Day 1A: That’s a wrap!
Stay tuned for a full update on the top chip counts from Day 1A of the Main Event, and for all the continuing action as players from around the nation compete for a guaranteed top prize of $100,000 and the title of 2023 Stacked Poker Champion.
Saturday will see two flights running back-to-back with the second being a Turbo flight for those who bust out of the other two. Each flight allows for players to re-enter up to three times while a “Best Stack Forward” system allows those carrying a short stack to try and better it before Day 2 on Sunday.
As always, PokerMedia Australia will be on the floor from 12pm Saturday until finish to bring you all the live action.
L’Art of the Steal
Another steal on the river, this time pulled off by True La as he scooped a pot off Mike Gainer.
We found the action on the river, with 10♠8♥8♠10♦5♠ spread as Gainer stared down La’s all in of 80,000, with approximately 70,000 already in the pot. Gainer was deep in the tank before he flash-folded 5♣5♥ for the full house, against possible higher full houses.
La couldn’t resist revealing K♥J♦, as he stole the pot for a timely double up.
| True La | 155,000 |
| Mike Gainer | 141,500 |
Keep on rollin’!
We now move into the final level for the day, with the freshly crowned Stacked Poker Super High Roller champion Alex Markopoulos jumping back into play still buzzing from his win!
Markopolous swiftly moved his 57,000 stack all in pre from mid position, called by Ben T in the big blind.
Ben T: 9♥9♠
Markopoulos: A♦9♣
The flop J♠A♥4♦ quickly changed favour against Ben T, who failed to find a single out the 5♥ turn and 4♥ river, sealing the double for Markopoulos.
| Alex Markopoulos | 114,000 |
| Ben T | 170,000 |
Level 12: 1,500/3,000 (3,000)
We could’ve Haddad it all
Rolling in the deep, Garry Lin doubled up after moving all in for 58,000, with a board spread K♠7♦9♣6♦9♥. Lin’s K♣J♠ cracked his opponent’s preflop-favoured pocket Queens and sent them to the rail as his stack moved up to 128,500.
The sweet double was sent into the middle only ten minutes later, as Michael Haddad went all in pre and Lin decided to make the call with J♥2♥. Haddad’s A♠J♣ started strongly and finished strongly on the board 9♦6♥5♣3♦3♠, sending Lin out to the rail.
| Michael Haddad | 200,000 |
| Garry Lin | BUSTED! |
Roman rakes it in
Roman Priplotski has doubled through an opponent after moving all in pre with 34,000 with 7♦7♥. His opponent’s A♥K♦ was strong, but quickly came undone as the flop 7♠6♥9♣ served up a set to Priplotski, and held out on the 5♣ turn and 3♠ river, moving his stack up to a little over 20 BB.
| Roman Priplotski | 71,000 |
Level 11: 1,500/3,000 (3,000)
Reid it and weep
Mitchell Reid scored a double after going all in pre with 35,200 against Manny Rodriguez, after the latter called him off with A♠K♠. The board ran 7♦A♥Q♠9♠, teasing the promise of a nut flush draw which was snuffed on the river 10♥, giving Reid the upper hand as he held A♣10♣.
| Mitchell Reid | 70,400 |
| Manny Rodriguez | 75,300 |
Gainer gaining
An interesting hand on table four as Mike Gainer was patiently waiting after going all in on the river, with Jin Li deep in the tank. A sizeable pot was in the middle next to the board 2♠Q♣5♣8♣9♣ showing a four-card clubs flush draw, which aggrieved Li as he surprisingly show-folded K♣4♣ for the second nut flush. Gainer sent his hand into the muck wordlessly as he raked in the winning pot, leaving the table to ponder if he had the A♣ or had pulled off a steal.
| Mike Gainer | 163,000 |
Van Wijk swipes a stack
Andrew Michael sent the last of his stack all in pre and quickly found himself heads up after a call from Armon Van Wijk. Michael’s 6♣6♠ found two pair on the board 8♦3♠5♠7♥8♣, but was outgunned by Van Wijk’s overpair [invalid notations], before snapping UTG’s all in for 45,000 on the turn [invalid notations] before peeling over J♦J♥ for the flopped set, holding out on a river of 4♦ to knock out his opponent.
| Kenny Wang | 173,000 |
Hero call!
