Charlie Bakhos a monster chip leader after Day 1b
That brings us to the end of Day 1b of the 2015 Star Summer Series Main Event.
We saw 226 players take their seats today with 88 surviving to progress to tomorrow’s Day 2. They join the 57 who made it through yesterday, leaving a total of 145 of the 385 starters still in with a shot at the top prize.
Leading the way is Charlie Bakhos, who rocketed to the top of the chip counts late in the day and built a truly monstrous stack of 364,800 – whopping 142,800 more Day 1a chip leader Ronald Bean’s 222,000!
Along with Sam Vakili, they are the only three players with stacks over 200,000.
Play will continue tomorrow from 12.30pm here in The Star Poker Room so make sure you tune in to PokerMedia Australia again as we bring you all the live action on the way to the final table.
Day 1b Top 5 stacks:
Charlie Bakhos – 364,800
Sam Vakili – 208, 700
Jimmy Tran – 175,300
Tim English – 155,900
Vincent Chua – 153,100
9.55pm: Lisandro busts late
Jeff Lisandro has busted at the hands of David Sebesfi with 15 minutes remaining in the day’s play.
The chips went in on the turn with Lisandro holding Ad8c against the AhQh of Sebesfi on a Jd6d4dAs board. Lisandro needed an 8 or a diamond to survive but neither arrived as Sebesfi chipped up to 120,000.
9.30pm: Levy given a sweat
Michael Levy (pictured) shoved for his last 37,000 on a board reading 894A4 with three hearts.
His opponent went deep into the tank – clearly not sure what to do and motioning to fold before second guessing himself on multiple occasions.
He finally mucked and Levy breathed a huge sigh of relief as he showed KJo. He survives and is back up to 55,000.
9.20pm: Last level
Players have returned for the final level of the day’s play with blinds at 600/1,200 with a 100 ante.
Play will continue until there are 15 minutes remaining on the clock at which point three more hand will be dealt at each table.
There are 103 remaining of the 226 who began today.
9.10pm: Break!
Players are on their final 10 minute break of the night.
9.00pm: Stack sizes
Charlie B – 265,000
Vincent Chua – 185,000
Michael Seymour – 142,000
Sam Vakili – 115,000
Jimmy Tran – 111,000
Rafe Aman – 100,000
Vince Gibson – 95,000
Ben Phillips – 90,000
Matt Rolfe – 90,000
Martin Rowe – 80,000
Phil Willcocks – 80,000
Sam Steindl – 80,000
Shivan Abdine – 75,000
David Gorr – 70,000
David Sebesfi – 60,000
Michel Bouskila – 60,000
Nabil Edgtton – 60,000
Sam Khouiss – 60,000
Dean Blatt – 58,000
Michael Doodson – 58,000
Andy Lee – 52,000
Jazz Mathers – 45,000
Jeff Lisandro – 44,000
Dave Fox – 40,000
Laurence Hall – 40,000
Minh Nguyen – 38,000
Michael Davey – 36,000
Tony Kondevski – 30,000
Henry Sun – 24,000
Tam Truong – 24,000
Chad Awerbuch – 23,000
Ricardo Faura – 18,000
Dean Yuen – Busted
Ismail Ismail – Busted
Peter Matusik – Busted
Suzy Khouis – Busted
Didier Guerin – Busted
Dan Ginnane – Busted
8.40pm: B for Big Stack
A few big stacks have started to emerge around the room, but none compare with that of Charlie B who has just taken down a monster pot and eliminated two players in the process.
It all went down on J42 all heart board as the three players got it all-in with one holding J2 and another 35 hearts for the flopped flush. However, Charlie B had them both beaten with 8T of hearts and he managed to avoid the handful of outs his opponents had to soar over 200,000.
He is now our clear chip leader with 240,000.
8.25pm: Dean done and dusted
As we wandered past Dean Yuen’s (pictured) table we noticed him all-in for his last 33,000 on the turn and Jimmy Tran contemplating a call on a 5TQ3 board.
