Hussein Hassan leads after Day 1B; that’s a wrap!
And just like that folks, Day 1B of the Opening Event is in the can!
Leading at the end of day’s play is Hussein Hassan, who bagged up 450,000 in chips; the Sydneysider is no stranger to the big time, having amassed almost USD $900,000 in tournament earnings including victory in the 2019 APL Million Main Event, the 2018 WSOP International Circuit 6-Max Event in Sydney and the 2019 WPT Australia $5K Challenge here at The Star Gold Coast.
Shem Goltz quietly amassed a stack worth 383,000 to rank second overall, while Brett Marshall (286,000) Ashley Valks (280,000) and Dan Mayoh (250,000) round out our top five for this flight.
Other big names to have made it through to Day 2 include Jaisan Patel, Nuno Da Silva, Jigs Reyes, Mishel Anunu and the Colombian wunderkind himself, QPC Main Event Champion, Lucho Vargas.
In all, there were 33 survivors from the 190 entries taken in today, with 59 players returning tomorrow. The full Day 2 seat draw for the Opening Event will be published in the morning.
This concludes our broadcast day, but the PokerMedia Australia Live Reporting Team will be back on deck tomorrow morning from 11:30am AEST for Day 2 of the Opening Event, as well as final table coverage of the $1,100 NLH Event from 12:30pm.
Finally, a friendly reminder that you still have the chance to play with PMA in Monday Night’s $440 buy-in Teams Event Wipeout! Don’t delay – head on over to our Facebook page right now and follow the steps to enter the draw – but hurry, because entries close tomorrow at noon!
Thanks again for your company and we look forward to seeing you back at The Star Gold Coast soon. Until then, it’s ‘bye for now!
Three more hands
Star Poker Gold Coast staff have now paused the clock with 10 minutes remaining – just three more hands and then we’re all done for Day 1B!
Murray’s sizzle fizzles
Lucho Vargas bounded over to the PMA hotdesk and informed the crew that there was a three-way all-in pot brewing on Liam Murray’s table, where we found the inaugural APL Poker Tour Main Event Champion at risk with 6♠6♣.
Murray winced as both Ben Turner and Brett Marshall rolled up their cards; Turner showed K♠K♥, but Marshall had them dominated with A♠A♦.
Nothing else eventuated from the board of 2♦Q♠2♥Q♥9♦ and Marshall effectively tripled up as Murray took his leave.
| Brett Marshall | 310,000 |
| Ben Turner | 150,000 |
| Liam Murray | BUSTED! |
Level 15: 3,000/6,000 (6,000)
Emerton eliminated
The dream is over for Josh Emerton – at least until Monday night’s Teams Event – after he was eliminated at the hands of Dan Mayoh.
Emerton open-shoved from under the gun for his last 32,500 with 3♦3♣ and action folded around to Mayoh, who woke up with 6♠6♦ before the dealer spread the board of Q♠Q♥2♥J♠5♠.
Mayoh moved up to 227,000 after that hand, but Graham Cowan is now right up there as well, now sitting behind a stack worth 250,000!
All the way with CVJ
A much-needed double-up for Corey Van Jaarsveldt, who managed to take a chunk out of Faraz Ayyaz as we hit the penultimate level of the day.
It was a classic coin-flip – Ayyaz with Q♠Q♥ against Van Jaarsveldt’s A♦K♣ – but the APL NQ Classic Super High Roller Champion flopped two pair on the board of A♠3♦K♥ before the turn and river repeated 8♥, 8♣ to double through.
| Corey Van Jaarsveldt | 186,000 |
| Faraz Ayyaz | 77,000 |
Level 14: 2,000/4,000 (4,000)
Adams’ double-double
Cam Adams now has a little more breathing room after two successive double-ups on Table 13, first getting his money in holding A♣5♥ against Hussein Hassan’s 10♦10♣, however he managed to turn top pair on the board of 4♠5♣J♥A♥Q♣.