Some fairly light action between Jin Li and Ewan Favretto to the flop of 4♠6♠10♦, with Favretto calling Li’s min bet before both checked the J♠ turn. The 3♣ river card inspired a hefty 45,000 bet from Li, which was eventually called behind by Favretto, whose 22,600 stack risked being swallowed as the flush draw lurked on the board.
As Li showed KQo for the risky river steal, Favretto proved to make the right call with a slightly better AJo that held a turned top pair for the win.
| Ewan Favretto | 88,200 |
| Jin Li | 28,300 |
Level 9: 800/1,600 (1,600)
Bok busto
Yita Choong was seen all in on the river for 26,500, after the board 6♠J♠7♥10♣10♥ had accumulated some 25,000 chips into the middle. Buteon Bok quickly called, before Choong turned up 7♣7♠ for the trips turned full house. Bok slapped down his cracked A♥A♠ as Choong took in the pot for a double up, leaving Bok with 20,000 left.
Bok busted only a couple of hands later to Ryan Hong, unable to get back up with 9♣9♠ as Hong’s better pockets 10♦10♠ held on a dry board.
| Yita Choong | 81,000 |
| Buteon Bok | BUSTED! |
Armon armed with Kings
“ALL IN AND CALL!” was the familiar battle cry from the dealer as Behrans Geravand shoved his short stack all in, and was snapped up by Armon Van Wijk. Geravand’s A♦K♠ couldn’t improve on the board 10♣6♠3♦10♥10♦, filling up a boat for Van Wijk with K♣K♥ and sending Geravand to the rail.
| Armon Van Wijk | 275,000 |
| Behrans Geravand | BUSTED! |
Level 8: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Little La-ydown
True La is back in action, opening on the button 3,0000 and finding one caller from UTG+1. Both checked down to the river on the board 2♥J♣J♦Q♦A♠, when UTG+1 went all in for 18,200. La called, however his Q♠K♠ couldn’t hold against his opponent’s K♣J♠ which spiked trips on the flop and was good for the double.
| True La | 115,000 |
Li drops to Gainer
Action moving very quickly in both the Main Event and Super High Roller, with Mike Gainer taking down another pot against Jin Li.
Gainer and Li clashed into a heads-up pot on a board of Q♥4♣4♥2♦K♣; Gainer fired out a river bet of 3,000 and Li called, but insta-mucked after Gainer tabled K♦4♦ for the full house.
| Mike Gainer | 49,400 |
| Jin Li | 145,000 |
Level 7: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Take a break
Time for another 10-minute breather. Back with more right after this!
I pity the fool!
Ben T. has just sent George Vasilopoulos packing in one of the final hands on Table 5 before the break.
Vasilopoulos jammed his last 3,000 effective into the middle pre-flop and was snapped off by Mr. T. who tabled 9♠9♣, which had Vasilopoulos’ A♥4♦ well covered,
Board; 6♣2♠K♣6♠2♣
| Ben T. | 31,500 |
| George Vasilopoulos | BUSTED! |
No La-ughing matter
True La has also departed from Stacked Social after losing a big three-way pot against Ewan Favretto and Nick Borrillo.
All the money was in the middle before the flop and we got there just as the cards were tabled, with Favretto and La both at-risk.
Favretto: Q♠Q♣
Borrillo: J♠J♦
La: A♥K♣
Board: 6♣Q♦7♣4♠6♥
Favretto tripled up and Borrillo took the side pot, which meant bupkus for La.
| Nick Borrillo | 157,700 |
| Ewan Favretto | 39,000 |
| True La | BUSTED! |
Domotor dominated
After Nathan Domotor raised all-in for his last 9,700 from under the gun with 6♦5♦, the action folded around Meerwais Hussaini in the big blind, who insta-called with K♥K♦.
Domotor was absolutely crushed after Hussaini drilled a set on the board of K♠A♥4♣J♠Q♠, and was thus consigned to the rail.
| Meerwais Hussaini | 109,000 |
| Nathan Domotor | BUSTED! |
Level 6: 400/800 (800)
Another one for Cusenza
Back over on Table 5, Adam Cusenza found himself heads-up against an opponent in the small blind, with action through to the river on a K♣4♠3♦8♣Q♣ board, with the pot up to around 15,000.
