Banipal Babana bags WSOP-C Sydney Main Event Day 1A Chip Lead; that’s a wrap!
Fresh off the back off his best two live tournament cashes at the WPT Australia series in September, Banipal Babana is well placed to make a run for another big score in the WSOP Circuit Sydney Main Event.
He’ll take 724,000 into Monday’s Day 2, to which he says he “feels pretty good (about being chip leader). I’m excited for Day 2.”
Predominately a cash game player, the Sydneysider says he has enjoyed playing more tournaments recently.
His best live tournament cash came in the $10,000 World Championship Warm-Up event at The Star Gold Coast at WPT Australia this year, where he placed third for a score of over $103,000. In terms of being as well placed for a Day 2 as he is now, that came as recently as yesterday, where he arrived as chip leader for the Monster Stack.
He finished in 15th place, and when asked if he learned anything that could help him progress further in this Main Event, Babana replied, “Nah, you’ve just got to win your flips.”
When we asked if he would take some time to rest before returning for Day 2, he said he would instead try to play some cash games!
That wraps up our coverage of Day 1A of the WSOP Circuit Sydney Main Event, where 287 took to the felt and 44 survived, with a live prize pool of more than $630,000 already.
We’ll be back tomorrow to give you more coverage, with Day 1B set to get underway from 12:30pm AEST. Thanks for tuning in today, we’ll see you back here real soon!
Mitchell Walkerden falls in 45th place – closing play on Day 1A
With multiple all-ins on what was to be the final hand of the day, Mitchell Walkerden was the shortest of all the at-risk stacks and the only one to be eliminated.
He put his last 43,000 in the middle and faced a rejam from the player in the big blind, clearing all others.
Walkerden held a live overcard with his K♠8♠ against his opponent’s Q♥Q♦.
The flop J♥K♥4♥ paired the King as needed for Walkerden, but was all hearts.
The runout 2♣,6♥ handed Walkerden his elimination thanks to a four card flush for his opponent, sending the remaining 44 players through to Day 2.
Hand for hand!
We’re now down to 45 players, with just under eight minutes left on the clock. Action is now hand-for-hand as we will end the day upon either the elimination of one more player, or four more hands.
Banipal Babana wins two huge pots
Banipal Babana has won two pivotal hands in the dying stages of Day 1A. The first being a hand where his pocket Kings ran into a shorter stack’s pocket Aces, only for the board to run out J♣10♠9♠Q♠J♥ bailing Babana out with a straight.
Shortly after that, he three-bet his Ace-King from the button against a middle position open. He was called and the each checked a Jack-high flop. The turn brought a King, to which his 40% pot bet was called. The river ensured all draws bricked, leading Babana to overbet pot on the river. He was called, was good and scooped a near 400,000 pot.
Steven Li cements himself as top two stack
Steven Li opened from UTG to 16,000 and found only Nhut Lam as a caller.
Flop: 3♥6♣5♦
Li continued for 20,000 and Lam called.
Turn: J♠
Both players checked.
River: A♥
Li fired another 30,000 into the middle and Lam tank folded.
Li tabled 10♥10♠ as he scooped the pot.
| Player | Chips |
| Steve Li | 610,000 |
| Nhut Lam | 175,000 |
Final level of the day!
Here are our top counts as we count down the last 40 minutes of play for Day 1A of the WSOP-C Main Event!
| Player | Chips |
| Martin Stewart | 660,000 |
| Steve Li | 520,000 |
| Banipal Babana | 492,000 |
| Rich Davis | 370,000 |
| Andrew Convery | 352,000 |
Level 16: 4,000/8,000 (8,000)
Davison gets one back, but not for long
The battle between Greg Davison and Josh Goldsmith continued when a hand began with a cutoff open to 12,000.
Goldsmith elected to flat from the button and Davison moved all in for 59,000 from the big blind.
The cutoff took his time to fold, clearing the way for Goldsmith to make the call.
Goldsmith: A♦J♦
Davison: A♠5♣
The board ran out Q♠9♠K♣J♣10♠, giving both players broadway. Initially frustrated, Goldsmith was quick to quip to Davison, “I probably owed you that!”
Davison got up to 70,000 but shortly after fell victim to a flopped boat against him, sending him to the rail.
Craig Blight ends his night
Table 19 witnessed a raise 12,00 0 from the lojack, a call from the cutoff and a re-raise to 65,000 from Craig Blight on the button – leaving himself just 4,000 behind.
The lojack folded, and Max Pearce was quick to put the chips in the middle, commencing a flip between the two, with Blight at risk.
