2015 ANZPT Sydney – ANZPT Main Event NLH $2300 / Day 3

11.15pm: 2015 ANZPT final table set

We started the day with 54 players looking to reach the final table of a major event and after 11 long hours just nine of them remain, ready to return tomorrow to fight it out for the $225,000 first prize.

Among those to fall today were Didier Guerin, Tim English, Octavian Voegele, Peco Stojanovski, Tony Kamboroglou and Jackson Zheng – all of them in the money but short of their ultimate goal.

Play resumes at The Star at 2pm. The final table chip counts are as follows:

Jim Psaros 2,640,000
Denis Sekuloski 1,580,000
Murray Roach 1,495,000
Emanuel Seal 840,000
Zhi Ma 625,000
Li-ta Hsu 605,000
Shaneel Chand 595,000
Tom Rafferty 400,000
Chung Liew 155,000

11.05pm: O’Brien bubbles

David O’Brien finally found a good spot to shove for his last 400,000 when he looked down at AJ, but he forgot that Jim Psaros was at his table.

Psaros has taken it upon himself to eliminate the final three players heading into the final table and this time he found himself with a monster hand in KK.

O’Brien needed an A but couldn’t find any help on a Q-high board and we have our final 9!

10.55pm: TK TKO’d

Jim Psarros is quickly earning a reputation as the terminator after ending the tournament life of TK just moments after he sent Rined Namrood to the rail. It was another race with TK holding 77 and Psaros QJ. The board ran out Q high and Psaros has climbed to 2.2 million.

We are now on the final table bubble!

10.50pm: How Namrood!

Rined Namrood shipped his last 421,000 holding A5 and was called by Jim Psaros with KJ.

The window was a K and Psaros never looked back as he filled up on a K447K board to send Namrood to the rail.

10.35pm: Chip counts

Approximate chip counts are as follows:

Murray Roach 1,550,000
Denis Sekuloski 1,450,000
Jim Psaros 1,250,000
Zhi Ma 720,000
Shaneel Chand 640,000
Emanuel Seal 600,000
Tom Rafferty 600,000
David O’Brien 560,000
T K 500,000
Li-ta Hsu 380,000
Rined Namrood 350,000
Chung Liew 200,000

10.30pm: Blind rise!

Who thought we’d get this far tonight? Blinds are up to 20,000/40,000 with a 5,000 ante.

10.30pm: Coolered

We’ve just seen a big hand play out between Shaneel Chand and Murray Roach (pictured). It began innocently enough with Chand opening to 60,000 and Roach calling on the button. The flop came 6JJ and Chand checked to Roach who bet 60,000. Chand called and a 9 landed on the turn.

This time Chand check-called a bet of 100,000 and the dealer burned and turned a 7. Again Chand checked, Roach bet 225,000 and Chand called.

Chand confidently turned over AJ but exploded into screams of agony as he saw Roach’s 66!

With that Roach is up to 1.7 million while Chand drops to 800,000.

10.10pm: Give it to me

After three players met the blinds to see a flop it came 5Q4. Sekuloski bet 35,000 and Jim Psaros folded while TK called. The turn was a 7 and Sekuloski fired 125,000. TK called. The river was a 9, Sekuloski bet 165,000 and TK tanked before eventually making the call. Sekuloski turned over Q4 for two pair, with TK mucking.

As the chips were shipped Sekuloski confidently jeered TK for making the wrong call, nodding his head and pointing his finger – clearly very happy with himself.

Tk drops to 350,000 while Sekuloski has 1.6 million.

10.00pm: Toothpick snapped

The shortest stack in the room, Tony Kambouroglou, had no choice but to ship his last 120,000 with 67 of spades and was called by Murray Roach with 99.

The 3T7 flop was a huge one for Kamboroglou, giving him a pair and a flush draw, but he blanked the A turn and 8 river to exit in 13th.

9.50pm: Grinding away

The blinds may be starting to put the squeeze on the remaining 13 players but nevertheless it’s been a good level for the short stacks so far with Zhi Ma, Jim Psaros and Chung Liew all managing to find crucial doubles.

