Day 2 has come to an end!
Level 19 has been completed with 21 players remaining alive in the Summer Series Main Event of 2014. Dean Blatt (pictured) is leading the pack with almost 1.3m in chips while Ben Richardson and George Zhong are nipping at his heals both just under 1m in chips. The chip counts at the end of play are as follows:
| Dean | Blatt | 1,287,000 |
| Ben | Richardson | 959,000 |
| George | Zhong | 926,000 |
| Timo | Pfutzenreter | 795,000 |
| Chris | Ayoub | 752,000 |
| Paul | Gooley | 635,000 |
| Rajesh | Sabapathy | 621,000 |
| Hauman | Darbani | 530,000 |
| BouBou | French | 521,000 |
| Alexander | Antonios | 499,000 |
| Jazz | Mathers | 401,000 |
| George | Boustani | 390,000 |
| Adrian | Attenborough | 347,000 |
| Joel | Cohen | 311,000 |
| Billy | Argyros | 288,000 |
| Unconfirmed | 257,000 | |
| Yu Liang | Zhong | 219,000 |
| Nick | Williams | 209,000 |
| Jason | O’brien | 173,000 |
| James | Webb | 162,000 |
| Geoff | Mooney | 91,000 |
Day 3 will begin tomorrow (Monday) at 12.30pm. Join us then as our live coverage will continue until we crown a champion.
Teresa Natoli 22nd ($5600)
Teresa Natoli moves all-in for 137k over the top of Ben Richardson’s raise of 22k. Richardson calls with Kd Qd and Natoli shows A J off suit. A flop of 6-10-5 comes down and with a 4 at the turn, Natoli seems to be able to dodge all the bullets. However, with a Q on the river Natoli is cruelly knocked out in 22nd place and our last remaining female leaves the tournament.
Nathan Gubieski 23rd ($5600)
BouBou French opens UTG for 20k and Nathan Gubieski moves all-in for 176k, which is called. It’s a race with Boubou’s pocket 8s vs Gubieski’s A K off suit. On the flop the window card is an Ace but alas, the middle card is an 8 and with a blank on the turn, Gubieski’s tournament is over in 24th place.
Steve Zhou 26th ($4950), Myles Lattacher 25th ($4950), Mayra Ramos 24th ($5600)
In pretty quick succession we’ve lost another three players, Steve Zhou, Myles Lattacher and Mayra Ramos.
In the hand involving Zhou, Jazz Mathers raises to 20k under the gun and Zhou moves all-in for 204k. Mathers calls and its a race with his 10 10 vs Zhou’s A Q. The flop comes down K-K-8 and with a 10 on the turn Zhou’s outs were reduced. A blank 2 ensured that Zhou hit the rail in 26th place.
Take Blatt!
Dean Blatt is on a roll. Blatt limps in with three others to see a flop of 4-6-4. The flop is checked around to Steve Zhou on the button who bets 20k into the pot and Blatt flat calls. The turn is J and Blatt checks again with Zhou betting 47k. With the river a 7 Blatt checks again to Zhou who proclaims, “I can’t win against you,” and checks on the button. Blatt shows 4 4 for quads and takes down the pot.
Victor Teng 27th ($4950)
Victor Teng moves all-in on George Zhong for over 300k on a 3c-7h-6s flop. Zhong calls and shows K K against Teng’s 8c 9c. With a Jc at the turn Teng is given more outs, with a flush draw on top of his straight draw. However, a 4s falls on the river to send Teng out in 27th place and send Zhong upwards on the chip leader board.
Chip Leaders
| Dean | Blatt | 1,250,000 |
| Paul | Gooley | 1,050,000 |
| Timo | Pfutzenreter | 950,000 |
| Alexander | Antonios | 870,000 |
| George | Boustani | 600,000 |
| George | Zhong | 570,000 |
Can this continue?
Chris Ayoub (pictured) was reduced to 32k in chips recently but in the space of 40 minutes he’s doubled 4 times to sit with 295k. With play down to the final three tables, can he keep this streak going and contend for the title?
Aaron Benton 28th ($4350)
All we got out of Aaron was, “I played that hand like a gimp!” Someone from the rail followed up with, “less thinking, more drinking.” Never-the-less, he made a remarkable comeback after getting down as low as 6k midway through Day 1.
And with that, we’re down to the final 27 players (or last three tables) so there is a redraw for seats.
Final level of the day
Players have reached Level 19 where blinds are 5000/1000 with an ante of 1000. This will be the last level of the night. Play will continue to the conclusion of the level unless we reach a total of 18 players (two tables). 28 players currently remain.