Blight: 6♦6♣
Pearce: A♠K♥
The board ran out 9♠Q♠8♠2♠3♥ leaving blight dead on the turn, eliminating him in the process.
| Player | Chips |
| Max Pearce | 350,000 |
| Craig Blight | BUSTED! |
Adam Bortolazzo spikes a double
Adam Bortolazzo jams from the cutoff for his last 50,000 and finds a call to his immediate left in the form of Kevin Clark on the button.
Clark: 9♥9♣
Bortolazzo: A♠4♠
Board: 6♣10♥7♠A♣3♣
| Player | Chips |
| Adam Bortolazzo | 115,000 |
| Kevin Clark | 148,000 |
Sandaev grinding
Adelaide’s Joseph Sandaev is plying his trade, collecting small pots to build his stack.
We caught a hand where Sandaev check-called an opponent’s 16,000 bet on a K♥A♦4♠ flop.
Both players checked the 10♣ turn, and saw the 4♦ river. Sandaev wagered a singular big blind, with the 6,000 enough to get a fold and take the pot uncontested on the river.
| Player | Chips |
| Joseph Sandaev | 260,000 |
Level 15: 3,000/6,000 (6,000)
Goldsmith goes runner-runner
Greg Davison and Josh Goldsmith clashed in a cooler of a hand over on Table 20.
We caught action from the flop on a board of 8♣4♥2♠, to which Goldsmith lead for 15,000. Davison elected to call.
Turn: 3♣
Davison called another 15,000 bet from Goldsmith.
River: 5♠
Both players checked and revealed their cards.
Goldsmith: A♥Q♠
Davison: 8♥8♦
Jethro catches and holds
Jethro Horowitz was involved in an interesting hand, where we caught the action from a flop of 8♣4♠8♠. The player in the big blind jammed for 39,000 and Horowitz made the call.
Horowitz: A♦9♥
Big Blind: Q♦6♦
Horowitz made the correct call but still had to survive a turn and river.
The board ran out 2♥,K♦ to see Horowitz hold and eliminate a player.
| Player | Chips |
| Jethro Horowitz | 193,000 |
Level 14: 3,000/5,000 (5,000)
Maguire’s cheeky open pays big time
Tom Maguire has skyrocketed to become one of the top stacks late on Day 1A, thanks to a bold move.
Maguire awoke to J♠4♠ in the cutoff and clicked it to 8,000 preflop.
The player in the small blind peeled to see a flop of J♣J♦4♣, to which both players checked it through to the 3♦ turn. The small blind check-called Maguire’s delayed c-bet of 8,000 to see the river 3♣.
The small blind player lead for 7,000 on the river, prompting Maguire to raise all-in and he was snap-called.
The small blind player found himself eliminated, his smaller full house with A♥J♥ not good enough to keep him in the tournament.
| Player | Chips |
| Tom Maguire | 385,000 |
Counts at break No. 3
We’re reaching the latter stages of Day 1 of the Main Event, with 74 now remaining as we play until either the end of Level 16 or upon reaching the final 44 players.
| Player | Chips |
| Andrew Convery | 361,000 |
| Chao Duan | 354,000 |
| Kevin Clark | 309,000 |
| Adrian Pacheco | 289,000 |
| Peter Frazis | 276,500 |
| Frank Li | 231,000 |
| Joe Sandaev | 222,500 |
| Nhut Lam | 203,000 |
| Kevin Lee | 178,000 |
| Yongjia Lin | 116,000 |
| Ehsan Amiri | 67,500 |
| Matt Pongrass | 37,000 |
Level 13: 2,000/4,000 (4,000)
To be Frank
Frank Li made the call pre-flop against a jam from a player seated UTG+2, taking the two to showdown.
Frank Li: 7♠7♥
UTG+2: Q♥10♥
Board: 4♦K♠7♦7♣J♣
Yeah.. just quads.
| Player | Chips |
| Frank Li | 238,500 |
Jane Howard cripples Kenta Ito
Jane Howard found pocket Kings at the right time to see Kenti Ito left with crumbs, leaving him to be eliminated shortly after.
The hand in question saw all the chips go into the middle pre-flop.
Howard: K♥K♦
Ito: 8♦8♣
Board: K♠4♥9♥7♦Q♦
| Player | Chips |
| Jane Howard | 304,000 |
| Kenta Ito | BUSTED! |
Level 12: 1,500/3,000 (3,000)
Eric has to Goh
Eric Assadourian has hit the rail at the hands of Phil Goh.
Assadourian’s A♠J♥ for top pair, top kicker wasn’t enough to better Goh’s 10♥10♣ for a rivered set on J♦2♥2♦7♠10♠.
| Player | Chips |
| Phil Goh | 168,000 |
| Eric Assadourian | BUSTED! |
Ciao Kharman
Chao Duan has ensured Adam Kharman will need to take additional steps to find a third WSOP-C ring, having eliminated him from Day 1A of the Main Event.
