Fulop bags the lead after Day 1B; that’s a wrap!
Well folks, that’s another Day 1 flight in the can and it’s Jacob Fulop who holds court, bagging 806,000! He’s followed by Tom Elwood, who locked up 640,000, while David Unasa (602,000), Jin Xue (527,000) and Nam Nguyen (471,000) complete our top five.
Other notables in the peloton include Van Le, Mai Ha, Yung Chiang Chen, Mark Green, Nicholas Antoinette, Ling Liu, Tony Shmelon and Max Pearce. In all, 27 players out of the 155 total entries that were taken in tonight will return on Sunday for Day 2.
WPT LEAGUE SYDNEY QPC MAIN EVENT – DAY 1B CHIP COUNTS
| Jacob Fulop | 806,000 |
| Tom Elwood | 640,000 |
| David Unasa | 602,000 |
| Jin Xue | 527,000 |
| Nam Nguyen | 471,000 |
| Van Le | 437,000 |
| Mai Ha | 431,000 |
| Yung Chiang Chen | 361,000 |
| Mark Green | 333,000 |
| Nicholas Antoinette | 293,000 |
| Ashor Shlemon | 274,000 |
| Michael Canturi | 267,000 |
| Ivan Zlomislic | 255,000 |
| Alecsander Lawrence | 223,000 |
| Vanig Kalpakian | 223,000 |
| John Pachos | 214,000 |
| Tony Shlemon | 197,000 |
| David Ly | 189,000 |
| Ling Liu | 183,000 |
| Andres Vasquez | 146,000 |
| Abhimanyu Singh | 135,000 |
| Neoklis Gkoulelis | 110,000 |
| Amanda Salter | 108,000 |
| Max Pearce | 105,000 |
| Kresimir Kardum | 96,000 |
| Matviy Bilenky | 90,000 |
| Pham Nguyen | 80,000 |
Thanks again for tuning into PokerMedia Australia’s Live Reporting coverage. Join us again from 12pm AEST as we bring you tomorrow’s epic two-for-one Day 1 extravaganza. Until then, from all of us here in the Pavilion, thanks for your company and we’ll see you soon. ‘Bye for now!
Got ’em!
There’s been a flurry of action throughout the final minutes of this level, with Van Le and Vanig Kalpakian benefiting from some last-gasp efforts before play came to a close.
Over on Table 8, action folded around to a player in late position who open-shoved for just over two bigs with K♥J♠, but although he found himself in a fair fight against Le’s A♠4♥, he was vanquished after the dealer spread the board of 2♣4♣10♥8♦2♥.
Our reporter then rushed over to Table 2, where Dean Blunt had open-shoved from under the gun holding A♠K♠; action then folded around to Kalpakian who snap-called out of the big blind with Q♦Q♣, which held all the away down the 9♥5♥4♣5♠J♠.
| Van Le | 437,000 |
| Vanig Kalpakian | 270,000 |
| Dean Blunt | BUSTED! |
And with that, Day 1B of the WPT League Sydney QPC Main Event is in the books! We’ll have our wrap-up of today’s proceedings coming your way soon.
Level 14: 3,000/6,000 (6,000)
“I’m good poker, me!”
Two more bust-outs over on Table 2, with Darren Thomas and Nurlan Boobekov both sent to the rail as we approach the last level of Day 1B.
Earlier, Thomas gambled with his very short stack, jamming pre-flop with 7♥5♠ and struck gold on the flop of 5♣5♥2♥ against Tony Shlemon’s A♦Q♣, only to then see justice come running with the turn and river of 3♠, 4♠ to give Shlemon the wheel and the scoop.
A short time later, Jacob Fulop woke up with K♥K♣ against Nurlan Boobekov’s A♣K♦, with neither hand improving on the board of 4♦8♦8♠3♣2♣ to bring the field down to 31.
Fulop then attempted to give our reporter a pseudonym, but Ling Liu stopped him in his tracks.
“Come on, Jacob – the people at home want to know that you knocked out Nurlan!” Liu said.