Barry Forrester 29th ($4350)
In a classic showdown of A K suited vs Q Q, Barry Forrester (A K) gets all his chips, some 250k of them, all-in against Dean Blatt (QQ). The flop comes A-Q-5 but with a turn K it gives Barry some hope. Alas, it wasn’t to be for Forrester as the river is blank and he’s knocked out in 29th place.
Jordan Kilner 31st ($4350), Saliendra Sha 30th ($4350)
Jordan Kilner and chip leader at the start of play today Saliendra Sha have been knocked out. Sha, facing a flop of 3-6-5, pushed his last remaining chips into the middle and was called by Barry Forrester with A 5. Unfortunately for Sha his 2 or 6 didn’t appear and he hits the rail.
Phillips out in 32nd place ($4350)
With the bubble busted, Ben Phillips moves all-in with K 10 for his remaining 140k and is called by AJ in the BB, with A J. When an Ace hits on the flop Phillips is drawing thin and a blank on the turn sees him hit the rail in 32nd place.
Is he truly the luckiest?
In pre-flop action during hand-for-hand play, Jackson Zheng min-raises to 16k. Victor Teng announces all-in (covering Zhou 3-fold) but Zheng calls, tabling As Ac, with obvious disregard to the bubble situation facing him. He has pocket Aces, it’s a great opportunity to double up. The flop comes K-7-J giving Teng a little hope, as the turn comes 10, the crowd starts chanting for a J. You guessed it, the rail goes mad as Teng spikes another J on the river to knock Zheng out in 33rd place as the unfortunate bubble boy. Rumours have spread that Teng was voted the luckiest player by his peers via social media. Perhaps he really is!
Thank the lord for the river
Mark Darbani raises to 20k and is raised by Adrian Attenborough on the button to 40k. Darbani calls and we see a flop of K-3-8, all spades. Darbani checks and Attenborough bets 61k. Darbani tanks and with the bubble on the line moves all-in for 237k (an extra 176k). Attenborough thinks and finally calls. Darbani turns over As Q and Attenborough turns over Qs J. The turn comes a J and the crowd sighs with Darbani looking to take the bubble. Then comes the river and it is an Ace for Darbani to remain in the tournament.
And we’re on the bubble
Thanks to Alexander Antonios (AJ) we’re now playing hand for hand. AJ, holding J J called his opponent’s all-in bet but found himself behind the Q Q. As the board ran out 6-4-A-5….and J on the river, he’s knocked out the 34th player and we’re now on the money bubble.
Charlie B, thanks for the memories
George Zhong in mid-position wakes up with Q Q and raises to 20k. He’s called by Charlie Bakhos and Dean Blatt. The flop comes J-3-9, Zhong bets 20k and is raised by Bakhos to 100k who is then smooth called by Blatt. Zhong tanks and amazingly folds his Q Q. The turn comes a 2 and Bakhos moves all-in for his remaining 120k, but is snapped called by Blatt holding 9 9. Disgusted, Bakhos turns over his A J and thus starts the realisation that his tournament is over as he walks away into the crowd.
Timo too tough
Dejan Boskovic raised to 18k from early position and gets two callers in Timo P and BouBou French. The flop comes 2-3-6 and play is checked around. The turn is a 2 and Boskovic bets 37k while Timo min-raises to 74k. BouBou folds. Boskovic checks and Timo moves all-in causing Boskovic to make a decision for all his chips, some 180k. After a little tank time to think he finally calls. Timo shows 6 6 for the nut full-house to take down the pot while Boskovic walks off, knocked out of the tournament. Timo moves to over 950k.
On the search for money
Players have returned to face Level 18 where blinds are 4000/8000 with an ante of 1000. The average stack is approaching 300k.
Break time, just a quickie
Players are on a 10-minute break. 35 players remain as we approach the money bubble where 32 players will get paid. The latest chip counts are:
| Timo | Pfutzenreter | 980000 |
| George | Zhong | 635000 |
| Dean | Blatt | 575000 |
| Paul | Gooley | 450000 |
| BouBou | 420000 | |
| George | Boustani | 415000 |
| Victor | Teng | 415000 |
| Adrian | Attenborough | 405000 |
| Ben | Richardson | 390000 |
| Barry | Forrester | 355000 |
| Jazz | Mathers | 340000 |
| James | Webb | 325000 |
| Geoff | Mooney | 300000 |
| Aaron | Benton | 200000 |
| Nathan | Gubieski | 190000 |
| Billy | Argyros | 190000 |
| Teresa | Natoli | 180000 |
| Ben | Phillips | 165000 |
| Steve | Zhou | 160000 |
| Charlie | Bakhos | 155000 |
| Mayra | Ramos | 145000 |
| Saliendra | Sha | 120000 |
| Danny | Zhong | 105000 |
| Jimmy | Ghobrial | 0 |
| Donald | Civic | 0 |
Queens looking out for the ladies again
In pre-flop action Mayra Ramos raises, Teresa Natoli (pictured) shoves all-in for her remaining 50k, is called while Ramos gets out of the way. Natoli tables Q Q up against J J of her opponent. The board runs out J-2-Q-6-2 and to her amazement and joy she stays alive, doubling up to 135,000 in chips.
Famous last words
Timo Pfutzenreter is running hot at the moment but with such a large chip stack he can get involved in many more pots. This time he called Luke Kelly’s all-in with Q Q vs Kelly’s 9 9. Kelly begins to stand up only to spike a 9 on the flop. He then begins to sit down declaring, “I can’t lose now,” only to watch a Q come at the turn. Bye, bye Luke Kelly.
Kick it long to Richo
A big pot developed on Table 13 as Cale Maclean’s K K ran into Ben Richardson’s A A. With both players decently stacked and having all their money in before the flop, the pot was huge. The board ran out Q-10-10-J-J to hold up for the Aces. Richardson (pictured) takes down a pot of 560,000 to place him amongst the chip leaders.
Blinds are up
Play has reached Level 17 with blinds 3000/6000 and an ante of 1000. 44 players remain. As a reminder, play will continue until the end of Level 19 OR when we reach the final two tables, whichever is first. The top 32 players will make the money for a minimum cash of $4350. The winner will received $157,100.
Chip Leaders (updated)
| George | Boustani | 670,000 |
| George | Zhong | 625,000 |
| Timo | Pfutzenreter | 490,000 |
| Jazz | Mathers | 453,000 |
| Mayra | Ramos | 440,000 |
| Steve | Zhou | 405,000 |
| Adrian | Attenborough | 360,000 |
| Saliendra | Sha | 280,000 |
| Barry | Forrester | 280,000 |
| Nathan | Gubieski | 270,000 |
| BouBou | 265,000 | |
| Dean | Blatt | 265,000 |
| Aaron | Benton | 240,000 |
| Charlie | Bakhos | 210,000 |
| Victor | Teng | 190,000 |
| Danny | Zhong | 180,000 |
| Jimmy | Ghobrial | 170,000 |
| Billy | Argyros | 140,000 |
| Teresa | Natoli | 140,000 |
| Ben | Phillips | 120,000 |
| Donald | Civic | 95,000 |
| Tom | Rafferty | 0 |
| David | Tam | 0 |
| Dean | Yuen | 0 |
| Edison | Nguyen | 0 |
| Coliln | Tran | 0 |
| Sam | Khouiss | 0 |
| David | Allen | 0 |
| Peco | Stojanovski | 0 |
| Phillip | Ward | 0 |
| Steve | Pappas | 0 |
| David | Borg | 0 |
| Angelo | Scicchitano | 0 |
| Tino | Leichich | 0 |
| Didier | Guerin | 0 |
| Ken | Demlakian | 0 |
| Tony | Kondevski | 0 |
| Mathew | Rolfe | 0 |
Small in stature, big in confidence
Mayra Ramos isn’t intimidated easily. In pre-flop action James Webb raises to 11k, Ramos re-raises to 25k, Webb who likes to stare down his opponents, re-raises back to 51.5k. In a carefully structured bit of acting, Ramos plays with her chips, stands up, looks confused and asks a lot of questions. Webb is stone faced and does not relent to her feminine charms. Ramos then re-raises again to 95k and Webb folds. Ramos pulls in 60k without having to see a flop.
Chip Leaders
| George | Boustani | 680,000 |
| Timo | Pfutzenreter | 575,000 |
| George | Zhong | 480,000 |
| Saliendra | Sha | 390,000 |
| Adrian | Attenborough | 370,000 |
| BouBou | 310,000 | |
| Steve | Zhou | 310,000 |
Mine’s bigger than yours!
The breaking of George Boustani’s table sees him draw Table 11 which just so happens has Timo Pfutzenreter on the table also. The two chip leaders have in excess of 500k each and can devastate one another if they tangle. And tangle they do!
Boustani (pictured) under the gun raises to 10k and is called by Timo and the small blind. The flop comes 2-7-K rainbow and with the SB checking, Boustani bets out 14k and is snapped called by Timo, the SB then folding. With the next card a 5, Boustani slows down but not Timo, who bets 24k. Boustani calls and we see the river, which is a J. Boustani checks and Timo bets 60.5k into the pot. Boustani ponders the hand and calls. Timo shows A 9 for ace high and Boustani shows A A much to the amazement of the onlookers.
With no flush or straight on the board it seems big stacks can intimidate, even when you have Aces.
Khouiss KO’ed
In pre-flop betting, Sam Khouiss finds himself all-in with A 9. His opponent Nathan Gubieski tables A J. Although a 9 hits on the flop, the board turns a J to send Khouiss to the rail.
That’s a bet
Billy ‘The Croc’ and IBBA have had a gentleman’s bet on where the tournament will be situated at the end of the next level. The Croc is going 40+ while IBBA is taking the unders. A beer during the Aussie Millions in January is riding on it!
Blinds are up
Level 16 has arrived so blinds have risen, now 2500/5000 with an ante of 500. 53 players still remain.
Quick, grab a smoke
Players are on a 10-minute break.
The Bunny is hopping again
Ben Phillips (pictured) is fighting for his tournament survival. With an early raise to 8k and a further raise to 21k, Phillips moves all-in for 78k. Everyone folds around to the first raiser who reluctantly calls with A K suited. Phillips turns over Q Q and it’s a classic race. This time the Queens hold up and Phillips doubles, taking down a 170k pot. Considering the average stack is now 192k, Phillips has a little bit more breathing space.
Bakhos goes backwards
A player in Seat 3 moves all-in for 67,500 and is called by Steven Zhou and Charlie Bakhos. We go to the flop and it is 3-K-7. Zhou and Bakhos both check the flop and we see the turn fall 3. Zhou bets 27k and is quickly called by Bakhos. The river comes a 6c and Zhou ponders his hand, counting all his chips. He then bets all-in for some 120k more. Bakhos folds showing 10 10. The all-in shows K Q suited for top pair and Zhou shows K K for the set. Zhou takes the pot down and with it a pot of almost 270k. Zhou takes his stack to one of dominance now holding over 390k.
Benton goes backwards
Aaron Benton (pictured) will again need to produce the magic that got him from 6k in chips yesterday to finish the day over 120k. Today he had built up to 240k but just lost a 300k pot to big stack Timo Pfutzenreter to drop back to 70k. Timo is now back to the chip lead with almost 600k.
Chip Leaders
| George | Boustani | 525000 |
| Timo | Pfutzenreter | 440000 |
| George | Zhong | 395000 |
| Saliendra | Sha | 385000 |
| BouBou | 380000 | |
| Barry | Forrester | 338000 |
I’m not boring, look at this!
After being questioned over his boring playing style, Collin Tran raises in mid-position to 7k and is called by the button and SB. We go to the flop and it drops 8-7-8. Tran bets out 7k only to be raised to 15k by the button. Tran flat calls to see the turn of Q, whereby both players check to see the river of a 2. Tran bets 20k into the pot and the button folds showing A K suited. Tran announces that he can play any two cards and shows J 8 suited. The poker gods are on Tran’s side today, flopping him trips on the one hand he’s played in the last 2 hours.
Blinds are up
Level 15 is now upon us with blinds 2000/4000 and an ante of 500. Play has definitely slowed as we edge nearer the money bubble but the blinds will surely start putting pressure on the smaller stacks to double up.
Forrester for the trees
We follow the action on Table 12 between Charlie Bakhos, Barry Forrester (pictured) and Dean Blatt. On a flop of 8s-3c-Jh Blatt bets 9k into a pot of 22k. Forrester raises to 20k and is called by Bakhos, then back to Blatt who makes it 55k. Forrester flat calls and Charlie moves all-in clearly causing both players to decide on their tournament lives. After a long think, Blatt folds and Forrester calls. Bakhos turns over Q J and Forrester shows A J. When an Ace comes on the turn, Bakhos is drawing dead and loses over 130k of his stack. Forrester pulls in a huge pot of over 320k.
Chip counts and a few busts
There are 64 players that remain midway through Level 14. Some of the notables are as follows:
| Timo | Pfutzenreter | 470,000 |
| Saliendra | Sha | 390,000 |
| Charlie | Bakhos | 390,000 |
| George | Zhong | 355,000 |
| Tom | Rafferty | 295,000 |
| Mayra | Ramos | 250,000 |
| Danny | Zhong | 245,000 |
| Aaron | Benton | 240,000 |
| David | Tam | 220,000 |
| Dean | Blatt | 215,000 |
| Jazz | Mathers | 185,000 |
| Jimmy | Ghobrial | 180,000 |
| Donald | Civic | 170,000 |
| Dean | Yuen | 140,000 |
| Victor | Teng | 140,000 |
| Ben | Phillips | 95,000 |
| Edison | Nguyen | 85,000 |
| Billy | Argyros | 70,000 |
| Coliln | Tran | 45,000 |
| Sam | Khouiss | 35,000 |
| David | Allen | 0 |
| Peco | Stojanovski | 0 |
| Phillip | Ward | 0 |
| Steve | Pappas | 0 |
| David | Borg | 0 |
| Angelo | Scicchitano | 0 |
| Tino | Leichich | 0 |
| Didier | Guerin | 0 |
| Ken | Demlakian | 0 |
| Tony | Kondevski | 0 |
| Mathew | Rolfe | 0 |
What were you thinking Croc?
Billy ‘The Croc’ Argyros has returned to his table almost ten minutes into the level seemingly surprised that play had started. Either his watch didn’t work or he didn’t know that the break was only 30 minutes long. C’mon Crocky!
Play has resumed
The dinner break has concluded and players have returned to face Level 14 with blinds 1500/3000 and an ante of 500.
Tournament announcement
Star Poker Manager Stephen Ibrahim and his team have made the decision to continue play this evening through Level 19 OR when two tables of 9 players remain, whichever comes first. That will mean that play should finish no later than midnight tonight. Play will then resume tomorrow (Monday) at 12.30pm and continue until a winner is crowned.
A massage while playing poker, why not!
Michael and Stephanie and the team from Best Hands Shiatsu Massage (http://besthands.com.au) are providing much needed mental and physical support to poker players at the tables during this year’s Summer Series. And they’ve been doing it for years. At only $2 a minute, players get some much needed relief from their hours of being seated, concentrating intensely on the game. Perhaps even the reporters might sign up to be treated!
Major break
Players are on their extended 30-minute break. The field has slowly whittled itself down to 76 players. The chip leaders at the end of Level 13 are:
Saliendra Sha – 390,000
Charlie Bakhos – 376,000
George Zheng – 363,000
Tom Rafferty – 360,000
Boubou – 324,000
Mayra Ramos – 295,000
Chip Leaders
Charlie Bakhos – 395,000
George Zheng – 384,000
Saliendra Sha – 380,000
Tom Rafferty – 320,000
Mayra Ramos – 310,000
Vamos Ramos
Three way all-in action saw Mayra Ramos (pictured) again holding the upper hand with her A A vs J J vs 9 9. With the jacks holding around 100k and the nines holding 50k, the pot amounted to over a cool 300k. With another player claiming he folded J 9 the odds were in Ramos’ favour. And so were the poker gods as she stayed ahead to rake in her chips. Ramos is now well and truly one of the chip leaders in the tournament with 310,000.
Scicchitano skittled
George Zhong is going from strength to strength taking down a big pot, again on Table 12. In pre-flop action that saw a raise to 12,000 and two callers, the flop came Kd-6d-6s when Angelo Scicchitano (pictured) went all-in for his remaining 80,000 in chips. Zhong called and the other player got out of the way to see Scicchitano table As Ks to Zhong’s Ad Ah. The turn came 8s, the river 10h, to see Scicchitano hit the rail and send Zhong’s chip count upwards to 375,000.
Now that’s not supposed to happen!
Paul Elliot has seen it all before as he calls Luke Kelly’s all-in action with pocket Aces against pocket Queens. On a flop of 9-J-J he was feeling pretty safe until one of the crowd called for a 10 at the turn and a 10 magically appeared. With an up and down straight draw appearing, the crowd went quiet as the river showed an 8. Kelly’s queens crack Elliot’s Aces and the 90k pot is taken down.
Blinds are up
The Main Event has reached Level 13 with blinds 1200/2400 and an ante of 400. There are currently 93 players left and the stack average is a little over 110,000 in chips.
One for the ladies
Mayra Ramos raises from the cut off to 4,500 (almost minimum raise) and only the BB Chris Chiddy calls. The flop comes down 4-7-5 and Chiddy checks to Ramos who bets 11,000. Chiddy check-raises to 31,000. Ramos flat calls the extra 20,000. The turn comes a Q and Chiddy moves all-in for his remaining 40,000 to which Ramos snap calls. Chiddy turns over A 7 for top pair top kicker but his heart sinks when Ramos turns over Q Q and the deep, dark realisation hits that he is drawing dead and his tournament is over.
Charlie B can’t stay anonymous for ever
Charlie Bakhos who yesterday wanted to remain as anonymous as possible, has taken a dominating lead. Under the gun, Bakhos raises to 7,000 with Ah 7h to be called by Stephen Graham. Andrew Scarf (pictured) then raises to 35,000 with A A. Bakhos decides to call while Graham folds. The flop comes 7-4-2 rainbow, Bakhos checks and Scarf moves all-in for his remaining 80,000. Bakhos calls and with a 10 at the turn, Scarf looks like picking up the biggest pot of the day. Alas, a 7 on the river gives Scarf the opportunity to tell everyone he knows what could have been and Bakhos wins the biggest pot of the day. He’s now the clear chip leader with over 400k in chips and he simply cannot remain anonymous now!
Chip Counts
Early Level 12 chip leaders and notables:
| Saliendra | Sha | 305,000 |
| Charlie | Bakhos | 283,000 |
| George | Zhong | 230,000 |
| Danny | Zhong | 220,000 |
| Timo | Pfutzenreter | 211,000 |
| Angelo | Scicchitano | 205,000 |
| James | Webb | 202,000 |
| Danny | Yuling | 200,000 |
| Myles | Lattacher | 200,000 |
| Dean | Blatt | 160,000 |
| Jimmy | Ghobrial | 160,000 |
| Tom | Rafferty | 155,000 |
| Jazz | Mathers | 140,000 |
| David | Allen | 125,000 |
| Ben | Phillips | 120,000 |
| Aaron | Benton | 110,000 |
| Peco | Stojanovski | 110,000 |
| Dean | Yuen | 92,000 |
| Tino | Leichich | 75,000 |
| Phillip | Ward | 70,000 |
| Didier | Guerin | 60,000 |
| Ken | Demlakian | 45,000 |
| Tony | Kondevski | 45,000 |
| Coliln | Tran | 40,000 |
| Mathew | Rolfe | 40,000 |
| Sam | Khouiss | 38,000 |
| Steve | Pappas | 35,000 |
| Billy | Argyros | 30,000 |
| David | Borg | 25,000 |
Blinds are up
Level 12 has begun with blinds 1000/2000 and an ante of 300.
First break of the day
Players are on a 10-minute break.
The Sun’s not shining
Table 12 has not been lucky for Henry Sun (pictured) who has busted at the hands of David Tam. Tam with 4 4 called Sun’s all-in shove for his remaining 16k. Unfortunately for Sun, his Ad Kd didn’t hit as the board ran out 2d-7c-Qc-9h-8d to send him to the rail.
Zhong’s not wrong
Plenty of action has been happening early on Day 2 and we caught George Zhong raking in a huge pot of over 150k with the nut flush against David Tam on Table 12. As we’ve mentioned earlier, Table 12 has been lucky for some over the past two days so perhaps it’s Zhong who can take advantage of the karma at that table. Zhong is now up with the chip leaders with 224,000 in chips.
How’s it going to work today?
The aim today in the Main Event is to get to the cash at 32 players and then reassess things from there. After the dinner break tonight, Star Poker Manager Stephen Ibrahim will make a call on how much further to play. Historically a final table has not been reached prior to the last day, so it’d be reasonably safe to predict play to conclude with perhaps 18 runners (two tables) left. We will keep you updated.
Ibrahim has been happy with the final numbers for this year’s Main Event. While you always want more, the aim was to reach 350, so 345 was almost on target. The challenge today with 148 players starting Day 2 is the Bounty Event that is scheduled to begin shortly at 2pm. Depending on the numbers in that event, cash tables may be kept to a minimum until the fields start to whittle down.
Top chip counts
Saliendra Sha – 300,000
Donald Civic – 270,000
Charlie Bakhos – 242,000
Victor Teng – 230,000
Timo Demiakian – 190,000
Andrew Scarf – 180,000
Nicholas Lee – 176,000
Phil Ward – 174,000
Teresa Natoli – 172,000
Geoff Mooney (pictured) – 170,000
Aaron Benton – 157,000
George Boustani – 141,000
Blinds are up, a few hit the rail
Play has reached Level 11 with blinds 900/1800 and an ante of 200. Of the 148 players that started the day, 130 remain. Average stack is almost 80,000 in chips.
Who made it to Day 2?
Those in the field today include Andrew Hinrichsen, Billy ‘The Croc’ Argyros, David Borg, Dean Yuen, Andrew Scarf, Aaron Benton, Jazz Mathers, Peco Stojanovski, Patrick Healy, Dean Blatt, Jimmy Ghobrial, Tino Leichich, Sam Khouiss, Didier Guerin (pictured), David Tam, Robert Spano, Minh Nguyen, Tom Rafferty, Shivan Abdine, Martin Kozlov, Nabil Edgtton, Tony Kondevski, Steve Pappas, Dave Allen and Michael Tran.
Ward takes an early hit
Not seated on the lucky Table 12 today, Phil Ward has ran into trouble early on Day 2. On a flop of 7s-6d-2d Ward bet out into two players for 9,000 with David Allan moving all-in for 24,100 straight. Ward puts Allan on a small flush draw and makes the call. Allan turns over 9d Jd and amazingly Ward shows Ks 8s. Ward makes the call for the extra 15,100 with K high. The turn comes a 7d and Ward is drawing dead to lose the pot.
For what seems like a crazy call, the odds of Ward winning the pot are 48% and with over 24,000 already in the middle Ward is investing 15k to win over 39k. That is, he is getting paid 2.6 times his money for what is basically a coin flip. Interesting.
Nestorovic crashes and burns
One of the chip leaders in yesterday’s Flight 2, Kris Nestorovic, with over 170,000 in chips at one point, has busted early on Day 2. Ben Phillips was seated with Nestorovic yesterday and took a number of his chips in the last hour of play. Nestorovic started Days 2 with 82,800 but his slide has obviously continued as he’s hit the rail within the first 30 minutes of play today.
Thanks to our live reporting partners The Inside Word
Live reporting for this event is proudly brought to you by PokerMedia Australia partners The Inside Word.
Day 2 play is underway
Play has started on Day 2 of the $2000 Summer Series Main Event. Players begin the day faced with Level 10 where blinds are 700/1400 and an ante of 200. Play is currently 10-handed, which will continue until ten tables remain. At that point play will change to 9-handed.
Welcome to the 2014 Star Poker Summer Series Main Event
Welcome to PokerMedia Australia’s coverage of the 2014 Star Poker Summer Series Main Event, live from The Star in Sydney.
Day 1 Flight 2 yesterday saw 211 players enter and 79 qualify for Day 2. They will join the 69 players who qualified from Flight 1 for a total of 148 players that will battle it out today to at least make the final 32 players to min cash for $4350.
Play will commence at 12.30pm today (Sunday, December 7). 148 players will begin play. The starting chip counts are as follows:
| Sailendra | Sha | 255,600 |
| Charlie | Bakhos | 250,900 |
| Phillp | Ward | 234,900 |
| George | Boustani | 201,900 |
| Ben | Phillips | 166,600 |
| Vasken | Demlakian | 163,800 |
| Victor | Teng | 161,400 |
| Teresa | Natoli | 152,300 |
| Timo | Pfutzenreter | 147,800 |
| Myles | Lattacher | 136,400 |
| Yu Liang | Zhong | 127,500 |
| Guang-ming | Zhong | 127,000 |
| Ljudevit | Marinic | 124,500 |
| Hauman | Darbani | 123,200 |
| Donald | Civic | 121,900 |
| Aaron | Benton | 121,000 |
| Lerrina | Heinrich | 116,700 |
| Jordan | Kilner | 116,000 |
| Joseph | Alvaro | 113,900 |
| Angelo | Scicchitano | 111,100 |
| Steven | Bui | 106,300 |
| Ryan | Hong | 105,600 |
| Jason | O’brien | 104,100 |
| Yibo | Zhou | 102,000 |
| Nicholas | Lee | 100,500 |
| David | Borg | 99,600 |
| David | Urban | 98,900 |
| Mitchell | Carle | 98,700 |
| Chris | Ayoub | 97,800 |
| Zhen Yu | Li | 97,800 |
| Cale | Maclean | 96,700 |
| Dean | Yuen | 95,700 |
| Geoff | Mooney | 95,300 |
| Alexander | Antonios | 94,400 |
| Andrew | Scarf | 92,000 |
| Joe | Reina | 89,500 |
| Rajesh | Sabapathy | 86,900 |
| Nick | Williams | 86,700 |
| James | Webb | 85,400 |
| Jarryd | Godena | 85,300 |
| Christopher | Chiddy | 85,000 |
| Colm | Galloway | 85,000 |
| Jim | Pizanias | 83,500 |
| Kris | Nestorovic | 82,800 |
| Jazz | Mathers | 81,300 |
| Peco | Stojanovski | 81,000 |
| William | Filipopoulos | 80,200 |
| Fady | Alam | 79,000 |
| Ian | Logan | 77,900 |
| Patrick | Healy | 77,500 |
| Henry | Tran | 77,500 |
| Nicolaie | Albiciuc | 77,300 |
| Andrew | Michael | 76,600 |
| Jimmy | Ghobrial | 75,800 |
| Dean | Blatt | 75,800 |
| Vince | Green-gibson | 74,700 |
| Benjamin | Richardson | 74,500 |
| Trent | Adams | 73,100 |
| Mathew | Rolfe | 72,100 |
| Manuel | Hansimikali | 71,800 |
| Fred | Neuman | 71,600 |
| Paul | Gooley | 71,500 |
| Jonathan | Karamalikis | 71,200 |
| Chris | Nikolaou | 71,100 |
| Anthony | Sheedy | 70,500 |
| Tino | Leichich | 70,400 |
| Peter | Dykes | 67,500 |
| Dean | Stevenson | 67,100 |
| Collin | Tran | 66,900 |
| Thibaut | Klinghammer | 65,200 |
| Ebon | Bokody | 64,300 |
| Michael | Sorbara | 63,000 |
| Ali | Khouiss | 62,900 |
| Paul | Wilcox | 62,400 |
| Damien | Walshe | 62,400 |
| Didier | Guerin | 61,700 |
| Kasra | Bakhshaee | 61,500 |
| Luke | Kelly | 60,400 |
| Aharon | Shabtay | 60,300 |
| David | Maclean | 59,900 |
| Paul | Rowley | 59,500 |
| Adrian | Attenborough | 58,300 |
| Nathan | Gubieski | 58,100 |
| Karam | Bahi | 57,000 |
| David | Tam | 55,700 |
| Minh Phuc | Nguyen | 55,400 |
| John | Kouriel | 55,400 |
| Lior | Segre | 54,000 |
| Reza | Vakili | 54,000 |
| Robert | Spano | 53,000 |
| Rhys | Gould | 52,800 |
| Terence | Clee | 51,800 |
| Diarmuid | O’kane | 51,400 |
| Michel | Bouskila | 50,800 |
| Tom | Rafferty | 50,400 |
| Barry | Forrester | 49,900 |
| Michael | Fraser | 49,500 |
| Unknown | 382795 | 47,800 |
| Shivan | Abdine | 47,700 |
| Martin | Kozlov | 47,400 |
| Steven | Hirst | 47,200 |
| Nabil | Edgtton | 45,800 |
| Ross | Stevenson | 45,300 |
| Jackson | Zheng | 44,200 |
| Samir | Khouiss | 43,600 |
| Paul | Elliot | 43,200 |
| Milan | Gurung | 41,900 |
| Todor | Kondevski | 41,300 |
| Peter | Frazis | 41,200 |
| Joel | Cohen | 41,000 |
| Graeme | Watson | 40,000 |
| Steve | Pappas | 39,200 |
| Dejan | Boskovic | 37,900 |
| Unknown | 382820 | 37,000 |
| Stephen | Graham | 36,500 |
| Jim | Doumit | 36,400 |
| Jason | Ward | 35,800 |
| Tsz Hin | Ng | 35,600 |
| Tien | Pham | 35,000 |
| Vasilios | Argyros | 34,900 |
| Jin-ah | Min | 31,100 |
| Dinesh | Velupillay | 30,200 |
| Lenny | De Rosa | 29,900 |
| Adil | Bayazitli | 29,500 |
| Ali | Ghezelbash | 28,400 |
| Camil | Debsia | 28,000 |
| Anthony | Aston | 27,400 |
| Michael | Kanaan | 26,600 |
| Robert | Moh | 26,100 |
| Ramin | Mansour-seperghan | 25,300 |
| Tommy | Leung | 25,000 |
| David | Lim | 23,900 |
| David | Brand | 23,200 |
| Henry (hong Yi) | Sun | 22,000 |
| Mayra | Ramos | 21,500 |
| Zion | Chan | 20,400 |
| Michael | Mayar | 20,100 |
| Andrew | Bliss | 19,300 |
| John | Gilberg | 19,300 |
| Piers E. | Carter | 18,600 |
| Michael | Levy | 18,400 |
| Stephen | Lindeblad | 18,400 |
| Adam | Ratten | 18,400 |
| David | Allan | 16,500 |
| Andrew | Hinrichsen | 16,100 |
| Michael | Tran | 15,000 |
| Bradley | Livermore | 13,300 |
| Ben | Zhang | 11,400 |
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