Congratulations to Alan Pham ($70,635*), WPT Prime Gold Coast $3K PLO High Roller Champion!
Alan Pham has broken through on the Australian poker scene to celebrate his first major title win, after holding his initial final table chip lead through 7 hours of ups and downs to clinch the champion title and trophy.
The young Melburnian has previously cashed in other major tournament series here at the Star Gold Coast, with most of his experience on the felt as a cash player.
Pham is keen to continue his hot form into the WPT Prime Gold Coast Main Event, with a potential run in the $10K High Roller.
WPT Prime Gold Coast $3K PLO High Roller ($3,000 buy-in, 118 entries, 15 players paid)*
| Place | Name | Country | Amount |
| 1st | Alan Pham | Australia | $70,635* |
| 2nd | Sherif Derias | Australia | $60,489* |
| 3rd | Leo Kamiya | Australia | $59,195* |
| 4th | Andrej Senic | Australia | $22,715 |
| 5th | Riccardo Tallarico | Australia | $17,199 |
| 6th | Thang Truong | Australia | $14,278 |
| 7th | Joshua Barrett | Australia | $12,331 |
| 8th | Fabian Geisel | Australia | $10,871 |
| 9th | Michael Guttmann | Australia | $9,573 |
And with that, the $3K PLO High Roller is now all wrapped up! PMA will be back on Sunday to bring you Day 1 of the $10K High Roller from 1:30pm AEST. Be sure to join us here once again for all the action, but until then, from all of us here at The Star Gold Coast, it’s ‘bye for now!
Sherif Derias eliminated in 2nd place ($60,489*)
Heads up barely lasted 10 minutes before Sherif Derias was been eliminated, going all in heads up with Alan Pham.
Derias: J♦10♥8♥7♠
Pham: K♣K♥J♣2♠
Pham was ahead with pocket Kings, connecting a King-high flush on the final board of 7♦6♣5♣3♣8♦.
And with that, we have ourselves a champion! We will be back shortly with a wrap-up of today’s action – stay tuned!
| Alan Pham | 4,720,000 |
| Sherif Derias | BUSTED! |
Pham firing up
Sherif Derias raised on the button to 240,000 and Alan Pham called. They both checked through the flop 5♦2♥8♦, and Pham check-called Derias’s 560,000 bet on the Q♣ turn.
On the 6♣ river, Pham led out a 300,000 bet and Derias folded.
| Alan Pham | 3,770,000 |
| Sherif Derias | 950,000 |
Leo Kamiya eliminated in 3rd place ($59,195*)
Leo Kamiya went all in as the big blind, snapped up by Sherif Derias in the small blind.
Derias: A♥K♣10♥6♥
Kamiya: A♦10♣2♦2♠
Runout: 4♣A♠A♣4♦7♠
Derias’ Ace trips with King kicker sent Kamiya to the rail.
| Sherif Derias | 1,700,000 |
| Leo Kamiya | BUSTED! |
Level 27: 40,000/80,000 (80,000)
Derias dinged
Alan Pham has made a great recovery, doubling back up after shoving all in on the flop, going heads up with Sherif Derias who called.
Pham: K♣K♠9♥7♠
Derias: K♥J♠10♠6♥
Board: K♦8♥6♣4♠6♦
Pham’s Kings full of sixes had Derias’ Sixes full of Kings beat, chipping his stack past 3 million.
| Alan Pham | 3,100,000 |
| Sherif Derias | 1,000,000 |
Pham slammed
Play has resumed, with several rounds of blinds being stolen before Leo Kamiya ripped it all in preflop and was called by Alan Pham.
Kamiya: Q♥Q♠7♦6♠
Pham: A♣K♠5♠ X
Kamiya flopped a full house through Q♦2♥2♠7♣A♥
| Alan Pham | 1,600,000 |
| Leo Kamiya | 1,130,000 |
Updated counts
The clock has been paused for a deal between our top three players, who have agreed to a three-way deal.
