That’s a wrap!
A total of 47 players have survived and bagged Day 1A of the WSOP Circuit Gold Coast Main Event, with the top ten chip leaders featuring some very strong contenders in the form Tu Le bagging 333,500 and the $5K High Roller Champion himself, Sheng Ye topping Day 1A with 723,000. Can Ye run it up for another WSOP Circuit champion title and ring?
Jarrod Courtney is also not far behind Ye with 637,000 and looking for a big break, while Australian Poker Hall of Famer Gary Benson, who was earlier spotted short, has shot himself up the charts to bag 445,000.
Below is a short-list of the top 10 chip counts surviving Day 1A:
| Name | Chips |
| Sheng Ye | 723,000 |
| Jarrod Courtney | 637,000 |
| Hun Wei Lee | 595,000 |
| Shu Yuh Ng | 526,500 |
| Gary Benson | 445,000 |
| Justin Lai | 432,500 |
| Joshua Smith | 427,000 |
| Huss Hassan | 384,500 |
| Clinton Taylor | 359,500 |
| Tu Le | 333,500 |
Ready, Get Set…
Dan Smiljanic took one last shot with the remainder of his stack, sending in a little over 12 big blinds which was snapped up by Tu Le. Smiljanic’s A♦K♥ was already behind Le’s Q♣Q♥ before the board was dealt, offering no sympathy for Smiljanic as it ran Q♠9♦2♣4♦10♥, smashing a set for Le in the first window and running dry to send Smiljanic out.
| Tu Le | 350,000 |
| Dan Smiljanic | BUSTED! |
Clair cleaned out
Michael Clair is our latest elimination after moving all in pre with 42,000 from the cut off and was called by Clint Taylor on the button. Clair showed A♥9♣ as Taylor lifted over A♣J♠, which held over as the board was dealt A♠Q♣6♥3♣Q♥. Taylor’s Jack kicker sailed over Clair to send him to the rail.
| Clint Taylor | 340,000 |
| Michael Clair | BUSTED! |
Hassan’s just getting set
As we move into our final level of the day, the average stack has moved up past 150,000 as our field has narrowed down and we are starting to see how the players are getting themselves set up and pushing to progress for Day 2.
On table 6 where some sizable stacks are forming, we are seeing some bigger action brewing. Huss Hassan in the big blind 3-bets to 37,000 after button has opened for 10,000, with the small blind, Sheng Yu, following behind on both bets as the button folded.
On the flop A♠7♥K♥, Yu check-called Hassan’s 18,000 bet, and check-called Hassan’s bet on the Q♥ turn. The river J♦ presented with a 125,000 bet from Yu, called by Hassan.
Although Yu held fairly modest pockets 9♥9♠, it was far too diluted on a board favouring any card Ten or higher, and was outmatched all the way with Hassan holding a turned set Q♣Q♠ to scoop the pot.
| Sheng Yu | 660,000 |
| Huss Hassan | 335,000 |
Level 13: 2,000/4,000 (4,000)
Phat stacks
Terry Hopkins has been falling behind after we last saw him, with his stack dwindling down to 57,000 and pushed into the middle pre-flop. Phat Nguyen called to take the action heads up on a spread of K♣4♠J♣5♥2♠.
Nguyen: 8♥8♠
Hopkins: A♠Q♥
Hopkins’ hand landed dead as Nguyen’s pockets held to eliminate him.
| Phat Nguyen | 146,500 |
| Terry Hopkins | BUSTED! |
Lee on the up and up
Over on table 7, Gang Zhu went all in pre-flop for 39,900, called by Andy Lee on the big blind who comfortably covered Zhu as he made the call to see the cards dealt 4♠K♣6♠Q♦7♠
Lee: A♦K♥
Zhu:A♥Q♠
Zhu was eliminated, with Lee’s stack gaining upwards in sight of half a million.
| Andy Lee | 400,000 |
| Gang Zhu | BUSTED |
AAh Egan, you’ve done it again!
Michael Egan is on a heater, with action quickly escalating pre-flop. Egan opened in cut-off, then 4-bet all in after the button raised, and they both found themselves with best possible pockets against second-best.
