Alex Yazbeck bags the chip lead after Day 1C; that’s a wrap!
Our third and final flight of The Star Sydney Champs Opening Event has now come to a close, and finishing on top of the counts was none other than Alex Yazbeck, who bagged up 413,000 in chips!
The Yazbeck name is indeed synonymous in Sydney poker; along with father Mark and younger brother Patrick, the trio have been tearing up the felt here at The Star Sydney over the last six years, but the Sydney Champs still holds a special place in their hearts – and in the Australian poker record books.
“Me, my father and my brother all made the final table of the Turbo Event three years ago, and I actually knocked out Dad in third place,” Yazbeck told PokerMedia Australia.
“But today, he moved onto my table for a bit and took down a few pots from me, so if anyone ever asks, there’s certainly no love lost on the tables!”
That said, Yazbeck assured us that there’s a great deal of love and family pride, particularly for Alex, as he became a father for the first time just 11 months ago.
“Honestly, my wife and my daughter … they’re everything to me,” Yazbeck said. “Being a dad is beautiful and such a privilege. I can’t wait to go home and see them!”
And with that, it’s time for us to head home as well. The Day 2 seat draw and Live Reporting blog up early tomorrow morning before the action kicks off at 12:30pm AEST. From all of us here at PMA and The Star Sydney, thanks again for joining us and we’ll see you again soon. ‘Bye for now!
Two more hands!
Tournament staff have announced two more hands, after which we’ll bag and tag before wrapping things up. Stay with us!
Yuuuu!
Chris Yu opened to 10,000 under-the-gun and almost got it through – save for Jimmy Ghobrial who woke up in the big blind and shoved his entire 121,500 stack right back at Yu.
Yu hit the tank, but eventually made the call, having Ghobrial covered.
Yu: 10♠10♦
Ghobrial: A♣Q♠
Ghobrial needed to hit either one of his overcards, but was unable to do so as the board ran out 2♠2♣J♣8♦K♠, hitting the rail in the last level of the day.
“It’s always the last few hands, every time!” he complained to our Live Reporter as he exited stage left.
Yu, meanwhile, called another all-in the very next hand as a short stack shoved on Yu’s big blind.
Yu: 6♠6♦
Opponent: 10♥9♥
A 10♦ in the window looked bad for Yu, but the 6♥ right underneath it looked a lot better, the set enough for Yu to score consecutive knockouts as the board completed 3♣6♥10♦3♦J♠.
| Chris Yu | 350,000 |
| Jimmy Ghobrial | BUSTED! |
Strang feeling
Action was on Errolyn Strang as our Live Reporter approached her table.
With 33,000 in the pot and board showing 8♥10♣A♣8♣, Tom Luo had shoved for almost twice the pot – a total of 64,000 – and sent Strang deep into the tank.
After several minutes, after cutting out the chips to call, Strang elected to slide her cards face down into the muck. Luo flashed the J♣ as he collected the pot.
| Errolyn Strang | 284,000 |
| Tom Luo | 97,000 |
Kicker problems
A short stacked player jammed all in from UTG+1 and action folded around to Hong Xie in the hi-jack, who re-jammed to isolate.
Both blinds got out of the way and the cards were tabled.
Xie: A♠Q♥
Opponent: A♥J♣
Xie’s opponent practically sprinted out of the door after the board completed 8♦4♦9♥10♠9♠.
| Hong Xie | 126,000 |
Captain Kaplan
Fahri Kaplan shoved all-in under-the-gun and action folded all the way around to Peter Vrljic in the big blind, who looked at his cards and immediately appeared pained by the decision.
Vrljic asked for a count, gave a big sigh, and then another, then shrugged and flicked in one chip to call.
Kaplan: A♣9♦
Vrljic: A♥8♠
Kaplan held through on the J♠7♣5♦4♦5♣ board to double twice within the same orbit.
| Peter Vrljic | 133,500 |
| Fahri Kaplan | 88,000 |
Level 15: 3,000/5,000 (5,000)
One down, Wei up
Wei Zhu has also taken out another player in emphatic fashion in the last few minutes before the blinds ticked up to Level 15.
All the money was in the middle after a flop of K♣Q♠Q♣; the player at risk had tabled J♣10♣, but was needing a lot of help against Zhu’s A♦Q♦.
The repeat K♦ on the turn filled up Wei, but no miracle river this time, with the 4♥ completing the board.
| Wei Zhu | 179,000 |
Dammit, Zammit!
Tri Nguyen open shoved for his last 19,000, and Shaun Zammit re-jammed over the top from the next seat over, forcing everyone else out of the pot.
Zammit: A♦K♥
Nguyen: Q♣J♣
Nguyen out-flopped Zammit, hitting a Queen on the Q♠9♥5♣ flop. Zammit turned the Broadway draw, but it was two pair for Nguyen as the J♠ peeled.
The river 2♠ was definitely not the Ten Zammit was looking for, and Nguyen got the full double.
| Shaun Zammit | 41,500 |
| Tri Nguyen | 48,000 |
It’s a ‘Shur’ thing
Yan Shurunov has taken out another player as action continues here at Star Poker Sydney.
Our reporter caught the action just as the dealer was pushing the pot towards Shurunov, having taking it down with Q♣J♣ after rivering two pair on the board of A♠4♠6♠A♦J♥, dodging the flush and straight draws against the victim’s 8♠7♠.
| Yan Shurunov | 161,000 |
Level 14: 2,000/4,000 (4,000)
Limpy limpy
Andrew Harvey was actually able to check his big blind after three players limped before him, including John Nguyen in the small blind.
All four checked the 8♣3♥3♣ flop, and after Nguyen checked again on the 7♥ turn, Harvey slid out a bet of 5,500.
Action folded around to Nguyen, who made the call, prompting a comment about the flush draw from Harvey.
Both players checked again on the 8♦ river, and Harvey announced “I have a seven”, tabling the hammer – 7♦2♦. Nguyen laughed and showed that he did indeed have a flush draw with J♣2♣. Big blind special!
| Andrew Harvey | 318,500 |
| John Nguyen | 138,000 |
BYO Aces
Byung Yong Kang did exactly that, showing up to the party with A♠A♥ after Yor Ecobiza shoved preflop.
Horror story for Ecobiza, who tabled K♥K♦ and found himself well behind with the second best hand in the game.
The flop was safe for Kang, spreading out 6♠3♥3♠, but Ecobiza found a miracle K♣ on the turn and the 7♠ river changed nothing.
| Yor Ecobiza | 74,500 |
| Byung Yong Kang | 48,000 |
Basle bows to pressure
Our Live Reporter picked up the action on a flop showing 2♦4♥A♥, with four players still in the hand. Harry Basle checked first to act, Shem Goltz checked behind, then Richie Samia fired a continuation bet of 6,500.
Only Basle called, and the turn dropped the 8♣. Basle checked once more, and Samia continued to apply pressure, firing for 12,500, earning a fold from Basle.
| Richie Samia | 165,000 |
| Harry Basle | 103,000 |
Updated chip counts
Our remaining 105 players have returned from the last break of the night and will play through three more 30-minute levels before we bag and tag.
| Player | Chips |
| Dominic Tso | 261,000 |
| Alan Janke | 245,000 |
| Andrew Harvey | 240,000 |
| Husnain Siddique | 200,500 |
| Matthias Vaquerin | 185,000 |
| Errolyn Strang | 174,500 |
| Andrew Scarf | 156,000 |
| Milan Stojkovic | 150,000 |
| Shem Goltz | 147,500 |
| Mark Liddell | 147,500 |
| Peter Vrljic | 144,000 |
| Roland Foster | 127,000 |
| Tim McDonnell | 119,000 |
| Jimmy Ghobrial | 114,000 |
| Bruce Hall | 73,000 |
| Justin Wongf | 61,000 |
| Jonathan Levy | 60,000 |
| Harry Basle | 60,000 |
| Suzy Khouiss | 51,500 |
| Shaun Zammit | 44,000 |
| Slav Rypinski | 22,500 |
Level 13: 1,500/3,000 (3,000)
Break time!
The remaining 110 players have departed on a 10-minute break.
Featured sweats
A couple of hands from the Star Poker Sydney feature table before the break – the one-of-a-kind installation in any Australian casino allows the game to be streamed to a Twitch audience on a delay cards-up, meaning we can see what every player has.
Yu Han was getting very short. First, Han shoved with K♦Q♣ from the small blind, forcing a fold from Jiapeng Yang in the big blind and stealing. Then, Han opened his button to 6,500 and Yang relinquished his small blind as well. Timothy McDonnell looked down at 4♣3♣ and asked to see Han’s stack before making the call.
We could see that the 8♠2♠J♥ flop was literally no help to McDonnell, however, and it was no surprise to see him check-fold to Han’s continuation bet.
The next hand everything kicked off; Ali Khouiss opened UTG to 6,500 with A♣J♥ only to see big stack Husnain Siddique 3-bet to 20,000 (we could see Siddique had 10♦10♣).
Action folded around to Timothy McDonnell once again, and when McDonnell’s cards – the 9♠9♥ flashed up on screen it was apparent this was going to be a big hand.
McDonnell elected to flat call, and Khouiss laid it down – much to his chagrin as the flop spread A♥A♦2♣ moments later. Both McDonnell and Siddique checked, then McDonnell took the initiative, firing blocker bets of 5,000 and 10,000 respectively on the Q♦ turn and 8♦ river, being called twice by Siddique.
You can follow along with the action for yourself over at twitch.tv/StarPokerAU.
| Husnain Siddique | 202,500 |
| Timothy McDonnell | 120,000 |
| Yu Han | 56,000 |
| Ali Khouiss | 39,000 |
Always a sweat?
Peter Vrljic opened to 5,500 only to see Milan Stojkovic 3-bet to 13,000 from the next seat over. Action then folded around to Jimmy Ghobrial in the cut-off, who shoved his last 51,500. Vrljic spun his cards into the muck, but Stojkovic made the call to put Ghobrial at risk.
Stojkovic: A-K
Ghobrial: A♥Q♦
Ghobrial found himself in a troublesome spot, dominated by Stojkovic … that is, until the flop spread Q♣9♥5♠, flipping the whole hand on its head.
The board completed 3♦, 6♦ and Ghobrial found an unlikely double to stay alive.
On the very next hand, Stojkovic shoved his remaining 68,000 and was short-called by Sammy Ioannou before everyone else got out of the way.
Stojkovic: K♦Q♠
Ioannou: Q♣7♦
Stojkovic, once again dominating preflop, remarked to our Live Reporter “Gotta love a sweat!” as the flop spread out 9♣2♥Q♦.
That was quickly followed though by a “You’ve got to be kidding me!” as the turn 7♠ again flipped the equities of the hands right around.
All was not lost though, and the entire table was up in arms as the K♥ hit the river to save Stojkovic and eliminate Ioannou.
| Jimmy Ghobrial | 109,500 |
| Milan Stojkovic | 106,000 |
| Sam Ioannou | BUSTED! |
Level 12: 1,500/2,500 (2,500)
Pacheco set up to fail
Adrian Pacheco opened the action to 4,000 and Jonathan Levy 3-bet to 11,000 two seats over. Action folded back around to Pacheco, who made the call.
Pacheco checked his option as the flop spread A♠K♠7♣, and Levy continued, firing a bet of 6,000. Pacheco decided that wasn’t enough, check-raising to 15,000 and called by Levy.
The J♣ on the turn prompted Pacheco to jam all in for his remaining chips, and Levy didn’t hesitate, calling in short order.
Levy: K♦K♣
Pacheco: 7♠7♥
Set over set pain for Pacheco, who was unable to hit his one outer as the 3♣ river ended his tournament early.
| Jonathan Levy | 106,000 |
| Adrian Pacheco | BUSTED! |
Coppini cops it
Alfred Coppini took a moment to check how many levels were left of play today, facing a 5,000 open from Yan Shurunov. Upon getting confirmation that there were 4 levels remaining, Coppini shoved his remaining 21,400.
Both blinds quickly folded and Shurunov quickly called. “What’s your kicker?” enquired Coppini.
Shurunov responded by tabling the A♠K♦. Coppini gave a sigh and tabled his own A♥J♠.
Top pair for Shurunov on the 5♣K♥3♠ flop led Coppini to call for a Queen or a Ten on the turn, looking for running Broadway. “Two!” said Shurunov in response – and sure enough, the 2♥ materialised on the turn.
“Okay, four for a chop!” said Coppini.
Not to be as the 8♥ on the river ended Coppini’s day.
| Yan Shurunov | 92,000 |
| Alfred Coppini | BUSTED! |
Janke gets Goltz
Shem Goltz opened UTG to 4,500 and then called the 3-bet of Alan Janke to the tune of 13,000 when action folded back around to him.
Goltz would then check-call the 10,000 continuation from Janke on the Q♥J♣A♠ flop, before both players checked the 9♥ turn.
Goltz took the initiative to fire a blocker bet of 5,500 on the 2♥ river, quickly called by Janke. Goltz tabled A♦10♦ for top pair, but Janke had that beat with the A♥K♠.
| Alan Janke | 156,500 |
| Shem Goltz | 147,500 |
Levy levied
Wei Zhu moved all-in preflop for 40,200 and was called by only Jonathan Levy to go to showdown.
Zhu: A♠A♦
Levy: A♥K♥
Levy found no help on the 10♦10♣7♠2♦6♠ board and paid his taxes to Zhu.
| Wei Zhu | 81,400 |
| Jonathan Levy | 54,400 |
Level 11: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)
Samia claims a scalp
Reigning APLPT Sydney Main Event Champion Richie Samia claimed a scalp as the clock ticked over into Level 12. A player opened the action under-the-gun to 3,200 and was called UTG+1 before Samia 3-bet out of the blinds to 9,600. The under-the-gun player folded, but the UTG+1 player came along.
Samia continued for 8,500 on the flop of 8♦J♦Q♥ and got check-raised all-in for 34,000 effective. Samia made the call.
Samia: A♣J♣
Opponent: K♥J♥
Finding himself ahead, Samia just needed to fade a King, and did so on the 5♣, 10♣ run-out to secure the elimination and move up above 200k.
| Richie Samia | 209,000 |
The Italian job
Milan Stokjovic 3-bet squeezed all-in for 41,200 after Chris Yu opened to 3,500 and was called by Peter Vrljic. Only Yu made the call, and after Vrljic got out of the way they went to showdown.
Stojkovic: 9♥9♣
Yu: 8♥8♦
Yu found himself in a world of trouble as Stojkovic had the superior pocket pair, and could only watch as Stojkovic robbed his stack for full value as the board ran out 10♦10♠2♣6♦A♦, no extra help to either player.
| Peter Vrljic | 90,400 |
| Milan Stojkovic | 83,700 |
| Chris Yu | 65,000 |
White out
Andrew White and Travis O’Grady clashed, getting all the chips in preflop in another flip situation.
O’Grady: 8♠8♥
White: A♦Q♣
This time it was O’Grady who needed to fade the overcards, which he successfully achieved on the J♦10♣2♦10♠5♥ board to erase White.
| Travis O’Grady | 58,300 |
| Andrew White | BUSTED! |
Rourke routed
Recounted to our live reporter after the fact by a tablemate, Ennaria Rourke 3-bet jammed for her remaining 36,000 over the 3,200 UTG+1 open by Matthias Vaquerin.
Action folded all the way back around to Vaquerin, who made the call to put Rourke at risk.
Rourke: T-T
Vaquerin: A-K
Ahead but flipping, Rourke needed to fade the high cards to stay alive. She hit a dream flop of 7-8-9, but the K on the turn spelled disaster. The 7 on the river was not one of her 10 outs and Rourke was eliminated during Level 10.
| Matthias Vaquerin | 117,000 |
| Ennaria Rourke | BUSTED! |
Level 10: 800/1,600 (1,600)
Graceful exit
Paul Grace jammed his short stack in preflop and found a customer in Bruce Hall.
Hall: K♠K♦
Grace: A♣8♦
All clean for Hall as he backdoored into a full house on the J♣3♠Q♠Q♦Q♣ board.
| Bruce Hall | 57,000 |
| Paul Grace | BUSTED! |
Doughty ‘wins’ return flights
“If I lose, I’m flying home right now!” announced Hayden ‘Doug’ Doughty, after Mitch Webster shoved over the top of his own preflop shove.
Action was still pending on Dominic Tso, who appeared to have a decision. Tso eventually let it go, choosing to allow Webster and Doughty to go to showdown on their own.
Webster: A♦J♥
Doughty: K♠7♠
Gin for Webster on the J♦A♥10♥ flop, only a glimmer of hope in the form of a gutshot to Broadway for Doughty.
“One time!” called out Doughty.
It was not to be, as the board completed 5♠, 3♣ to send Doughty … all the way home?
“It’s ok, I’ll fly back tomorrow!” laughed Doughty as he took his leave.
| Mitch Webster | 44,000 |
| Hayden ‘Doug’ Doughty | BUSTED! |
Prize pool confirmed
There were a flurry of last minute entries prior to the end of the dinner break, and we can now confirm that late registration has finished and the 2022 Sydney Champs Opening Event has attracted a total of 847 entries across 3 flights.
This means the total prize pool is set at $571,725, with 106 players finishing in the money. 84 players bagged from Flights 1A and 1B, and there are 6 levels left to play in Flight 1C. A min cash will be worth $1,126.
First prize will take the lions share, of course, and this beautiful crystal trophy – the first in the 2022 Sydney Champs.
Big stacks!
Here are some of the bigger stacks in the room at the break.
| Player | Chips |
| Andrew Harvey | 208,500 |
| Husnain Siddique | 157,000 |
| Jiapeng Yang | 157,000 |
| Richie Savive | 122,500 |
| Matthias Vaquerin | 118,000 |
| Jonathan Levy | 115,000 |
| Mark Liddell | 115,000 |
| Uno Uka | 106,000 |
| Shih Cheng Tseng | 98,500 |
Level 9: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Dinner break!
Our remaining players have left on a 30-minute dinner break. Late registration ends once play recommences at the start of Level 9.
Shuffle, cards, action!
The one-of-a-kind Star Sydney feature table has been utilised today. The table, featuring RFID technology, streams the action from Table 32 on a 30-minute delay over at twitch.tv/StarPokerAU.
The current line-up on the table is as follows.
| Seat | Player |
| 1 | Timothy McDonnell |
| 2 | Dean Vigdor |
| 3 | Lewis Murray |
| 4 | Billy Bremner |
| 5 | Husnain Siddique |
| 6 | Gregory Davidson |
| 7 | Albert Gommeren |
| 8 | Steve Tambouras |
| 9 | Jiapeng Yeng |
Not like this!
Carlos Youssef stopped by the PMA desk to regale his unfortunate bust-out to us. As recounted by Youssef, he opened the action to 2,500 on the Star Sydney feature table and was 3-bet by Dean Vigdor to 6,500.
Youssef elected to shove for his remaining 29,000 and was snap-called.
Youssef: K♠K♦
Vigdor: K♥K♣
Chop? Nope – four clubs on board giving a flush to Vigdor. Ouch!
Small ball, then ultimate cooler
Shih Cheng Tseng limped the button and Paul Grace checked his option in the big blind. Both players then checked through the flop and turn of 3♠A♠7♠K♥ before Grace fired 3,000 on the river, earning a fold from Tseng.
A few hands later on the same table, a middle position player open-shoved and action folded to Alan Janke in the cut-off. Janke re-shoved and everybody else got out of the way.
Janke: A♠A♣
Opponent: K♦K♣
Janke held firm on the 3♦10♦7♥J♠9♣ run-out to eliminate his opponent.
| Shih Cheng Tseng | 99,000 |
| Alan Janke | 62,500 |
| Paul Grace | 30,000 |
Level 8: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Handed to us
With so many tables in play, our Live Reporters are hard at work pounding the pavement trying to find action. Shem Goltz saved us a little time, sending us this hand via Facebook Messenger recently.
The hand occurred in Level 6, with blinds at 300/600 (600).
Goltz opened the action from middle position with a raise to 1,500 with A♣Q♠ and was called by the button before the big blind (an aggressive player, according to Goltz) 3-bet to 7,500.
Goltz flat-called to see a flop of Q♣8♣4♣ and called again when the big blind player continued for 8,500.
On the 5♣ turn, the aggressor slowed down, opting to check. Goltz then opted to bet 5,500, and the big blind player matched it.
A check again on the 10♠ river and Goltz hit the hammer, shoving with slightly more chips than his opponent. After several minutes, his opponent called off with A♦K♣ – the second nuts no good as Goltz skyrocketed up the chip counts.
Don’t forget ladies and gents: if you want to get yourself on the blog, join the PMA Discord server right now and drop your hand histories into our #give-us-a-hand text channel!
| Shem Goltz | 90,000 |
BREAKING NEWS: WPT Australia schedule announced
News out of Star Poker Gold Coast as the schedule for the WPT Main Tour has been announced this afternoon. The hotly anticipated event is coming to Australia for the first ever time.
The series will run from 15 – 27 September 2022 and encompasses 13 events in 13 days.
Highlights include the $5,400 Main Event ($5,000 + $400) where the winner will get their name etched on the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup, along with the $550 Shane Warne One Dayer (Perpetual Trophy) Freezeout – a must attend for poker and cricket fans alike.
Tournament buy-ins start at just $440 ($400 + $40) and there will be two-step satellites into the Main Event, plus, direct-entry satellites into the WPT World Championship in Las Vegas!
Click here to view the full schedule!
Level 7: 400/800 (800)
Nasab nixed
The action was opened to 2,000 from the cut-off before Seyd Nasab jammed his remaining 8,600 from the next seat over.
The player in the small blind got out of the way, and Shannon Brown elected to re-jam his own short stack from the big blind. The initial raiser elected to fold, however, and both short stacks went to a crucial showdown.
Nasab: 10♠10♥
Brown: A♣Q♥
The board of 9♠4♣5♣6♥ was looking safe for Nasab to double through, but Brown spiked the Q♦ on the river to score the elimination.
| Shannon Brown | 22,800 |
| Seyd Nasab | BUSTED! |
Uno beaten by one
Wubin Fan was getting short and recently shoved his remaining 15,600 pre-flop from late position.
Uno Uka elected to call from the small blind, everyone else folded, and the two went to showdown.
Fan: A♥K♥
Uka: A♦Q♣
Fan pipped Uka as the board ran out 7♦2♣8♥J♣4♣, changing nothing.
| Uno Uka | 73,600 |
| Wubin Fan | 34,300 |
Kambouroglou unglued
All in preflop action from ‘Toothpick’ Tony Kambouroglou’s table, where he found himself all in and at risk against Mark Lazarou.
Lazarou: A-Jo
Kambouroglou: K-To
The board ran out 7♦5♣7♣5♠3♣, both players ending up with two pair but Lazarou’s Ace held all the way through to eliminate Kambouroglou.
| Mark Lazarou | 59,000 |
| ‘Toothpick’ Tony Kambouroglou | BUSTED! |
Level 6: 300/600 (600)
Respect for the Whitehouse
Shem Goltz opened under-the-gun to 1,200 and received three callers in Paul Whitehouse, a player in the small blind, and Harry Basle from the big blind.
The four players saw a flop of K♥10♥7♦ and both blinds checked to Goltz. Goltz considered his options before continuing for 2,500. Whitehouse didn’t hesitate, shoving his remaining 10,000 into the middle and both blinds got out of the way.
Goltz hit the tank for several minutes before eventually folding, surrendering the pot the Whitehouse.
| Harry Basle | 34,300 |
| Shem Goltz | 30,000 |
| Paul Whitehouse | 17,800 |
Petrovski premium
Steven Petrovski, in the big blind, found the action limped to him, with three callers for 500 each including an early position player, the button and the small blind.
He pumped it up, raising to 2,000. The early position player folded, but both John Hancock and Ennaria Rourke called to see a flop of 7♦2♠Q♠.
Rourke checked, and Petrovski continued to the tune of 4,000, earning folds from both Hancock and Rourke.
Petrovski then spun the K♥K♦ face up into the middle of the table.
| Steven Petrovski | 49,300 |
| Ennaria Rourke | 26,900 |
| John Hancock | 26,200 |
Great Scott!
With a board showing 5♣K♥A♣10♦ and approximately 13,000 in the middle, Jane Howard fired a bet of 6,000.
Craig Scott, however, was having none of it, moving all in from the next seat over.
Action was then on Suzy Khouiss, who hit the tank. Eventually she asked for a count, which was 43,800, before continuing to tank, recounting her own stack over and over. Eventually, she let her cards go, and Howard quickly folded behind.
“I had a set, man!” called out Khouiss. “Let me see the river!”
“Queen Jack?” she continued, addressing Scott directly.
“Of course,” he replied.
| Suzy Khouiss | 64,200 |
| Craig Scott | 62,800 |
| Jane Howard | 18,300 |
Assorted chip counts
| Michelle Psarras | 75,000 |
| Uno Uka | 70,500 |
| Jai Duffy | 59,500 |
| Jimmy Ghobrial | 55,000 |
| Suzy Khouiss | 54,000 |
| Alex Lee | 47,600 |
| Adrian Pacheco | 47,500 |
| Kurt Simpson | 47,000 |
| Soumen Sen | 41,200 |
| Sam Ioannou | 41,200 |
| Harry Basle | 41,100 |
| Nick Economos | 38,700 |
| Shem Goltz | 36,600 |
| Patrick O’Grady | 35,000 |
| Alex ’42’ Falon | 33,800 |
| Chad Awerbuch | 26,500 |
| Graham Cowan | 23,500 |
| Amir Abbas | 21,900 |
| Richie Samia | 19,400 |
| Kresimir Kardum | 18,400 |
| Steve Jacob | 13,000 |
| ‘Toothpick’ Tony Kambouroglou | 8,900 |
Level 5: 300/500 (500)
Break time!
Our players have left on a 10-minute break. We’ll get a round of counts immediately afterwards for you.
Falon flying
It was all action on Alex Falon’s table as four players saw a flop of 6♥J♠10♦.
Falon fired 2,000 and found only one caller in Alfred Coppini on the button, and the two saw the 4♠ on the turn. Falon kept up the pressure, firing for another 2,000 and again being called by Coppini.
On the 4♣ river, Falon turned it up again, this time leading out for 6,000 and earning a fold from Coppini.
| Alex Falon | 49,500 |
| Alfred Coppini | 33,400 |
Spiegel clubbed
With a board showing J♣7♣8♣6♣10♥ as our Live Reporter caught the action, it was John Spiegel who was all in, at risk, and eliminated.
As recounted to us, Spiegel and Dominic Tso had got all the chips in the middle on the flop. Spiegel had top pair with J♥3♥ but found himself in a world of pain as Tso had flopped everything with Q♣9♣ and held through.
| Dominic Tso | 34,000 |
| John Spiegel | BUSTED! |
Wu’s lucky misclick
An early position raise to 1,000 was called by Vincent Choy before Joseph Wu went to 3-bet. The amount he slid out, however, raised some eyebrows – and a “What the!” from table mate Suzy Khouiss.
Nevertheless, 8,000 was the 3-bet and action folded back around to Vincent Choy, who gave a little shrug and jammed all in for about 8,000 more. Wu called.
Choy: 2♠2♥
Wu: K♥Q♠
As the board ran out Q♣3♥Q♥9♦5♣ Choy gave a shrug and took his leave, heading to the registration desk. Wu, meanwhile, admitted it was a mis-click.
| Joseph Wu | 77,300 |
| Vincent Choy | BUSTED! |
Straight outta here
Josh Jicu 3-bet to 3,000 over the 1,000 early position open from Jimmy Ghobrial. Action folded all the way back around to Ghobrial, who made the call.
Ghobrial check-called a 2,200 continuation bet from Jicu on the 8♦7♠K♣ flop, and both players saw the 9♣ on the turn.
Ghobrial checked once more, prompting Jicu to fire for 3,800. After a minute to think, Ghobrial pumped it up to 10,000. Jicu came along, and Ghobrial put him to the test on the 4♣ river, firing an amount that effectively put Jicu all-in.
Jicu hit the tank, but eventually called off, only to muck when Ghobrial tabled J♥10♦ for the nut straight.
| Jimmy Ghobrial | 51,400 |
| Josh Jicu | BUSTED! |
Level 4: 200/400 (400)
Doumit crippled, doubled
Moon Gab Chung has been very active across the last couple of levels, repeatedly getting involved in the action.
Recently, with 8,500 already in the pot and J♠2♠7♦7♥ showing on the board, Chung checked in the small blind, Rob Lru checked from early position, and Jim Doumit fired for 6,100 from the button. Chung called and Lru got out of the way.
On the A♥ river, Chung fired for 7,000 and Doumit called in short order, only to muck when Chung tabled 7♣4♦ for trips.
That hand left Doumit with just 8,400 and he set about getting some back, 3-betting to 2,200 from the cut-off over the 600 open from another player. He was called by Chung and a player in the cut-off.
All three checked the J♥6♦K♣ flop, before Chung led out for 5,000 on the 2♦ turn. The cut-off folded, and Doumit jammed for 1,200 more, quickly called by Chung.
Doumit: A♦Q♦
Chung: K♥10♥
With a wealth of outs, Doumit was saved this time by the A♥ on the river.
| Moon Gab Chung | 41,500 |
| Jim Doumit | 20,400 |
| Rob Lru | 13,300 |
Nasab flushes two
A full board was already on display on Table 21 reading 10♥5♣8♣5♥A♣ when Jack McPhee fired 10,000 into the large pot that had already been built.
Seyd Nasab moved all in for 11,000 total, and Suce Shen didn’t take too long to re-jam over the top, having both players covered.
McPhee short-called for 21,000 and the cards were tabled.
McPhee: K♣2♣
Shen: 10♣7♣
Nasab: 10♦5♦
McPhee and Shen had both rivered a flush but McPhee’s was bigger to claim the 20,000 side pot, whilst Nasab had both beat with the turned full house to scoop the lions share.
| Seyd Nasab | 61,000 |
| Suce Shen | 23,700 |
| Jack McPhee | 20,000 |
Level 3: 200/300 (300)
Agmon admonished
On a board of 5♥K♥9♣J♣ with around 6,000 already in the middle, Moon Gab Chung checked across to Yoad Agmon, who fired for 2,200. Chung called.
Chung then took the initiative on the 5♣ river, leading out for 8,000. Agmon went into the tank for a small eternity, before eventually letting it go.
| Yoad Agmon | 37,000 |
| Moon Gab Chung | 30,000 |
Brown blues
Sam Ioannou limped under the gun and action folded around to Shannon Brown in middle position, who raised to 400. Andrew White completed from the big blind, and Ioannou chucked a couple of chips out to close the action.
On a flop of 5♥K♥2♦, both White and Ioannou checked to Brown, who continued for 900. White quickly folded, but Ioannou stuck around, calling to see the 7♦ drop on the turn.
Ioannou elected to lead, firing a nearly full pot bet of 3,000. Brown called, and both players checked the 9♥ river.
“Two pair” announced Ioannou, tabling the 7♣5♣. Brown shook his head, sending his K♣J♠ spinning face up as the pot was pushed to Ioannou.
| Sam Ioannou | 41,800 |
| Andrew White | 26,100 |
| Shannon Brown | 24,300 |
Level 2: 100/200 (200)
Dundovic trips
Adam Dundovic opened to 300 from UTG+1 and received calls from the cut-off, David Hirst on the button, and Roland Foster in the big blind to see a flop four ways.
With the board showing 8♣3♣8♥, Dundovic continued for 700, called only by Hirst. Dundovic fired a second barrel for 1,700 on the 9♦ turn and Hirst flat called once again.
Dundovic slowed down on the K♣ river, checking the action across to Hirst. Hirst elected to fire for 2,300 and Dundovic gave a sigh and a call before mucking when Hirst showed 10♦8♦.
| David Hirst | 33,700 |
| Roland Foster | 29,700 |
| Adam Dundovic | 24,800 |
Notables in the field
Plenty of players have already taken their seats, and with late registration open up until approximately 5:10pm AEST the field size is on track to eclipse both of the previous flights.
On our first pass through the field, we spied WPTDeepstacks Sydney Opening Event Champion Michelle Psarras looking to add another score to her resume, along with APT Gold Coast Main Event Champion Graham Cowan. WPTDeepStacks Sydney PLO Champion Roland Foster has made the drive down from Canberra this morning to take his seat.
We also spied Hayden “Doug” Doughty, Errolyn Strang, and Jimmy Ghobrial looking to secure a bag today. Gold Coast grinder Carlos Youssef is in the field looking to secure his first Tier One title, despite numerous final table appearances of late.
Steve Tambouras, Jai Duffy, Slav Rypinkski, Andrew Scarf, Steve Jacob, Harry Basle, Sammy Salha, Mark Lazarou, Suzi Khouiss, Ennaria Rourke, Yor Ecobiza and Adrian Pacheco have also taken their seats to start the action.
Shuffle up and deal!
Tournament staff have announced “Shuffle up and deal!” and cards are in the air.
Level 1: 100/100 (100)
Grind on the mind
Good morning and welcome back to PokerMedia Australia for today’s coverage of Day 1C of The Star Sydney Champs Opening Event!
Yesterday saw a total of 283 entries drop into Day 1B, with Rabie El Hagi’s big-time rush resulting in him bagging up 500,000 neat in the early hours of Friday morning. Not far behind him were David Sebesfi (469,000) and Jackson Hardy (462,000), together with Romain Morvan, Omer Silajdzija and WA’s Travis Endersby some of the other notables advancing through to Day 2.
Today will be the final opportunity for players to secure a bag, and is expected to draw an even larger field than the previous two flights. Players will play through 15 half hour levels, starting at 100/100 (100) and expected to conclude at approximately 9pm.
As play throughout the day continued, excitement from another source came in the form of Sydney’s Adrian Attenborough, currently in Las Vegas, as he negotiated his way through the trials and tribulations of the WSOP Main Event Day 7. At the conclusion of the day, Attenborough secured his seat on pokers biggest stage; reaching the unofficial final table with a comfortable stack. Whilst today is an official rest day for the championship, we will be following along closely over the next few days action!
Live coverage for today’s flight will commence from 12:30 AEST. Bookmark this page and join us as we bring you all the action from buy-in to bust-out!
Be the first to comment