“Woo hoo! I’m good poker, me!” Fulop laughed as he raked in his newly acquired chips.
| Jacob Fulop | 565,000 |
| Tony Shlemon | 300,000 |
| Nurlan Boobekov | BUSTED! |
| Darren Thomas | BUSTED! |
Samia struck out
Although he managed to double up before the final break, Richie Samia was taken out at the hands of Tom Elwood on Table 3 midway through the penultimate level of the night.
Samia open-shoved for his last 82,500 from middle position before action folded around to Elwood.
“Alright, I’ll look you up,” Elwood said before putting in the chips to call.
Elwood: A♦Q♠
Samia: A♣J♦
The board of 8♥K♥8♣4♠5♦ did nothing to change the outcome, and thus we lost one more.
| Tom Elwood | 200,000 |
| Richie Samia | BUSTED! |
Level 13: 2,500/5,000 (5,000)
Pappas picked off
Yung Chang Chien has now reached the half-million chip mark after eliminating Steve Pappas in the lead-up to the final 10-minute break of the night.
All the money was in the middle pre-flop; Pappas was at risk with A♦J♠, but although he flopped top-top on the board of 7♦3♣J♥8♠10♦, Chien’s Q♥Q♦ held to reduce the field down to 41.
| Yung Chang Chien | 500,000 |
| Steve Pappas | BUSTED! |
Time for us to take 10 … when we return, we’ll be playing through two more 30-minute levels before we bag and tag!
Samia strikes back
It’s been a rollercoaster of day for Richie Samia, but he’s just got himself back up to more than 150,000 after doubling through John Zeppieri.
Samia jammed with 6♥6♣ and found himself flipping for his tournament life against Zeppieri who called him down with A♠K♣, which improved to two pair after the flop came down 7♣4♠7♠, before the turn and river ran out 3♠,Q♦.
| Richie Samia | 158,000 |
| John Zeppieri | 26,000 |
Level 12: 2,000/4,000 (4,000)
Deja … Van?
Van Le has been doing some serious damage on Table 8, however Leslie Byrne has managed to double through him as action continues in the WPT League Sydney QPC Main Event.
Action folded around to Le who raised from the hijack before Byrne moved all-in for his last 36,000 from the cutoff; the rest of the table got out of the way and Le called.
Byrne: A♥K♦
Le: A♣10♣
Board: Q♦3♣9♠7♦3♠
A minor setback for Le, who still holds a stack worth more than half a million.
| Van Le | 520,000 |
| Leslie Byrne | 85,000 |
QPC ROUND-UP – Event #10: Robo Reload
Now for the results of the $125 buy-in Robo Reload, and it was Sam “Big Papa” Papadimatos that emerged victorious, topping a field of 102 players to earn himself more than $4,000 in cash and a ticket to the Big Dance!
WPT League Sydney stalwart Lucky Legato, who won the Single Bullet here at the Pavilion back in February, also featured at the final table, along with “The Two Zorans” in Mirkovic and Janjetovic.
WPT LEAGUE SYDNEY QPC ROBO RELOAD ($125 buy-in, 102 entries, 12 players paid)*
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 1 | Sam Papadimatos | $4,125 |
| 2 | Paul Sammour | $2,970 |
| 3 | Jovan Milic | $2,100 |
| 4 | Daniel Tolomeo | $1,500 |
| 5 | Zoran Mirkovic | $1,000 |
| 6 | Lucky Legato | $750 |
| 7 | Jaclyn Zammit | $550 |
| 8 | Matthew Yan | $400 |
| 9 | Zoran Janjetovic | $300 |
Level 11: 1,500/3,000 (3,000)
Inabinet bins Chebib
Steve Chebib has been amongst those to have hit the rail in this level, taken out at the hands of Chad Inabinet.
All the money was in the middle pre-flop; Chebib was at risk with his 10♠10♣, but found himself flipping for his tournament life against Inabinet’s A♠K♠.