As the board ran 7♠4♣9♠Q♣2♠, his opponent couldn’t believe his luck to find himself booted from the felt so brutally with K♥K♠ against Egan’s A♣A♠ which ran through like a hot knife in butter, making a quick exit.
| Michael Egan | 315,000 |
Level 12: 1,500/3,000 (3,000)
Bam Bam Tam!
Bert Perry opened under the gun, Tam Nguyen 3-bet from middle position and called Perry’s 4-bet all in to quickly send action heads up. Interesting, both were off from the starting block with A-K, although Nguyen’s suited A♠K♠ held more edge over Perry’s offsuit A♣K♦.
Any chance of a split quickly disappeared as Nguyen flopped the stone cold nut flush on 2♠4♠Q♠, completing with 10♥2♥ and leaving Perry to end his night as Nguyen took in the pot.
| Tam Nguyen | 250,000 |
| Bert Perry | BUSTED! |
Frilin-goes
Ziyue Zheng has zapped another player from the tournament, after an all in-call saw action heads up on a spread of K♥K♦10♥5♣5♦.
George Frilingos had a strongly suited A♦J♦ for the two pair and Ace kicker, but Zheng’s pocket Q♦Q♥ flew under the radar for the higher two-pair and Ten kicker, relegating Frilingos to the rail for Zheng to level his stack past the 200,000 mark.
| Ziyue Zheng | 220,000 |
| George Frilingos | BUSTED! |
Chunk of change for Chuck
Chuck Caris has doubled through an opponent after edging them out on the flop with A♣J♠ versus A♥10♠ on the opening windows 10♣4♠J♠. His opponent went all in on the turn 2♦, but the third window had already done damage as the river finished out 5♠.
His opponent was left short with a stack of 8,000, which went into the pot on the very next hand all in pre-flop, heading 10♣6♥ against Kerry Hopkins’s A♣5♥, which found the two pair on a board of 7♥5♠J♣2♦7♦, eliminating the opponent and giving Hopkins a small addition to his growing stack.
| Chuck Caris | 130,000 |
| Kerry Hopkins | 155,000 |
Egad, Egan!
Another all in-call on table 12, as we find Ching-Hsin Hsu heads up with Michael Egan. The board panned Q♦8♥J♣3♣K♣, and Hsu had hit early on the first window holding A♦Q♠, but was quickly struck out by Egan’s set on the third window with J♦J♥. Egan had Hsu’s stack well covered, roughly 50,000 and change, eliminating Hsu.
| Michael Egan | 186,000 |
| Ching-Hsin Hsu | BUSTED! |
No Strang-er to winning
Jan Kossyrev came unstuck in a hand against Errolyn Strang after leading on a flop of 6♣Q♠8♥ with A♦Q♣. After some betting action, Kossyrev moved all in and quickly found Strang was ahead with K♦K♠, which improved to higher two-pair on the turn 8♠ and full house on the river 8♣.
Strang collected close to 64,000 from the pot as Kossyrev busted out.
| Errolyn Strang | 130,000 |
| Jan Kossyrev | BUSTED! |
Level 11: 1,500/2,500 (2,500)
Lionel licks one
We saw Lionel Lu eliminating an opponent on the river as the board was spread A♠6♠10♣5♣6♥, his opponent severely short with only 25,000 in the middle. Lu’s J♦10♦ found second top pair whilst his opponent drew second nut flush on the turn with K♣9♣, but bricked out on the river to give Lu small change for his big stack.
| Lionel Lu | 194,000 |
Follet’s folly
Some interesting action with Antoine Follet on the button calling a pre flop open to 3,500, before calling Mina Elias’ big blind 3-bet to 21,000.
The flop K♦2♦7♣ invoked a 20,000 bet from Elias and Follet’s call, before escalating on the turn 7♠ where Elias jammed and Follet took him on.
Follet: K♣J♣
Elias: A♣A♠
Elias stole the pot with the overpair pocket Aces shooting over the head of Follet’s top pair Kings, giving Elias the better change whilst still leaving both with healthy stacks nicely above average.
| Mina Elias | 165,000 |
| Antoine Follet | 140,000 |
McCully culled
We caught action on the river as Josh McCully went all in on the river for 26,000, which was eventually called after some time in the tank from Natalia Roszova.
McCully: Q♦9♦
Roszova: A♣Q♥
Roszova had the over on McCully as they played heads up through the board 3♥J♣6♥3♣2♠, the Ace kicker giving Roszova’s stack a strong leg-up.
| Natalia Roszova | 250,000 |
| Josh McCully | BUSTED! |
Level 10: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)
Time for a Break!
We have now closed in on 269 entries (including 59 re-entries), with the average stack moving closer to the 6 figure mark. The action is starting to pick up the pace in these later levels as some players find themselves short and we see more swings in stacks. Let’s check out who is topping the field:
| Player | Chips |
| Andy Lee | 264,000 |
| Sheng Yu | 264,000 |
| Chris Costanza | 254,000 |
| Bert Perry | 200,000 |
| Benedikt Eberle | 191,000 |
Set over Set over Set
The pendulum gravitated and swung wildly in a hand that went all wrong for Adrian Sportelli. After action went off all in 3-way on the turn, they went to showdown on a board finishing Q♥3♠7♣J♦7♥.
First set out of the gate was an opponent with pocket 3♦3♥ hitting on the second window, before another player’s 7♦7♠ hit on the third window for the higher set. The turn however, gave Sportelli’s J♥J♠ the even higher set before the river quickly twisted back in favour for the player with pocket 7s to hit a one-outter for the quads, in a pot worth almost 100,000.
| Adrian Sportelli | BUSTED! |
Adieu, Clark and Liu
Bert Perry has delivered a double elimination in a three way all-in call which set pockets vs. pockets vs. pockets.
Chen Yi Liu jammed on the button for 22,600, which was called short by David Clark from the blinds, and snapped up by Bert Perry in late position.
Perry: 10♥10♠
Clark: 7♥7♠
Liu: 6♥6♠
Clark and Liu were unable to hit any outs as the board ran out A♠4♦9♣K♠2♥ for Perry to cleanly eliminate them both.
| Bert Perry | 175,000 |
| Chen Yi Liu | BUSTED! |
| David Clark | BUSTED! |
Exit Xu
Over on table 6, Mina Elias has seen to the elimination of Xin Xu after Elias called Xu’s in pre flop for 22,200. They went to showdown over a spread of 2♥8♦7♦4♠9♠, with Elias’ Q♥J♣ nosing ahead of Xu’s Q♠10♠ for the higher hand with kicker.
| Mina Elias | 85,700 |
| Xin Xu | BUSTED! |
Cassell collects chips
Jen Cassell has doubled up through Natalia Roszova, after moving all in pre flop for 32,900, called by Roszova.
Cassell’s pockets J♦J♠ held strongly against Roszova’s suited A♣3♣, on the board of 7♦5♠7♠5♦K♠, securing a double up .
| Natalia Roszova | 162,400 |
| Jennifer Cassell | 89,000 |
Justin just out
Justin Cohen has been eliminated after the last of his 11,500 stack went into the middle pre-flop from under the gun and was called by the big blind.
Cohen’s A♦8♣ only had the advantage preflop as the big blind’s K♦Q♣ hit on the flop and held through 7♦10♥Q♥3♣6♥, sending Justin out as the big blind collected the 24,000 pot.
Shortly’s short stack on the double
Gavin Shortly jammed all in for 17,000, looking very short indeed after Tam Trung opened for 3,000. Trung called to see them heads up on a spread of 3♣9♣9♠10♠7♠.
Shortly’s A♦J♦ prevailed against Trung’s Q♠2♠ for the double up, leaving Shortly as the bigger stack of the two.
In the very next hand, Trung again went head to head with Shortly, but busted shortly after, leaving Gavin Shortly with a refreshed stack to keep up with the pack.
| Gavin Shortly | 41,000 |
| Tam Trung | BUSTED! |
Level 9: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)
Hooray, a chop for Murray
Clint Taylor opened on the button to 3,200, called by Liam Murray in the small blind before big blind Joel Dodds 3-bet 15,000. Taylor called and Murray shoved for 34,000, called by Dodds and Taylor to meet on a flop of 5♠Q♥2♣, Dodds check-called Taylor’s bet of 25,000, and both players checked the turn 4♥. The river 3♣, however, ellicited a bet of 8,000 from Dodds, which Taylor folded.
Murray: A♥K♦
Dodds: A♦Q♦
Both players rivered a low straight to chop the pot and lift Murray to keep up with the moving average stack.
| Joel Dodds | 201,500 |
| Clint Taylor | 100,000 |
| Liam Murray | 51,300 |
Chop, Tu Le!
A three-way all in call finished uniquely with both a chopped pot and an elimination after two players both hit their respective two-outters on the board.
Tu Le opened UTG to 2,400 and was met with a 3-bet from an opponent in middle position moving all in for 16,000. Both Jan Kossyrev on the big blind and Tu Le called, creating a side pot as they saw the flop 4♠9♥A♥. Kossyrev led a bet 6,000 and Tu Le called to see the A♠ turn. Kossyrev shoved for close to 30,000 and Le snapped and they turned over their hands as the river rolled 4♣.
Le: A♦Q♠
Kossyrev:A♣3♥
Opponent:J♦9♣
| Tu Le | 45,800 |
| Jan Kossyrev | 39,900 |
Yo yo, Ye!
They call him “oh yeah” or “yoyo”! A quick hand recount from Sheng Ye as he described a big hand involving the double knockout of opponents in a three-way. UTG+1 opened to 2,200 and was called from the cut off, when Ye 3-bet from the big blind to 8,000 and the other two called.
Flop was dealt 5♥6♥7x, Ye checked, UTG+1 bet 10,000 and cut off jammed all in for 35,000. Ye called and UTG+1 jammed for 45,000, which Ye matched with his stack covering. The turn peeled a 5x, and the river 3♥.
Ye: 4♥2♥
UTG+1: 9x9x
Cut-off: [unknown]
Sheng Ye’s hand easily beat the overpair to give his stack a big boost to 260,000 as he eliminated two opponents on a board that offered so many possibilities but only one beautiful straight flush.
Level 8: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Put through Doringer
John Doringer has been punted after moving all in with 32,400 following some pre-flop action, which end heads up with Ziyue Zheng who had him covered.
Doringer: 5♦5♠
Zheng: A♣Q♥
Doringer started off strongly and was leading the flop 4♣2♦2♥, but was left stranded on the turn A♥, and dead on the river 9♣, with Zheng picking up the pot to move past the 100,000 mark.
| Ziyue Zheng | 106,000 |
| John Doringer | BUSTED! |
Here’s looking at Liu
Following early action after UTG+1 raised 2,200 and was flat by the HiJack, Michael Kalin called in the small blind only for the big blind, Chen Yi Liu, to 3-bet 11,800. Action folded back to Kalin who made the call and went to the flop 9♦6♠2♦. Kalin checked in front of his dangerously low stack of 7,500 and change, to which Liu advanced with an all-in that was swiftly called.
Kalin: 10♣9♣
Liu: Q♦Q♠
Although Kalin had hit the first window for the top pair he was still far behind and was consigned to the rail as the remaining streets [invalid notations]offered no help.
| Chen Yi Liu | 61,800 |
| Michael Kalin | BUSTED! |
Happy Meal for McCully
Josh McCully opened to 2,200 from the LoJack, finding two callers: Gary Benson in the cut-off and big blind Mark Erikson. The flop was laid 3♦8♥4♣, which McCully and Erikson both check-called Benson’s 3,500 bet. On the turn J♣, Erikson checked, McCully bet 7,500, which was called by Benson and Erikson. The river 7♥ was checked down for the showdown.
