He’s the Best!
And with that, it’s all over. A marathon day at The Star Sydney has seen the 2022 Sydney Champs Main Event field reduced from 197 starters to just 14 to come back tomorrow and battle.
Emerging on top of the pack is Adelaide’s Gavin Best, bagging 8,150,000 in chips heading into Day 3.
Best is no stranger to PokerMedia Australia, with a string of solid results in the last year, starting with a runner-up finish at the Star Gold Coast Summer Series Main Event before shipping the WPT Prime Gold Coast $5K Challenge just last month for $119,174 – his first six-figure score.
With $383K up top for the Sydney Champs Main Event, a good result tomorrow could see him once again dwarf his previous career-best (if you’ll excuse the pun).
A clearly exhausted Best has not let up all day, with several key spots including flopping quads earlier to eliminate Danny Yacoub before eliminating Bruno Calfapietra after play was down to three tables to start his non-stop trend towards the top of the counts.
Poker partners Yu Chen and Jun Wang are also still in the mix, bagging 1,900,000 and 675,000 respectively for Day 3.
PokerMedia Australia will be back on deck from 11:00 AEST to bring you all the action as we play down to find a 2022 Star Sydney Champs Main Event Champion. See you then!
You wanna come back tomorrow?
Gavin Best opened to 150,000 on the last hand of the night.
AJ Antonios 3-bet in late position to 450,000, action folding back around to Best.
Best immediately leaned forwards, asking to see Antonios’ chips, before 4-betting to 1,500,000.
Antonios went for the safe option – a fold to ensure he comes back tomorrow.
| Gavin Best | 8,150,000 |
| AJ Antonios | 2,800,000 |
Final eliminations of the day
| 15th | Yang Lei | $22,608 |
| 16th | Wenjie Sun | $18,246 |
| 17th | Romain Morvan | $18,246 |
| 18th | Seyed Nasab | $18,246 |
Last three hands!
Tournament staff have paused the clock and announced three more hands to play tonight.
Players will return tomorrow at 11:00 AEST to fight it out for the 2022 Sydney Champs title, and the $382,973 that comes with it!
The Chillaxed Mr. Priplotski
Brett Marshall has been railing both Gavin Best on the Feature Table and Roman Priplotski on Table 31. Marshall said that Priplotski is ‘the most chillaxed human you’ll meet’ – and that’s certainly evidenced by Priplotski’s table position – he’s in Seat 6, but he may as well be in Seat 4 considering how much he’s lounged across the empty space!
Recently, the short stacked Priplotski found himself all-in against the rampaging Travis O’Grady, who was trying to pick off another one before the end of the day.
Priplotski: A♥J♦
O’Grady: K♣J♠
It was Priplotski with the best of it though, and he’d hold through the 7♣5♠2♠5♦4♠ board to find a full double.
| Travis O’Grady | 4,630,000 |
| Roman Priplotski | 1,500,000 |
Xu freefalling
A board showing 4♣8♦10♥8♣ was already in place when we saw Sam Ioannou check first-to-act, followed by a 290,000 bet from Qi Xu.
Milan Stojkovic called from late position and Ioannou got out of the way. The K♠ river was met with a check from Xu.
Stojkovic seized upon the opportunity, firing 425,000. Xu looked pained, but made the call, only to muck when Stojkovic tabled A♠K♦.
| Milan Stojkovic | 4,935,000 |
| Qi Xu | 2,840,000 |
| Sam Ioannou | 2,800,000 |
Don’t bluff this guy
Yita Choong raised from the cut-off to 150,000, called only by Liem Tran to his immediate left before both blinds folded.
Choong continued for a repeat 150,000 on the 2♠3♣6♠ flop, called again by Tran, before checking the 5♥ turn.
Tran threw out a bet of 275,000 and Choong considered before flat calling, then checking again on the 6♥ river.
Tran unloaded, a bet of 700,000 into Choong sending short stack Choong into a little tank. After a minute or two, Choong made the call to see Tran table the J♠10♦ bluff.
Choong was then able to table his A♥K♦. Nice call sir!
| Yita Choong | 4,305,000 |
| Liem Tran | 4,100,000 |
O’Grady’s got heart
Picking up the action on a flop of 6♥2♣10♥, big blind Travis O’Grady checked his option and Qi Xu fired a continuation bet from late position of 290,000.
O’Grady flat called to see the 8♣ hit the turn. O’Grady checked once more, Xu bet 525,000 and O’Grady wasted no time announcing all in, receiving a pink triangle in front of him and sending Xu firmly into the tank.
“How much?” asked Xu, “Actually nevermind.”
A minute or two went past and Xu repeated “Ok, how much roughly, seriously.”
The dealer quickly proved the stacks and confirmed it was 4,355,000 in total. Xu quietly mucked.
At the same time, Michael O’Grady came running, only to exclaim “You made me run over for nothing!” in his son’s direction before walking off again.
| Travis O’Grady | 5,910,000 |
| Qi Xu | 3,730,000 |
Level 26: 50,000/75,000 (75,000)
Break time!
Two tables remain – 14 players in total. We’re playing down to 9 players or the end of Level 26.
Feature Table
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Justin Layden | 4,025,000 |
| 2 | Yita Choong | 3,030,000 |
| 3 | Liem Tran | 6,150,000 |
| 4 | ||
| 5 | ||
| 6 | Gavin Best | 6,070,000 |
| 7 | Trent Miller | 4,045,000 |
| 8 | AJ Antonios | 1,875,000 |
| 9 | Yu Chen | 4,825,000 |
Table 31
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Travis O’Grady | 4,425,000 |
| 2 | Milan Stojkovic | 2,770,000 |
| 3 | Phat Nguyen | 2,580,000 |
| 4 | ||
| 5 | ||
| 6 | Roman Priplotski | 1,230,000 |
| 7 | Sammy Ioannou | 3,520,000 |
| 8 | Qi Xu | 5,745,000 |
| 9 | Jun Wang | 1,105,000 |
Miller grinds
With a board showing A♣10♣6♦9♦ and about 780,000 in the pot already, Liem Tran bet 650,000.
His opponent in the hand, Trent Miller, took a deep breath and then shoved for 1,625,000. Tran asked for a count, got a count, and made the call to put Miller at risk.
Miller: A♥7♥
Tran: 6♥9♥
With a whole host of outs to hit, the 10♦ was certainly enough for Miller, counterfeiting Tran’s two pair to double through.
| Trent Miller | 4,005,000 |
Yang Lei eliminated
Yang Lei opened from the button to 125,000. Roman Priplotski folded his small blind.
Sam Ioannou ripped it from the big blind, shoving with Lei covered.
Lei didn’t hesitate, calling after only a couple of seconds to reveal the classic race.
Lei: Q♠Q♥
Ioannou: A♦K♠
Lei was on his feet immediately, watching as the safe flop of 4♥5♣9♣ came down, only to suck in a breath and throw a hand up as the A♥ hit the turn.
Needing one of the two remaining Queens to stay alive in the Star Sydney Champs Main Event, Yang Lei could not find it on the 5♥ river, meaning the reigning WPT Prime Gold Coast Main Event Champion will not be going back-to-back interstate here.
| Sam Ioannou | 3,700,000 |
| Yang Lei | BUSTED! |
Enjoy!
Jun Wang ripped it in preflop and found a call in Phat Nguyen.
Nguyen: 9♠9♦
Wang: K♥Q♠
Flipping for his tournament life, Wang hit the 2♠J♦Q♣ flop and the Q♥ turn to double through.
| Phat Nguyen | 2,375,000 |
| Jun Wang | 1,100,000 |
Nasab bounty claimed
Seyed Nasab and Sam Ioannou clashed in an all-in preflop showdown.
Ioannou: A♥Q♦
Nasab: A♠J♦
Ioannou and Nasab were both on their feet, with similar stacks and unsure who was covering who, watching the board run down K♣5♦10♥8♣K♦ in Ioannou’s favour.
A quick recount and Nasab had Ioannou covered by 75,000, which promptly went straight in on the next hand after Phat Nguyen opened to 120,000. Roman Priplotski then iso-shoved, forcing Nguyen out of the hand.
Priplotski: A♥Q♠
Nasab: K♣6♣
It is that time of year, and Priplotski claimed a refund for deductions, 45,000 of Nguyen’s open going straight back into Priplotski’s stack before cards were even tabled.
The board then ran out J♥10♠4♠J♦A♠ to secure the bounty of Nasab – another huge result for Nasab this week though, adding another $18,246 onto his massive haul from the Mystery Bounty tournament!
Recent eliminations
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 19th | Chin Wang | $14,843 |
| 20th | Steve Pappas | $14,843 |
| 21st | Daniel Louis-Awad | $14,843 |
| 22nd | Brendon Rubie | $12,194 |
| 23rd | Stanley Liu | $12,194 |
| 24th | Pooria Asaadi | $12,194 |
| 25th | Paul Whitehouse | $10,573 |
| 26th | Ash Gupta | $10,573 |
| 27th | Louis Luo | $10,573 |
Level 25: 30,000/60,000 (60,000)
Took it on the Chin
Score another for Liem Tran, as another short stack in the form of Chin Wang with K♥J♠ took a shot at taking a chunk out of the monster stack.
Tran called with 8♣6♣ and paired up on the 5♣4♠6♥ flop.
The 2♦ turn changed nothing, whilst the Q♦ river slotted right between Wang’s cards – no good.
Play has been paused momentarily while players have been broken down onto the last two tables.
| Liem Tran | 8,100,000 |
| Chin Wang | BUSTED! |
Pappas peppered
Another all-in call from the Star Sydney Feature Table – a short stacked Steve Pappas getting it in with K♣9♠ and at risk to the Q♠Q♣ of Liem Tran.
Pappas found no assistance on the board of 3♣8♣7♥Q♥J♣, as Tran hit top set for good measure.
| Liem Tran | 7,200,000 |
| Steve Pappas | BUSTED! |
Louis-Awad dashed
Daniel Louis-Awad opened the action on Table 30, raising UTG to 110,000. Every player folded – except Yu Chen, who elected to defend her big blind.
Chen then elected to lead out, firing 110,000 onto the 5♥K♠4♦ flop. Louis-Awad was having none of that, shoving all in for 1,835,000 and sending Chen into the tank.
A full two minutes later, Chen decided she simply could not lay it down, and made the call to create one of the biggest pots we’ve seen all day.
Chen: 5♠5♣
Louis-Awad: K♣Q♠
Chen’s set was more than good enough to dispatch Louis-Awad after the board completed Q♥, 7♣.
| Yu Chen | 5,000,000 |
| Daniel Louis-Awad | BUSTED! |
Feel good story
Jun Wang has just been moved from the Feature Table to Table 30 – where he joins long time partner Yu Chen.
The pair, as explained in last night’s feature article on Chen, are expecting a baby girl in the next few weeks – and with both running deep in this tournament are now guaranteed a minimum of $14,843 each.
How’s that for a baby shower?
Rubie rumbled
Milan Stojkovic opened to 110,000 only to see Brendon Rubie jam for 550,000 from the very next seat over. Nothing but folds back around to Stojkovic who snap-called.
“Ah” from Rubie when he saw the A♦A♣ of Stojkovic. He’d need a lot of help, tabling the K♥Q♣.
The flop of 10♠5♥5♣ was not at all helpful; Rubie now needing running cards.
The A♠ turned Rubie dead, a boat for Stojkovic, the river 6♥ meaningless.
“Good luck everybody!” said the ever-charming Rubie as he left the stage.
| Milan Stojkovic | 3,340,000 |
| Brendon Rubie | BUSTED! |
Not by the hair on my…
All in and a call! from the Star Sydney Feature Table, where Steve Pappas had Chin Wang all in and at risk in a clash of short stacks.
Pappas: A♦10♠
Wang: K♠J♥
The 2♠7♠6♥ flop was safe for Pappas but the K♣ drew an intake of breath from Pappas and his rail, then the 8♣ delivered the full double for Wang.
| Chin Wang | 700,000 |
| Steve Pappas | 525,000 |
Lui eliminated
Gavin Best opened to 120,000, called by Justin Layden in the next seat, before Stanley Liu shoved in the very next seat.
Action then folded all the way around to big blind Daniel Louis-Awad, who opted to iso-shove, forcing both Best and Layden out of the pot.
Louis-Awad: 5♦5♣
Liu: K♠Q♠
A set for Louis-Awad on the 7♣5♠4♠ flop, while Liu would need a spade to dig himself out of trouble.
The A♣, 8♦ run-out was no help to Liu and Louis-Awad chipped up once more.
| Daniel Louis-Awad | 1,830,000 |
| Stanley Liu | BUSTED! |
Latest payouts
Now moving into five-figure territory! The remaining 27 players are now guaranteed $10,573.
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 28th | Michael O’Grady | $9,112 |
| 29th | Jenaro Sodicta | $9,112 |
| 30th | James Broom | $9,112 |
| 31st | Bruno Calfapietra | $9,112 |
| 32nd | Ljudevit Marinic | $9,112 |
| 33rd | Alan Zhang | $9,112 |
| 34th | Jin Li | $9,112 |
| 35th | Luheng Wang | $9,112 |
| 36th | Steven Green | $9,112 |
Whitehouse down
Paul Whitehouse has been eliminated, all in preflop versus the fat stack of Phat Nguyen only to find out that he was not flipping.
Nguyen: 10♦10♣
Whitehouse: 6♥6♣
Yet another unnecessary set for the superior pair on the river as the board ran out 8♦K♣7♦8♥10♠ in Nguyen’s favour.
| Phat Nguyen | 3,300,000 |
| Paul Whitehouse | BUSTED! |
Gupta goneski
Ashish Gupta has been eliminated at the hands of Sam Ioannou – pausing to quickly explain to our roaming reporter that he had got it in good.
“I had Ace King, and Sam had Ace Jack. It was an Ace X X flop, can’t recall the rest of the board, but then Jack on the river.”
Petition to ban the river!
Updated chip counts
Our final 27 players wasted no time in getting back into action, with Louis Luo eliminated straight after the break – so quick we missed it!
Table 32 (Feature Table)
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Louis Luo | BUSTED! |
| 2 | Yita Choong | 1,665,000 |
| 3 | Liem Tran | 3,225,000 |
| 4 | Wenjie Sun | 1,665,000 |
| 5 | Romain Morvan | 3,100,000 |
| 6 | Jun Wang | 775,000 |
| 7 | Trent Miller | 2,345,000 |
| 8 | Steve Pappas | 810,000 |
| 9 | Chin Wang | 1,825,000 |
Table 31
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Travis O’Grady | 2,690,000 |
| 2 | Paul Whitehouse | 1,090,000 |
| 3 | Phat Nguyen | 2,790,000 |
| 4 | Seyed Nasab | 2,221,000 |
| 5 | Yang Lei | 925,000 |
| 6 | Roman Priplotski | 1,895,000 |
| 7 | Sammy Ioannou | 1,815,000 |
| 8 | Qi Xu | 3,880,000 |
| 9 | Ash Gupta | BUSTED! |
Table 30
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Pooria Asaadi | 365,000 |
| 2 | Brendon Rubie | 1,050,000 |
| 3 | Yu Chen | 2,980,000 |
| 4 | Daniel Louis-Awad | 1,440,000 |
| 5 | Gavin Best | 4,285,000 |
| 6 | Justin Layden | 2,715,000 |
| 7 | Stanley Liu | 345,000 |
| 8 | AJ Antonios | 1,100,000 |
| 9 | Milan Stojkovic | 2,370,000 |
Level 24: 25,000/50,000 (50,000)
Break time!
The tables have been broken once more – 25 players now remain on 3 tables, the 2022 Star Sydney Champs reduced to the raised stage area as we move truly into the endgame.
Counts to come.
O’Grady ohhhh moment
Travis O’Grady, with a board of 3♠8♥10♣ showing and facing a bet of 250,000 from Seyed Nasab, shoved for 1,290,000.
Action immediately back on Nasab, Nasab looked around, confirmed the count, cut the chips to call out, and then slammed them forwards to put O’Grady at risk.
In the background, we spied Michael O’Grady clutching a payout ticket, recently eliminated by Yu Chen, as the junior O’Grady announced “Top two” in a clear voice, tabling 10♠8♠.
Nasab tabled 9♥7♦ to an “Ohhhhh…” from O’Grady, his voice trailing off.
The turn: A♣.
The river: 5♣.
“YES!” a delighted O’Grady Jr clapped his hands and fist pumped, turning to father Michael (pun intended) to find out what had happened to his Main Event.
| Travis O’Grady | 2,740,000 |
| Seyed Nasab | 2,375,000 |
One O’Grady O’Goneski
Yu Chen completed from the small blind and Michael O’Grady jammed his big blind.
Chen made the call to put the senior O’Grady at risk.
Chen: A♦9♣
O’Grady: K♣J♦
A gutshot for O’Grady and a pair for Chen on the 4♠9♠8♣ flop, but ultimately running Q♠, Q♣ would see the number of O’Grady’s in this tournament reduced to one.
No pressure, O’Grady junior.
| Yu Chen | 3,635,000 |
| Michael O’Grady | BUSTED! |
Sodicta and Sayab set skirts straight
Seyed Nasab opened the action UTG to 150,000 and Sam Ioannou 3-bet to 450,000.
Action folded around to Jensen Sodicta’s big blind and Sodicta shoved for 1,175,000. Nasab then re-shoved, with Ioannou covered.
Ioannou appeared to be in physical pain as he agonised over the decision for his tournament life. Eventually, he flicked Q♥Q♦ face up into the middle of the table.
Time stopped whilst Ioannou waited to find out if he folded correctly; Sodicta tabled his J♦J♣ … and then Nasab tabled K♦K♣.
Then the flop came J♠9♠10♥, and suddenly Sodicta took over the lead from the bottom of the pack. Until the K♥ turn, that is, putting Nasab back in the lead – although Ioannou could perhaps be forgiven for spinning away from the table in disgust.
“You got a straight!” yelled someone nearby, as Travis O’Grady exclaimed “Don’t ever fold Queens on this table!” from Seat 1.
The river 7♥ completed the board.
Ashish Gupta turned to Table 30 in excitement and explained to another player that it was “Kings, Queens, Jacks, Queens fold, Jack on the flop, King on the turn, Queens would have made a straight!”
Harry Basle, though, ever the voice of reason, was heard talking directly and calmly to Ioannou in the background; “You made the right decision. You just got unlucky in the outcome. That’s all you can do.”
| Seyed Nasab | 3,580,000 |
| Sam Ioannou | 1,090,000 |
| Jensen Sodicta | BUSTED! |
Layden double doubles
Justin Layden has doubled not once, but twice, through Michael O’Grady.
First, at the end of the last level, Layden shoved all-in preflop for 675,000 and was looked up by O’Grady.
Layden: 10♠10♦
O’Grady: A♦Q♣
O’Grady had overcards but missed the board, and Layden chipped up.
Secondly, in Level 23, Yu Chen opened the action to 90,000 and was called by O’Grady before Layden squeeze shoved. Chen let it go and O’Grady made the call to have Layden at risk a second time.
O’Grady: 2♠2♣
Layden: A♥K♣
This time it was O’Grady with the pocket pair, needing to dodge the overcards – but instant bink for Layden on the 7♠A♦8♠6♥8♦ board saw Layden double a second time.
| Yu Chen | 3,070,000 |
| Justin Layden | 1,060,000 |
| Michael O’Grady | 925,000 |
Sodicta gets there
A short stacked Jensen Sodicta shoved from the small blind once action folded to him, and Seyed Nasab, just moved to Table 31, asked for a count.
Once confirming it was 405,000, Nasab made the call – barely making a dent in his monster stack, just 5 chips of it.
Sodicta: A♦2♦
Nasab: Q♣10♦
Nasab paired up on the K♣Q♦K♦ flop to take the lead, but the flush draw was like a flashing neon sign to Nasab – he was immediately on his feet, calling for “black [cards] please!”.
The 3♠ was one, but the 7♦ got an instant stamp from Nasab as Sodicta hit the nut flush to stay alive.
| Seyed Nasab | 3,825,000 |
| Jensen Sodicta | 850,000 |
Calfapietra cut
Bruno Calfapietra opened UTG to a host of folds, until Gavin Best clicked defend on his big blind.
The flop of 4♥2♠5♦ was checked by both players, then Best led out for 100,000 on the 3♠ turn. Calfapietra raised to 350,000 and Best flatted.
Best opted to lead out once more on the 2♦ river, and from there things accelerated quickly. Calfapietra shoved immediately for about 1.3 million and Best made the call.
Calfapietra tabled A♣J♦ for a wheel – but Best had that beat, having flopped a double gutshot and turned the higher straight with 8♦6♥!
| Gavin Best | 3,530,000 |
| Bruno Calfapietra | BUSTED! |
Recent eliminations
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 37th | Ryan Hong | $7,741 |
| 38th | Li Yang | $7,741 |
| 39th | Khac-Trung Tran | $7,741 |
| 40th | Patrick Yazbeck | $7,741 |
| 41st | Daniel Noja | $7,741 |
| 42nd | Matt Rolfe | $7,741 |
| 43rd | Huy Nguyen | $7,741 |
| 44th | John Apostolidis | $7,741 |
| 45th | Anban Subramoney | $7,741 |
Level 23: 20,000/40,000 (40,000)
Three all in, two all out
Three shoves in quick succession pre-flop on Table 31, where Jin Li had shoved first for 190,000 with 2♠2♣, Yang Lei had then re-shoved over the top with A♥K♠, and Alan Zheng had short-called for 370,000 with 8♦8♣.
Things looked pretty safe for Zheng as the board ran 5♥3♦6♦, 6♣, but the A♣ got a reaction from everybody as Lei took two out.
| Yang Lei | 895,000 |
| Jin Li | BUSTED! |
| Alan Zheng | BUSTED! |
Tran train
Liem Tran raised to 70,000 under-the-gun, and Liuheng Wang shoved his remaining chips into the middle, only to be snap-called by Tran.
Tran: A♥A♦
Wang: A♣Q♦
Though Wang did connect with top top on the Q♥4♠7♣ flop, it wasn’t enough, Tran holding through the 10♣, J♦ run-out.
| Liem Tran | 3,455,000 |
| Liuheng Wang | BUSTED! |
Currency acquisitions
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 46th | Michael Confos | $6,828 |
| 47th | Tim Plunkett | $6,828 |
| 48th | Jie Cui | $6,828 |
| 49th | Wubin Fan | $6,828 |
| 50th | Chi Truong | $6,828 |
| 51st | Suzy Khouiss | $6,828 |
| 52nd | Scott Wood | $6,828 |
| 53rd | Deedee Chen | $6,828 |
| 54th | Yuangfeng Lin | $6,828 |
Hong hung out
Ryan Hong and Trent Miller got everything in on the 8♠7♠6♠ flop – a bet of 180,000 from Hong, a shove from Miller, and a call from Hong.
Hong: K♠K♣
Miller: 8♥8♣
Proving the new adage that “Poker’s easy with quads!” (paraphrased from Gavin Best, 2022), the 8♦ on the turn allowed Miller to very quickly relax, no longer needing to dodge a spade – luckily, seeing as the river was the Q♠.
| Trent Miller | 2,270,000 |
| Ryan Hong | BUSTED! |
Liu wakes up
Yet more Aces! This time Li Yang ripped his short stack of 100,000 from middle position. Action folded around to Stan Liu, who woke up with A♠A♥ and snap-called to put the Q♥7♠ of Yang at risk.
Board: A♣5♦Q♦6♥4♠
Flopped basically completely dead with only running quads as an option, Yang departed.
| Stanley Liu | 815,000 |
| Li Yang | BUSTED! |
Yazbeck yeeted
Patrick Yazbeck opened to 75,000 from the hijack, followed by a flat from Milan Stojkovic on the button. Romain Morvan and Wenjie Sun defended their blinds, going four ways to a flop of 3♦K♠Q♥.
Morvan and Sun both checked, Yazbeck ripped his last 475,000 to a call from Stojkovic before Morvan and Sun both scarpered.
Stojkovic: A♥A♣
Yazbeck: K♦Q♠
Though Yazbeck had actually outflopped the Aces of Stojkovic, running 5♠, 5♥ gave Stojkovic the bigger two pair and the scalp.
| Milan Stojkovic | 3,555,000 |
| Patrick Yazbeck | BUSTED! |
Recent eliminations
Getting ever closer to the business end!
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 55th | Gangland Yu | $6,143 |
| 56th | Jian Long | $6,143 |
| 57th | Qais Shanasa | $6,143 |
| 58th | Martin Stewart | $6,143 |
| 59th | Thomas Choong | $6,143 |
| 60th | Zhi Ma | $6,143 |
| 61st | Gregg Russell | $6,143 |
| 62nd | Luke Edwards | $6,143 |
| 63rd | Luigi Glovenvale | $6,143 |
Noja no more
Daniel Noja, fresh from a Vegas sojourn, shoved his short stack in middle position. Action folded all the way around to Daniel Louis-Awad in the big blind, who promptly called.
Noja: A♣A♦
Louis-Awad: A♥K♥
It was a dream spot for Noja, but no spot is without a sweat, and Louis-Awad flopped a flush draw on the 9♠10♥3♥ board to start the sweating.
No heart on the J♦ turn, or the Q♠ river … but backdoor Broadway will do it, and there’s no more Noja in today’s field.
| Daniel Louis-Awad | 2,515,000 |
| Daniel Noja | BUSTED! |
Best pressures Broom
Gavin Best opened UTG to 65,000 and James Broom elected to defend his big blind.
Both players checked the A♠K♦8♦ flop, and Broom checked again on the 3♣ turn before Best fired 165,000 as a delayed continuation bet.
Broom made the call and then checked a third time on the J♥ river, only to see Best through out a single T500K chip.
Broom let it go after a moment of thought; prompting Best to remark to him that “I was blocking top set!”
| Gavin Best | 1,380,000 |
| James Broom | 925,000 |
Chippies!
Our remaining 42 players have now returned for the start of Level 21. In the meantime, our PMA crew went through to get some assorted counts for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!
| Name | Chips |
| Seyed Nasab | 3,945,000 |
| Yu Chen | 2,930,000 |
| Michael O’Grady | 2,770,000 |
| Yita Choong | 1,975,000 |
| Sam Ioannou | 1,970,000 |
| Justin Layden | 1,875,000 |
| Gavin Best | 1,870,000 |
| Romain Morvan | 1,830,000 |
| Milan Stojokovioc | 1,760,000 |
| Alex Antonios | 1,490,000 |
| Ash Gupta | 1,430,000 |
| Roman Priplotski | 1,430,000 |
| Liem Tran | 1,275,000 |
| Brendon Rubie | 1,225,000 |
| James Broom | 1,125,000 |
| Daniel Louis-Awad | 1,125,000 |
| Jensen Sodicta | 830,000 |
| Travis O’Grady | 675,000 |
| Yang Lei | 605,000 |
| Patrick Yazbeck | 605,000 |
Level 22: 15,000/30,000 (30,000)
Dinner break!
Counts incoming ASAP! Our Live Reporter is buzzing around counting chippies now – please leave your chips in stacks of 20s.
May as well pray
Michael O’Grady’s table has been broken, with play now down to just 5 tables ahead of the dinner break.
O’Grady spared a moment to pray to the poker gods that he doesn’t get seated with son Travis O’Grady, who is tearing up Table 31.
He doesn’t – the senior O’Grady is now seated to the left of Day 1C chip leader, Yu Chen.
Recent eliminations
This round of eliminations includes overnight chip leader Nurlan Boobekov, struck down in 65th.
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 64th | Musang Kim | $5,663 |
| 65th | Nurlan Boobekov | $5,663 |
| 66th | Xin Xin Lao | $5,663 |
| 67th | Brad Livermore | $5,663 |
| 68th | Jarryd Kirwan | $5,663 |
| 69th | Daniel Smiljanic | $5,663 |
| 70th | Justin Wong | $5,663 |
| 71st | Hasan Onay | $5,663 |
| 72nd | Young Whan Chung | $5,663 |
Subramoney sacrificed
Anban Subramoney moved all in preflop and found a caller in Ashish Gupta.
Subramoney: K♦J♦
Gupta: Q♥J♠
Despite having Gupta dominated, Subramoney could only watch as the flop spread Q♦6♦8♥ in front of our Live Reporter. Gupta hitting his only live card, but a flush draw for Subramoney nevertheless.
Nope. 6♣ on the turn and 9♥ on the river, and Subramoney departed with just King high.
| Ashish Gupta | 1,165,000 |
| Anban Subramoney | BUSTED! |
Frustration for Yazbeck
Patrick Yazbeck raised to open the action, followed by a 3-bet by Ashish Gupta to 75,000. Trent Miller then woke up and cold 4-bet to 210,000 from the small blind. Yazbeck matched it, and Gupta got out of the way.
On a flop of 8♣9♦K♦, Miller checked, prompting a bet from Yazbeck. Miller shoved and Yazbeck called to put him at risk.
Yazbeck: A♥K♠
Miller: K♣9♣
The board completed 6♣, 8♥ and a frustrated Yazbeck slammed the table as he lost a significant portion of chips to Miller.
| Trent Miller | 1,700,000 |
| Patrick Yazbeck | 650,000 |
Dinner approaching
Have some more payouts and placings!
The players are approaching the end of Level 21, which will be followed by the 30-minute dinner break.
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 73rd | Harry Basle | $5,344 |
| 74th | Zach Turnbridge | $5,344 |
| 75th | Charles Tsai | $5,344 |
| 76th | Eric Assadourian | $5,344 |
| 77th | Jon Portelli | $5,344 |
| 78th | Mikael Larsson | $5,344 |
| 79th | Nathan Gubleski | $5,344 |
| 80th | Duy Nguyen | $5,344 |
| 81st | Paul Hoang | $5,344 |
Grateful Yazbeck
Deedee Chen and Yuanfeng Lin found themselves both all in and covered by Michael O’Grady.
O’Grady: A♦K♦
Chen: K♣Q♦
Lin: K♥7♥
A complete whiff for everyone, Ace high holding on the 5♠J♦8♣4♣9♠ run-out to eliminate the two.
“Thanks for busting those two!” said a grateful Patrick Yazbeck.
| Michael O’Grady | 3,200,000 |
| Deedee Chen | BUSTED! |
| Yuanfeng Lin | BUSTED! |
Recent eliminations
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 82nd | Jane Howard | $5,047 |
| 83rd | Nick Economos | $5,047 |
| 84th | Neb Blanusa | $5,047 |
| 85th | Stan Levitin | $5,047 |
| 86th | Joe Cristallo | $5,047 |
| 87th | Brent Goldingham | $5,047 |
| 88th | Mark Lassau | $5,047 |
| 89th | Michael Seymour | $5,047 |
| 90th | Mark Staples | $5,047 |
Khouiss out
“I’m out” whispered Suzy Khouiss to our Live Reporter, as action raged in the side pot between Daniel Louis-Awad and Gavin Best.
Both players had checked the 3♠6♠J♦ flop, then Louis-Awad had led out for 125,000 on the 8♥ turn to a call from Best.
Louis-Awad then led out again, this time for 325,000, on the 5♠ river. Best mulled it over but eventually found a fold, saying “Fine, you can have the side pot.” to Louis-Awad.
Rolling over 8♠8♣ Louis-Awad certainly did have the side pot; and the main pot too, after A♣Q♣ for Khouiss not enough to stay in the game.
| Daniel Louis-Awad | 2,305,000 |
| Gavin Best | 1,605,000 |
| Suzy Khouiss | BUSTED! |
Nasab defeats Yu
Seyed Nasab is on yet another heater, dispatching Chris Yu in a recent hand.
Nasab: 10♥10♣
Yu: 7♠7♥
The board of K♦4♠2♦9♥10♠ only serving up a bonus set for Nasab as he soars to the chip lead for now.
| Seyed Nasab | 3,600,000 |
| Chris Yu | BUSTED! |
Level 21: 15,000/25,000 (25,000)
O’Grady takes a hit
Travis O’Grady opened the action only to see Jin Li immediately shove from a couple of seats to his left.
Action folded back around to O’Grady, who made the call.
Li: K♦K♣
O’Grady: J♥J♣
Li held through the board of 7♣3♣Q♠3♦5♦ to double through the stacked O’Grady.
| Travis O’Grady | 1,060,000 |
| Jin Li | 520,000 |
Currency acquisitions
Next pay jump is now worth a touch over $5K!
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 91st | Charbel Boustani | $4,750 |
| 92nd | Max Stairmand | $4,750 |
| 93rd | Josh McCully | $4,750 |
| 94th | Vincent Choy | $4,750 |
| 95th | John Nguyen | $4,750 |
| 96th | Najeem Ajez | $4,750 |
| 97th | Scott Carmichael | $4,750 |
| 98th | Kai Yeung | $4,750 |
| 99th | Craib Fablan | $4,750 |
An oopsie from Gupta
Yuangfeng Lin and Alan Zheng have both scored double-ups out on Table 27.
Earlier, action folded to Lin who shoved from the button for his last 260,000 with A♣10♥; Ash Gupta called him off from the big blind with K♦7♥, however neither hand improved on the board of 8♣2♦3♣8♦Q♣.
Then in the very next hand, Luke Edwards got it in good with pocket queens, however Zheng’s J♥J♦ hooked up a set on the flop of 3♠A♣J♣, which then rivered a boat as the board completed 9♠, 3♦, leaving Edwards with just four yellow T5,000 chips to rack up as their table was broken.
| Alan Zheng | 815,000 |
| Ash Gupta | 600,000 |
| Yuangfeng Lin | 295,000 |
| Luke Edwards | 20,000 |
Plunkett palaver
Pooria Asaadi 3-bet shoved from the small blind following an initial open from Tim Plunkett. Plunkett made the call.
Asaadi: 8♦8♣
Plunkett: A♥J♦
Nothing on the 5♣Q♦9♥ flop for either player, Asaadi retaining the lead with a made pair, until the A♠ switched things around, giving Plunkett the lead.
Needing a two outer to save his tournament life, Asaadi could only breathe a sigh of relief when the 8♥ spiked to award him the pot.
The very next hand, Brendon Rubie shoved preflop with J♠J♥ and none other than Tim Plunkett made the call – this time with A♠A♥!
Dominated, suits and all, Rubie all but out of here … but then the 4♥3♥2♦J♣8♠ board sent Plunkett plummeting down the counts in consecutive hands!
| Pooria Asaadi | 780,000 |
| Brendon Rubie | 670,000 |
| Tim Plunkett | 210,000 |
They’re outta here!
Another round of confirmed placings thanks to Star Sydney
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 100th | George Kanan | $4,453 |
| 101st | Evaldas Stanevicius | $4,453 |
| 102nd | Remoon Karim | $4,453 |
| 103rd | Luis Arrilucea | $4,453 |
| 104th | Mitch Bognar | $4,453 |
| 105th | Blake Lockwood | $4,453 |
| 106th | Julius Tupa | $4,453 |
| 107th | Subra Vanaparthy | $4,453 |
| 108th | Lior Segre | $4,453 |
Smiljanic frowning
PMA caught 2022 WPT Prime Gold Coast Opening Event Champion Dan Smiljanic at the payout desk recently.
Smiljanic, who has had a host of recent results, working with Sydney based poker guru Brendon Rubie (who is also in the field today) to improve his game, was kind enough to stop and chat with our Live Reporter and recall his situation.
According to Smiljanic, he had been crippled just before his table broke, and on his new table he had attempted a squeeze shove with A-2 over an open from Day 1C chip leader Yu Chen. Chen had made the call with pocket sixes, and they held to eliminate Smiljanic.
| Yu Chen | 2,090,000 |
| Dan Smiljanic | BUSTED! |
Featured action
Over on the Star Sydney Feature Table, Trung Tran had Justin Wong all-in and at risk, but no one could deny Wong had the best hand when Wong tabled A♠A♥.
Tran needed some help with the K♠J♣, but sometimes the deck just provides – and flopping two pair, turning a boat on the K♦J♦4♥K♣3♥ board will certainly help!
| Trung Tran | 1,230,000 |
| Justin Wong | BUSTED! |
More eliminations
Some big names in the last round of eliminations – 2018 WSOP Main Event final tablist Alex Lynskey and 2022 WPTDeepStacks Sydney Main Event Champion Mark Fester among them!
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 109th | Tom Maguire | $4,156 |
| 110th | Mark Yazbeck | $4,156 |
| 111th | David Bonadio | $4,156 |
| 112th | Frank Mete | $4,156 |
| 113th | Antonio Tavella | $4,156 |
| 114th | Moon Chung Kim | $4,156 |
| 115th | Gavin Ogilvy | $4,156 |
| 116th | Alex Lynskey | $4,156 |
| 117th | Mark Fester | $4,156 |
Best not best for once
Zachary Tunbridge got his short stack into the middle preflop, called by both Gavin Best and Sam Ioannou.
Best and Ioannou checked through the board of 5♣A♦5♦4♣J♦ and the dealer called for the cards be tabled.
“Full house!” said Tunbridge as Ioannou tabled K♠J♠, before continuing “Naaah!” with a laugh, tabling his own Q♣10♣ and standing to leave.
Best went to muck, but the dealer asked him to table due to the showdown; 8♠8♣ for Best, rivered by Ioannou.
| Sam Ioannou | 1,580,000 |
| Gavin Best | 1,130,000 |
| Zachary Tunbridge | BUSTED! |
Chips ahoy!
| Name | Chips |
| Seyed Nasab | 1,485,000 |
| Patrick Yazbeck | 1,435,000 |
| Gavin Best | 1,405,000 |
| James Broom | 1,400,000 |
| Yu Chen | 1,390,000 |
| Sam Ioannou | 1,375,000 |
| Yita Choong | 1,365,000 |
| Tam Truong | 1,270,000 |
| AJ Antonios | 1,250,000 |
| Travis O’Grady | 1,235,000 |
| Ashish Gupta | 880,000 |
| Romain Morvan | 825,000 |
| Qais Shanasa | 795,000 |
| Jian Long | 700,000 |
| Chris Yu | 675,000 |
| Nurlan Boobekov | 650,000 |
| Xin Xin Liao | 605,000 |
| Daniel Lewis-Awad | 500,000 |
| Yang Lei | 355,000 |
| Brendon Rubie | 125,000 |
Level 20: 10,000/20,000 (20,000)
Break time!
Players have departed for the second 10-minute break of the day. The next break, at approximately 17:30, will be a 30-minute dinner break.
That’s gotta hurt
Hong Xie and Tim Plunkett clashed in a battle of equality, both tabling A-K after Xie shoved the button and Plunkett iso-shoved from the small blind.
Xie: A♦K♣
Plunkett: A♣K♥
More diamonds in this hand though – the 4♦K♦5♦6♦J♥ board gifting Xie a full double with the nut flush.
| Hong Xie | 400,000 |
| Tim Plunkett | 275,000 |
No medal for Goldingham
Picking up the action on a flop of 9♦3♠9♣, Gavin Best and Brent Goldingham checked the action across to Brendon Rubie, who fired a continuation bet of 30,000.
Both Best and Goldingham called, then all three players checked the 8♦ turn, before the 5♦ hit the felt on the river.
Best ripped it, shoving his super stack into the middle to put maximum pressure on his opponents. Goldingham called short and Rubie got out of dodge.
Goldingham then found out that his K♥9♠ was simply not good enough, Best best with the A♦2♦ backdoor diamond flush.
| Gavin Best | 1,470,000 |
| Brendon Rubie | 350,000 |
| Brent Goldingham | BUSTED! |
Staples diet
Daniel Louis-Awad continues to swallow opponents chips, opening to 45,000 before Mark Staples 3-bet to 100,000 in position.
Louis-Awad made the call, then both players checked the 8♥8♠A♠ flop.
Louis-Awad led out for 55,000 on the A♣ turn, and Staples shoved. Louis-Awad snap-called, tabling A♦Q♥ – Staples drawing dead with the K♥K♦, eliminated before the meaningless 4♥ river.
| Daniel Louis-Awad | 1,345,000 |
| Mark Staples | BUSTED! |
Subramoney finds an out
“I’m usually the one who gets one-outered!” yelled Anban Subramoney excitedly as he raked in a full double.
Subramoney had got his stack in versus the “piles” of Liem Tran only to see some bad news; Tran tabled A♠A♥.
Subramoney tabled his own 5♠5♣ and watched as the board completed 4♠9♠9♥3♠ … 5♥. Phew!
| Liem Tran | 825,000 |
| Anban Subramoney | 340,000 |
Recent eliminations
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 118th | Salman Ali | $3,859 |
| 119th | Tom Rafferty | $3,859 |
| 120th | David Sebesfi | $3,859 |
| 121st | Richard Tang | $3,859 |
| 122nd | Joel Cohen | $3,859 |
| 123rd | Shaun Zammit | $3,859 |
| 124th | Charles Chia | $3,859 |
| 125th | Sid Gunasekaran | $3,859 |
| 126th | Ehsan Amiri | $3,859 |
One time!
Suzy Khouiss announced to her table that she’s “gotta use my one time here!” as she tabled 6♠6♣ against the A♣J♠ of Bruno Calfapietra, having 3-bet shoved for 85,000 after Calfapietra opened for 40,000 to a quick call.
More outs and ways to win for Calfapietra after the flop spread K♦Q♥8♥ – everything from Broadway to backdoor counterfeit. The counterfeit option was removed on the 9♥ turn, leaving Calfapietra needing an Ace, Jack, or Ten to eliminate Khouiss.
Not to be; the 4♦ safe for Khouiss, though let’s hope she won’t need that one time later!
| Bruno Calfapietra | 510,000 |
| Suzy Khouiss | 195,000 |
Kim doubles
Musang Kim has recovered a little after having his Queens cracked by Justin Layden’s Tens in the last level.
Kim got his stack in preflop versus Star GC Champs Main Event Champion Yang Lei, everyone else folded, and they went to showdown.
Kim: J♠J♣
Lei: K♠10♣
On a flop of 3♠A♠Q♥, Lei flopped a gutshot to Broadway but his path was blocked – literally – by Kim’s holdings. The 9♦, 6♥ run-out changed nothing, Kim doubling through.
| Musang Kim | 245,000 |
| Yang Lei | 180,000 |
Recent eliminations
Our latest round of Main Event payouts have just come through; next pay jump is now worth $3,859 in cold, hard cash.
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 127th | Ranno Toomemagi | $3,562 |
| 128th | Sandi Sandi | $3,562 |
| 129th | George Mitri | $3,562 |
| 130th | Jeremy Fineman | $3,562 |
| 131st | Hedley Fung | $3,562 |
| 132nd | Marc Seymour | $3,562 |
| 133rd | Shuangchen Li | $3,562 |
| 134th | Slav Rypinski | $3,562 |
| 135th | Phillip Nguyen | $3,562 |
Level 19: 10,000/15,000 (15,000)
McCully barrels
Josh McCully opened to 25,000 from the hijack. The button called, AJ Antonios called in the small blind, but 25,000 wasn’t enough for Ashish Gupta. Gupta 3-bet to 225,000 from the big blind. McCully shoved, the button and Antonios folded and Gupta called off his last few chips.
Gupta: 10♠10♣
McCully: A♥J♠
Gupta absolutely smashed the 10♦4♣3♥ flop, top set basically a lock on the hand. The 2♣ gave McCully a couple of outs to a wheel, but the 3♠ river handed Gupta the full double.
| Ashish Gupta | 536,000 |
| Josh McCully | 170,000 |
Stand up equity
Joe Cristallo is hanging on today by a thread, roller-coastering his short stack.
Finding himself all-in preflop against Roman Priplotski recently, Cristallo utilised a little “stand up equity”.
Priplotski: J♥J♣
Cristallo: A♠J♠
The flop of 2♠10♥6♦ was met by Cristallo taking to his feet, putting his jacket on before the K♠ hit the turn. Always a sweat!
The A♥ hit the felt on the river. Sit down, son!
| Roman Priplotski | 651,000 |
| Joe Cristallo | 360,000 |
Ten out of ten!
Justin Layden wagered his entire stack preflop, 3-bet shoving for 226,000 total from the small blind after an open from Musang Kim in the cut-off.
Kim: Q♥Q♦
Layden: 10♥10♦
Domination nation, suits and all, but reversal of fortunes for both as the board spread 2♦10♠J♦A♠8♣ to send a full double Layden’s way.
| Justin Layden | 577,000 |
| Musang Kim | 175,000 |
All smiles
Blake Lockwood shoved from the button for his last 170,000 (approximation). Dan Smiljanic, in the big blind, peeked his cards and snap-called.
Smiljanic: Q♥Q♦
Lockwood: A♣10♣
Smiljanic flopped a straight flush draw on the 8♦J♦9♦, not that he needed it as the Queens were more than enough to eliminate Lockwood after the board completed 2♣, 3♥.
| Dan Smiljanic | 830,000 |
| Blake Lockwood | BUSTED! |
For richer or Pooria
David Bonadio ran his stack pre-flop into the larger stack of Pooria Asaadi.
Asaadi: 3♠3♣
Bonadio: A♣7♥
Bonadio hit top pair on the 3♦7♦2♥ flop, but the set for Asaadi had him in plenty of trouble, and he was eliminated after the board ran out 10♥, J♦.
| Pooria Asaadi | 831,000 |
| David Bonadio | BUSTED! |
Mete ground
Frank Mete has been eliminated at the hands of Travis O’Grady – coming straight over to the PMA desk, Mete explained that he was holding pocket deuces, had shoved on the 8-9-8 flop.
O’Grady – holding A-K – had then called to put Mete at risk … and immediately smashed a K on the turn to put Mete out to thaw.
| Travis O’Grady | 1,513,000 |
| Frank Mete | BUSTED! |
Latest payouts
We’ve hit the next pay jump! Our remaining players are now guaranteed a min-cash of $3,859.
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 136th | Pratik Metha | $3,288 |
| 137th | Andrew Hiscox | $3,288 |
| 138th | Ashor Shlemon | $3,288 |
| 139th | Adrian Chiu | $3,288 |
| 140th | Navid King | $3,288 |
| 141st | Danny Ayoub | $3,288 |
| 142nd | Elisa Onay | $3,288 |
| 143rd | Jason Gray | $3,288 |
| 144th | Emad Moaref | $3,288 |
Break time!
Some assorted counts for first break!
| Name | Chips |
| Yita Choong | 1,233,000 |
| Tam Truong | 1,149,000 |
| AJ Antonios | 1,123,000 |
| Gavin Best | 1,111,000 |
| Stan Levitin | 973,000 |
| Nurlan Boobekov | 923,000 |
| Romain Morvan | 904,000 |
| Roman Priplotski | 800,000 |
| Qais Shanasa | 753,000 |
| Dan Smiljanic | 714,000 |
| Phat Nguyen | 688,000 |
| Daniel Louis-Awad | 609,000 |
| Brendon Rubie | 500,000 |
| Suzy Khouiss | 437,000 |
| Najeem Ajez | 355,000 |
| Charles Tsai | 265,000 |
Level 18: 6,000/12,000 (12,000)
Long channelling
“Why you think so long?!” exclaimed Najeem Ajez in the direction of Jian Long as she was stacking her new chips.
“Snap!” he laughed, before saying “I know, she was channelling the Ace!”
Ajez exclaimed that Long had tank called with A♠K♣ and had two players with Q♠Q♥ and 6♠6♦ at risk, before the board had come out 4-4-J-2 … A.
“Double kill!” Long giggled as she stacked ’em up!
Meanwhile, players are standing up for the first break of the day.
| Jian Long | 640,000 |
Amiri, Gunasekaran goneski
Liem Tran, Ehsan Amiri, and Sid Gunasekaran were all-in pre-flop in a three handed showdown.
Amiri and Gunasekaran were at risk.
Gunasekaran: 5♦5♣
Tran: A♠K♠
Amiri: A♥9♦
Top pair for Tran on the 6♠Q♦K♥4♦8♥ to eliminate both players. Powerstack mode for Tran, who is stacking more towards the moon than in stacks of 20s!
| Liem Tran | Piles |
| Ehsan Amiri | BUSTED! |
| Sid Gunasekaran | BUSTED! |
Fineman felted
Ryan Hong opened to 20,000 under-the-gun and action folded all the way around to Jeremy Fineman on the button.
Fineman jammed for approximately 130K, and Hong made the call.
Hong: A♣9♣
Fineman: K♥J♦
Neither player made any connection on the 8♦7♠6♠Q♥3♦, Ace high holding for Hong.
| Ryan Hong | 677,000 |
| Jeremy Fineman | BUSTED! |
Truong two-KO
Tam Truong has claimed the scalp of two to also move past a million in chippies!
Recalled to us by seat neighbour Stan Levitin (Truong was busy stacking chips), Truong had opened to 25,000 with Q♦Q♣, action had folded around to Andy Hiscox who 3-bet, before Pratik Mehta 4-bet shoved from the very next seat.
Truong re-shoved to isolate – only to see Hiscox call as well to send the three to showdown.
Hiscox and Mehta tabled A♥K♣ and A♠K♦ respectively, and neither found any help on the 8♥10♠5♦2♠5♥ board.
| Tam Truong | 1,100,000 |
| Pratik Mehta | BUSTED! |
| Andy Hiscox | BUSTED! |
Li laid to rest
All in and a call! Charles Tsai, holding K♦K♣ had Frank Li all-in and at risk.
Li tabled A♠K♠, looking for an Ace or spades to survive and double through.
The board ran out 10♦3♦8♣10♥10♠ and Li headed to the payout desk.
| Charles Tsai | 467,000 |
| Frank Li | BUSTED! |
Money, money, money!
Time now for another round of payouts! Our remaining 144 players are now guaranteed $3,288.
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 145th | Gary Zhou | $3,014 |
| 146th | Jiapeng Yang | $3,014 |
| 147th | Chris Zenenos | $3,014 |
| 148th | Sheldon Mayer | $3,014 |
| 149th | Branko Usljebrka | $3,014 |
| 150th | Yiteng Ge | $3,014 |
| 151st | Joseph Boustani | $3,014 |
| 152nd | Toby Giles | $3,014 |
| 153rd | Jack McPhee | $3,014 |
Easy game
Another millionaire in the mix, with Gavin Best also into seven figures as play continues in The Star Sydney Champs Main Event.
As Best recalled to our reporters, the player in the big blind led out for 25,000 after a flop of 4♥4♣3♣ and Best flatted, as did Danny Yacoub in the cut-off before the dealer produced the Q♣ on the turn.
The big blind opened for 50,000 and again Best called before Yacoub shoved for his last 203,000. The big blind got out of the way and Best snap-called.
Best: 4♠4♦
Yacoub: A♣9♣
River … BRICK.
“Poker’s very easy when you flop quads!” Best exclaimed. That it is, Gavin. That it is.
| Gavin Best | 1,180,000 |
| Danny Yacoub | BUSTED! |
A millionaire maker
2022 WSOP Millionaire Maker fourth-place finisher Yita Choong has been sighted – coincidentally – as our first player to reach the one-million chip mark after he eliminated Elisa Onay.
Action folded to Choong who raised to 20,000 from the cut-off; the button folded, but Onay shoved from the small blind with K♠K♦.
Choong called her down and tabled A♥Q♣ and then picked up the gut-shot Broadway draw after the flop of 10♦J♠4♦.
Onay then improved to two pair with the repeat 10♥ on the turn, but the table groaned and Onay threw her hands up into the air in frustration after the river A♣ completed the board.
“F**kin’ river, Goddamnit Yita!” she shouted in jest. “I swear, I’ll give $1K to anyone that busts him. No wait, make it $2K!”
“I’m sorry, Elisa!” Choong replied with a grin. “I promise I’ll buy you a drink afterwards.”
“F**k your drink, Yita!” Onay shot back, sending the rest of the table into hysterical laughter.
| Yita Choong | 1,003,000 |
| Elisa Onay | BUSTED! |
Pay jump!
Our first batch of cashes have been confirmed for this year’s record-breaking Star Sydney Champs Main Event! Our 153 remaining players are now guaranteed a minimum of $3,014.
| Place | Name | Amount |
| 154th | Mateo Echauge | $2,740 |
| 155th | Shual Cheng | $2,740 |
| 156th | Jethro Horowitz | $2,740 |
| 157th | Scott Redman | $2,740 |
| 158th | Michael Levy | $2,740 |
| 159th | Todd Sekli | $2,740 |
| 160th | Victor Oquena | $2,740 |
Unbelievable
You really had to see this one to believe it.
Xin Xin Liao opened the action, raising to 20,000, before Victor Oquena – who had not played a hand before the bubble burst – 3-bet to 60,000 from the button.
Big blind Phat Nguyen then cold 4-bet-jammed from the big blind, forcing Liao out of the pot before Oquena snap-called.
Oquena: A♥A♦
Nguyen: K♠K♥
What is happening?
Straight away, the K♣ in the window caused a stir, players on neighbouring tables already forming a crowd … and then the flop spread A♣8♠K♣. Pandemonium.
That was nothing. The turn doesn’t matter – the 4♣ inconsequential – but the K♦ river the one-outer for quads, Oquena brutally eliminated.
“They both hit a set on the flop!” Elisa Onay was heard saying breathlessly as she rushed back to her table for her next hand.
Incredible.
| Phat Nguyen | 828,000 |
| Victor Oquena | BUSTED! |
Level 17: 5,000/10,000 (10,000)
GG Ghobrial; bubble burst!
After running up a stack from less than one big blind late yesterday to amazingly bag 300K, the affable Jimmy G has fallen on the bubble of the 2022 Star Sydney Champs Main Event.
Sam Ioannou had Ghobrial all-in and at risk pre-flop as the cards were tabled, a huge shout was heard throughout the room and a crowd ran over.
Ioannou: A♠A♦
Ghobrial: K♠K♣
An unfortunate time for the ultimate cooler; neither player hitting the board and Aces holding up to eliminate Ghobrial.
With that, we have 160 players remaining, which means the bubble has officially burst, and all of our remaining players are in the money!
| Sam Ioannou | 497,000 |
| Jimmy Ghobrial | BUSTED! |
Clair commiserates
Michael Clair found himself all-in and at risk on the bubble with 3♥3♦ against the 5♦5♣ of Stan Levitin.
Initially, Clair could be forgiven he’d been saved by the 3♠ in the window … until the dealer fanned out the flop to show 5♠J♠3♠ for a set-under-set cooler on the bubble.
Levitin would hold through on the 8♣, J♥ run-out to eliminate Clair in 162nd place.
| Stan Levitin | 894,000 |
| Michael Clair | BUSTED! |
Hand for hand!
“Attention all tournament dealers! Finish this hand, and stop!” came the cry from the tournament director over the microphone, while the clock has been paused to confirm players remaining.
It’s official – the 2022 Star Sydney Champs Main Event is now hand-for-hand with 162 players remaining; we’re on the bubble bubble!
Red decks first.
Mansour mauled
Elias Mansour and Wenjie Sun got all of their stacks in the middle on a flop of K♥K♣3♠.
Sun: A♣K♠
Mansour: K♦9♥
Mansour found himself on the rough end of the cooler and was eliminated after the board ran out 5♥, 8♣.
| Wenjie Sun | 426,000 |
| Elias Mansour | BUSTED! |
The sale never ends!
Todd “The Salesman” Sekli has found a timely double, moving all-in pre-flop UTG and almost getting it through; folds all the way around the table before he found a caller in big blind Luke Edwards.
Sekli: 10♣8♣
Edwards: 6♠3♦
Both players missed the flop of K♥4♥9♥, then Edwards hit the 6♣ turn.
Needing help, Sekli found a bargain on the 8♥ river to double through.
| Luke Edwards | 427,000 |
| Todd Sekli | 54,000 |
AWOL
A number of players have yet to take their seats as we approach the money bubble here at the Star Sydney Champs Main Event.
Of 197 starters today, 160 will make the money – and we’re already down to 169!
For Sid Gunasekaran, Sheldon Mayer, Bradley Livemore, and Estonia’s Ranno Toomemagi, we suspect that bubble couldn’t come soon enough – gents, your stacks await you!
Cristallo stumbles
Scott Redman defended his big blind, flatting after a Brendon Rubie open from the hijack was called by cut-off Joe Cristallo.
On the flop of 3♦3♠7♣, Redman checked, Rubie fired a continuation bet called by Cristallo, then Redman jammed the remainder of his stack in the middle.
Rubie folded, and Cristallo commented “I don’t know why I’m doing this, but…” before putting in the chips to put Redman at risk.
At risk he was not, tabling Q♠3♥ for trips and finding himself miles ahead of Cristallo’s A♠K♦.
Redman would go on to see the 2♦, 3♣ run-out improve him to quads.
| Brendon Rubie | 421,000 |
| Scott Redman | 308,000 |
| Joe Cristallo | 188,000 |
Ruan run ran
2022 WSOP Millionaire Maker 4th place finisher Yita Choong checked his option after the flop came 5♦7♥10♥ and saw Jianguo Ruan bet 50,000.
Choong check-raised to 300,000 and Ruan called short to put himself at risk.
Choong: Q♦10♠
Ruan: K♠5♠
Finding out the news that Choong wasn’t playing around, Ruan needed help to stay alive in this tournament, and was unable to find it on the A♣, 4♠ run-out.
| Yita Choong | 704,000 |
| Jianguo Ruan | BUSTED! |
Pacheco pummelled
A pot of about 290,000 and an all-in from Adrian Pacheco was more than enough to attract the attention of our Live Reporter walking past Table 9.
The board was showing 6♦A♥8♣2♠, and action was pending on Zhi Ma, who was in the tank deciding what to do about Pacheco’s 171,000 shove.
“Good fold!” quipped Pacheco.
“Still live” responded Ma, “I’m just worried about one hand.”
“If you’re still live, your chips are going in.” replied Pacheco.
Sure enough, with an “If you have pocket sixes so be it!”, Ma made the call moments later.
Ma: A♠8♥
Pacheco: 8♠6♣
The 10♦ on the river no help to Pacheco, sent home early on Day 2.
| Zhi Ma | 782,000 |
| Adrian Pacheco | BUSTED! |
Bartley busted
Yesterday’s comic Nathan Bartley is today’s tragedy, falling to the hands of Day 1A chip leader Daniel Louis-Awad in a classic race over on Table 8.
Bartley held the A♣K♠ against the J♥J♣ of Louis-Awad and the flop came 2♠10♦Q♠, giving Bartley additional outs to Broadway (though Louis-Awad held blockers to that), and backdoor flush opportunities.
The Q♣ on the turn took away both, leaving Bartley chasing over cards, which the 6♥ definitely was not, seeing Bartley hit the rail and Louis-Awad move into the upper echelons of the counts.
| Daniel Louis-Awad | 824,000 |
| Nathan Bartley | BUSTED! |
Lockwood locks up more
Nathan Lockwood has eliminated Hong Xie over on Table 11.
All-in pre-flop action with Lockwood’s J♠J♣ victorious over the A♦5♠ of short-stacked Xie after the board ran out K♥9♠2♠4♠7♠, despite the wheel draw showing up for Xie on the turn.
| Hong Xie | BUSTED! |
Zhang zilched
Zhengmin Zhang wasted no time moving his short stack all-in, as Jensen Sodicta’s big blind spot was auspiciously absent on Table 31 absent at the start of play.
George Kanan asked for a count from a couple of seats over – 29,000 it was – but folded, but then Frank Mete snap-called (right in front of the PMA Live Reporting Desk) next to act before everyone else folded.
Zhang: A♠3♣
Mete: K♠10♥
Mete rapped the table as he hit straight away on the 9♣10♦Q♥ flop, and held through on the 6♠, Q♦ to mete out a beat.
| Frank Mete | 351,000 |
| Zhengmin Zhang | BUSTED! |
Shuffle up and deal!
Cards are now in the air for Day 2 of The Star Sydney Champs Main Event!
Blinds are now 60 minutes in duration, and we’ll be playing through 11 levels today or down to the final table, whichever comes first.
| Level | Small Blind | Big Blind | BB Ante |
| 16 | 4,000 | 8,000 | 8,000 |
| 17 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| 18 | 6,000 | 12,000 | 12,000 |
| 19 | 10,000 | 15,000 | 15,000 |
| 20 | 10,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 |
| 21 | 15,000 | 25,000 | 25,000 |
| 22 | 15,000 | 30,000 | 30,000 |
| 23 | 20,000 | 40,000 | 40,000 |
| 24 | 25,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 |
| 25 | 30,000 | 60,000 | 60,000 |
| 26 | 50,000 | 75,000 | 75,000 |
Level 16: 4,000/8,000 (8,000)
Day 2 seat draw
Please ensure you have your photo ID and Star Club Card with you for verification purposes, and if you have any questions regarding your seat allocation, please approach your friendly Star Poker Sydney crew. Best of luck to all players!
Table 1
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Trent Miller | 318,000 |
| 2 | Chung Young Whan | 144,000 |
| 3 | Alex Lynskey | 130,000 |
| 4 | Stan Hou | 16,000 |
| 5 | Jian Long | 70,000 |
| 6 | Spiro Maroulis | 92,000 |
| 7 | Marc Seymour | 371,000 |
| 8 | Mark Lassau | 323,000 |
| 9 | Jiapeng Yang | 375,000 |
Table 2
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Paul Murray | 45,000 |
| 2 | John Pachos | 136,000 |
| 3 | Luis Arrilucea | 180,000 |
| 4 | Peidi Chen | 227,000 |
| 5 | Bradley Livermore | 337,000 |
| 6 | Romain Morvan | 246,000 |
| 7 | Hasan Onay | 469,000 |
| 8 | Elisa Onay | 221,000 |
| 9 | Bowen Yu | 65,000 |
Table 3
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Salman Ali | 102,000 |
| 2 | Mark Yazbeck | 512,000 |
| 3 | Michael Clair | 120,000 |
| 4 | Luheng Wang | 146,000 |
| 5 | Joel Turner | 149,000 |
| 6 | Jie Cui | 330,000 |
| 7 | Michael Seymour | 244,000 |
| 8 | Nathan Sweeney | 163,000 |
| 9 | Charles Chiha | 330,000 |
Table 4
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Duy Nguyen | 344,000 |
| 2 | Navid King | 122,000 |
| 3 | Tom Maguire | 97,000 |
| 4 | Sid Gunasekaran | 137,000 |
| 5 | Remoon Karim | 133,000 |
| 6 | John Nguyen | 90,000 |
| 7 | Steven Green | 170,000 |
| 8 | Ehsan Amiri | 66,000 |
| 9 | Qi Xu | 138,000 |
Table 5
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Gavin Best | 300,000 |
| 2 | Yita Choong | 518,000 |
| 3 | Ranno Toomemagi | 120,000 |
| 4 | James Broom | 635,000 |
| 5 | Danny Ayoub | 496,000 |
| 6 | Shuangchen Li | 98,000 |
| 7 | Richard Tang | 275,000 |
| 8 | Jianguo Ruan | 180,000 |
| 9 | David Sebesfi | 414,000 |
Table 6
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Stan Levitin | 700,000 |
| 2 | Paul Hoang | 207,000 |
| 3 | Justin Wong | 471,000 |
| 4 | Lawrence Stephenson | 106,000 |
| 5 | Chi Truong | 312,000 |
| 6 | Eric Assadourian | 122,000 |
| 7 | Mark Lasarow | 205,000 |
| 8 | Nicholas Economos | 116,000 |
| 9 | Julie Walters | 92,000 |
Table 7
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Justin Capra | 62,000 |
| 2 | Charbel Boustani | 442,000 |
| 3 | Musang Kim | 137,000 |
| 4 | Sheldon Mayer | 283,000 |
| 5 | Roman Priplotski | 546,000 |
| 6 | Jethro Horowitz | 250,000 |
| 7 | Pooria Asaadi | 204,000 |
| 8 | Julius Tupua | 242,000 |
| 9 | Brett Marshall | 144,000 |
Table 8
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Shaun Zammit | 277,000 |
| 2 | Nathan Bartley | 140,000 |
| 3 | Michael Egan | 132,000 |
| 4 | Daniel Louis-Awad | 664,000 |
| 5 | Jarod Cunningham | 115,000 |
| 6 | Qais Shanasa | 588,000 |
| 7 | Li Yang | 291,000 |
| 8 | Anthony Collick | 209,000 |
| 9 | Najeem Ajez | 359,000 |
Table 9
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Anban Subramoney | 263,000 |
| 2 | Jeremy Jonas | 24,000 |
| 3 | Zhi Ma | 490,000 |
| 4 | Scott Redman | 155,000 |
| 5 | Neb Blanusa | 235,000 |
| 6 | Adrian Pacheco | 327,000 |
| 7 | Mitchell Bognar | 125,000 |
| 8 | Brendon Rubie | 421,000 |
| 9 | Joseph Cristallo | 315,000 |
Table 10
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Moon Chung | 322,000 |
| 2 | Harry Basle | 265,000 |
| 3 | Scott Wood | 114,000 |
| 4 | Vincent Choy | 491,000 |
| 5 | Suzy Khouiss | 271,000 |
| 6 | Adrian Chiu | 213,000 |
| 7 | Luigi Giovenaie | 332,000 |
| 8 | Sandi Sandi | 185,000 |
| 9 | Bruno Calfapietra | 279,000 |
Table 11
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Victor Oquena | 319,000 |
| 2 | Stanley Liu | 59,000 |
| 3 | Phat Nguyen | 555,000 |
| 4 | Hong Xie | 41,000 |
| 5 | Tim Plunkett | 338,000 |
| 6 | Joshua Hutchins | 104,000 |
| 7 | Blake Lockwood | 358,000 |
| 8 | Xin Xin Liao | 464,000 |
| 9 | Dan Smiljanic | 355,000 |
Table 12
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Gavin Ogilvy | 286,000 |
| 2 | Malcolm Trayner | 256,000 |
| 3 | Michael O’Grady | 390,000 |
| 4 | Tony Tavella | 612,000 |
| 5 | Tobias Giles | 140,000 |
| 6 | Yung Chen | 84,000 |
| 7 | Liem Tran | 430,000 |
| 8 | Michael Confos | 471,000 |
| 9 | Hedley Fung | 214,000 |
Table 13
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Mikael Larsson | 304,000 |
| 2 | Andrew White | 108,000 |
| 3 | Wubin Fan | 635,000 |
| 4 | Milan Stojkovic | 397,000 |
| 5 | Joe Caruso | 40,000 |
| 6 | Nathan Gubieski | 443,000 |
| 7 | Tom Rafferty | 182,000 |
| 8 | Chin Wang | 345,000 |
| 9 | Michael Levy | 227,000 |
Table 14
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Jarryd Kirwan | 84,000 |
| 2 | Subramanyam Vanaparthy | 159,000 |
| 3 | Phillip Nguyen | 166,000 |
| 4 | Martin Stewart | 315,000 |
| 5 | Jason Gray | 193,000 |
| 6 | Paul Whitehouse | 301,000 |
| 7 | Mateo Echague | 267,000 |
| 8 | Charles Tsai | 415,000 |
| 9 | Matthew Rolfe | 311,000 |
Table 25
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Jeremy Fineman | 164,000 |
| 2 | Joel Cohen | 97,000 |
| 3 | Yang Lei | 305,000 |
| 4 | Yu Chen | 672,000 |
| 5 | Ryan Hong | 404,000 |
| 6 | Jack McPhee | 73,000 |
| 7 | Robert Kwan | 124,000 |
| 8 | Jun Wang | 102,000 |
| 9 | Lior Segre | 136,000 |
Table 26
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Scott Carmichael | 245,000 |
| 2 | Branko Usljebrka | 141,000 |
| 3 | Christopher Zenonos | 196,000 |
| 4 | Elias Mansour | 213,000 |
| 5 | Craib Fabian | 383,000 |
| 6 | Jonathan Portelli | 341,000 |
| 7 | Wenjie Sun | 234,000 |
| 8 | Andy Hiscox | 135,000 |
| 9 | Pratik Mehta | 146,000 |
Table 27
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Luke Edwards | 368,000 |
| 2 | Todd Sekli | 458,000 |
| 3 | Bruce Hall | 60,000 |
| 4 | Alan Zheng | 147,000 |
| 5 | Josh McCully | 363,000 |
| 6 | Gang Zhu | 182,000 |
| 7 | Yuanfeng Lin | 244,000 |
| 8 | AJ Antonios | 489,000 |
| 9 | Ash Gupta | 334,000 |
Table 28
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Slav Rypinski | 221,000 |
| 2 | Tiffany Le | 68,000 |
| 3 | Daniel Noja | 283,000 |
| 4 | George Mitri | 299,000 |
| 5 | Mark Staples | 303,000 |
| 6 | John Apostolidis | 287,000 |
| 7 | Zachary Tunbridge | 117,000 |
| 8 | Patrick Yazbeck | 169,000 |
| 9 | Huy Nguyen | 259,000 |
Table 29
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Brent Goldingham | 497,000 |
| 2 | David Bonadio | 290,000 |
| 3 | Sam Ioannou | 282,000 |
| 4 | Jimmy Ghobrial | 300,000 |
| 5 | Leo Kamiya | 201,000 |
| 6 | Kai Yeung | 148,000 |
| 7 | Steve Pappas | 86,000 |
| 8 | Max Stairmand | 383,000 |
| 9 | Shuai Chang | 92,000 |
Table 30
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Mark Fester | 122,000 |
| 2 | Seyed Nasab | 358,000 |
| 3 | Lee Hun Wei | 261,000 |
| 4 | Jane Howard | 152,000 |
| 5 | Chris Yu | 596,000 |
| 6 | Emad Moaref | 213,000 |
| 7 | Nurlan Boobekov | 787,000 |
| 8 | Marc Liddell | 135,000 |
| 9 | Gregg Russell | 458,000 |
Table 31
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Travis O’Grady | 247,000 |
| 2 | Jensen Sodicta | 211,000 |
| 3 | Jin Li | 662,000 |
| 4 | Zhengmin Zhang | 29,000 |
| 5 | Evaldas Stanevicius | 539,000 |
| 6 | Ashor Shlemon | 98,000 |
| 7 | Francesco Mate | 308,000 |
| 8 | Joseph Boustani | 72,000 |
| 9 | Justin Layden | 353,000 |
Table 32 (Feature Table)
| Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Louis Luo | 193,000 |
| 2 | Yiteng Ge | 195,000 |
| 3 | Ljudevit Marinic | 318,000 |
| 4 | Amanda Salter | 157,000 |
| 6 | George Kanan | 333,000 |
| 7 | Daniel Sequenzia | 98,000 |
| 8 | Thomas Chong | 282,000 |
| 9 | Trung Tran | 288,000 |
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