Cusenza had led out for 7,200 and the small blind player called, but immediately mucked their hand after Cusenza tabled K♦8♦ for two pair.
| Adam Cusenza | 63,000 |
Chea gets one through
Another heads-up clash between Max Chea and Kenny Wang, with the action picked up on the turn with a board that read 3♥K♥9♦10♠; Chea had bet 9,000, but Wang released his hand into the muck.
Chea showed 8♥7♥ for the straight and flush draws before adding his newly-acquired chips to his stack.
| Max Chea | 76,000 |
| Kenny Wang | 59,400 |
No pain for Gain
Mike Gainer has taken out another player in heart-breaking fashion as we moved into Level 5.
Despite the all-in player getting their money in good with an absolute monster – K♠K♣ – Gainer’s A♥7♣ turned trips to reduce the player count by one after the dealer produced a board of 7♦8♠3♣7♥5♣.
| Mike Gainer | 66,800 |
Level 5: 300/600 (600)
By George, do you think he’s got it?
Our reporter caught heads-up action between George Vasilopoulos and Bill Zaharis on the river with a board that read J♦9♠J♣9♥J♥; Vasilopoulos bet 3,000, but Zaharas sent his hand into the muck.
“I had pocket Tens,” Vasilopoulos remarked.
| George Vasilopoulos | 49,500 |
| Bill Zaharis | 33,000 |
Loc it up
Loc Duong has chipped up just before Andrew Michael joined him at his table as action continues in Day 1A of the Stacked Poker Championship Main Event.
Action folded to Duong who raised to 1,200 from the cut-off; Adam Cusenza called from the button, but Ben T. then three-bet to 4,000 from the small blind. The big blind, Duong and Cusenza called, making it four-handed to a flop of 10♠3♠Q♦.
The small blind checked, the big blind opened for 6,700, but Duong forced everyone else to fold after shoving for his last 44,300. Duong then flashed J♥9♥ before he raked in the pot.
| Ben T. | 60,700 |
| Loc Duong | 56,800 |
| Adam Cusenza | 38,800 |
Adibi busto to Borrillo
Sammy Adibi has just been eliminated by Nick Borrillo as we head into the fourth level of the evening.
In one of the last hands before the break, Adibi put himself at risk with 10♣9♠, but ran head-first into Borrillo’s A♠A♣, with no change after the board was spread J♣4♦10♠3♦7♠
| Nick Borrillo | 135,800 |
| Sammy Adibi | BUSTED! |
Level 4: 300/500 (500)
Break it down!
Our players are now on a 10-minute break.
Crowe flying back up
We found the action already heads up between Loc Duong and Joshua Crowe, on a royal-studded board of K♣Q♦3♥K♥A♥. Duong led the river bet for 1,000, before calling Crowe’s raise of 4,000.
Duong saw Crowe turn up Q♣Q♠ for the turned boat, before open-folding K♦-X.
| Joshua Crowe | 52,000 |
| Loc Duong | 50,700 |
True-ly lucky
There was 23,000 built into the pot as our reporter headed over to table 4, where True La moved all in on the river of a spread K♣5♣9♠10♠6♥. Sammy Adibi made the call, only to muck as La turned over K♦K♥ for the flopped set – in the first window no less!
| True La | 77,000 |
| Sammy Adibi | 68,300 |
Ben busts another
A fair bit of action had developed on a flop of 10♠3♠Q♣ as Ben T opened 2,000, called by Pierce Hynes UTG, before Frank Tripodi went all in for 10,400. Ben T made the call as Hynes dropped out of the hand, making the action heads up. Tripodi’s K♥Q♠ was outmatched by Ben T’s A♣Q♦, finding no outs on the turn 4♣ and river 9♥, sending Tripodi out to the floor.
| Ben T | 72,000 |
| Pierce Hynes | 51,000 |
| Frank Tripodi | BUSTED! |
Level 3: 200/400 (400)
Flying under the radar
An interesting choice of action three way as George Vasilopoulos in the small blind bet 1,700 on the flop of 2♦2♥K♠, finding two calls from Amin Chehade in late position, and the button. The action went mysteriously quiet with checks from all three runners on the A♥ turn and 2♠, river, each seeming to wait for a bet to strike first that never eventuates, before Vasilopoulos revealed the nuts K♣2♣ for the boat improving to four of a kind on the river!
| George Vasilopoulos | 42,700 |
| Amin Chehade | 65,200 |
Dibs for Adibi
Kenny Wang has been left with a whisper of chips – only 800 in chips after he went all in preflop. The action had opened from middle position to 600, raised by Sammy Adibi from Hi-Jack before Wang went all in, folding back to a call by Adibi.