McCully: Q♦J♦
Erikson: 8♠2♠
Benson: [mucked]
McCully took the pot, taking change out of Erikson and leaving Benson well short with only a little over 6 big blinds.
| Mark Erikson | 101,600 |
| Josh McCully | 63,200 |
| Gary Benson | 6,300 |
Level 7: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Dinner Break – Top 5 Chip Counts
Time to check in on our field of players as we approach 250 entries (including 47 entries) and see where our chip leaders are at. Leading the pack is Chuck Caris with almost four times the average stack at 174,000, along with Doolin who is still keeping up in the top 5 chip counts from the last break.
| Player | Chips |
| Chuck Caris | 174,000 |
| Natalia Roszova | 161,500 |
| Darien Doolin | 140,500 |
| Sam Adams | 138,900 |
| Mitchell Frost | 130,600 |
Nein to Kharman
Michael O’Grady has swallowed up a short stack after calling Adam Kharman’s shove 15,000 preflop in mid-late position. O’Grady was on the button as he turned over 9♣9♥, as Kharman flipped up A♣10♦, no doubt hoping to hit a an Ace or Ten for the upper hand. It was a case of be careful what you wish for however, as the flop rolled 8♠J♥Q♦, giving O’Grady a strong whiff of the straight which connected as a 10♥ on the turn, and Kharman lifted from his seat to leave as the 3♥ completed the board.
| Michael O’Grady | 88,600 |
| Adam Kharman | BUSTED! |
D-Ash-ed to the rocks
Ash Caeiro found himself short with 15,300 and moved all in from the small blind, snapped up by Aroha Ngata in blind-on-blind action. Caiero held a nicely suited K♦5♦, but was quickly outmatched by Ngata’s A♦10♣ which surged on a board of A♣J♣J♠9♣10♦, leaving Caeiro to exit the stage.
| Aroha Ngata | 46,100 |
| Ash Caeiro | BUSTED! |
Double Ye-ah!
Mata Ye moved all in with the starting stack after a pre-flop raise, which Justin Layden covered jamming over the top, forcing folds around the rest of the table.
Ye: Q♣Q♦
Layden: 10♣10♥
Ye was ahead all the way through A♠6♦3♠7♥5♥, receiving a nice double up to stay ahead of the average.
| Mata Ye | 85,500 |
| Justin Layden | 71,700 |
Level 6:400/800 (800)
Hutchins hatching
Josh Hutchins has doubled up in a three-way, taking a small chunk out of Steven Vogt’s stack and eliminating an opponent in the process.
Opponent: 6♠4♠
Vogt: K♣Q♦
Hutchins: A♣J♣
Vogt was leading on the board 9♥9♦K♥Q♠, with Hutchins needing an Ace to beat, or Ten for the straight, which the river A♦ delivered the higher two-pair and was good for a double up.
| Josh Hutchins | 47,000 |
| Steven Vogt | 24,000 |
Aces slay, man
Over on table 19, Anthony Xu was running short as he moved all in preflop for 12,000, Michael Sleiman called before Adrian Slater felt the action was too cheap and raised to 35,000. Slater quickly got a smack on the hand in the form of Sleiman’s all in and folded, leaving him to go heads up with Xu before claiming he’d folded Kings.
Xu: 6♥6♠
Sleiman: A♦A♥
Sleiman got a clean run on the board 7♠Q♥J♥5♥J♠, eliminating Xu.
| Michael Sleiman | 103,600 |
| Adrian Slater | 61,800 |
| Anthony Xu | BUSTED! |
Just In: A boat on the river
We quickly caught the end of a massive three-way action with two all ins and a call with pockets against pockets and a high hand from Connie Graham, Justin Layden and Steven Vogt.
Graham: Q♣Q♥
Vogt: A♣K♦
Layden: J♣J♦
The three faced off on a board of 5♠10♠5♦K♠J♥, and although Graham had started strongly, she was pushed out by Vogt on the turn, who was then pushed down by Layden on the river as he made the boat, moving his stack into six figure mark.
| Justin Layden | 130,000 |
| Steven Vogt | 33,200 |
| Connie Graham | BUSTED! |
Aloha Aroha
Daniel Hachem has just been eliminated after getting his short stack all in pre from middle position, snapped up by Aroha Ngata for the heads up.
Hachem: A♠Q♠
Ngata: 9♦9♠
Hachem’s strongly-suited hand peaked on the first window, but quickly unravelled on the third window as Ngata spiked a set and never recovered as the board ran Q♣K♥9♣4♣K♠, sending Hachem out to the floor.
| Aroha Ngata | 48,000 |
| Daniel Hachem | BUSTED! |
Level 5: 300/600(600)
Damelian dusted
Robert Damelian went all in on the button with a short stack of 10,500, and the big blind Michael Egan went all in over the top 57,300 to isolate the pot and take the action heads up flipping with the short stack.