The remaining payouts have been adjusted in the amounts listed, with the players deciding to play out for the coveted crystal surfboard trophy and the 2023 WPT Prime Gold Coast Leader of the Series points.
| Seat | Name | Country | Chips |
| 1 | Sherif Derias | Australia | 2,230,000 |
| 4 | Leo Kamiya | Australia | 1,200,000 |
| 6 | Alan Pham | Australia | 1,300,000 |
Adjusted Payouts
| Place | Amount |
| 1st | $70,635 |
| 2nd | $60,489 |
| 3rd | $59,195 |
Level 26: 30,000/60,000 (60,000)
Break!
Our remaining 3 players are now on a 15 minute break.
Andrej Senic eliminated in 4th place ($22,715)
Andrej Senic’s run has come to an end after he went all in on the flop, heads up against Alan Pham as blind-vs-blind.
Pham: A♠10♣8♥4♣
Senic: Q♦10♦9♣7♣
Pham hit the higher flush through K♣J♣4♥A♣10♥
| Alan Pham | 1,100,000 |
| Andrej Sonic | BUSTED! |
New Sherif in town
A big swing of chip stacks after Sherif Derias bet the pot on a flop, called by Leo Kamiya, who then subsequently folded after Derias bet the pot all in on the turn.
It’s been a massive level for Derias, who was found only shortly before grinding out the short stack, to then emerge as the chip leader out of the remaining four players.
| Sherif Derias | 1,800,000 |
| Leo Kamiya | 1,300,000 |
Sherif still shootin’
Sherif Derias limped in from the small blind before calling Leo Kamiya’s 150,000 bet from the big blind.
Both elected to check the flop before Derias bet the 225,000 pot on the turn and Kamiya called. As the river completed the board 7♥Q♠5♥9♠4♣, both players checked.
Kamiya: K♥10♥10♠2♣
Derias: K♣J♠10♣9♦
Kamiya scooped the pot, sending Derias down to 550,000.
In the next hand, Alan Pham limped on the small blind before calling Derias’ 150,000 bet from the big blind.
Pham bet the pot on the flop, Derias shoved all in and was snap called.
Derias: A♦A♥K♥8♠
Pham: K♣J♦8♦7♣
Board: K♠7♥10♥2♦10♣
| Leo Kamiya | 2,600,000 |
| Sherif Derias | 900,000 |
| Alan Pham | 880,000 |
Riccardo Tallarico eliminated in 5th place ($17,199)
Shortly after entering level 25, Tallarico shoved the last of his short stack all in, called off by Leo Kamiya to go heads up.
Kamiya: A♥K♦Q♦5♥
Tallarico: A♣K♣K♥8♠
The dealer spread J♠5♦8♠5♣9♠, giving Kamiya the trips over Tallarico’s two pair to send him to the rail.
| Leo Kamiya | 2,340,000 |
| Riccardo Tallarico | BUSTED! |
Riccardo Tallarico
Level 25: 25,000/50,000 (50,000)
Senic the edge-hog
In the last hand before the level crossed over, Riccardo Tallarico and Leo Kamiya both limped in before Andrej Senic ripped all in on the big blind with his short stack.
Tallarico and Kamiya called, checking all the way through the run out of 7♦8♠A♠5♠9♦
Senic: K♦K♠10♠4♥
Tallarico only showed Q♠4♠ as Kamiya mucked.
| Leo Kamiya | 1,700,000 |
| Riccardo Tallarico | 520,000 |
| Andrej Senic | 400,000 |
Easy peasy, Leo squeezy
The pace of action has slowed down to a lull, with our five remaining players exchanging chips and no showdowns after folds at the flop or turn.
We had a little more action after moving halfway through this level, as Leo Kamiya opened on the button, with Andrej Senic on small blind and Alan Pham on big blind calling to the flop.
All three players checked the flop, with Senic’s 95,000 bet called by the others. On the river, Kamiya led a bet of 400,000, called by Pham as Senic folded.
Board: 8♣7♥K♥K♣9♦
Kamiya showed Q♣Q♦K♠9♥ for the rivered full house, Kings full of nines, and Pham mucked.
| Leo Kamiya | 1,600,000 |
| Alan Pham | 1,100,000 |
Level 24: 20,000/40,000 (40,000)
Leo bounces back
Leo Kamiya opened UTG to 80,000, and Sherif Derias called from the big blind. On the flop, Derias check-called Kamiya for 65,000.
