Nurlan Boobekov has emerged as the overwhelming chip leader after the first Day 1 flight of The Star Sydney Champs Opening Event.
Of the 225 total entries taken in yesterday, 36 have advanced to Day 2 and Boobekov will return with 646,500 – almost triple the average stack.
This is not new territory for the Sydney grinder, having won this very tournament back in 2017 for $84,735 in prize money, which is still listed as his biggest live cash to date.
Although he was all smiles throughout his time at the tables, Boobekov stressed to PokerMedia Australia during his post-match interview that it wasn’t as easy as it looked.
“Day 1A and 1B are the toughest days you can play,” Boobekov said. “[Typically on] Wednesdays and Thursdays, there aren’t as many recreational players.”
Asked whether he took a different approach to his strategy than usual: “Not really, I just played solid poker,” he replied, “though I would like to think that I’m a better player every time I play.”
STAR SYDNEY CHAMPS OPENING EVENT – DAY 1A CHIP COUNTS
| Name | Chips |
| Nurlan Boobekov | 646,500 |
| Vera Milinkovic | 460,000 |
| Steve Tupua | 383,000 |
| Jun Lin | 375,000 |
| Yang Lei | 371,000 |
| Malcolm Trayner | 307,000 |
| Edwin Chiu | 290,500 |
| Cooper Feltham | 267,000 |
| Ashor Shlemon | 253,000 |
| Fletcher Smith | 227,000 |
| Daniel Awad | 217,000 |
| Stan Levitin | 210,000 |
| Sandi Sandi | 191,000 |
| Ajay Toolooa | 181,000 |
| Neb Blanusa | 175,000 |
| Peter Au | 174,000 |
| Nicholas LoRusso | 142,000 |
| Nathan Sawyers | 135,000 |
| Natalie Segon | 132,000 |
| Leo Boxell | 130,000 |
| Michael Canturi | 127,000 |
| Glenn Marsom | 126,000 |
| Hedley Fung | 120,000 |
| Jian Qin | 120,000 |
| Vahe Hovagimian | 101,000 |
| Dylan Desmarchelier | 85,000 |
| Minh Cao | 84,000 |
| Kiavash Arbabi | 70,000 |
| Kurtis Lazenby | 70,000 |
| Hoyeon Kim | 69,000 |
| Zhengmin Zhang | 67,000 |
| Adrian Chiu | 65,000 |
| Farnaz Bahrehbar | 50,000 |
| Christina Pie | 47,000 |
| Michael Seymour | 20,000 |
| Jie Cui | 12,400 |
The PMA Live Reporting team will return with continued coverage of the Star Sydney Champs Opening Event, with Day 1B commencing at 2:30pm AEST. Feature table streaming (cards-up, 30-minute delay) will also be available at twitch.tv/StarPokerAU.
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