Damelian: 9♥9♠
Egan: A♥K♣
As the dealer flopped down 6♣A♦7♥, Damelian found himself quickly behind, and with the turn K♠ needed a two-outter which ghosted him as the river fell Q♦. Damelian left for the rail as Egan took the pot to move further above average.
| Michael Egan | 65,800 |
| Robert Damelian | BUSTED! |
Taylor made river
Clint Taylor opened under the gun to 1,000, which was 3-bet by Gang Zhu in the small blind. Taylor called to take it to a flop of 7♣5♥9♣. Zhu bet 2,200 and Taylor called. A 10♠ appeared on the turn, prompting Zhu to bet 4,000 and Taylor called. Zhu slowed down on the river A♣ with a check, then called Taylor’s 15,000 bet.
Zhu: A♦K♦
Taylor: A♠5♠
Taylor’s two pair pulled the carpet from under the feet of Zhu’s premium cards, pushing Taylor’s stack up to a healthy double of the average stack.
| Clint Taylor | 98,000 |
| Gang Zhu | 31,300 |
Level 4: 300/500 (500)
Let’s Take A Break
Our players have taken a short 15 minute break to stretch their legs and re-energise, with play to resume at 300/500 (500). The average stack is at 45,263, so let’s take a quick look at the current top chip leaders:
| Player | Chip Count |
| Darren Doolin | 137,500 |
| Ian Truscott | 108,600 |
| Sam Adams | 104,600 |
| Kyrillos Gerges | 96,000 |
| Huss Hassan | 82,000 |
Dang It!
A bit of three way all-in action just now, between Corey Kempton, Kyrillos Gerges and Alan Dang. Dang went all in preflop UTG for 12,800, with Gerges on HiJack raising all in over the top for 41,200, and Kempton made the call from cut off.
Dang: Q♠K♣
Kempton: Q♣Q♥
Gerges: A♦K♦
Kempton’s Queens almost held all the way through, but as the dealer spread 4♥5♥6♣6♥K♠, Gerges found the higher two pair with Ace kicker to bust out Dang and take the pot from Kempton, leaving his stack short.
| Kyrillos Gerges | 96,000 |
| Corey Kempton | 9,500 |
| Alan Dang | BUSTED! |
Curry takeaway for Doolin
Over on table 12, some action was brewing on a flop of 4♦9♠2♦, with the pot already sitting on 5,000. Mitch Calton bet 5,000 from the big blind, with Darren Doolin raising to 11,000 from UTG+1, escalating to an all-in from Linda Curry in the cut off for 34,800.
Calton folded, leaving it to Doolin to spend some time thinking it over before making the call.
Doolin: K♣K♥
Curry: A♦9♥
Curry turned a nut flush draw with 7♦, but unfortunately bricked the river as Doolin’s Kings held to send Curry to the rail.
| Darren Doolin | 113,000 |
| Mitch Calton | 14,300 |
| Linda Curry | BUSTED! |
Tankin’ Tom stops the music
A good set of earphones and music will keep you in the zone, but one player found himself having to take them out to mull over his hand.
Our roving reporter spied Tom McGuire in cut off betting 2,400 on the river into a pot already built to 23,000, before Andy Lee raised all in on the button.
McGuire went deep into the tank, remarking “This is definitely an earphones out kind of stop time,” as he looked at the board 3♣7♦5♠7♠7♥ and deliberated for several minutes.
Time was called after 5 minutes, by which McGuire moved to fold, leaving Andy Lee to take the chips.
| Andy Lee | 68,000 |
| Tom McGuire | 23,400 |
Level 3: 200/400 (400)
No Plus for Huss
Ali Zebarjad scoops up another pot, after raising under the gun pre to 800, which only found a call from Huss Hassan in small blind. Hassan bet 5,000 on the flop J♣7♦2♣, called by Zebarjad. On the turn 5♣, Hassan bet 2,000 and Zebarjad called. The river Q♣ presented a risky four-card flush draw which both carefully checked.