We also witnessed a strange fold from Murray Roach, who opened the button only for Li-ta Hsu to shove for around 650,000. Roach tanked before eventually open-folding AK!

We could be here for a while …

9.20pm: Break time

Players are on a 10-minute break.

9.10pm: Chip counts

As the end of level 23 approaches the approximate chip counts are as follows:

Shaneel Chand 1,450,000
Denis Sekuloski 1,350,000
David O’Brien 950,000
Li-ta Hsu 850,000
Murray Roach 700,000
T K 520,000
Emanuel Seal 480,000
Chung Liew 460,000
Tom Rafferty 450,000
Zhi Ma 450,000
Rined Namrood 420,000
Jim Psaros 380,000
Tony Kambouroglou 350,000

9.05pm: Wilsooooooon!!!!

Wilson Li (pictured) has just floated away, getting his short stack in holding AK and finding himself in a race against the 8s of David O’Brien.

The board ran out Q5254 and Wilson is left feeling deflated. O’Brien has 750,000.

8.50pm: No Park-ing

Min Jae Park had been gradually chipped down so when Shaneel Chand (pictured) opened from the small blind he was happy to shove with K5. Unfortunately Chand had JJ and when the board ran out 725QT, Park was off to the cage to collect his winnings.

Chand sits with 1.4 million.

8.40pm: Sekuloski flying

Denis Sekuloski continues build his stack, this time at the expense of  Rined Namrood. Sekuloski opened from the small blind and Namrood defended his big blind. The flop came 832 and Sekuloski fired out 75,000. Namrood called.

The turn was a 7 and Sekuloski continued with 100,000 more. Namrood called again.

The river was a 4 and both players checked, Namrood mucking when he saw the K8 of Sekuloski. Sekuloski is up to 1.4 million.

8.30pm: Ali flushed away

A short-stacked TK – who has requested we don’t use his name (for now we’ll grant him his wish) – shoved with J7 of hearts and found a caller in the even shorter Ali Ghezelbash (pictured) with KJ.

Ali G looked to be in good shape on a harmless 4Q4 flop but incredibly running hearts came on the turn and river to send Ali to the rail. The field is down to 15.

8.20pm: Sekuloski powers ahead

We caught the action on a flop of 4d2hJd when Ali G bet 100,000, Denis Sekuloski called while David O’Brien folded. The turn was the 6h. Ali G checked, Sekuloski bet 120,000 and Ali G called. An 8d came on the river. Ali G checked, Sekuloski announced he was all-in and Ali G went deep into the tank, shaking his head the whole time. He eventually folded.

As the chips were pushed Sekuloski’s way, Ali G mentioned that he had jacks and was worried about the potential flush. He drops to 150,000 while Sekuloski pushes up to 1.2 million in chips.

8.20pm: New level

Blinds are up to 12,000/24,000 with a 3,000 ante. Still 16 left!

7.50pm: Guerin gone

Didier Guerin (pictured) didn’t have a lot of luck when it mattered most, with JJ being his undoing in two big hands to send him to the rail. The first saw him call a shove from Jim Psaros with the latter holding A4, but an A in the window was enough for Psaros to survive.

Just a few hands later Guerin clashed with David O’Brien who held AK. Again, an A appeared in the window and no help came for Guerin who exits in 17th.

Approximate chip counts are now:

Li-ta Hsu 1,000,000
Denis Sekuloski 900,000
Shaneel Chand 880,000
Min Jae Park 850,000
Rined Namrood 800,000
Tom Rafferty 600,000
David O’Brien 580,000
Ali Ghezelbash 500,000
Chung Liew 400,000
Murray Roach 360,000
Wilson Li 330,000
Tony Kambouroglou 320,000
T K 270,000
Emanuel Seal 260,000
Zhi Ma 260,000
Jim Psaros 120,000
Didier Guerin 0

7.20pm: And we’re back

Blinds are now up to 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante. The average stack at the moment is just over 520,000 – roughly 27 big blinds – so we’re expecting some action this level from the 17 remaining players.

7.10pm: Break time

The remaining 17 players are off on a 10-minute break.