Both players checked through the turn, with Kamiya calling Derias’s bet of 250,000 on the river.
Kamiya: A♣A♦10♣4♠
Derias: Q♠Q♥10♦6♠
Board: 3♥J♠2♦9♣5♣
| Leo Kamiya | 1,080,000 |
| Sherif Derias | 635,000 |
RiccAArdo!
Riccardo Tallarico is still grinding his stack, doubling up through Leo Kamiya after shoving on the button and Kamiya snap-called.
Tallarico: K♠Q♣Q♠9♣
Kamiya: A♠J♠8♠6♣
Tallarico flopped a full house on the spread of Q♥A♥A♣10♥4♣.
| Leo Kamiya | 850,000 |
| Riccardo Tallarico | 575,000 |
Updated Counts
A quick look at our field at the break shows Alan Pham is still holding the lead at 1.604M, followed behind by Leo Kamiya on 1.101M, with Senic close behind pushing to break a million:
| Seat | Name | Country | Chips |
| 1 | Sherif Derias | Australia | 645,000 |
| 4 | Leo Kamiya | Australia | 1,101,000 |
| 5 | Andrej Senic | Australia | 915,000 |
| 6 | Alan Pham | Australia | 1,604,000 |
| 8 | Riccardo Tallarico | Australia | 440,000 |
Level 23: 15,000/30,000 (30,000)
Break!
With the last hand ticking over a few minutes into the 30 minute dinner break, our five remaining players are now taking a breather to refresh.
Kamiya climbing
Leo Kamiya has passed the 1 Million chips mark after a double up off Riccardo Tallarico.
Tallarico opened on the button, then called Kamiya’s 100,000 bet from the big blind.
On the flop, Tallarico pushed a big pot bet, with Kamiya calling all in.
Kamiya: A♦K♣K♦Q♦
Tallarico: Q♠J♣10♦7♣
Board: Q♣8♣7♥5♥K♥
| Leo Kamiya | 1,101,000 |
| Riccardo Tallarico | 440,000 |
Thang Truong eliminated in 6th place ($14,278)
Thang Truong doubled up through Andrej Senic after jamming with K♠J♣10♣9♠ and hit a straight on the river K♥3♠6♠Q♦A♣, against Senic’s set with A♥Q♣Q♠7♦. Truong doubled up to 310,000, still hanging on with barely over 10BB.
A few hands later, Senic opened to 60,000 pre, with Truong calling on the button, joined by Riccardo Tallarico and Sherif Derias from the blinds.
Action checked to Truong who bet 280,000, Derias folded as Tallarico called, not realising that Truong wasn’t all in. On the turn, Tallarico followed up with a 30,000 bet to push Truong all in to go heads up:
Tallarico: 9♣6♥6♦2♦
Truong: K♣Q♣Q♠10♦
Tallarico connected a straight to the six on the runout 9♠4♣3♣K♠5♦, busting Truong.
| Riccardo Tallarico | 1,050,000 |
| Andrej Senic | 665,000 |
| Thang Truong | BUSTED! |
Kamiya-y
Action was all in on the flop as Kamiya shoved on the button, snapped up by Tallarico.
Kamiya: A♠Q♦9♣6♦
Tallarico: J♦8♦6♣6♠
Tallarico was racing down for a diamond flush, but was behind as Kamiya held the higher flush draw, and improved to Ace-Nine two pair on 2♥7♦A♦3♠9♠ for the double up.
| Leo Kamiya | 620,000 |
| Riccardo Tallarico | 500,000 |
Level 22: 15,000/25,000 (25,000)
Come Mr Tallyman…
Riccardo Tallarico is recovering nicely from his position earlier as the short stack, finding another double through Sherif Derias.
Alan Pham opened UTG+1, and Tallarico called from the button, joined by Sherif Derias in the small blind.
On the flop, Derias bet the pot, Pham folded and Tallarico went all in, called by Derias.
Tallarico: J♦10♥9♥8♦
Derias: 10♦6♦5♠4♠
Board: 3♥10♣5♥K♠A♥
Tallarico’s flush gave him a big boost up the leaderboard.
| Riccardo Tallarico | 920,000 |
| Sherif Derias | 625,000 |
Tallarico tallies up
Riccardo Tallarico has doubled up off Alan Pham after shoving his short stack all in pre from big blind, snap called by Pham.