Chebib kept the lead and picked up a few more outs after the dealer spread a flop of 7♣8♣6♠, but Inabinet snatched it back when the A♥ appeared on the turn and held after the river bricked out in the form of the 2♦.
| Chad Inabinet | 118,000 |
| Steve Chebib | BUSTED! |
QPC ROUND-UP – Event #9: One Shot
Time now for another QPC Sydney flashback and the first of three QPC rings for Arsn Younadem!
“The Assyrian Warrior” claimed his first piece of QPC bling for the series after topping a field of 187 runners to claim $3,385 in cash and a Main Event seat. QPC Sydney Reload Champion Austin Murphy and Rowan Carthey were also amongst those to have recorded another ITM finish in this event.
WPT LEAGUE SYDNEY QPC ONE SHOT ($90 buy-in, 187 entries, 21 players paid)*
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 1 | Arsn Younadem | $3,385 |
| 2 | Martha Wetere | $2,700 |
| 3 | Rowan Carthey | $1,800 |
| 4 | Nicholas Earl | $1,300 |
| 5 | Masato Alba | $1,000 |
| 6 | Anthony Moss | $750 |
| 7 | James Lai | $550 |
| 8 | Emmanuel Valdez | $400 |
| 9 | Steve Jay | $300 |
Level 10: 1,500/2,500 (2,500)
Flights of fancy
Day 1B of the Main Event has now been locked out at 155 total entries, with 79 players still in the hunt.
Amongst those to have late reg’d in the last stanza included 2018 APT Sydney Main Event Champion Ling Liu, along with German ex-pat Martin Finger, who holds almost USD $7.7 million in total career earnings and renowned for his breakthrough victory at the EPT Prague Main Event back in 2011.
This now brings the total prize pool for the Main Event up to $192,000, with two more flights to be run tomorrow. Day 1C kicks off tomorrow at 12pm AEST and overlaps ever-so-slightly into Day 1D, which starts at 7pm.
Pavilion Poker Room Managing Director Bruno Rao has informed PMA that this will most likely change for future QPC Main Events (i.e. one day for each of the four Day 1 flights), and insists that contrary to the current trends: “They’ll still be full Day 1 flights … no turbos!”
Level 9: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)
Unasa on song
David Unasa has managed to get himself on the right end of an epic three-way-all-in showdown to take the overall chip lead into the next break of the night.
All the money was in the middle before the flop; Unasa’s 9♦9♣ were well behind the Q♦Q♣ of Nav Mahajan and A♥A♦ of Shane Khouiss, but incredibly, Unasa rivered a set on the board of 7♣6♣4♦3♠9♥!
After the chips were cut down, Mahajan was confirmed as the short stack, but he has since re-entered.
| David Unasa | 365,000 |
| Shane Khouiss | 103,500 |
| Nav Mahajan | 50,000* |
Time for another 10-minute break. Back shortly!
Maximum value
Over on Table 13, we caught up with APLPT Sydney II Main Event Champion Luke Thomas, as well as Max Pearce, who is now up to more than 180,000 in chips.
Action folded around to the player in the hijack position who min-clicked to 3,500 and Thomas called from the button before Pearce called from the small blind. The big blind also called, making it four-handed to a flop of 9♥8♣K♣.
The others then checked to Thomas who opened for 8,500; after about a minute or so, Pearce check-raised, pushing out a stack of T5,000s. The big blind folded and the hijack called all-in before Thomas got out of the way.
Hijack: A♥A♣
Pearce: K♥8♥
The turn and river bricked out 10♠, 4♣, confirming the hijack’s elimination.
| Max Pearce | 183,000 |
| Luke Thomas | 36,000 |
Level 8: 800/1,600 (1,600)
Sweet deal for Salter
Over on Table 11, our reporter caught some late action between Toby Giles and Amanda Salter on a board that read J♥10♠K♠K♣ into a four-handed pot worth about 20,000; a player in early position led out before both Salter and Giles called, forcing the player on the button out of the way before the dealer produced the river 7♣.