6.45pm: Another one bites the dust

Aaron Purdue (pictured) found himself short-stacked and decided to get it all-in pre-flop with Qs5s. Big stack Li-ta Hsu called with JJ. The board came Kc9sAc7c10c to knock Purdue out of the tournament in 18th place.

6.20pm: Kanaan KO’d

After a quiet period for much of the last level, the action has picked up significantly over the past 20 minutes with Michael Kanaan the latest to hit the rail.

Little has gone right for the 2011 ANZPT Sydney champion and he found himself dominated after shoving his last 150,000 holding A2 and finding a caller in Rined Namrood with AJ.

Kanaan needed help but instead four spades rubbed salt into the wound, giving Namrood the nut flush. With that elimination we are down to 18 remaining with players being moved to the final two tables.

6.10pm: Not Sharpe enough

Ciaran Sharpe’s tournament has come to an end after shoving for his final 155,000 with KQ only to run into Wilson Li’s QQ.

The board ran out AT46T and we’re down to 19.

Approximate chip counts are:

Shaneel Chand 900,000
Rined Namrood 820,000
Tom Rafferty 680,000
Min Jae Park 680,000
Li-ta Hsu 670,000
Didier Guerin 600,000
Ali Ghezelbash 520,000
Antonis Kambouroglou 500,000
Denis Sekuloski 450,000
David O’Brien 440,000
Murray Roach 380,000
Dimitrios Psaros 360,000
T K 350,000
Emanuel Seal 300,000
Chung Liew 260,000
Aaron Purdue 250,000
Wilson Li 140,000
Michael Kanaan 120,000
Zhi Ma 110,000

6.00pm: Cox gone

Ben Cox has become out latest casualty, shoving his short stack holding KJ but running into the QQ of Denis Sekuloski (pictured).

The board ran out 47363 and we’re down to 20 runners. Sekuloski chips up to 450,000 after that hand.

5.40pm: Guerin climbing

One player the rest of the field will be more than a little worried about is Didier Guerin who have been quietly building his stack today and watching the carnage unfold around him.

Guerin is still looking for his first major live tournament victory after a number of deep runs in recent years and is in decent shape here with around 675,000.

5.10pm: Back underway

Play is back underway with blinds at 6,000/12,000 and a 2,000 ante.

4.30pm: Dinner break

Time for dinner! Players are now on a 30-minute break with the 22 still in contention set to return at 5.10pm to play down to the final table. See you then!

Approximate chip counts prior to the break were:

Tom Rafferty 750,000
Li-ta Hsu 720,000
Min Jae Park 600,000
Dimitrios Psaros 530,000
Shaneel Chand 500,000
Rined Namrood 460,000
David O’Brien 450,000
Murray Roach 440,000
Ben Cox 440,000
T K 440,000
Didier Guerin 350,000
Aaron Purdue 320,000
Ali Ghezelbash 260,000
Zhi Ma 260,000
Antonis Kambouroglou 260,000
Panayotis Panayotis 250,000
Chung Liew 240,000
Ciaran Sharpe 240,000
Michael Kanaan 175,000
Emanuel Seal 170,000
Wilson Li 140,000
Denis Sekuloski 130,000

Payouts are as follows:

23 Brendan Ruse $5,500
24 Xuan Liu $5,500
25 Colin Carpenter $5,000
26 Jordan Kilner $5,000
27 Yanji Ge $5,000
28 Dave Fox $4,550
29 Peter Nissirios $4,550
30 Alastair Parkhill $4,550
31 Justin Nguyen $4,550
32 Shane Pearce $4,550
33 Manu  Austin $4,550
34 Jackson Zheng $4,550
35 Michael Ho $4,550
36 John Thomson $4,550
37 Josh Trott $4,100
38 Octavian Voegele $4,100
39 Guang Qi Zhang $4,100
40 Peco Stojanovski $4,100
41 Nathan Turner $4,100
42 Steve Pappas $4,100
43 James Rann $4,100
44 Chu Kheng Ong $4,100
45 Dominic Coombe $4,100
46 Tae Park $3,650
47 Paul O’Brien $3,650
48 Adil Bayazitli $3,650
49 Tim English $3,650
50 Martin Stausholm $3,650
51 Vasken Demlakian $3,650
52 Evan Ryan $3,650
53 Uzziah Thomas $3,650
54 Dexter Wong $3,650

4.25pm: Hsu’s art of war

There is no stopping Li-ta Hsu at the moment with Brendan Ruse his latest victim. It was a pre-flop battle that saw the pair get it in with Hsu holding JJ to Ruse’s 66.