Tran eventually made the call to find both players held two pair although his Q3 was well ahead of Yuen’s T5.
The river was a 7, ending Yuen’s tournament while Tran moves to 130,000.
8.10pm: Blinds up
Blinds have gone up again to 500/1000 with an ante of 100 as players enter Level 8.
8.05pm: Guerin gone
Didier Guerin (pictured) just wandered past on his way out of the poker room, committing his 42,000 stack with AK and losing a race against JJ.
Stuart McDonald is another recent casualty.
8.00pm: Always out of luck
We just overheard an amusing exchange at Laurence Hall’s table after an eliminated player produced a farewell rant in which he called the player who sent him packing a “luck box.”
Hall laughed, noting as he did so that, “He complained a lot about all the bad beats he was copping but didn’t mention the fact that he bluffed off 40k … about six different times!”
7.50pm: When a plan comes together
We caught the action of a three-way all-in with 55, JJ and QQ sitting on the table pre-flop. The board ran out QT226 – a nice flop for Laurence Hall (pictured) who held the Queens. Peter Matusik with 55 hit the rail while the player with JJ was crippled, left with just 4,000.
Hall climbs up to 88,000 after waiting patiently all day for his opportunity.
7.50pm: Latest stacks
Rafe Aman – 125,000
Nabil Edgtton – 95,000
Vince Gibson – 94,000
Sam Vakili – 85,000
Shivan Abdine – 80,000
Andy Lee – 75,000
Michael Seymour – 74,000
Matt Rolfe – 66,000
Suzy Khouis – 66,000
Dean Blatt – 65,000
Phil Willcocks – 64,000
David Gorr – 63,000
Ben Phillips – 60,000
David Sebesfi – 60,000
Jazz Mathers – 55,000
Michael Davey – 55,000
Ismail Ismail – 53,000
Sam Steindl – 52,000
Ricardo Faura – 52,000
Michel Bouskila – 50,000
Sam Khouiss – 50,000
Chad Awerbuch – 49,000
Laurence Hall – 47,000
Dean Yuen – 42,000
Martin Rowe – 40,000
Didier Guerin – 38,000
Dan Ginnane – 36,000
Dave Fox – 35,000
Tony Kondevski – 33,000
Michael Doodson – 29,000
Henry Sun – 24,000
Tam Truong – 20,000
Peter Matusik – 14,000
Minh Nguyen – 13,000
Jeff Lisandro – 7,000
Grant Levy – Busted
Jason Wicks – Busted
7.40pm: Rafe hammers away
Rafe Aman continues to build his stack, putting his recently acquired chips to good use as he continues to bomb away.
Most recently we caught him 3-betting an opponent’s 1,800 open to 5,000 in position pre-flop and receiving a call. The flop landed JQ6 and Aman bet 5,200. His opponent called.
On the 4 turn Aman bet 10,300 and after thinking briefly his opponent folded. He is now at 125,000.
7.20pm: Rowe edging forward
Martin Rowe (pictured) has been grinding way all day without making any great impression either way but he can at least now claim to be sitting with roughly the average stack after eliminating a player.
Rowe had his opponent all-in and in a race with 99 against AK. The flop fell 958 to give him a lock on the hand as he moves to just over 40,000.
7.10pm: Three to go
Players have returned from their break to face Level 7 where blinds are 400/800 with an ante of 100. There are three levels of play remaining for the night.
That brings the total entries for the Main Event to 385 (159 Flight 1, 226 Flight 2). Currently 154 players remain from play today and those that survive the final three levels will join the 57 players that qualified for Day 2 yesterday.
7pm: Break time
Players are on a 10-minute break. There are approximately 160 players remaining from the 226 total entries for the day. Registration will stay open until the end of this break.
6.50pm: So many Aces
Vince Gibson tells us he has had AA an incredible six times today – a story verified by the rest of the table – so he was looking for an opportunity to win a good sized pot with them.
A few moments earlier we had seen him flash AA in the big blind after getting a walk, but he still took some time to call when Javed Etaat check shoved for 20,000 on a J95 flop.