Although Wang had premium suited connectors in A♥K♥, drawing a nut flush on the flop of 2♥J♦6♥, Adibi had hit middle pair with his suited 6♠7♠, which was good to hold as the board ran dry for Wang on the 9♦ turn and 4♠ river.
Wang had already walked off to re-buy, before being called to return to his seat and play off the last of his chips. He wasted no time going all in at the next hand, unfortunately running K♣3♦ into a player’s pocket A♦A♠ which held on a fruitless board.
| Sammy Adibi | 125,000 |
| Kenny Wang | BUSTED! |
Keeping the pressure
Yita Choong is keeping the players on his table under pressure after raising from the small blind to 4,000, finding two callers from the cutoff and button.
On the flop of 2♠A♠8♦, he continued applying pressure with a bet of 5,000, called only by the cutoff as the button folded. Choong then check-called 10,000 on the 5♠, and both players checked the river Q♥.
Choong revealed A♥Q♠ for the strong two-pair, prompting the other player to muck and mull over his crippled stack of 4,300 as the dealer awarded the pot to Choong, moving his stack to 61,000.
Level 2: 200/300 (300)
Ong’s gone
Huey Lam has already done some serious damage in the first level of this Main Event flight, crippling James Ong down to 1% of the starting stack in a big hand on Table 5.
We picked up the action as Lam and Ong went to showdown after the river on the board of 5♥9♥8♦6♥9♦; Ong had called down with Q♦Q♣, but was left seeing red after Lam rolled over A♥A♦.
Down to just 500 in chips, Ong was seen headed to the rail a short time later and was confirmed as the first elimination from this year’s Main Event.
| Huey Lam | 103,200 |
| James Ong | BUSTED! |
Noted notables
A few familiar faces seated for Day 1A already, which started off with two full tables, but there’s plenty of late-reg players filing in as the action gets underway.
Amongst those to have taken their seats already include former Main Event Champion Michael Haddad, Bueteon Bok, Mike Gainer, Shane Baxter, Adam Cusenza and Kenny Wang.
It’s expected that several of today’s Super High Roller contenders will also be back in action a little later tonight – and with the weather being unseasonably cold for this time of year, it’s the perfect time to drop into Stacked, even if it’s just to try some of their delicious cocktails!
Shuffle up and deal!
Cards are now in the air for the first flight of the Stacked Poker Championship Main Event!
All players in this $2,200 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament will start with 50,000 in chips, and will play through 12 levels of 40 minutes’ duration before the survivors bag and tag.
| 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 | 1,200 | 2,400 | 2,400 |
| 12 | 1,500 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
Level 1: 100/200 (200)
Let’s get stacked!
Live from Stacked Poker Adelaide, PokerMedia Australia is now ringside and prepared to bring you all the action on felt as the cards fall in the Stacked Poker Championship Main Event!
This venue is fast becoming a premier poker destination for the crème de la crème, with notable Australian Hall of Fame recipients flocking to play the Stacked Poker Championship series, including 2005 WSOP Main Event Champion Joe Hachem, Billy “The Croc” Argyros, Jeff Lisandro and Gary Benson.
Featuring an über-cool atmosphere of cognac, cocktails and classiness, Stacked Poker is not just a club but a home for poker, with beautiful plush furnishing and molto bene Italian food from Fellini’s. It’s a case of ‘come for the cards, stay for the experience’.
One person surely looking to build upon that experience is defending Main Event Champion Joe Sandaev, who has shown no signs of slowing down as he took down last year’s WPT Australia 8-Max and Higher Roller events, as well as the Deepstack Series Adelaide Main Event.
Stacked Social management have every confidence that the record-breaking number of 181 entries in last year’s Main Event will be surpassed, and in turn cement itself on the Australian poker landscape.
Play will be underway from 6pm ACST tonight. To all our players, we wish you all the best of luck, and may the flop be with you!
Welcome to Main Event Day 1A!
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