The board gave Hsu a scare but ultimately ended safely as it ran out 7425A with Hsu now a massive chip leader with almost 900,000 in chips.

4.10pm: A piece for all

We’ve just seen a dramatic few minutes on Table 28 that has resulted in two players hitting the rail, including an unlucky Jordan Kilner (pictured). Kilner has looked strong all tournament but suddenly found himself crippled after running his AQ into the AK of Murray Roach. The KQ9 flop hit both players but it was Murray coming out on top with Kilner crippled.

A few hands later he shoved with A5 and was called by Li-ta Hsu with A7. Again both players hit on the J75 flop and again it was Kilner on the wrong end as he exited the arena.

Incredibly, a near identical fate took care of Yanji Ge with Li-ta Hsu continuing his demolition job. Hsu held AK and Ge AQ with the table in uproar as the board ran out AKQ7T!

Thanks to The Inside Word

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3.40pm: New level

We’re counting down to the end of Level 18 and what an eventful level it’s been with a flurry of eliminations within minutes of the break.

Blinds will rise to 5,000/10,000 with 30 players remaining.

Payouts to date are as follows:

31 Justin Nguyen $4,550
32 Shane Pearce $4,550
33 Manu  Austin $4,550
34 Jackson Zheng $4,550
35 Michael Ho $4,550
36 John Thomson $4,550
37 Josh Trott $4,100
38 Octavian Voegele $4,100
39 Guang Qi Zhang $4,100
40 Peco Stojanovski $4,100
41 Nathan Turner $4,100
42 Steve Pappas $4,100
43 James Rann $4,100
44 Chu Kheng Ong $4,100
45 Dominic Coombe $4,100
46 Tae Park $3,650
47 Paul O’Brien $3,650
48 Adil Bayazitli $3,650
49 Tim English $3,650
50 Martin Stausholm $3,650
51 Vasken Demlakian $3,650
52 Evan Ryan $3,650
53 Uzziah Thomas $3,650
54 Dexter Wong $3,650

3.35pm: Up and down

What an eventful 20 minutes it has been for Rined Namrood, who has just been involved in another big pot – this time finding himself on the wrong end of a cooler.

We picked up the action on the turn with the board reading ATTQ and O’Brien leading into Namrood. The latter announced he was all-in and O’Brien snap-called. Namrood held KJ for Broadway but it was O’Brien who had flopped a boat with his AT to take down a nice pot and move to around 400,000.

Namrood drops back to 160,000.

3.20pm: How Nam-rood

Rined Namrood looked more than a little surprised to come out on top following an interesting hand on Table 29, but he now sits with almost 300,000 and seems much happier than he was a few moments earlier.

The hand began with Michael Kanaan raising to 16,000 UTG and Chu Kheng Ong coming along for the ride. Colin Carpenter then 3-bet to 40,000 from the small blind as Namrood called in the big blind. Kanaan folded while Ong called.

The flop came down 2K3 and it was checked around. A 9 on the river put a third spade on the board and Namrood led for 45,000. Ong folded while Carpenter went deep into the tank – eventually making the call.

The river was the A of spades and both players checked, Carpenter showing 10s and Namrood JJ with neither holding a spade. Namrood breathed a sigh of relief while Carpenter is very short now with just 100,000.

3.20pm: C’mon Colnnnn

In pre-flop action, Jackson Zheng pushed all-in for his remaining small stack, Colin Carpenter (pictured) announced all-in as well, while Rined Namrood reluctantly folded, showing AT. Zheng turned over Jh9h to Carpenter’s KK.

The board ran out 2c-10c-As-Ad-9s to knock Zheng out of the tournament. But that was of little concern to the table and Namrood, who would have won the hand and knocked out two players had he called.