Gibson eventually called and was pleased to see Etaat holding TT. Another A on the turn sealed the deal as Gibson moves to 90,000 while Etaat hits the rail.
6.30pm: Rafe is d’Aman
Rafe Aman (pictured) was in serious trouble not so long ago with only around 10,000 remaining, but he has been on a bit of a heater recently with two great calls propelling him over 100,000 – on both occasions holding JJ.
In the first hand, two players limped and Aman bumped it up to 4,000. The flop came A93 all clubs and it was checked around. The turn brought a fourth club and Aman called a 5,000 bet from one of his opponents. He called with the Jc.
The river was yet another low club and this time opponent put him all in. Aman tanked for a good 10 minutes before eventually making the call to find his J was good and move him to around 50,000.
A few hands later Aman called down with his JJ on a 9T34 board but faced a bet of 30,000 on the K river. He again called to have his opponent’s A9 beat.
Aman is up to 110,000.
6.20pm: They call him Vincent ‘Back Door’ Chua
We caught the action with a hefty pot developing between Peter Matusik and Vincent Chua (pictured). Chua had bet 24,000 on the river which Matusik eventually called.
Chua held 9s7s and had managed runner-runner for his flush to better Matusik’s two pair.
Chua is now our chip leader today with 140,000 while Matusik is down to 25,000.
6:05pm: Level up
Blinds have recently gone up to 300/600 with a 75 ante.
6:05pm: When the Sun shines
Henry Sun (pictured) raised UTG to 1,000 and was called by three players. The flop came J83 and Sun continued for 2,500 with only Grant Levy calling.
The turn was a T and Sun checked. Levy went all-in for his remaining 11,000 and Sun called – tabling TT for trips to leave Levy unluckily drawing dead with his T8.
Levy hits the rail while Sun is now up to 42,000.
6:00pm: Khouiss makes his move
On a flop of 2d4s5s, Desai Yesha shoved for her last 12,500 and was called by both David Gorr and Sam Khouiss (pictured).
The turn was the Qs and Khouiss shoved, forcing Gorr deep into the tank. He eventually folded as Khouiss showed 9s3s – having made his flush after flopping a monster draw.
Yesha showed 55 for the flopped set but couldn’t find the paired board she needed on the river to survive.
Gorr revealed afterward that he had also flopped a set. He still has 47,000 after finding a fold while Khouiss is up to 70,000.
5:45pm: Levy making the most of his luck
Michael Levy hit a lucky river a few hours ago to stay alive in the tournament but he has put that fortune to good use to climb to 67,000 and be one of the bigger stacks midway through the day’s play.
5:45pm: Reza Va-kills his opponent
Reza Vakili is sitting behind a very healthy stack of around 80,000 but it took a little bit of luck to get there.
A few moments ago he found himself on the button with AT and raised to 4,500 after an early position player had opened and two others made the call. The original raiser shoved for a total of 15,000, the other two folded and Vakili made the call.
It was Vakili needing to catch up against the QQ of his opponent but an A in the window was exactly what he was looking for as he enjoyed a touch of good fortune to send one to the rail.
5:25pm: Chip counts
Matt Rolfe (pictured) – 80,000
David Sebesfi – 78,000
Nabil Edgtton – 74,000
Didier Guerin – 70,00
Jazz Mathers – 65,000
David Gorr – 56,000
Michael Davey – 55,000
Andy Lee – 52,000
Shivan Abdine – 52,000
Tam Truong – 48,000
Ismail Ismail – 45,000
Jeff Lisandro – 40,000
Ben Phillips – 40,000
Suzy Khouis – 35,000
Michel Bouskila – 34,000
Michael Doodson – 33,000
Phil Willcocks – 31,000
Dean Yuen – 30,000
Dan Ginnane – 30,000
Martin Rowe – 29,000
Chad Awerbuch – 28,000
Dean Blatt – 27,000
Minh Nguyen – 26,000
Tony Kondevski – 25,000
Laurence Hall – 22,000
Jason Wicks – 19,000
Henry Sun – 13,000
Grant Levy – 8,000
David Tam – Busted
5:20pm: Tam gets caught
Tam Truong is renowned for his relentless aggression but it doesn’t always work in his favour. We caught a recent hand in which Ben Phillips (pictured) opened to 950 in late position and Tam 3-bet to 2,000.
