Nurlan Boobekov leads after Day 1A; that’s a wrap!
Nurlan Boobekov finds himself in a familiar position after Day 1A of The Star Sydney Champs Opening Event, sitting almost 200,000 in chips clear of our next biggest stack.
Based on unofficial counts, 29 of the 224 total entries will proceed to the second day and Boobekov will come back with 646,500, almost triple the average stack. This is not new territory for our chip leader, with Boobekov having won this event almost five years ago to the day, collecting $84,735 in prize money.
Boobekov was all smiles as we snapped some shots of him at the feature table, but stressed to PokerMedia Australia 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.”
And when our intrepid reporter 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.”
In our short few minutes chatting with Boobekov, it’s clear he loves his poker, and he hopes others around him enjoy themselves at the tables.
The PMA Live Reporting team will certainly be keeping our eyes peeled for Boobekov on Day 2, and you may well catch him in action again on the feature table stream at twitch.tv/StarPokerAU.
In the meantime, we’ll be back here tomorrow for our continued coverage, with Day 1B of The Star Sydney Opening Event from 2:30pm AEST. See you then!
LoRusso on a high
Just before the floor staff called for the final three hands, a big three-way all-in pot played out on Table 11, which included Nick LoRusso and Farnaz Bahrehbar.
All the chips were over the line before the flop; the shortest of the three stacks held A♥9♣, but was well behind Bahrehbar’s 8♥8♦, which trailed the K♥K♦ of LoRusso.
All players finished up with two pair after the dealer spread the board 7♠J♠9♦7♣5♠, but LoRusso’s Kings gave him the scoop, taking out the unknown adversary whilst Bahrehbar was left with 50,000, which she managed to double in the very next hand.
| Nick LoRusso | 210,000 |
| Farnaz Bahrehbar | 100,000 |
And with that, Day 1A of the Star Sydney Champs Opening Event has come to a close, and emerging as the overall chip leader is Nurlan Boobekov, having gone on an absolute tear after being moved to the feature table!
We’ll have our wrap-up of today’s proceedings coming your way shortly.
Logan’s run ends
Ian Logan has also been sent packing at the hands of Cooper Feltham, getting the remainder of his stack in pre-flop with Q♥J♥.
Feltham’s A♥A♣, however, held all the way down all streets across the 3♣6♥K♦9♦4♣ board to move Feltham’s stack up to 200K.
| Cooper Feltham | 195,000 |
| Ian Logan | BUSTED! |
Assadourian departs
Eric Assadourian been amongst the latest to have hit the rail as we approach the end of Day 1A of the Star Sydney Champs Opening Event.
Assadourian moved the last of his chips in pre-flop with A♦7♣, however he ran face first into the 10♠10♣ of Andre Dowling.
Despite hitting top pair on the flop of A♠J♣Q♠, Dowling turned Broadway with the K♠ before the river J♦ completed the board.
| Andre Dowling | 90,000 |
| Eric Assadourian | BUSTED! |
Level 15: 3,000/5,000 (5,000)
The Psarras blues
Michelle Psarras’ chances of taking down successive opening events at The Star Sydney have been dashed (for now) after being eliminated at the hands of Jai Cui over two hands.
Earlier, Psarras got all her chips in with K♠Q♣, but ran into Jie Cui’s J♥J♦, which went on to river quads on the board of J♠5♦8♥5♠J♣.
Down to 45,000 in chips, Psarras jammed it in a short time later with K♠4♠, however Cui’s A♥9♣ hit the better two pair on the K♥A♦2♦Q♥Q♦ board.
Not the best night for the ‘Harbour City Queen’, and nor was it for her beloved Blues, who lost tonight’s Origin decider. Sadface.
| Jay Cui | 200,000 |
| Michelle Psarras | BUSTED! |
Tambouras goes bye-bye
Steve Tambouras has met his demise at the hands of a flip in the closing stages of Day 1A.
After a player in middle position opened the action to 10,000, the hijack called before Tambouras moved all in for 94,000 from the cut-off.
Ashor Shlemon woke up in the big blind with A♣K♦ and moved in over the top. The action folded back to Tambouras, who showed down Q♥Q♦.
Despite not pairing his Ace or King, Shlemon found a four card flush on a board of 8♦6♦4♦5♣2♦ to send Tambouras to the rail.
| Ashor Shlemon | 222,000 |
| Steve Tambouras | BUSTED! |
No voodoo for Toolooa
Flopping top set with pocket Jacks has not proved favourable in today’s flight, as an opponent of Ajay Toolooa found out the hard way.
Action folded to Toolooa in the cut-off, who made it 9,000 to go. The unknown adversary in the big blind three-bet to 25,000 with J♠J♥ and Toolooa made the call.
After the flop of J♣9♦7♣, the big blind checked it over to Toolooa who moved all-in with Q♥10♥. The big blind called and the board ran out 8♠, 10♠, to give Toolooa a straight and send his opponent to the rail.
| Ajay Toolooa | 246,000 |
Level 14: 2,000/4,000 (4,000)
The Cui comeback
Having been moved onto Michelle Psarras’ table with just 50,000, Jay Cui has now run that up to almost six times that much during the course of this level.
After securing an earlier double-up, Cui got his money in again, this time with 8♥8♦ against Adnan Oda, who was flipping for his tournament life with K♣Q♣.
Cui hit top set on the flop of 8♣4♠7♣, but although Oda hit his flush with the 4♣ on the turn, Cui was best with his full house, with the river 4♥ purely a formality.
| Jay Cui | 293,500 |
| Adnan Oda | BUSTED! |
Milinkovic slips
Neb Blanusa continues to apply the pressure, taking a chunk of change off Vera Milinkovic.
Our reporter picked up the action heads-up into a pot worth about 40,000 on a flop of 3♥4♣2♦, Milinkovic led out for 10,000, but Blanusa responded with a raise worth 31,000.
After a couple of minutes, Milinkovic made the call, then checked her option on the turn of the 2♥.
“All in,” Blanusa said as he moved in his remaining 105,000.
Milinkovic leant in for a closer look at Blanusa’s chips, glanced back at her stack and then thought better of it, electing to fold her hand.
| Neb Blanusa | 203,500 |
| Vera Milinkovic | 165,000 |
Assorted chip counts
Just three more levels until we bag and tag! Yang Lei leads the way, but Malcolm Trayner has now thrown his hat into the ring, moving into second position on our counts.
| Yang Lei | 362,500 |
| Malcom Trayner | 212,500 |
| Michael Canturi | 205,000 |
| Neb Blanusa | 203,500 |
| Glenn Marsom | 184,000 |
| Leo Boxell | 183,000 |
| Vera Milinkovic | 165,000 |
| Kiavash Arbabi | 147,000 |
| Eric Assadourian | 116,000 |
| Sandi Sandi | 113,000 |
| Farnaz Bahrehbar | 112,000 |
| Hedley Fung | 108,000 |
| Vahe Hovagimian | 65,500 |
| Ian Logan | 56,000 |
| Nick LoRusso | 50,000 |
| Dylan Desmarchelier | 50,000 |
| Xavier Mangano | 31,500 |
| Romain Morvan | 20,000 |
Level 13: 1,500/3,000 (3,000)
Break it down
Our 70 remaining players are now on their final 10-minute break of the night.
Pache-go
Adrian Pacheco’s day has come to an end at the hands of Glenn Marsom.
Moving in with K♥Q♥ from the hijack for 40,000, Marsom woke up with A♥K♣ in the big blind and held safely on a board of 2♠4♦6♥6♦8♦. That’ll do it.
| Glenn Marsom | 155,000 |
| Adrian Pacheco | BUSTED! |
Chop-portunity knocks
Over on Table 6, the player in the UTG+1 position opened to 6,000 and got calls from a player in middle position, as well as Nick LoRusso and Neb Blanusa in the small blind and big blind respectively, to go four ways to a flop of 7♦J♦10♥.
The blinds checked it to the pre-flop raiser who made it 9,000. The middle position got out of the way and both the blinds called again.
On a turn of 7♥, Lo Russo checked his small blind to Neb Blanusa who moved all in, covering the table. The UTG+1 eventually let his hand go and LoRusso called.
LoRusso: 9♥7♣
Blanusa: 9♣7♠
The river came through a 6♣ to lock up the chop.
| Neb Blanusa | 215,000 |
| Nick LoRusso | 74,000 |
Level 12: 1,500/2,500 (2,500)
Blanusa gets the double ton
Neb Blanusa has now been sighted as the first player past 200K after taking a huge chunk of change off Sandi Sandi.
Our reporter picked up the action three-handed to a flop of J♦6♣10♣; a player in early and Blanusa checked their option to Sandi who opened for 9,000. The EP and Blanusa check-called, then checked again after the dealer produced the turn of the 8♠.
Sandi led out again for 17,000, the EP folded and Blanusa called, making it heads-up to the river Q♣, which both players checked, but after Blanusa tabled his Q♥10♦, Sandi shook his head before mucking his hand.
| Neb Blanusa | 208,400 |
| Sandi Sandi | 75,300 |
Lei up
WPT Prime Gold Coast Main Event Champion Yang Lei is now on a stack worth more than five times the starting stack after taking down a sizeable pot.
Action folded around to Jane Howard who raised to 3,500 from the button before the flop; Lei defended his the small blind, as did the big blind to go three-handed to a flop of 3♦9♥6♥.
Lei and the big blind checked and Howard opened for 4,500, but Lei was the only caller, making it heads-up to the turn of the K♦, which both players checked.
Lei then fired out a bet of 8,500 after the river 9♣, which was enough to force a fold from Howard.
With that, Lei moved up to 163,000 in chips and closer to tablemate Hedley Fung, who is now on almost 165,000.
| Hedley Fung | 164,400 |
| Yang Lei | 163,000 |
| Jane Howard | 37,100 |
Level 11: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)
Canturi cruising
Michael Canturi has spearheaded a double knockout to end the tournament lives of Elisa Onay and Mark Leslie.
The action opened with an open-shove from Leslie for 11,200. Canturi flat-called, but Onay then put all of her 28,100 in chips on the line. Canturi called again and turned over 7♥7♣, up against Onay’s A♥10♠ and Leslie’s K♠J♥.
The board proved favourable for Canturi as it came down 8♥Q♦5♥2♥2♣, and with that, we lost two more.
| Michael Canturi | 145,000 |
| Elisa Onay | BUSTED! |
| Mark Leslie | BUSTED! |
Younan survives
Zac Younan has managed to double through Geoff Milner as the action continues at Star Poker Sydney in this Opening Event.
Having stared down Younan intently, it appeared that Milner had sensed a shove was coming and so decided to limp with his A♥K♦ pre-flop.
His Spidey senses were right on the money, as Younan jammed with 9♣7♣; Milner obliged with a call, but the runout of A♣8♣2♦5♥6♠ saw Younan spike a backdoor flush to remain in the tournament.
| Zac Younan | 27,000 |
| Geoff Milner | 42,000 |
Level 10: 800/1,200 (1,600)
Big stacks building
Plenty of action over on Table 11, with Michael Canturi and Farnaz Bahrehbar emerging as some of the larger stacks in the room as we head into Level 10.
Action folded to Bahrehbar who raised to 2,400 from the cut-off; she found three callers in Canturi (button), Xaiver Mangano (small blind) and Elisa Onay (big blind) to make it four-handed to a 2♣2♠J♣ flop.
Mangano checked, Onay led out for 5,200 and Bahrehbar folded and Canturi called before Mangano check-raised to 17,000 total. Mango and Onay both called, only to then check-fold after Mangano’s bet of 15,000 on the turn of the 6♣.
| Farnaz Bahrehbar | 129,000 |
| Michael Canturi | 106,000 |
| Xavier Mangano | 61,500 |
| Elisa Onay | 51,000 |
Arbabi roasts Doughty
Kiavash Arbabi has all but felted Hayden ‘Doug’ Doughty in one of the first hands after the dinner break.
Action folded to Doughty who open-shoved from late position with Q♥J♥, only to be called out of the blinds by Arbabi who tabled A♥7♥.
No change to either hand after the flop of 6♦6♥9♠, but although the turn of the 8♣ brought Doughty some home, the 2♥ bricked out on the river, leaving Doughty with just 2,500, which he relinquished a short time later.
| Kiavash Arbabi | 37,200 |
| Hayden ‘Doug’ Doughty | BUSTED! |
Assorted chip counts
| Stan Levitin | 169,000 |
| Yang Lei | 124,800 |
| Neb Blanusa | 123,000 |
| Steve Tupua | 118,000 |
| Cooper Feltham | 111,500 |
| Andrew Slan | 100,500 |
| Eric Assadourian | 98,000 |
| Ian Logan | 95,500 |
| Vera Milinkovic | 75,200 |
| Michelle Psarras | 68,100 |
| Tom Hulley | 56,300 |
| Geoff Milner | 49,500 |
| Vahe Hovagimian | 44,000 |
| Romain Morvan | 16,200 |
| Sheldon Mayer | 15,000 |
Level 9: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Let’s eat!
Our players are now on a 30-minute dinner break. We’ll be back with some chips for you soon!
Boxell bags one
Although there’s quite a few people overseas right now in Las Vegas – more on that a little later – there’s no shortage of big names here in this tourney, including Alex Lee, Eric Assadourian and Australian Poker Hall of Famer Leo Boxell.
‘The Mechanic’ is still well and truly in the mix though, having just taken out a player in the moments leading up to the break; with the board reading Q♥4♣K♣7♥10♣, Boxell checked to his opponent who moved all-in with A♦K♦.
“I have too many outs – I call,” Boxell said before turning over 6♣5♣.
The river 10♣ was indeed one of the outs he was looking for, and thus we lost one more.
| Leo Boxell | 67,100 |
Milner and Slan jam
Geoff Milner and Andrew Slan are now each heading into the dinner break with above average stacks as action continues in Day 1A of the Star Sydney Champs Opening Event.
Earlier, a player in the UTG position moved all-in for their last 7,800 and found two callers – the player on the button and Milner in the small blind – before both players checked into a dry sidepot on a flop and turn of 3♥K♠3♦J♥.
Milner then flicked out a bet of 5,000 after the river 9♦ which forced the button to fold; Milner then showed down J♣9♥, which prompted the UTG to fling his cards into the muck before quickly exiting the tournament area.
In the very next hand, Slan got his chips in on the turn with the board reading 6♠8♣10♦4♣ and found a caller in Steve Tupua, who rolled up A♣7♠ for a double gut-shot straight draw.
“Steve! Dude! I told you I was gonna flop the nuts … and I did!” Slan exclaimed as he slammed down 9♥7♥.
Drawing thin to a chop, the river 5♣ completed the board and secured Slan’s double.
| Steve Tupua | 101,000 |
| Andrew Slan | 73,600 |
| Geoff Milner | 50,700 |
Level 8: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Hulley rallies
Tom Hulley has now moved up to almost 120,000 in chips after winning a three-way all-in on Table 6.
As Hulley recalled, he opened the action to 6,000 with K♥K♣ and was met with two all-ins in response.
Up against A♠Q♠ and 6♠6♥, Hulley’s Kings held firm on the board of 9♥10♠4♦2♣K♦, sending one to the rail and crippling another.
| Tom Hulley | 117,500 |
Mangano-a-go-go
A huge cooler over on Table 11 has resulted in a big double-up for Xavier Mangano against Elisa Onay.
Action folded to Mangano who opened to 1,800 from the hijack; Onay called from the cut-off and they went heads up to a flop of J♦10♠9♠ where Mangano led out for 2,100.
Onay called, and then Mangano check-called Onay’s bet of 6,000 on the turn of 5♦ before and Mangano moved all in for 26,600 after the river 8♣.
Onay thought a for a moment before calling down with her J♠J♥ for a flopped top set, but was pipped by Mangano’s flopped straight with K♠Q♣.
| Xavier Mangano | 75,000 |
| Elisa Onay | 110,000 |
Level 7: 400/800 (800)
Romain run-good, one time?
Comeback king Romain Morvan has had his stack decimated after making a crying call pre-flop against Nick LoRusso.
After the UTG+1 player opened the betting to 1,500, there was another call from middle position before LoRusso bumped it up to 3,800 from the button.
Morvan responded with a four-bet of 11,100 from the small blind, forcing the others out of the way before LoRusso shoved for 41,900, sending Morvan into the tank for about two minutes before he made a crying call.
LoRusso: A♣A♦
Morvan: J♠J♦
LoRusso scored the crucial double after the board ran out 2♦6♣10♥9♥9♦, but although Morvan is now down to less than half the starting stack, we’ve seen the Frenchman run it up from less … watch this space!
| Nick LoRusso | 87,000 |
| Romain Morvan | 13,000 |
Tambouras goes bang!
Steve Tambouras, who won the WPTDeepStacks Sydney $1,100 NLH Event earlier this year, found himself amongst the action early at Table 13 after registering before the start of the second stanza.
The UTG player opened the action to 1,400 and Tambouras was one of two callers before the player in the cut-off moved all in for 14,100. Tambouras was the only caller.
Tambouras: 7♠7♦
Opponent: A♠J♥
No change to either hand after the board ran out 10♥6♠6♦3♣5♥, resulting in Tambouras’ stack moving north of 40K.
| Steve Tambouras | 46,100 |
Level 6: 300/600 (600)
One helluva sweat
“Man, this is the longest sweat of my life!”
That was a direct quote from Justin Capra – fresh off the plane from Vegas – as the PMA Live Reporting Team approached Table 29, where a large crowd had gathered to witness him all-in against Taeil Park and Vera Milinkovic after a flop of 6♣8♣5♥.
It appeared there was some confusion surrounding the bet amounts, however, which had resulted in the clock being paused for approximately 15 minutes as Star Poker Sydney floor staff worked with surveillance to reconstruct the action, as follows:
After a player in early position limped in pre-flop, Park raised to 1,500 from the lojack before Capra called from the hijack. Milinkovic then three-bet it to 3,500 from the cut-off, the EP folded and Park called, as did Capra, who confirmed that he verbally announced a call before putting in a yellow T5,000 and five black T100 chips, in order to receive 2,000 in change.
After the flop, action then checked to Milinkovic who opened for 7,000; Park short-called for 13,500 and Capra went over the top, forcing the short-call from Milinkovic.
Milinkovic: Q♥Q♦
Park: 7♠7♥
Capra: A♣4♣
“46% favourite!” Capra said as he flashed the odds calculator app to the rail.
“Run it out!” cried a player from an adjacent table.
Turn: 6♦
River: 10♦
With Milinkovic dodging a wealth of outs, she effectively tripled up and left Capra running on fumes as Park departed.
| Vera Milinkovic | 141,000 |
| Justin Capra | 9,400 |
| Taeil Park | BUSTED! |
Assorted chip counts
The field for today’s Day 1A flight has now swelled to 200 total entries, with Steve Tupua now on top of the counts along with Natalie Segon and WPT Prime Gold Coast $1,100 NLH Champion, Romain Morvan, but just as we had finished our first round of counts, the tournament clock was paused in order to check the cameras after major all-in action on Table 29. We’ll have more details on that for you shortly.
| Steve Tupua | 141,500 |
| Dylan Desmarchelier | 86,000 |
| Elisa Onay | 80,500 |
| Glenn Marsom | 64,500 |
| Geoff Milner | 54,000 |
| Michelle Psarras | 53,000 |
| Natalie Segon | 36,500 |
| Lewis Murray | 30,500 |
| Romain Morvan | 29,000 |
| Adrian Pacheco | 22,000 |
| Vahe Hovagimian | 19,000 |
Level 5: 300/500 (500)
Break time!
The Opening Event players are now on a 10-minute break.
Door Slan-ned shut
Andrew Slan has found himself eliminated early in the tournament, after a bluff-catch went wrong against Shunki Shimoe.
With action on the river on a board of Q♦5♥A♦2♥K♥, Shimoe placed an overbet of 22,000 to put Slan all-in. After some deliberation, Slan made the call with K♦7♦ and was met with bad news as Shimoe showed A♥7♥.
| Shunki Shimoe | 92,000 |
| Andrew Slan | BUSTED! |
Pay day for Ray
Over on Table 14 Adrian Chiu opened the action for 1,500; action then folded to Ray Badaoui who three-bet to 4,800 out of the big blind. Chiu responded with an all-in and Badaoui snap-called before they tabled their cards.
Badaoui: K♠K♣
Chiu: A♠Q♥
The board ran out 8♦7♠8♥3♦J♠, handing Badaoui a healthy double-up to be amongst the chip leaders in the early stages of this Opening Event flight.
| Ray Badaoui | 92,000 |
| Adrian Chiu | 40,000 |
Level 4: 200/400 (400)
Good, better, best
It’s no secret that the Star Entertainment Group are the market leaders for Tier One events in this country, but as anyone that’s been in the game long enough will tell you, the key to long-term success is the ability to take on feedback, adapt, improve and overcome, irrespective of which level and facet of the industry you’re in.
The Star Poker Sydney team have certainly put that into practice after the success of their WPTDeepStacks series; most notably, they’ve introduced a secondary tournament registration desk in the cash game area, aimed to ease the burden on the staff at the main desk during peak periods.
There’s now also a dedicated bar in the main tournament area that in turn will help to streamline table service, and there’s even more on offer for our players in this year’s Sydney Champs Main Event, as this year’s winner will also score themselves a WPT World Championship package valued at AUD $15,000!
Check out starpoker.com.au for more information, including the full Sydney Poker Champs schedule, as well as their regular weekly tournament schedule and upcoming series.
The blue man scoop
Our reporter spotted some river action over on Table 9 with Ming Zhu deep in the tank. Zhu’s bet of 5,000 on a board of 2♣4♣5♠7♣3♣ was raised by Geoff Milner to 11,000.
After a tense few minutes, Zhu open folded K♣J♣, earning himself gasps from the table. In good spirit, Milner showed Zhu that it was a good fold, flashing the A♣ to confirm he had the steel wheel before raking in his chips.
Milner has always proved to be one of the most likeable and popular players on the circuit and is also renowned for his flamboyant threads, which today matches the colour palette for the Star Sydney Champs, including the balloons decorating the LED archway to the poker room. Camouflage, perhaps?
| Geoff Milner | 70,000 |
| Ming Zhu | 13,800 |
Level 3: 200/300 (300)
Desmarchelier mashes Onay
The PMA Live Reporting Crew caught up with a very happy Dylan Desmarchelier, who has almost tripled his starting stack after eliminating Hasan Onay in the previous level.
“I couldn’t believe it – it was only the third hand of the day!” Desmarchelier exclaimed.
As he recalled, the player under the gun raised to 300 pre-flop before action folded to Onay who three-bet to 900. Desmarchelier defended his big blind, the UTG folded and Onay called, making it heads-up to a flop of 4♣7♠8♠.
Desmarchelier check-called Onay’s bet of 4,000, then both players checked the turn of the Q♥ before check-calling Onay’s shove on the river 7♦, rolling up 9♠9♥ for two pair, which was best against Onay’s 9-8o.
Onay has elected to take his single re-entry for today’s flight and has since been replaced at Desmarchelier’s table by the reigning WPT Prime Gold Coast Main Event Champion, Yang Lei.
| Dylan Desmarchelier | 80,600 |
| Hasan Onay | 30,000* |
Pacheco gets one through
Over in the far corner of the room, our reporter caught Adrian Pacheco heads-up into a raised post pre-flop with the player in the lojack position to a flop of Q♣9♦Q♥.
The lojack player opened for 1,300 and Pacheco called, prompting the dealer to peel out the turn, which was the 7♣.
The lojack bet 3,600, but quickly folded after Pacheco’s raise of 8,500.
| Adrian Pacheco | 36,800 |
Level 2: 100/200 (200)
Famous faces
Plenty of notables already on the felt today, including WPTDeepStacks Sydney Opening Event Champion Michelle Psarras, along with Glenn Marsom and Justin Capra (son of Sydney poker veteran Sam Capra), both fresh off their ‘Summer Camp’ experiences in Las Vegas.
Jayden Zalac, Geoff Milner, Ian Logan, Lewis Murray, Dylan Desmarchelier and Charles Tsai are also amongst the 128 entries now seated, along with 2018 Sydney Champs Main Event winner Neb Blanusa, who’s seated on the RFID feature table alongside Sheldon Mayer, Sunny Shah and Mitchell Frost.
Star Poker management have confirmed that streaming will be available for each day of the series over at twitch.tv/StarPokerAU, and final tables will be simulcast on the Star Poker Sydney Facebook page, with commentary and analysis from our friends at LCAPoker.
Shuffle up and deal!
The cards are now officially in the air for the 2022 Star Sydney Champs!
Today’s Opening Event flight will see our players start with 30,000 in tournament chips and play through 15 30-minute levels, with breaks every two hours before our survivors bag up at around 11pm tonight.
| 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 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
Level 1: 100/100 (100)
The Champs are here!
From wherever you are watching in Australia, New Zealand or around the world, hello and welcome back to The Star Sydney for the long-awaited return of the Star Sydney Champs!
As one of the country’s most popular and longest-running casino series, the Star Sydney Champs Main Event winner’s list features some of the best in the business, including inaugural winner Jarred Graham (2009), Daniel Laidlaw (2013), Martin Kozlov (2014) and Kahle Burns (2016), who between them have amassed more than AUD $25.4 million in tournament earnings.
The Star Sydney Champs also holds a special place in our hearts here at PokerMedia Australia, as our team had the privilege of reporting on the 2014 Main Event, and we are absolutely delighted to be bringing you coverage of the entire series this time around.
Along with full Live Reporting for the entire duration of the Opening Event, the Mystery Bounty and Main Event, we’ll also be bringing you the action from Day 2 of both the $1,100 NLH and $5K High Roller, and daily feature articles with results from every event over the next 13 days.
2022 STAR SYDNEY CHAMPS – PMA LIVE REPORTING SCHEDULE
| Date | Time (AEST) | Tournament |
| Wed 13 Jul | 2:30pm | Opening Event – Day 1A |
| Thu 14 Jul | 2:30pm | Opening Event – Day 1B |
| Fri 15 Jul | 12:30pm | Opening Event – Day 1C |
| Sat 16 Jul | 12:30pm | Opening Event – Day 2 |
| Sun 17 Jul | 12:15pm | Opening Event – Day 3 |
| Mon 18 Jul | 12:30pm | $1,100 NLH – Day 2 |
| Tue 19 Jul | 2:30pm | $1,000 Mystery Bounty Day 1A |
| Wed 20 Jul | 2:30pm | $1,000 Mystery Bounty Day 1B |
| Thu 21 Jul | 11:00am | $1,000 Mystery Bounty Day 2 |
| 12:30pm | Main Event Day 1A | |
| Fri 22 Jul | 12:30pm | Main Event Day 1B |
| Sat 23 Jul | 12:30pm | Main Event Day 1C |
| Sun 24 Jul | 11:00am | Main Event Day 2 |
| Mon 25 Jul | 11:00am | Main Event Day 3 |
| 12:30pm | $5K High Roller Day 2 |
And it all kicks off today at 2:30pm AEST with the first of three Day 1 flights for the $750 buy-in Opening Event, so stay with us right here at PMA as we bring you the action direct from Star Poker Sydney. See you soon!
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