament with a lot of entertainment provided by both the dealer and one player by the name of James Sekhas. After just eliminating a player I had the pleasure of hearing this witty comment on his own play after being questioned about his thought process in the hand: “When you call with 8,3 thats called playing good!”

Next level please

The second level has passed by and play has been slow with only a few players eliminated in that level; most notable of which was AFL champion Adam Goodes of the Sydney Swans. This event is now carrying a prizepool of $108,000 with a confirmed field of 108. Late registration is still available and we are sure this prizepool will continue to grow over the next hour. There are currently 98 players remaining.

Elsewhere at Star Poker

The final table line-up has been decided for the $330 Opening Event, which drew a typically large field thanks to the repechage format with play scheduled to kick-off in a few minutes. The final table comprises:

Jackson Zheng 2,744,000
Ron Faul 742,000
Benjamin Jee 536,000
Stephen Tam-Brown 1,756,000
Russell Davies 311,000
Henry Tran 351,000
Mathew Parravicini 274,000
Robert Sabados 1,403,000
Steve Pappas 793,000

Blinds are up

Players are now posting 50-100. Our first blind level is completed and two players have been eliminated in that time. The field currently stands at 95 strong and we look to be heading north of 100 players.

And our first elimination is …

We have our first player eliminated from today’s event. Our reporter arrived at the table to see Yal Kaya and Ravin Subramanian involved in a pot with the board showing 7c-3d-7s. Ravin leads for 1600 and Yal re-raises to 3600. Ravin three bets to a total of 7600 and Yal moves all in which is quickly called by Ravin. The players table their cards and Yal is holding AA while Ravin has flopped trips with K-7. Yal requires one of two aces to drop but the turn and river brick and Yal is our first player sent to the rail and surely not the last to have his rockets cracked!

Cards are in the air

Players are now taking their seats in the event and the dealing will commence very shortly. All players will commence the tournament with 15,000 in chips and blind levels will be 40 minutes in length. All play will be six-handed with only the final table moving beyond that to seven-handed. The six-max format is a very exciting one where aggression is seen quite often and passive play is punished early. This event appeals to both live and online grinders alike and we look forward to a field in excess of 100 players for this event.

PMA Special Event still a regular feature at The Star

The Australian poker industry may be going through the doldrums but it’s great to see the team at The Star still committed to its three major events each year – ANZPT Sydney, the Sydney Championships and the Summer Series. PokerMedia Australia is delighted to be back at The Star for ANZPT Sydney, with our live coverage kicking off today for the traditional second event on the schedule – the PokerMedia Australia $1 Special Six-Handed event. Over the past three years, the biggest names in Aussie poker have battled it out for a slice of the estimated $100,000 prizepool In addition to the PMA Special Event, we’ll also be reporting on the Main Event, which kicks-off on Thursday evening (March 20).

Event reporting brought to you by Australia’s newest source of racing and sports betting information: