2015 ANZPT Sydney – ANZPT Main Event NLH $2300 / Day 1 / Flight 2

Confirmed end of day chip counts

Sam	Ruha	102,200
Uzziah	Thomas	91,400
Min Jae	Park	90,900
Harry	Basle	88,400
Ronald	Bean	85,800
Josh	Trott	83,700
Timothy	Mitchell	82,800
Yifan	Zhou	82,600
Tim	English	81,800
Li-ta	Hsu	79,100
Iori	Yogo	76,700
Chad	Awerbuch	75,800
Panayotis	Panayotis	75,000
George	Kyritsis	73,700
Murray	Roach	73,000
Ben	Cox	72,600
Terence	Clee	72,500
Van	Tran	72,400
Blake	Lockwood	71,700
Paul	O’Brien	71,600
Joel	Douaglin	70,700
Yanji	Ge	69,000
Suzy	Khoueis	67,000
Dimitrios	Psaros	65,800
Bruce	Hall	65,700
Hussain	Hassan	64,400
Patrick	Dahan	62,900
Max	Chin	59,100
Sean	Lannon	58,600
Jian	Chen	58,100
John	Thomson	57,500
Xuan	Liu	57,000
Ali	Ghezelbash	55,000
Dave	Fox	51,500
Denis	Sekuloski	48,400
Fabian	Craib	47,400
Sean	Todd	46,600
Alex	Falon	46,400
Peter	Nissirios	46,200
Fady	Alam	45,800
Camil	Debsia	45,500
Ben	Savage	45,400
Derek	Davor	45,200
Nafiz	Safi	45,000
David	Sebesfi	44,900
Jarryd	Godena	43,800
Sean	Keeton	43,300
Sheldon	Mayer	43,200
Tony	Hachem	42,700
Lucio	Varrasso	42,400
Jack	Drake	42,300
Victor	Fong	41,700
Li	Yang	41,700
Michael	Matsioukkou	41,100
Steve	Pappas	39,800
Tony	Maia	39,500
Tae	Park	39,400
Jason	O’Brien	38,800
Jazz	Mathers	38,700
Giuseppe	Scaravilli	38,600
James	Rann	38,200
Craig	Blight	36,600
Ciaran	Sharpe	36,500
Gianluca	Mastroianni	36,300
Alastair	Parkhill	36,000
Adrian J	Indovino	35,800
Chu Kheng	Ong	35,700
Peter	Baars	35,400
Bassam	Habib	35,300
Gareth	Morgan	34,700
Michael	Egan	33,400
Leo	Boxell	33,300
Jai	Kemp	32,900
Michael	O’Connor	31,900
Ronnie	Bardah	31,600
Nick	Williams	31,400
Cheng-en	Lee	31,200
Chris	Ayoub	30,000
Carl	Saltalamacchia	29,900
Madhusoodhanan	Appia Cokulan	28,600
Eduardo	Soares	28,100
Tam	Truong	28,000
Andre	Olivia	27,800
Manu	Austin	26,800
Yibo	Zhou	26,000
Justin	Van Nguyen	25,800
John	Fitzpatrick	25,000
Tom	Rafferty	24,400
Tyrone	Liu	23,800
Andrew	Michael	23,300
Samir	Khouiss	22,900
Ramin	Mansour-Seperghan	22,900
Luke	Brabin	22,600
Evan	Ryan	22,300
Navid	King	21,800
Ashley	Parkhill	20,900
Wayne	Carlson	20,200
Teva	Tavita	20,200
Luke	Edwards	19,700
Ricky	Hayden	19,700
David	Hirst	19,200
Chung	Liew	18,500
Diarmuid	O’Kane	18,400
Nicholas	Nicolaou	17,700
Gaetano	Scaravilli	17,500
Mark	Byczkiw	17,300
Louis	Luo	17,000
Jared	Graham	16,800
Jerome	de Loureiro	16,700
Kris	Nestorovic	16,700
Michael	Doodson	16,400
Michael	Seymour	16,300
Joe	Cabret	15,900
Nicholas	Heather	15,800
Joseph	Sandaev	15,100
Nino	Qualita	14,700
Chris	Kittos	14,600
Duy Quang	Nguyen	13,700
Josko	Markovic	13,500
Jordan	Grady	13,200
Michael	Addamo	11,600
Roy	Vandersluis	11,600
Perry	Michael	11,500
Michael	Guzzardi	10,800
Manny	Stavropoulos	10,400
Frank	Esteves	9,600
Adrian	Attenborough	8,700
David	O’Brien	5,800

Flight 2 complete

Play has finished for the evening.  Sam Ruha is the unconfirmed chip leader with 102k while Uzziah (not Isaiah!) Thomas is second with 91k. Official chip counts will be collated and advised as soon as possible. This is what we can confirm:

Sam Ruha	102,000
Uzziah Thomas	91,000
Chad Awerbuch	75,800
Terence Clee	72,500
Joel Douaglin	70,700
Suzy Khoueis	67,000
Huss Hassan	64,400
John Thomson	57,500
Ben Savage	45,400
David Sebesfi	44,900
Sheldon Mayer	43,200
Tony Hachem	42,700
Jazz Mathers	40,000
Steve Pappas	39,800
Ciaran Sharp	36,500
Jai Kemp	32,900
Chris Ayoub	30,000
Carl Salty	29,900
Tom Rafferty	24,400
Sam Khouiss	22,900
Luke Brabin	22,600
Michael Doodson	16,400
Manny Stavropoulos	10,400

Day 2 will begin tomorrow at 12.30pm. Join us then for another big day of tournament poker.

Clock stopped

The clock has been stopped with fifteen minutes left in the level. All tables will now play three more hands and then bag up their chips.

Floor updates

A few quick updates from the floor include:

– Graham ‘Kiwi G’ has been busted
– Tony Hachem registered late and now sits on 40k in chips
– Jarred Graham has registered even later that Hachem, starting his play towards the title from the last level possible (level 7)
– Michael ‘Pokerlife’ Tran has just hit the rail
– Chad Awerbuch continues his near leader performance with 65k in chips
– Chris ‘The Grinder’ Ayoub is grinding away as usual and hopes to emulate his finish in the Summer Series main event last year
– Jai Kemp remains alive and well with almost 40k in chips, and importantly always has an ice cold beer at hand

That’s bizzarre

We caught the action where a player had gone all-in with Kh-Kc on a board of 5h-3h-6h-Qd and was called by 5s-5d. As the dealer attempted to reveal the river card it flipped out of control into the muck, face down. What should happen now? Well, staff were adamant they could not retrieve the card from the muck. Therefore, in very rare circumstances, the hand was declared void. With some conjecture, all players got their chips back and play starts again with a new hand.

Unconfirmed final numbers

Registration has now officially closed so the unconfirmed final entries for the day are 257. Yesterday’s flight had 188 entries, taking the total to approximately 445 for the tournament. This number will be confirmed by ANZPT staff after reconciling tables and registrations and we’ll advise when that’s made available.

Currently 162 players remain in the flight today. Those that can hold on for this final level will join the 84 players from yesterday who qualify for Day 2 tomorrow.

One more to go tonight

Players have returned from their short break for level 7 where blinds are 400/800 with an ante of 100.

Final break of the day

Players are on a 10-minute break. When they return they will play their last level of the night.

It’s all in the name of poker

Level 6 has provided some interest in that a table was brought to attention for potential collusion. As per a PokerNews post, a player has received an orbit penalty but the details are a little scratchy. We were able to personally hear a somewhat heated conversation between player and tournament staff (staff were calm by the way). The player was adamant that cards were not shown and wanted the camera to clear it all up. He was after an apology if he was right!

Also, a number of busts have occurred including $5k Challenge champion Elliot Smith, our pretty hat-wearing Dean Blatt, and Tom Grigg – who had been nursing a very small chip stack for several levels. It seemed his call for beers some time ago spelt the end but he just kept hanging around. Eventually he must have fallen off that cliff.

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Friday night tips (NRL and A-League):

NRL featured betting preview:
Brisbane Broncos (1-1) v North Queensland Cowboys (0-2); Suncorp Stadium; Brisbane, Qld; Friday, March 20, 7.35pm

The long-standing intrastate rivalry between Brisbane and North Queensland enters its 21st season when the Cowboys journey to Suncorp tonight. All the talk this week has been the treatment of Jonathan Thurston. The champion playmaker copped more than his fair share of roughhousing against the Knights last Saturday, leaving him battered and bruised after the game. Brisbane’s Corey Parker lit the pre-game fuse by warning his Maroons teammate to expect the same treatment inside the cauldron with the likes of Josh Maguire and Adam Blair unlikely to take a backwards step in pursuit of the 245-game veteran. 



These sides have scored just 34 points combined in two games so far this season, and that’s where we’re playing tonight. Anthony Milford looks as if he’s struggling to adapt at five eighth which is having a domino effect through their entire attack. It’s a similar story for the Cowboys, with Robert Lui dropped in favour of Michael Morgan in an attempt to kick-start their own attack. Recent clashes at Suncorp Stadium have been tight affairs. The past six games have been decided by six points or less with Brisbane winning four of them.


Confirmed bet: Brisbane Broncos v North Queensland Cowboys -38 (one unit @ $1.93)

A-League featured betting preview:
Sydney FC (10-8-3, 38 pts) v Melbourne City (7-6-8, 27 pts); Allianz Stadium, Sydney, NSW; Friday, March 20, 7.40pm


Sydney FC’s run since the Asian Cup has been pretty impressive. They’re unbeaten, and have scored 25 goals in their past seven matches and have climbed from fifth to second spot in the past month. Marc Janko has scored 12 goals in his last seven Hyundai A-League games for Sydney. A win here and the Sky Blues will ascend top spot for at least 48 hours until Wellington play Brisbane Roar on Sunday.

If there’s one concern for coach Graham Arnold it’s at the back, where they have leaked 14 goals in those past seven matches. City’s up-and-down season continued with a huge win over the Jets last week, following back-to-back defeats against the Wanderers and Mariners. A defeat would deal their hopes of playing in the finals a big blow with John van ‘t Schip’s side currently holding a two-point buffer on Brisbane but the Roar have two games in hand. Josh Kennedy will miss the trip for City with a hip injury, meaning David Williams is most likely to lead the attack. City are winless in five away games (D1 L4), failing to score in four of those.


Confirmed bet: Sydney FC WIN v Melbourne City (one unit @ $1.88)

Chip counts

Counts early in level 6 are as follows:

Chad Awerbuch (pictured)	80,000
Terence Clee	60,000
Carl Salty	50,000
John Thomson	50,000
David Sebesfi	48,000
Ben Savage	38,000
Steve Pappas	36,000
Leo Boxell	35,000
Jai Kemp	32,000
Luke Brabin	30,000
Michael Doodson	30,000
Tony Hachem	30,000
Tony Kondevski	30,000
Ciaran Sharp	30,000
Sam Khouiss	28,000
Elliot Smith	26,000
Suzy Khoueis	25,000
Sheldon Mayer	24,000
Jazz Mathers	22,000
Tam Truong	22,000
Andrew Scarf	21,000
Huss Hassan	20,000
Ben Richardson	19,000
Joel Douaglin	18,000
Michael Seymour	18,000
Graham ‘Kiwi G’ Putt	17,000
Manny Stavropoulos	17,000
Dean Blatt	16,000
Ronnie Shabtay	15,000
Roy Vandersluis	15,000
Michael Tran	12,000
Tom Rafferty	10,000
Michel Bouskila	6,000
Tom Grigg	6,000
Joel Cohen
Rory Young
Adrian Salter
Jono Karamalikis
Mike Ivan
Robbie O’Brien
Trevor Saunders
Tristan Bain
Victor Teng

Blinds are up

Play has reached level 6 where blinds are 300/600 with an ante of 75.

No cigar this year

2013 Star Poker Summer Series main event winner Tristan Bain has been knocked out of the ANZPT main event. Bain started the hand with 17k and pre-flop made it 2200 to go. Terence Clee called and they saw a flop of 9d-4h-3d. Clee bet 4k, Bain went all-in for his remaining 14k which Clee called after a count. Bain turned over 4c-10 for middle pair while Clee tabled 5d-6d for a flush and straight draw. The turn was good for Clee as it fell Jd, the river an Ac. Bain was sent to the rail while Clee has 43k in chips.

Break is over, blinds are up

Players have returned from their short break to face level 5 with blinds 200/400 with an ante of 50. There are three levels remaining in play today.

Chip Counts

Towards the end of level 4 chip stacks were as follows:

Chad Awerbuch	64,000
Rory Young	54,000
Carl Salty	50,000
Tam Truong	50,000
John Thomson	42,000
Steve Pappas	41,000
Michael Seymour	40,000
Sheldon Mayer	40,000
Ben Savage	35,000
Michael Doodson	34,000
Dean Blatt	32,000
Leo Boxell	30,000
Suzy Khoueis	28,000
Joel Douaglin	26,000
Roy Vandersluis	26,000
Jazz Mathers	25,000
David Sebesfi	23,000
Graham ‘Kiwi G’ Putt	23,000
Ben Richardson	20,000
Sam Khouiss	20,000
Tony Hachem	20,000
Elliot Smith	18,000
Jai Kemp	18,000
Andrew Scarf	17,000
Manny Stavropoulos	14,000
Joel Cohen	13,000
Michael Tran	12,000
Ronnie Shabtay	11,000
Tony Kondevski	11,000
Tom Rafferty	10,000
Victor Teng	10,000
Michel Bouskila	9,000
Jono Karamalikis	8,000
Tom Grigg	8,000
Adrian Salter
Mike Ivan
Robbie O’Brien
Trevor Saunders

Short break

Players are on a 10-minute break. Currently 207 players remain of 255 entries for the day.

The pressure is on

Our dark horse mentioned earlier, Carl ‘Salty’ Saltalamaccia (pictured) has seen the spare seat to his immediate right taken by a player of poker royalty. Leo Boxell has brought Wally (see note below) and his chips to the table, so it’ll be a big test for Salty to see how he combats a man with such experience.

Get out of bed

It was nice to see Jai Kemp walk into the room and take a seat at the table. He’s left his registration reasonably late but perhaps it’s part of his master plan? No excuse for not being well rested, Kemp is seated two places to the right of our fashionable Dean Blatt.

Helping hand

Poker players would admit that they’re a strange bunch. And at the table you see all kinds of card protectors or motivators to provide company over the many hours at the table. For Australian Poker Hall of Famer Leo Boxell (pictured), he’s been bringing ‘Wally the Wombat’ to tournaments for many years. While Wally would be getting a little long in the tooth, his wife Bev did let the wombat out of the bag – it’s probably Wally #865 given how many times he’s been forgotton at home! Let’s hope this Wally is lucky for Boxell here. He currently sits on 36k in chips.

Fashion conscious

We asked Dean Blatt (pictured) if there was a particular reason for wearing his chosen hat today. He remarked, “because I think it looks good.” I guess we should agree! He’s currently sitting on about 30k in chips.

Blinds are up

Play has reached level 4 where blinds are 150/300 with an ante of 25. 218 players remain from the 251 entries. The average stack is just over $23k.

Chip counts

Here are some chip counts midway through level 3:

Chad Awerbuch	42,000
John Thomson	37,000
Sheldon Mayer	34,000
David Sebesfi	32,000
Michael Seymour	30,000
Rory Young	30,000
Joel Douaglin	26,000
Roy Vandersluis	26,000
Steve Pappas	26,000
Carl Salty	25,000
Trevor Saunders	25,000
Suzy Khoueis	25,000
Tam Truong	24,000
Graham ‘Kiwi G’ Putt	22,000
Dean Blatt	20,000
Leo Boxell	20,000
Ben Savage	20,000
Ronnie Shabtay	20,000
Michel Bouskila	20,000
Michael Doodson	20,000
Sam Khouiss	19,000
Andrew Scarf	18,000
Tom Rafferty	18,000
Michael Tran	16,000
Tony Kondevski	16,000
Jazz Mathers	13,000
Joel Cohen	13,000
Mike Ivan	12,000
Luke Brabin	12,000
Manny Stavropoulos	11,000
Victor Teng	9,000
Robbie O’Brien	8,000
Jono Karamalikis	8,000
Adrian Salter	6,000
Ben Richardson	4,000
Tom Grigg	4,000

 

Bring it on


Players are back from their break to face level 3 where blinds are 100/200 with an ante of 25 now introduced. Entries currently sit at 249 for the day with 230 remaining.

Time for a kit kat

Players are on their first break, this one for 20 minutes. Currently there are 247 entries. There have been some busts so we’ll confirm numbers when staff have been able to reconcile the tables.

Staying alive

A somewhat fortunate player who won’t necessarily want to be named, remains alive. In pre-flop action, player X shoved for his remaining 8k and received a call. Player X tabled 9s-9h to his opponent’s Ax-Ay. The board ran out Qh-Qs-4h-Kh and…..an 8h on the river to make a flush for player X. He’s now alive with 16k in chips and may be named if he continues to build his stack!

It’s getting tight

Midway through the second level there are 245 entries for the day. Star Poker room staff will be considering the shutting of the final two cash table to accommodate further registrations in the Main Event.

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First one down, six to go

The first level has ended. 234 players have entered and no confirmed busts have been recorded. Level 2 brings blinds of 100/200.

Who’s in the field today?

Those we’ve noticed in the field as we walk the tables include Dean Blatt, Sheldon Mayer, Andrew Scarf, Luke Brabin, Michel Bouskila, Adrian Salter, Jono Karamalikis, John Thomson, Steve Pappas, Roy Vandersluis, Chad Awerbuch, Trevor Saunders, Michael Doodson, Manny Stavropoulos, Tony Kondevski, Tom Rafferty, Mike Ivan, Sam Khouiss, Suzy Khoueis, Joel Cohen, Michael Tran, Rory Young and Leo Boxell.

We’ve not located Tony Hachem as yet but spoke to him yesterday who said he’ll be playing today. There’s also a dark horse in the field today – Carl ‘Salty’ Saltalamaccia from Melbourne. While he’ll be trying to keep a low profile, we’ll aim to put the pressure on him for a strong performance.

The field is building

There are currently 204 players registered within the first 15 minutes of play, with the very real potential for a sell-out flight today. The maximum is around 260 players, playing 10-handed.

Action already

Within the first three minutes of play we’ve heard an all-in call announced. We made it to the table to see the two players chopping the pot. That could have been a very short day for one player!

Giddy Up

Play has started on time with blinds starting at 50/100. Play will continue through the end of seven levels today, finishing near 8pm. Registration will remain open until the end of the third break, after level 6.

Welcome to the ANZPT Sydney Main Event

Welcome to our coverage of the 2015 ANZPT series live from The Star poker room in Sydney. Today sees the second of two Main Event Day 1 flights with play scheduled to get under way at 12.30pm. The tournament buy-in is $2300, levels will increase every hour and players will start with 20,000 in chips.

84 players qualified for Day 2 from the first flight yesterday, from a starting field of 188 players. Those 84 players will join the qualifiers from today for Day 2 on Saturday March 21.

Last year’s main event saw 458 entrants play for a near $1m prize pool. The most recent Star Poker Summer Series Main Event attracted 345 at a $3,000 entry point, so participation is expected to be solid yet again. With a near sell-out field of 260 today, the total entries could almost reach that of last year.

Last year’s winner, Joshua Redhouse, was crowded champion for over $130,000 after a four-way deal was done. He joined Dinish Alt who won in 2013 and Gordon Huntly, the 2012 winner, who have made recent ANZPT Sydney history.

So stay tuned for a big afternoon of tournament poker.