2.50pm: Chip counts

Li-ta Hsu 640,000
Min Jae Park 550,000
Shaneel Chand 500,000
Denis Sekuloski 475,000
Tom Rafferty 460,000
Ben Cox 450,000
Dimitrios Psaros 440,000
Panayotis Panayotis 390,000
Didier Guerin 350,000
Brendan Ruse 300,000
Antonis Kambouroglou 300,000
Ciaran Sharpe 290,000
T K 230,000
Michael Kanaan 220,000
Emanuel Seal 165,000
Dave Fox 130,000

2.40pm: Level up

Players have returned from their break to face level 18 where blinds are 4000/8000 with an ante of 1000.

The current payouts have been:

39 Guang Qi Zhang $4,100
40 Peco Stojanovski $4,100
41 Nathan Turner $4,100
42 Steve Pappas $4,100
43 James Rann $4,100
44 Chu Kheng Ong $4,100
45 Dominic Coombe $4,100
46 Tae Park $3,650
47 Paul O’Brien $3,650
48 Adil Bayazitli $3,650
49 Tim English $3,650
50 Martin Stausholm $3,650
51 Vasken Demlakian $3,650
52 Evan Ryan $3,650
53 Uzziah Thomas $3,650
54 Dexter Wong $3,650

2.30pm: Break time

Players are on a 10-minute break. 38 players remain.

2.15pm: Wham bam

Li-ta Hsu is cutting a swathe through Table 25, having just sent two more players packing in quick succession. Moments after we spotted Steve Pappas heading to the rail, Nathan Turner joined him after shoving with AQ and find a call from Hsu with 77.

Turner needed help but a 7 on the turn ended any chance of that as he exits in 41st spot.

2.05pm: Top 3

Panayotis Panayotis 525,000
Min Jae Park 450,000
Li-ta Hsu 430,000

2.00pm: Roach rallies

Murray Roach shoved his short stack on the button and wouldn’t have liked what he saw when Guangqi Zhang called then Brendan Ruse shoved for 82,500 more from the big blind.

Zhang reluctantly folded with Ruse turning over AK to dominate Roach’s A4. There was drama to follow though with the 835 flop giving Roach a few extra outs, one of which he managed to find with  the 3 river giving him a wheel.

Roach is up to 220,000 after that hand.

1.50pm: Payouts

44 Chu Kheng Ong $4,100
45 Dominic Coombe $4,100
46 Tae Park $3,650
47 Paul O’Brien $3,650
48 Adil Bayazitli $3,650
49 Tim English $3,650
50 Martin Stausholm $3,650
51 Vasken Demlakian $3,650
52 Evan Ryan $3,650
53 Uzziah Thomas $3,650
54 Dexter Wong $3,650

1.45pm: Rann canned

James Rann got the last of his chips in holding QJ .of diamonds on a Td7d3h board and found himself up against Yanji Ge’s 53 of diamonds.

That left the pair just about racing but Rann’s outs were slashed when a 5 landed on the turn and a repeat 5 on the river filled Ge up to send Rann to the rail.

1.30pm: Level up

The clock has ticked over into the second level of the day with blinds now at 3,000/6,000 with a 1,000 ante.

We lost nine players in the first hour with 45 remaining.

1.25pm: Hsu good

We’ve just seen a great river call by Li-ta Hsu (pictured) but it took a while to get there with tablemate Michael Kanaan eventually calling time.

It began with Steve Pappas opening to 12,000 UTG and Hsu calling in the small blind. The flop came QT3 and Hsu check-called an 18,000 bet from Pappas. Both players checked the 2 turn before a 4 on the river saw Pappas bet 32,500.

This sent Hsu into the tank for a good five minutes before time was called. Sensing something was up, Hsu made the call with AK which was good enough to better Pappas’ AJ.

Hsu is up to 480,000 with Pappas dropping to 140,000.

1.05pm: Park over 500k

It was tough decisions all around after Ken Demlakian shoved for his last 70,000 and Min Jae Park re-raised to isolate. Ali Ghezelbash reluctantly folded before Brendan Ruse went deep in to the tank – eventually folding his hand as well.