A short time later, he jammed again with A♠4♥ and found ahead against Omer Silajdzija’s Q♥3♥, but despite the flop of 7♦5♥6♥, Adams dodged the outs to the flush and improved to a straight as the turn and river ran out 5♣, 3♣.
| Cam Adams | 53,000 |
Stack ’em to the top
As we headed into the final break of Day 1B, it appeared we had a new challenger in the form of Chun Chang, who was on a stack worth 168,000 but has since taken a hit after cards got back in the air.
There’s still a lot of work to be done to catch Dan Mayoh though, who’s on 290,000, along with Ben Turner, who’s grinded his way back up to 267,000!
Three more levels of play and then we bag and tag for the night. Stay with us!
Level 13: 1,500/3,000 (3,000)
Break time
Our remaining 65 players are now on their final 10-minute break of the day.
He works hard for the money
PMA protégé Josh Emerton has got grind on the mind, now almost double the starting stack as we approach the final break of the day.
In an earlier, hand, action folded around to Minseok Kim who limped in from the button; the small blind folded and Emerton checked his option on the big blind to go heads-up to a flop of 10♣9♥3♣.
Both players checked, then Emerton check-called Kim’s bet of 2,000 after the dealer produced the 4♠ on the turn, then check-called again after Kim fired out 7,000 when the 9♣.
Emerton tabled A♦5♦, prompting Kim to tap the table and say “You’re good,” before mucking his hand.
Simon Pedler didn’t fare as well, however, eliminated over the space of two hands; we can also confirm that Chuck Caris, Ken Demlakian, Mike Maddocks and Luci Bonaccorso was also amongst those to have been sent to the rail and are now in action over at the $1,100 NLH Event.
| Josh Emerton | 56,900 |
Bye-bye Bromley
The hits just keep on coming on Table 8, with Jordan Bromley now on the casualty list after being eliminated by Adrian King.
Bromley shoved with K-Qo before the flop and found himself flipping for his tournament life against King’s 2♠2♦.
“That’s okay, I’ll take some high cards!” Bromley said to the dealer.
No dice – the flop of 5♠7♦8♥ weren’t quite high enough.
“No paint at all? Come on, man!” Bromley joked.
Indeed, there was no more paint, as the turn and river bricked 8♠, 10♠ and thus Bromley was no more.
| Adrian King | 39,500 |
| Jordan Bromley | BUSTED! |
Level 12: 1,500/3,000 (3,000)
Patel pads his stack; Wayne wasted
More all-in action on the far side of the Star Gold Coast Poker Room, this time between Dylan Wayne, Jaisan Patel and Alex Andreas, who all got their money into the middle pre-flop.
Wayne showed down 8♦8♣ against Andreas’ Q♠J♠ and Patel’s A♠10♣, however the dealer spread the board of 2♣J♦Q♥K♣K♦ to give Patel Broadway.
With Andreas taking down the sidepot, Wayne was sent to the rail.
| Jaisan Patel | 148,800 |
| Alex Andreas | 132,000 |
| Dylan Wayne | BUSTED! |
G’day, Angel!
Over on Table 7, our crew caught up with Angel Guillen, who’s now back in action for the first time since February 2021, after he finished runner-up in the QPC Super High Roller Event at the Gold Coast Turf Club.
Guillen told PMA that he and his wife – WPT anchor and Australian Poker Hall of Famer Lynn Gilmartin -had been focusing on looking after young Bodhi as they prepare for a big year ahead, including the upcoming WPTDeepStacks Sydney series at the end of the month.
Guillen has certainly been enjoying his time here though, sharing space with several notables, including Jigs Reyes and Nuno Da Silva, who all went into a flop of A♠Q♠Q♥.
Reyes and Guillen checked to Da Silva who led out for 3,000; Guillen folded and Reyes check-called, then forced Da Silva to fold after opening for 15,000 when the dealer peeled off the K♥ on the turn.
As our reporter took down the counts, Rauran Toye made sure that we also noted the stack of Ashley Valks, who’s now holding more than 170,000.
“That’s my teenage prodigy!” Toye exclaimed as he pointed to Valks’ stack. “Make sure that you put that down in the blog!”
| Ashley Valks | 173,500 |
| Nuno Da Silva | 96,000 |
| Jigs Reyes | 93,000 |
| Rauran Toye | 86,000 |
| Angel Guillen | 24,200 |
Level 11: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)
Show me the money!