The flop came AKQ and Tam continued for 3,000. Phillips called. The turn was a 4 and this time Tam bet 5,500 when checked to. Phillips called again.
The river was an action killing T and both players checked. Phillips showed KQ and Tam checked his cards before throwing them into the muck.
Phillips moves up to 45,000 with that hand while Tam is still looking solid with 40,000.
5.00pm: Bring it on
The long break is now over. Everyone is looking very refreshed and keen to play cards! Players will now face Level 5 where blinds are 200/400 with an ante of 50.
4.40pm: Long break
Players are on a 20-minute break to stretch their legs, get some fresh air or a bite to eat. Registration will remain open until the end of the next break, at 7.10pm, after the next two levels.
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4:20pm: I thought I was good
We caught the action with two players all-in pre-flop. The player with his tournament life on the line tabled AA – Michael Davey having made the call with AsKc.
Davey was in big trouble but found plenty of hope on the Ks4s5s flop. The river was a meaningless 4d but a repeat K on the river was enough to send the pot his way and eliminate his unlucky opponent.
Davey reminded the table that you always need a bit of luck along the way as he counted his 65,000 stack.
4.25pm: Field keeps growing
The number of players registered today has hit 223 which means the total for the tournament is now 382.
It is unlikely we will get the 18 more players we need to reach 400 in the next 2 hours or so but it is still a significant increase on last year’s number of 345!
4.15pm: Andy attacks
Andy Lee (pictured) has been busily building his stack and his aggression has seen him move up over 60,000. His most recent hand saw him open to 600 and call a 3-bet of 1,800. He then led on all three streets before eventually forcing a river fold from his opponent on a 447T8 board.
Lee has a great record here in Sydney, having won the inaugural Star Summer Series Main Event in 2011.
3.55pm: Lucky Levy
Michael Levy has scored a much needed, albeit fortunate, double up to keep his hopes alive at the expense of Tyrone Liu.
On board reading AA6J, Liu bet 5,000 before Levy quickly shoved for his last remaining 12,000. Liu called and Levy rolled over AQ but found himself well behind the 66 of Liu.
Not for long through as a Q oj the river sent the pot Levy’s way and elevated him back to just under starting stack.
3.45pm: Chaos reigns
Play at Table 19 was just paused for a total of 13 minutes while players argued over who received what following a split pot.
The hand in question saw Katie Tran all-in with AA but splitting with another player who held AQ on a J5423 board, however it was the extra chips contributed by the third player involved that caused all the chaos.
Thankfully all has been sorted now.
3.40pm: Blind rise
Blinds are up to 150/300 with a 25 ante.
3.25pm: Only the best for Sebesfi
David Sebesfi (pictured) has enjoyed a recent double at the expense of Katie Tran. As relayed to us shortly afterwards, the chips went in on an AJT board with Sebesfi holding KQ and Tran AT.
He is up to 60,000 while Tran is nursing a desperately short stack.
3.10pm: Tough tables
There are a handful of interesting table groupings so far. One of those sees Shivan Abdine (pictured left), Jazz Mathers (pictured right) and Michael Doodson seated alongside one another while nearby Jeff Lisandro can count Nick Polias and 2008 APPT Sydney winner Martin Rowe as tablemates.
3.00pm: Flushed away
Javed Etaat has just taken down a nice pot to move to 55,000. After the UTG player limped and two more players came with him, Etaat completed from the small blind to see a J89 flop.
He and the UTG player both called a bet from one of the late position limpers as a 6 landed on the turn – also putting three diamonds out there. The UTG player then led out with only Etaat calling.