Hassan: K♠J♦
Zebarjad: A♠J♠
Zebarjad edged Hassan by a fraction, with the second top pair and Ace kicker good to win the pot.
| Ali Zebarjad | 75,200 |
| Huss Hassan | 41,800 |
As easy as A to Zebarjad
Action opened preflop from middle position with a bet of 800, raised to 2,000 by George Kabourakis on the button, met with a flat by Ali Zebarjad on big blind, the only caller.
On the flop 9♠6♣4♣, Kabourakis moved the 13,700 remainder of his stack all in, called by Zebarjad.
Zebarjad: 10♥9♥
Kabourakis: A♠J♣
Unfortunately for Kabourakis the board ran low, with the turn 3♦ and river 4♥ allowing Zebarjad to hold first window for the top pair and rake in the pot, eliminating Kabourakis.
| Ali Zebarjad | 65,800 |
| George Kabourakis | BUSTED! |
Great Truscott!
It’s been a relaxed start after the first level, with only 3 eliminations so far as our field is growing and getting settled in.
We spotted Adrian Sportelli quickly bleeding short with 10,000, going all in from the Hijack, which was then tank-called by Ian Truscott in the small blind. Action folded to go heads up on a flop of Q♠3♥J♠5♠2♣.
Truscott:A♥K♣
Sportelli: A♣8♦
The King kicker was enough to kick Sportelli out as the dealer awarded the pot to Truscott.
| Ian Truscott | 51,000 |
| Adrian Sportelli | BUSTED! |
Level 2: 200/300 (300)
Scrambled eggs for Fraser
Our first elimination early in level 1, after Mark Erikson bet 3,000 from the HiJack on a flop of 4♦K♣6♥ and Michael Fraser on the small blind check-raised all in for 12,100, called by big blind Rick Shen and Erikson.
With a side pot, the action went to the turn 8♣ where Shen check-folded to Erikson’s all in, and ended heads up with Fraser.
Fraser: K♠Q♥
Erikson: 6♦4♥
Although both had hit windows in the flop, unfortunately Erikson was good to hold as the river delivered a J♦ and sent Fraser to the rail.
| Mark Erikson | 75,800 |
| Rick Shen | 37,600 |
| Martin Fraser | BUSTED! |
Cards are now up in the air!
It’s time to shuffle up and deal for the Big Dance!
Entries are quickly coming in, kicking off at 127 entries, with single re-entry available per Day 1 (open until the start of Level 10), this number is sure to grow as our field plays through 13 levels today. Players have plenty of time to work with, at a comfortably paced 45-minute levels to play their best game.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the levels, and good luck to all our players today!
| LEVEL | SMALL BLIND | BIG BLIND | BB ANTE |
| 1 | 100 | 200 | 200 |
| 2 | 200 | 300 | 300 |
| 3 | 200 | 400 | 400 |
| 4 | 300 | 500 | 500 |
| 5 | 300 | 600 | 600 |
| 6 | 400 | 800 | 800 |
| 7 | 500 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 8 | 600 | 1,200 | 1,200 |
| 9 | 800 | 1,600 | 1,600 |
| 10 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| 11 | 1,500 | 2,500 | 2,500 |
| 12 | 1,500 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| 13 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 |
Level 1: 100/200 (200)
Time to put your name in lights
Good afternoon all, and welcome to the centrepiece of the WSOP Circuit Gold Coast series: the $2,500 Main Event!
The first of three Day 1 flights is fast approaching, with more and more familiar faces making their way in and adding up to more than $2 million in prize money distributed, and a record field in the Mystery Bounty that is now well and truly into the business end.
Previous WSOP Circuit Main Event winners here in Australia include Joel Dodds (2016), Michael Kanaan (2017), Alex Lynskey (2018), and Steven Zhou (2019). We’ll have another name to add to that list, a name that will also earn themselves the coveted WSOP ring and a share in what is expected to be a mammoth prize pool.
The stacks are set, and the dealers are ready as The Star Gold Coast’s poker room heats up in anticipation for what will be a truly unforgettable event – and PokerMedia Australia will have all the hands and photos to share with you as the action plays out from 2:30pm AEST. Stay tuned!
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