The EP then checked to Salter who opened for 12,000 and Giles called before the EP check-folded.
“I have a straight,” Salter said as she flipped up 9♣8♣. Giles screwed up his face before slamming his hand into the muck.
| Amanda Salter | 131,000 |
| Toby Giles | 11,000 |
QPC ROUND-UP – Event #8: Reload Rampage
Score one for the Old Guard! “Rocket” Rod Hooker picked himself up some QPC bling last week after winning the $60 buy-in Reload Rampage, defeating a field of 145 to secure a Main Event seat plus $3,725 in prize money. Well played, sir!
WPT LEAGUE SYDNEY QPC RELOAD RAMPAGE ($60 buy-in, 145 entries, 17 players paid)*
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 1 | Rod Hooker | $3,725 |
| 2 | Amjed Slewa | $2,850 |
| 3 | James Lai | $2,000 |
| 4 | John Zeppieri | $1,500 |
| 5 | Amer Odisho | $1,100 |
| 6 | Victor Lastra Garcia | $850 |
| 7 | Manoj Kapoor | $650 |
| 8 | William Lacherdis | $500 |
| 9 | Walter Bennett | $400 |
Level 7: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Money to Byrne
Leslie Byrne has also scored himself a big chunk of change, eliminating another player just before the blinds ticked over to Level 7.
All the money was in the middle pre-flop four-handed after the dealer had spread a board of 4♦8♦5♥A♠J♣, but after Byrne and the other two players had checked down all streets, he rolled up A♥A♦ to scoop.
“That was a nice 80K pot right there!” Byrne remarked.
| Leslie Byrne | 83,000 |
Tolomeo triples
David Tolomeo has tripled up after a big three-way all-in over on Table 6.
All the money was in the middle pre-flop between Tolomeo, Kosta Douka and David Ly; Ly was the shortest stack and at risk holding 9♦9♣, but although he was flipping against Douka’s A♣K♣, Tolomeo had them both covered with his J♠J♣.
Nothing changed after the dealer spread the board of 3♣8♥3♥4♠8♣, and Ly headed to the cage to load up his second bullet.
| Kosta Douka | 93,000 |
| David Tolomeo | 55,000 |
| David Ly | 50,000* |
Level 6: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Vasquez clips Pham
Over on the feature table, the UTG+1 player raised to 2,100 and action folded around to Ali Alzuhairy who made the call. Pham Nguyen and Andrez Vasquez both called out of the small and big blinds respectively, making it heads-up to a flop of A♠K♣4♥.
Nguyen then opened for 1,500 and Vasquez called, prompting the others to get out of the way before the duo checked the 4♦ on the turn.
Nguyen then check-called Vasquez’s bet of 16,000 after the dealer brought down the river 2♣, but threw his cards into the muck when Vasquez showed down A♣6♣ for two pair.
| Andrez Vasquez | 118,500 |
| Pham Nguyen | 61,000 |
QPC ROUND-UP – Event #7: Teams
Teamwork makes the dream work! Pham Nguyen and Luke Camilleri have each taken home a QPC ring and trophy after defeating Abdul Adlouni and Novica Perendic heads-up in the Teams Event! Both pairings cashed out for $4,750, while Adday and Oshana and Ash Shlemon finished third.
WPT LEAGUE SYDNEY QPC TEAMS ($350 buy-in, 52 entries, six teams paid)*
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 1 | Luke Camilleri / Pham Nguyen | $4,750* |
| 2 | Abdul Adlouni / Novica Perendic | $4,750* |
| 3 | Adday Oshana / Ash Shlemon | $2,800 |
| 4 | Jimi Tahere / Christ Arshak | $1,700 |
| 5 | Joe Romeo / John Vartuli | $1,000 |
| 6 | James Vourantonis / Sam Papadimatos | $600 |
Level 5: 400/800 (800)
That Wyn-ning feeling
Wyn Pham has eliminated QPC debutante Peter Tadros only moments before the first break in a monster hand over on Table 8.
All the money was in the middle between Pham, Tadros and George Francis after heavy action on all streets across a board of 9♣3♠J♣3♣10♥ and we got there just as the cards had been tabled.
Pham: J♠J♥
Francis: 3♥2♦
Tadros: 7♣2♠
Pham’s top set resulted in her effectively tripling up; Tadros sat in silence and watched as Pham stack up her chips before eventually taking his leave.
| Wyn Pham | 85,000 |
| George Francis | 56,000 |
| Peter Tadros | BUSTED! |
Have a stretch, folks – we’ll be back in 10 minutes!
QPC ROUND-UP – Event #6: Patriots
Now for the results of the sixth event of the QPC Sydney calendar, with the $60 buy-in Patriots tournament, which was won by Isitolo Tomasi. Tomasi straight chopped for the cash with Single Bullet Champion Ali Alzuhairy heads-up before pocketing the Main Event seat and his first QPC ring.
WPT LEAGUE SYDNEY QPC RELOAD ($60 buy-in 209 entries, 22 players paid)*
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 1 | Isitolo Tomasi | $3,837* |
| 2 | Ali Alzuhairy | $3,837* |
| 3 | Rowan Carthey | $2,330 |
| 4 | Korissa Naicker | $1,650 |
| 5 | Benjamin Wainwright | $1,150 |
| 6 | Grujica Novakovic | $850 |
| 7 | Shiwan (PK) Mahmud | $650 |
| 8 | Jim Kanan | $500 |
| 9 | Danial Saloum | $400 |
Level 4: 300/600 (600)
QPC ROUND-UP – Event #5: Reload
Austin Murphy powered his way to victory in the $60 buy-in Reload, defeating a field of 103 entries to take home his first QPC ring. After a cent was skimmed off the top to pay out William Fai on the bubble, Murphy cut a deal heads-up with second-place finisher Haroon Darmo to give him the Main Event seat.
WPT LEAGUE SYDNEY QPC RELOAD ($60 buy-in 103 entries, 11 players paid)*
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 1 | Austin Murphy | $1,500* |
| 2 | Haroon Darmo | $1,455* |
| 3 | Adi Dahari | $1,000 |
| 4 | Ram Lakshmanasamy | $700 |
| 5 | Raad Ali | $520 |
| 6 | Marino Begue | $400 |
| 7 | Taulima Kraus | $300 |
| 8 | Brooke Loka | $220 |
| 9 | Tony Obeid | $150 |
| 10 | Linda Mason | $100 |
| 11 | William Fai | $100* |
Tzanakes vanquished
Greg Tzanakes has just been whalloped at the hands of QPC Sydney Invitational Champion John Vartuli.
Both Tzanakes and Vartuli went into a five-way raised pot to a flop of 10♠3♣5♦; the blinds checked to Tzanakes who open-shoved before Vartuli called, as did another player on the button, forcing the blinds out of the way before the button folded to Vartuli’s all-in bet on the turn of the K♣.
Vartuli: K♥10♦
Tzanakes: 5♣3♠
Vartuli’s bigger two pair held up after the river 9♥ completed the board. Tzanakes was clearly upset, cursing Vartuli through gritted teeth as he stood up to leave.
“I can’t believe you called [that flop] with just one pair!” Tzanakes seethed.
Vartuli just shrugged, smiled and raked in the pot as Tzanakes grabbed his belongings and stormed out.
| John Vartuli | 117,000 |
| Greg Tzanakes | BUSTED! |
Level 3: 200/400 (400)
QPC ROUND-UP – Event #4: Invitational
And now for our continuation of the QPC Sydney results round-up, starting tonight with John Vartuli, who scored his second career QPC ring after winning the Pavilion’s special invite-only freeroll!
It also adds to what has already been a stellar start to 2022 for “The Nature Boy”, having won an APLPT Sydney title back in March. Wooooooooooo!
WPT LEAGUE SYDNEY QPC INVITATIONAL (103 entries, 10 players paid)
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 1 | John Vartuli | $1,500 |
| 2 | George Adam | $1,000 |
| 3 | Ali Alzuhairy | $800 |
| 4 | Nenad Vujancevic | $650 |
| 5 | Pham Nguyen | $500 |
| 6 | Zoran Tosic | $350 |
| 7 | Tara Chambers | $300 |
| 8 | Amir Ismaiel | $250 |
| 9 | James Lai | $200 |
| 10 | Constantinos Apostolou | $150 |
Poker 101
Peter Tadros – who is playing in his first live poker tournament ever – has been seated on Table 8, which includes a couple of big-name locals in the form of Wyn Pham and George Francis.
All three were involved in a four-way re-raised pot to a flop of A♠3♣10♦, which was checked around before Tadros checked to Pham on the turn of the 4♥, who opened for 4,700.
Francis called from the cutoff and the player on the button folded, as did Tadros before Pham bet 7,700 after the river 10♥. Francis glanced at his cards and grimaced before eventually letting his hand go.
“Good bluff, Wyn, good bluff!” Pham exclaimed, patting herself on the shoulders before raking in the pot.
“I think I gave you too much respect there!” Francis said, “but I reckon you had the ace there, for sure.”
| Wyn Pham | 65,000 |
| George Francis | 65,500 |
| Peter Tadros | 26,000 |
Level 2: 200/300
Tzanakes blocks Choi
Some early action between Greg Tzanakes and Jae Choi has resulted in the the WPTDeepStacks Sydney Opening Event 10th place finisher taking a sizeable hit to his stack.
After Choi raised from UTG+2 to 500, Tzanakes and John Vartuli both called, as did the button and big blind players to make it five-handed to a flop of Q♣A♠5♠.
The big blind player checked to Choi who opened for 1,5000; Tzanakes and Vartuli called, the button folded and the big blind check-called before the dealer produced the 9♥ on the turn.
The big blind checked and Choi fired a second shell of 5,000. Tzanakes was the only caller, making it heads-up to the river 9♠, where Choi then check-called Tzanakes’ bet of 6,000, only to muck after Tzanakes tabled J♠10♠ for the flush.
“That was a bad river card for me,” Choi lamented.
| Greg Tzanakes | 62,000 |
| Jae Choi | 18,500 |
Cards in the air
Day 1B is now officially underway!
Here’s a quick cross-section of some of the early arrivals for tonight’s flight, but although there’s only 56 runners seated, we expect that number to increase significantly during the late registration period (once they’re all able to battle through all that Friday night Sydney traffic).
Level 1: 100/200
One ring to rule them all
Good evening and welcome back to St Johns Park Bowling Club for Day 1B of the WPT League Sydney QPC Main Event!
It’s certainly an exciting time for the Australian poker industry, with the popularity of the game surging back to levels (and beyond) since those first seen after the ‘Great Australian Poker Boom’ of 2005.
Players are spoilt for choice when it comes to live poker, with buy-ins and formats catering to all tastes and budgets, but there would be few that would argue that one of the most challenging aspects of the industry is finding that point of difference – that certain something, that je ne sais quoi that sets you apart.
In the WPT League’s case, the answer is simple: the coveted championship ring.
To win one is one thing, but in Arsn Younadem’s case, winning three of them is truly a class above. That said, he’s not the first to achieve this feat, with Graham Gillespie taking out his first QPC ring on the Gold Coast before picking up two more in the inaugural QPC Newcastle last year.
Of course, it would be remiss of us to not give mention to the “Beard Bros” – Wayde Rickhuss and Justin Gordon – who have both won three and four rings respectively, but admittedly, the PokerMedia Australia Live Reporting Team still have a hard time trying to figure out which is which.
And if you thought that wasn’t enough to get you motivated, our friends at WPT League Illawarra have just released the schedule for their second QPC series, taking place at Wests Illawarra from 26 August to 11 September.
Head over to au.wptleague.com for more information, and be sure to also stay with us right here on the PMA Live Reporting blog for all the updates straight from the Pavilion to your screens from 6pm AEST. See you soon!
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