The river was the 4d and this time the UTG player bet 10,000 when checked to. Etaat thought for a while before calling with the Jd. His opponent showed 3d5d for a turned flush that had been counterfeited on the river.
2.40pm: Underway again
The break is over so the players have returned to the tables to face Level 3 where blinds are 150/300. Entries are now up to 220 for the day. Registration will remain open until 7.10pm.
2.30pm: Break time
Players are now on a 10-minute break.
2.25pm: Late arrivals
Didier Guerin and 2011 Aussie Millions champion David Gorr have both taken their seats in the past few minutes as we near our first break of the day.
2.25pm: Demlakian down
We caught a hand involving Ken Demlakian on the river with Demlakian having re-raised John McNulty’s 2,500 bet to 7,100 on a 8T2JK board.
McNulty eventually made the call and showed KT to scoop the pot as Demlakian showed Q8.
2.05pm: So I woke up with Aces …
A big hand has just gone down on Table 13 that has left David Tam (pictured) on the verge of elimination.
It began with tam opening in early position and two players calling including Brendan Phelan in the big blind. The flop came J45 and Phelan called Tam’s c-bet.
The turn was a T and this time Phelan re-raised Tam’s bet of 800 to 3,000. Tam 3-bet to 7,000 and Phelan shoved. Tam called.
Tam rolled over AA but was in need of some river help against the J4 of Phelan. It didn’t arrive and it Phelan was the one stacking chips as he moves to 50,000.
1.50pm: Wrong move
As we sauntered past Table 17 we noticed Daniel Braun trying to push Silvana Agius off her hand on a board reading QKK38.
Agius had bet 1,600 with Braun re-raising to 4,100. Agius thought for about 30 seconds before coming back over the top to 13,000. Braun snap-folded.
Agius is up to 37,000 early on.
1.30pm: New level
Blinds are up for the first time today to 100/200.
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1.15pm: Who else?
Still more names – Matt Wakeman, Jazz Mathers (pictured), Ken Demlakian, Martin Rowe, Daniel Levy and Jackson Zheng are also playing today.
1.15pm: More names
Nabil Edgtton (pictured), Stuart McDonald, Rafe Aman and Nick Polias have taken their seats.
Despite having 190 players so far today, it’s been fairly subdued during the opening 45 minutes with just the sounds of faint chatter and the ruffling of chips filling the room. No doubt it will get a lot louder as the day goes on.
1.00pm: Good numbers
With players still trickling in at a steady rate, we have now officially passed last year’s total of 345 players. In fact, tournament staff here at The Star are wondering if they might even get close to the magical 400 number.
In the past 10 minutes we’ve seen the likes of Andy Lee, Dean Blatt and Triple M Sydney sports caller Dan Ginnane (pictured) arrive to take their seats.
12.45pm: Familiar faces
Among those already in their seats today are six-time WSOP bracelet winner Jeff Lisandro (pictured), Tim English, Shivan Abdine, Sam Khouiss, ANZPT Sydney champ Jim Psaros, 2012 Sydney Championships winner Dean Yuen, Chad Awerbuch, Laurence Hall and former poker manager here at The Star Jason Wicks!
12.35pm: Today’s plan
Just like yesterday, there will be nine one-hour levels played today.
Blinds start at 50/100 with starting stacks of 30,000.
12.30pm: Star Summer Series Day 1b underway!
Welcome back to PokerMedia Australia and our coverage of the 2015 Star Summer Series.
Today sees Day1b of the Main Event taking place with those surviving until the end of the day’s play to join the 57 who made it through yesterday on Day 2 tomorrow.
Yesterday saw a total of 159 players start and with 178 already registered today we are already just eight players shy of last year’s total of 345 runners. Registration is open until the start of Level 7 so we are pretty much guaranteed to smash through that 2014 number.
The stack to beat belongs to Ronald Bean who with 222,000 was the only player to crack the 200,000 barrier yesterday.
In the meantime, the cards are in the air and we’re looking forward to a bust day here at The Star Poker Room!
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