Tallarico: K♠Q♦Q♥8♥
Pham: K♥J♥8♣5♣
Board: A♥10♣A♣3♦3♥
| Alan Pham | 1,200,000 |
| Riccardo Tallarico | 450,000 |
Level 21: 10,000/20,000 (20,000)
Senic scores
Andrej Senic opened to 30,000, called by Riccardo Tallarico from the small blind. On the flop, Tallarico check-called for 30,000.
The action quickly fired up on the turn, with Tallarico check-shoving all in after Senic bet 80,000. Senic called as they turned over their cards for the showdown.
Senic: K♦K♥6♦3♦
Tallarico: A♦8♦3♣2♥
Board: 5♥J♦2♣4♣4♠
Senic scored a double with the higher straight to the six, and Tallarico now sits at the bottom as our short stack with 15BBs.
| Andrej Senic | 800,000 |
| Riccardo Tallarico | 230,000 |
Updated Counts
Below is a list of updated counts after the break, for our remaining six players on the final table. Alan Pham is leading up top with 1,673,000, at just over double the stack of the second chip leader, Sherif Derias with 822,000.
| Seat | Name | Country | Chips |
| 1 | Sherif Derias | Australia | 822,000 |
| 4 | Leo Kamiya | Australia | 702,000 |
| 5 | Andrej Senic | Australia | 403,000 |
| 6 | Alan Pham | Australia | 1,673,000 |
| 7 | Thang Truong | Australia | 432,000 |
| 8 | Riccardo Tallarico | Australia | 703,000 |
Level 20: 10,000/15,000 (15,000)
Break!
Our remaining 6 players are now on a 10 minute break.
Joshua Barrett eliminated in 7th place ($12,331)
Alan Pham opened to 40,000, then called Joshua Barrett’s 132,000 pot bet from the small blind.
On the flop, Barrett bet the pot, Pham raised the pot before calling Barrett’s all in.
Pham: K♥K♠Q♥6♣
Barrett: A♦A♥A♠4♠
Board: 3♠8♥5♥J♣6♥
| Alan Pham | 1,673,000 |
| Joshua Barrett | BUSTED! |
Fabian Geisel eliminated in 8th place ($10,871)
Fabian Geisel went all in preflop from the big blind, shoving all in with K♠J♥J♠3♥, and snapped up by Thang Truong laying down a massive A♥A♠10♠6♣.
Board: 5♠4♥8♦5♣2♥
| Thang Truong | 427,000 |
| Fabian Geisel | BUSTED! |
Michael Guttmann eliminated in 9th place ($9,573)
Michael Guttmann limped in with Thang Truong on the button, before both players called Riccardo Tallarico’s 25,000 bet from the small blind.
Tallarico bet 30,000, Guttmann shoved all in, and Tallarico called after Truong folded out of the way.
Tallarico: Q♥Q♠7♥6♦
Guttmann: A♥K♣10♣8♣
Board: J♥3♣10♠3♠J♦
| Riccardo Tallarico | 709,000 |
| Michael Guttmann | BUSTED! |
Truong trampled
Riccardo Tallarico opened UTG, then called Sherif Derias’ pot bet along with Thang Truong in the big blind. All three players checked the flop, then Truong bet 125,000 on the turn, called by Derias and Tallarico.
On the river, Truong bet 206,000, Tallarico folded as Derias went all in short with 98,000.
Derias: 7♠6♠5♠4♦
Truong: A♦9♦8♥7♥
Board: K♥J♦4♥3♠6♦
| Sherif Derias | 976,000 |
| Thang Truong | 282,000 |
Kamiya coming up
Leo Kamiya went all in on the flop from the button, called off by Sherif Derias as the LoJack.
Kamiya: J♣10♠9♣7♠
Derias: A♣J♠5♣3♠
Runout: 4♣9♠10♣10♦6♦
| Leo Kamiya | 602,000 |
| Sherif Derias | 307,000 |
Level 19: 6,000/12,000 (12,000)
Sherif shoots
Sherif Derias jammed all in on the button at the flop, called off by Michael Guttmann on the big blind.