The numbers are in! 346 total entries for this year’s Star Gold Coast Champs Opening Event has garnered a total prize pool of $233,550.
Top 44 players will be paid a minimum of $1,191, while tomorrow’s champion will take home a tidy $49,611. Tasty!
| Place | Amount |
| 1st | $49,611 |
| 2nd | $34,750 |
| 3rd | $22,341 |
| 4th | $14,468 |
| 5th | $11,152 |
| 6th | $9,225 |
| 7th | $7,742 |
| 8th | $6,341 |
| 9th | $4,961 |
| 10th-12th | $4,181 |
| 13th-15th | $3,550 |
| 16th-18th | $2,931 |
| 19th-21st | $2,441 |
| 22nd-24th | $1,981 |
| 25th-27th | $1,717 |
| 28th-36th | $1,448 |
| 37th-44th | $1,191 |
Level 10: 800/1,600 (1,600)
May-OH-M-G
Dan Mayoh has now been confirmed as the overwhelming chip leader in Day 1B of the Opening Event, taking out another opponent just as the clock ticked over to Level 10.
Our reporter picked up the action on a board of 4♣9♣8♦10♣; the all-in player had tabled K♣2♣ for the second nut flush, but found himself dead in the water after Mayoh flipped over A♣J♣.
The river 4♥ was merely a formality and another one bit the dust as Mayoh moved past the 200,000-chip mark.
| Dan Mayoh | 211,500 |
Count ’em up
Minseok Kim still topped the counts as our remaining 94 players return from the break, however David Sebesfi has now entered his name into the leader board as our unofficial second chip leader, just over Mishel Anunu.
The Opening Event is now officially locked out at 346 entries, generating a total prize pool of $233,550! Prize pool dividends will be released shortly.
| Minseok Kim | 140,900 |
| Mishel Anunu | 119,400 |
| David Sebesfi | 119,000 |
| Dan Mayoh | 106,000 |
| Hussein Hassan | 102,600 |
| Cam Adams | 89,900 |
| Kiale Matthews | 85,500 |
| Lucho Vargas | 84,400 |
| Faraz Ayyaz | 84,000 |
| Paul Rochford | 78,300 |
| Jigs Reyes | 74,000 |
| Ricky Kroesen | 73,300 |
| Jordan Bromley | 67,000 |
| Craig Abernethy | 65,500 |
| Lee Bradbury | 63,200 |
| Omer Silajdzija | 57,300 |
| Dylan Wayne | 57,000 |
| Janine Butler | 49,000 |
| Aidan Hildebrant | 48,500 |
| Liam Murray | 48,200 |
| Rauran Toye | 45,200 |
| Tala Posala | 43,200 |
| Graham Cowan | 41,400 |
| Mike Maddocks | 36,300 |
| Janet Wyvil | 35,400 |
| Jennifer Cassell | 30,000 |
| Taner Durust | 25,600 |
| Josh Emerton | 24,600 |
| Ken Demlakian | 15,100 |
Level 9: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Break it down
Our players are now on a 10-minute break. Stretch your legs while we grab the counts!
Lucho gets lucky; Colless crushed
Another huge hand over on Mike Maddocks’ table has resulted in the elimination of Brooke Colless, who rose to prominence after her deep run in last year’s WPTDeepStacks Main Event.
After Lucho Vargas raised to 2,200 from under the gun, two more players called, along with Luci Bonaccorso from late position before Colless shoved from the small blind.
Vargas iso-shoved over the top, forcing the other two callers out of the way, but before Bonaccorso had a chance to act, Vargas opened his cards, under the impression that there was no further action.
The other players started to protest, but floor staff were quick to intervene, confirming that Vargas’ hand was still live.
“I guess I’m in with a chance,” muttered Bonaccorso as she made the call – and she was, tabling A♣9♣, ahead of Vargas’ K♠Q♦ and Colless’ 7♥4♦.