It was Demlakian’s 55 up against the AK of Park but Ghezelbash was left to regret his fold, stating he had 99 moments before the A97 flop was spread.

No 5 arrived to save Demlakian so it was Park taking down another pot to move his stack to around 550,000

12.55pm: Ali alive

Ali Ghezelbash has seen his stack move back over 200,000 as well after doubling up through Ken Demlakian. The action began with Demlakian opening and Ghezelbash 3-betting in the cut-off. Demlakian called as the dealer spread a 345 flop.

Demlakian then check-shoved and turned over JJ when Ghezelbash called – only to discover the bad news with the latter tabling QQ. The turn and river were running Kings, leaving Demlakian with around 70,000 remaining.

Ghezelbash has 240,000.

12.45pm: All you need is quads

Evan Ryan was all in for his tournament life holding KJ to be racing against the 88 of Xuan Liu, but his hopes of a double-up were quickly quashed with two 8s on the flop giving Liu quads!

Ryan is out the door while Xuan pushes her stack back over 200,000.

12.35pm: Thomas first to exit

Uzziah Thomas is our first casualty of the day after a disastrous river ended any chance of a comeback. Thomas got it in with AK to dominate the AQ of Shane Pearce (pictured) and looked on his way to a double up but a Q on the river ended his day early.

12.30pm: Cards are in the air

Welcome back to Poker Media Australia and The Star in Sydney for Day 3 of the 2015 ANZPT Sydney main event. Play has just started with 54 players remaining – all of them in the money – after the bubble burst on the final hand of the night last night.

We will be playing down to our final nine players today and there are quite a few notables till in the field including 2011 ANZPT Sydney champion Michael Kanaan who sits third in chips with around 350,000.

Blinds are starting at 2,500/5,000 with a 500 ante. The average stack size is around 165,000.

Play will begin from 12.30pm on Sunday, March 22.

Chip counts and table seating ahead of Day 3 play is below:

Min Jae Park 28 7 421,500
Guangqi Zhang 28 4 401,000
Michael Kanaan 25 4 350,500
Panayotis Panayotis 26 2 332,000
Dominic Coombe 20 1 299,500
Josh Trott 20 7 295,500
Ben Cox 29 7 279,500
Denis Sekuloski 26 6 277,500
Manu Austin 27 2 276,000
Li-ta Hsu 25 8 243,000
Brendan Ruse 28 5 238,000
Nathan Turner 25 9 229,500
Shaneel Chand 20 3 225,000
Vasken Demlakian 28 6 219,000
Ciaran Sharpe 27 5 211,500
Dimitrios Psaros 25 2 206,000
Colin Carpenter 29 9 201,500
Peco Stojanovski 28 1 200,000
Antonis Kambouroglou 27 9 197,000
David O’Brien 29 6 188,000
Chung Liew 20 2 184,500
Didier Guerin 27 6 179,000
Michael Ho 27 3 177,000
Steve Pappas 25 1 172,500
Aaron Purdue 20 5 165,000
Jackson Zheng 29 4 162,500
T K 20 6 161,500
Xuan Liu 27 4 147,000
Emanuel Seal 29 8 147,000
Justin Nguyen 29 5 131,500
Octavian Voegele 26 9 128,000
Alastair Parkhill 25 3 124,000
John Thomson 25 7 115,000
Chu Kheng Ong 29 2 114,000
Ali Ghezelbash 28 8 113,000
Jordan Kilner 28 9 111,500
Rined Namrood 29 1 111,500
Dexter Wong 26 5 111,000
James Rann 20 4 109,000
Murray Roach 28 2 106,000
Tim English 25 5 101,500
Zhi Ma 27 7 92,000
Tom Rafferty 20 9 82,000
Peter Nissirios 27 1 80,500
Martin Stausholm 26 8 78,500
Yanji Ge 28 3 75,500
Adil Bayazitli 26 7 62,500
Wilson Li 20 8 60,000
Shane Pearce 26 1 53,000
Evan Ryan 27 8 50,500
Uzziah Thomas 26 3 50,500
Paul O’Brien 25 6 39,000
Tae Park 26 4 35,500
Dave Fox 29 3 23,500

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