Derias: 9♦9♠5♣3♣
Guttmann: K♠7♥6♣2♠
Derias’ flopped set was behind Guttmann’s flopped straight, but his hand improved to a flush on the river in the runout 9♣5♠8♣6♥Q♣
| Sherif Derias | 562,000 |
| Michael Guttmann | 74,000 |
WPT Prime 2023 $3K PLO High Roller final table
| Seat | Name | Country | Chips |
| 1 | Sherif Derias | Australia | 286,000 |
| 2 | Fabian Geisel | Australia | 223,000 |
| 3 | Michael Guttman | Australia | 366,000 |
| 4 | Leo Kamiya | Australia | 243,000 |
| 5 | Andrej Senic | Australia | 457,000 |
| 6 | Alan Pham | Australia | 1,144,000 |
| 7 | Thang Truong | Australia | 597,000 |
| 8 | Riccardo Tallarico | Australia | 899,000 |
| 9 | Joshua Bennett | Australia | 515,000 |
Knezevich knifed
Phillip Knezevich has been eliminated as our final table bubble, after ripping all in pre with A♣A♦8♦6♦.
Truong called him off with A♥10♥8♣3♠, connecting a straight down 7♦9♥A♠J♣3♦.
And with that, our final nine players are now drawing their seats for the final table!
| Thang Truong | 890,000 |
| Phillip Knezevich | BUSTED! |
Leo roaring, Jajo goes
Leo Kamiya doubled up his stack after going all in on the turn for 99,000, taking a slice of Jamel Jajo’s stack through the board of 8♠4♠8♣2♠J♥, holding 8♦7♣6♥2♣ to Jajo’s K♥Q♠10♥8♥.
Not long after, Jajo then went all in preflop against Joshua Barrett, who had him covered by 15,000.
Barrett: A♦A♥7♦3♣
Jajo: K♠Q♥Q♠9♣
Board: K♣9♦6♠4♦2♦
Action is hand-for-hand on the final table bubble.
| Joshua Barrett | 515,000 |
| Leo Kamiya | 320,000 |
| Jamel Jajo | BUSTED! |
Truong trounced
Phillip Knezevich has doubled up after going all in and was called by Thang Truong.
Knezevich: Q♣10♥9♣8♥
Truong: 10♣8♦7♣7♦
Board: A♣4♠J♥4♣J♣
| Thang Truong | 391,000 |
| Phillip Knezevich | 159,000 |
Wham, Pham
Alan Pham has doubled up off Fabian Geisel, after jamming on the flop with 7♥6♦5♥4♦ and Geisel called with 8♥8♠5♣3♥
Geisel had connected a set, but Pham ran a straight through 3♦8♠5♦Q♣4♥.
| Alan Pham | 745,000 |
| Fabian Geisel | 245,000 |
Level 18: 5,000/10,000 (10,000)
Guttmann guts one
Luke Martinelli was quickly sent packing after shoving all in, only to get pummelled by Michael Guttmann’s Kings:
Martinelli: A♣K♠Q♠9♣
Guttmann: K♣K♦6♣5♦
Board: 6♥2♣8♦8♣2♠
| Michael Guttmann | 306,000 |
| Luke Martinelli | BUSTED! |
Lim licked, Ye railed
David Lim was eliminated in 14th place on the feature table as Mata Ye was also all in preflop over on table 7.
Ye: A♦9♠8♣8♥
Truong: A♥K♦10♠9♣
Board: 8♠7♥6♦5♥4♠
Ye was eliminated as Thang Truong connected a higher straight to the Ten.
| Thang Truong | 580,000 |
| David Lim | BUSTED! |
| Mata Ye | BUSTED! |
Truong trumps
Emily Perrinjaquet has been eliminated after going all in preflop with a short stack of 30,000, called by Thang Truong. They went heads up over a spread of K♦2♥J♠2♣4♣.
Truong: A♥A♠Q♠2♠
Perrinjaquet: A♦K♥Q♣9♥
| Thang Truong | 515,000 |
| Emily Perrinjacquet | BUSTED! |
Bubble bursts
Kiko Puyat has been eliminated, just missing out on the money after shoving all in preflop with K♣10♣9♣8♥, snapped up by Thang Truong on his right.