Nothing changed after the flop of 2♥2♠6♦, but the 4♥ improved Colless to two pair and put her in with a chance for a triple-up.
However, Vargas slapped the table in celebration after he spiked the K♥ on the river.
“VAMOOOOOO!” cried Vargas, pumping his fists before raking in the pot.
“You got very lucky there!” Bonaccorso said.
“Lucho the luckbox!” joked Aidan Hildebrandt.
“Can you teach me how to do that?” quipped Maddocks. “I wanna be like Lucho!”
| Lucho Vargas | 82,500 |
| Luci Bonaccorso | 10,500 |
| Brooke Colless | BUSTED! |
Arise, Ayyaz
Faraz Ayyaz is now up to 83,000 in chips after taking out another opponent at the start of Level 8.
Our reporter witnessed an unknown player heading to the exits after he got the last of his stack in with J♣9♣, but Ayyaz had rolled up 8♠7♠, which paired up on the flop of 10♠8♦6♦ and then improved to a straight after the turn and river ran out 5♠, 4♣.
The field now sits at 180 entries (including 60 re-entries), with only this level and the break remaining before Day 1B is locked out.
Level 8: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Wham, bam, thank you Fam
The cry of “All in, call!” from the dealer at Table 17 had the PMA Live Reporting Team jumping out their seats at the hotdesk to catch the action as the cards were being tabled.
Aidan Hildebrandt held 8♠8♦, well ahead of an unknown opponent who was gambling with 6♦4♦, but both players were dominated by Eban Fam’s A♠A♣.
As Lucho Vargas filmed the action on his phone, the dealer spread a flop of A♦5♦10♦, but he almost dropped it in shock after the A♥ came down on the turn to give Fam quads!
The river J♦ completed the board to give Hildebrandt the bigger flush and the sidepot, eliminating the shortest stack.
| Aidan Hildebrandt | 43,800 |
| Eban Fam | 27,500 |
Level 7: 400/800 (800)
Horses for courses
Our reporter stopped by on Table 15 as 2021 QPC High Roller and APT Brisbane Players Champion Dylan Wayne was chatting between hands about the methods he used to track his career goals.
“I have a graph on the back of my bathroom door with a little racehorse to map out my earnings,” he explained, “but it hasn’t really moved all that much lately!”
There’s certainly been a lot of movement between two of his tablemates though, with Ali Zebarjad and Nick Williams clashing in a couple of pots.
Earlier, Williams got his money in holding 8♠8♦ and found himself off to the races against Zebarjad’s A♥Q♦, but Williams hit top set on the flop of 4♠8♥2♦.
A minor sweat came on the turn with the 5♦, but the river J♥ saw Williams double up.
Two hands later, Williams got his money into the middle again on a board that read 10♣K♦10♥8♥; Williams tabled K♠Q♠ for two pair, but Zebarjad was already first past the post, having booked up on the flop with his K♥10♠.
| Dylan Wayne | 41,300 |
| Ali Zebarjad | 19,000 |
| Nick Williams | 17,700 |
Anunu hooks one
Over on Table 15, action folded to Paul Rochford who min-clicked for 1,200 before Corey Van Jaarsveldt called from the hijack. Mishel Anunu also called from the button, along with Bruno Da Silva from the big blind to make it four-handed to a flop of 2♦Q♥K♥.
All four players checked their option after the flop and repeated the action after the dealer produced the 4♣ on the turn; after the 5♣ appeared on the river, the players checked through to Anunu who fired 2,000.
Rochford was the only caller, but mucked his hand after Anunu tabled J♥J♦.
| Paul Rochford | 89,300 |
| Corey Van Jaarsveldt | 32,500 |
| Bruno Da Silva | 32,500 |
| Mishel Anunu | 27,000 |
Level 6: 300/600 (600)
Spin it up!
More action on Table 17, where Lucho Vargas got busy early, shoving with A♣K♠ pre-flop against his opponent’s Q♠Q♥, but won the flip for his tournament life after turning two pair on the board of 7♣8♦A♥8♣9♠.
A short time later, Belinda Oosthuizen got the last of her money in with Q-T on a board of A-Q-K-x-x, but lost against her opponent’s A-6.
Russell Fogarty then found himself in a three-way all-in on Table 16 with Q♥J♥, only to run into the pocket jacks of Lewis Spinazzola and another player’s pocket nines.
Spinazzola scooped with the jacks to send Fogarty to the rail.
| Lewis Spinazzola | 65,000 |
| Lucho Vargas | 48,500 |
| Belinda Oosthuizen | BUSTED! |
| Russell Fogarty | BUSTED! |
Chippies!
Reigning QPC Main Event Champion Lucho Vargas and APT Ambassador Mike Maddocks were amongst those to late-reg during the last stanza, however a new chip leader has emerged in the form of Minseok Kim, who has broken the 100K mark.
| Minseok Kim | 131,500 |
| Hussein Hassan | 90,500 |
| Tala Posala | 80,500 |
| Dan Mayoh | 71,000 |
| Paul Rochford | 68,000 |
| Jordan Bromley | 67,000 |
| Kiale Matthews | 67,000 |
| Craig Abernethy | 66,500 |
| Dylan Wayne | 57,000 |
| Nuno Da Silva | 53,500 |
| Aidan Hildebrant | 49,500 |
| Janine Butler | 49,000 |
| Chuck Caris | 40,500 |
| Rauran Toye | 39,000 |
| Mike Maddocks | 36,000 |
| Jigs Reyes | 33,000 |
| Jennifer Cassell | 31,500 |
| Ken Demlakian | 28,800 |
| Brooke Colless | 28,300 |
| Liam Murray | 26,000 |
| Taner Durust | 25,600 |
| Josh Emerton | 23,200 |
| Faraz Ayyaz | 22,800 |
Level 5: 300/500 (500)
That’s lunch
Players are now on a 20-minute comfort break. We’ll have a round of counts for you after play resumes.
Oost!
In one of the last hands of the first stanza, Belinda Oosthuizen got the last of her chips in with K♥K♦ and found herself in great shape against the Q♥Q♣ of Cam Adams.
Both players hit two pair on the board of 10♠A♦10♦6♠J♦, but it was enough for Oosthuizen to score the much-needed double-up.
| Belinda Oosthuizen | 13,500 |
| Cam Adams | 61,500 |
Jigsy jigged
There’s been action a’plenty over on Jigs Reyes’ table, however the 2020 APT Brisbane Players Championship winner has just been eliminated as we approach the first break of the day.
Reyes quietly beckoned us over Table 18 for an earlier hand, where after some heavy action between Chuck Caris and Taner Durust on a board of 6♠Q♦6♦7♦9♥, Caris shoved for his last 20,000 before Durust made the call.
Caris tabled Q♦8♥ for two pair, which prompted Durust to throw his hand into the muck
“I had jacks,” Durust moaned.
A short time later, Reyes got the last of his money in with pocket fours, only to then see Janine Butler wake up with aces with neither hand improving on the jack-high board.
| Janine Butler | 51,500 |
| Chuck Caris | 40,500 |
| Taner Durust | 22,500 |
| Jigs Reyes | BUSTED! |
Level 4: 200/400 (400)
Mayoh spreading the word
Having flown in earlier today to grind the high-stakes Omaha cash games, two-time Aussie Millions championship ring winner Dan Mayoh decided to take a stab in the Opening Event and approached the PMA Live Reporting desk soon after winning a big pot against Ben Turner.
“Dumb luck Dan, that’s me!” he exclaimed. “UTG+1 raised to 500 and +2 calls. Action folded to me and I had K♥Q♥. I meant to raise to 1,500, but I got my colours wrong and misclicked for 5,500.”
“[Turner] then shoved from the button with A♦K♣; it folds back to me, I think about it and then decided to gamble. I call.”
“Flop came down A♥10♥2♦ for a nice sweat, but the turn and river came down 5♦, J♣. Bink!”
| Dan Mayoh | 94,000 |
| Ben Turner | 28,500 |
Photo time!
Level 3: 200/300 (300)
Lin binned
Over on Table 8, our reporter picked up the action on a board that read Q♥9♥7♠5♣; Faraz Ayyaz, who final tabled last month’s QPC Alpha Event, had checked to Yuan-Che Lin who had open-shoved from late position.
After mulling it over for about two minutes, Ayyaz made the call and rolled up K♠K♦, dominating Lin’s J♥J♣.
The river 4♣ improved neither hand and after a quick count, Lin was confirmed as our first elimination of Day 1B.
| Faraz Ayyaz | 92,000 |
| Yuan-Che Lin | BUSTED! |
Nuno takes a hit
Over on the feature table, where PMA’s own Josh Emerton is seated along with Jack Brown and Duncan McKinnon, action folded to Jeremy Winlaw in the small blind, who moved as if to fold then stopped.
“You can check,” said the dealer, and he did. Nuno da Silva then checked his option in the big blind and both players saw a flop of 8♦4♦7♠.
Winlaw bet 200, and was called, then check-raised to 900 the turn of the 6♠ after Da Silva’s bet of 300.
Winlaw then bet 1,900 on the river A♣, which saw Da Silva tank for a while before making the call. Winlaw showed down [invalid notations]Qh5s[invalid notations] and Da Silva mucked his hand.
| Jeremy Winlaw | 38,600 |
| Nuno Da Silva | 6,200 |
Level 2: 100/200 (200)
Noted notables
Plenty of big names sighted already amongst the 81 entries, including Brooke Colless, Jigs Reyes, Paul Rochford, Taner Durust and Duncan McKinnon, along with the Da Silva twins, Bruno and Nuno.
Triple Crown winners Jordan Bromley and Aidan Hildebrandt are also on the felt, while Russell Fogarty, Liam Murray, Hussein Hussan and Chuck Caris are amongst those to return for another shot today.
Shuffle up and deal!
Cards are now in the air for Day 1B of the Opening Event! As per yesterday’s flight, all players will start with 30,000 in tournament chips.
15 levels will be played, each 30 minutes in duration, which will see our players bagging and tagging at approximately 7:30pm local time tonight.
Late entries and re-entries will be made available until the end of Level 9.
| Level | Small Blind | Big Blind | BB Ante |
| 1 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 2 | 100 | 200 | 200 |
| 3 | 200 | 300 | 300 |
| 4 | 200 | 400 | 400 |
| 5 | 300 | 500 | 500 |
| 6 | 300 | 600 | 600 |
| 7 | 400 | 800 | 800 |
| 8 | 500 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 9 | 600 | 1,200 | 1,200 |
| 10 | 800 | 1,600 | 1,600 |
| 11 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| 12 | 1,500 | 2,500 | 2,500 |
| 13 | 1,500 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| 14 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 |
| 15 | 3,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 |
Level 1: 100/100 (100)
Welcome back to The Star Gold Coast for our continued coverage of the 2022 Star Gold Coast Champs!
Today promises to be another bumper day of action as players begin make their way in for Day 1B of the $750 buy-in Opening Event, but we’re also expecting to see some of Australia’s best and brightest duke it out in Event 2: the $1,100 NLH, which kicks off at 5:30pm tonight. PokerMedia Australia will be ringside for that tournament from Day 2 tomorrow.
Of course, there’s still plenty of poker to be played including the $440 Teams Event Wipeout on Monday, but while the PMA Live Reporting Team have that night off, we’ll still be there for all the fun and games – and thanks to The Star Gold Coast, one lucky winner be joining forces with their pick of our crew as part of #TeamPMA!
All you have to do is hit the Like button on both the Star Poker Gold Coast and PMA Facebook pages and drop in the comments below our pinned post: “I WANT TO PLAY WITH PMA!”
Entries close tomorrow (Sunday 13 March) at 12pm AEST*, so get cracking!
Don’t forget that you can also follow PMA on all our other socials, including Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Discord, where you can chat with other members of the poker community and even help out our Live Reporting Team by dropping your tournament hand histories into the #submit-a-hand text channel.
The stage is set, the, trophies are polished, the surfboards are waxed and we’re ready to make waves! Follow the PMA Live Reporting blog from 11:30am AEST as we bring you all the action. See you soon!
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