Truong turned over A♠K♥Q♦3♦, hitting Ace-Queen two pair on the spread of Q♥2♣A♥5♠2♥.
| Thang Truong | 485,000 |
| Kiko Puyat | BUSTED! |
Bubble, bubble, on the double!
It hasn’t taken very long after play has recommenced for our field to find themselves hand-for-hand on the bubble, after two quick and early eliminations.
Over on the feature table, Fabian Geisel bet the pot on the board of 4♥8♠7♠9♥2♥, Damir Alidzanovic went all in, and Geisel called showing a flush:
Geisel: K♥J♥10♣4♠
Alidzanovic: K♦Q♥J♦10♥
Not long after, Guangrui Meng joined Alidzanovic on the rail. Meng went all in preflop, holding Q♠10♦8♦3♠ to Geisel’sK♣10♠9♠3♣ .
Geisel connected a straight to hold through 6♣A♦5♠Q♥J♦, busting Meng. Play is now hand-for-hand on the money bubble.
| Fabian Geisel | 758,000 |
| Damir Alidzanovic | BUSTED! |
| Guangrui Meng | BUSTED! |
Level 17: 4,000/8,000 (8,000)
Going with the PLO
Hello everyone and welcome to Day 2 of the $3K PLO High Roller Day 2.
Our field has just taken to their seats, with 18 players returning for Day 2 after starting out with 118 entries. Jamel Jajo leads the pack, with a top stack of 570,000 in chips.
The top 15 players will be in the money with a total prize pool of $324,500, with a min cash of $7,301 and $95,727 up top for our winner, including a coveted crystal surfboard trophy, and some valuable Player of the Festival points.
Full payouts as follows:
| Place | Amount |
| 1st | $95,727 |
| 2nd | $59,221 |
| 3rd | $35,371 |
| 4th | $22,715 |
| 5th | $17,199 |
| 6th | $14,278 |
| 7th | $12,331 |
| 8th | $10,871 |
| 9th | $9,573 |
| 10th – 12th | $8,437 |
| 13th – 15th | $7,301 |
Good luck to all the players!
Day 2 seat draw
Play will begin at 11:30am AEST, with recommencing blinds at 4,000/8,000 (8,000). Please bring your photo ID and Star Club Card in order to verify your bag, and if you have any questions regarding your seat allocation, please make yourself known to Star Poker Gold Coast staff upon arrival. Best of luck to everyone, and may the flop be with you!
To assist our WPT Live Reporting Team, please ensure your PMA ID cards are kept close to your stack, face-up and visible at all times.
Players are also asked to move their PMA IDs with them when broken or balanced to another table, and they must be left on the table to be collected after an elimination and at the end of day’s play.
Table 1 (Feature Table)
| PMA ID | Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | |||
| 0102 | 2 | Jamel Jajo | 570,000 |
| 0103 | 3 | Damir Alidzanovic | 248,000 |
| 0104 | 4 | Luke Martinelli | 166,000 |
| 0105 | 5 | Leo Kamiya | 138,000 |
| 0106 | 6 | Guangrui Meng | 99,000 |
| 0107 | 7 | Fabian Geisel | 362,000 |
| 8 |
Table 7
| PMA ID | Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | |||
| 0702 | 2 | Andrej Senic | 358,000 |
| 0703 | 3 | Riccardo Tallarico | 548,000 |
| 0704 | 4 | Phillip Knezevich | 211,000 |
| 0705 | 5 | Emily Perrinjaquet | 47,000 |
| 0706 | 6 | Zhifan Ye | 256,000 |
| 0707 | 7 | Sherif Derias | 364,000 |
| 8 |
Table 8
| PMA ID | Seat | Name | Chips |
| 1 | |||
| 0802 | 2 | Michael Guttmann | 199,000 |
| 0803 | 3 | Thang Truong | 291,000 |
| 0804 | 4 | Kiko Puyat | 67,000 |
| 0805 | 5 | David Lim | 68,000 |
| 0806 | 6 | Alan Pham | 286,000 |
| 0807 | 7 | Joshua Barrett | 437,000 |
| 8 |
Be the first to comment