We caught the action on the river with a board spread 2♦7♥K♣8♦A♣ with Kharman all-in and at risk.
Duan: K♥K♦
Kharman: A♠10♠
| Player | Chips |
| Chao Duan | 304,000 |
| Adam Kharman | BUSTED! |
Level 11: 1,500/2,500 (2,500)
Close, but no Cergars
We caught a hand with William Cergars having fired an overbet jam into a pot of 26,000 on a completed board of 2♦7♥K♣8♦A♣.
Jaeho Lee was sent into the blender, tanking before making the call for his remaining 39,000 with second pair (K♦10♥) to find he was good against Cergars’ third pair (J♣8♥).
| Player | Chips |
| Jaeho Lee | 104,000 |
| William Cergars | 42,000 |
Khac lays a perfect trap
We caught action from the turn on a board that showed 10♠2♣10♣6♣, with Mark Fester having wagered a bet of 25,000 into a pot of about 50,000.
Khac Trung-Tran made the call and both players saw the river 3♠ to which Tran quickly checked. Fester fired a downbet of 20,000 into the middle and Tran shrugged and put his entire 62,500 stack into the middle.
Fester reluctantly made the call with his K♦K♣ to see Tran deliver the bad news and show 6♠6♥ for a turned boat.
| Player | Chips |
| Khac Trung-Tran | 233,000 |
| Mark Fester | 93,000 |
Level 10: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)
Counts at the dinner break
The 221 remaining players are now on a 30-minute break the field hits 280 in Day 1A of the WSOP-C Main Event.
By our counts, Andrew Convery holds the current chip lead, followed closely by Tom Maguire.
| Player | Chips |
| Andrew Convery | 272,900 |
| Tom Maguire | 253,800 |
| Adrian Pacheco | 243,000 |
| Jesh Negi | 220,000 |
| Peter Frazis | 218,900 |
| John Thomson | 200,000 |
| Frank Li | 193,000 |
| Nick Wright | 174,000 |
| Mark Fester | 150,000 |
| Tim Zhang | 140,000 |
| Yongjia Lin | 131,000 |
| Nikki Turner | 136,000 |
| Matt Alamdari | 122,000 |
| Eric Assadourian | 100,000 |
| Matt Pongrass | 95,000 |
| Adam Kharman | 84,000 |
Speech play works for Ng
We caught a hand with Dylan Ng right on the stroke of the dinner break, with the board showing a completed runout of 8♥Q♣3♥A♦A♠.
Ng checked the river with his opponent in the tank pondering his action.
Ng spoke up, “just check back.”
He continued with, “I missed, let’s just get through to the break.”
His opponent then moved all-in for 42,000, with Ng making a relatively quick call with a covering stack.
Ng: 3♦3♣
Opponent: A♥2♥
| Player | Chips |
| Dylan Ng | 150,000 |
Ups and downs for Horvat
Vlad Horvat has had a couple of hand involvements in quick succession.
In one hand he found himself in a three-way all-in with J♥10♥ against one player with A♥K♣ and another with A♣Q♦.
The board ran: A♦10♠J♣4♠5♠ to eliminate two players and take Horvat’s stack to over 120,000.
A short time afterwards, Robert Spano found a double-up through Horvat. Spano’s 2♥2♦ spiked a set and then filled up on 7♥2♣J♣7♣9♦.
| Player | Chips |
| Robert Spano | 100,000 |
| Vlad Horvat | 80,000 |
Ivanchenko gets a (O)leg up on Butler
Over at Table 14, Krishna Nimmagadda opened the action from under-the-gun to 3,300. Oleg Ivanchenko called from the hijack and Neil Butler defended his big blind.
They saw a flop of A♣8♠9♣, prompting a check from Butler for Nimmagadda to bet 3,900. Both other players called to see the K♠ on the turn, where action checked to Ivanchenko who bet 15,000.
Butler was the only caller to the 9♠ river, on which both players checked.
Oleg Ivanchenko: A♠K♥
Neil Butler: A♦Q♣
| Player | Chips |
| Oleg Ivanchenko | 114,000 |
| Neil Butler | 22,500 |
Level 9: 800/1,600 (1,600)
EhsAAn finds the two-outer… YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
Ehsan Amiri opens the action pre-flop from under-the-gun and is called by three players.
Flop: J♣8♣2♠
Amiri continues for 6,000 and gets raised by Matt Alamdari, who makes it 16,000.
Amiri re-raises to 42,000 and Alamdari responds with a jam, called by Amiri.
Alamdari: 8♥8♦
Amiri: A♠A♥
Amiri finds the miracle two-outer with the A♣ on the turn, only for the river 8♠ to send the entire table into disbelief.
| Player | Chips |
| Matt Alamdari | 130,000 |
| Ehsan Amiri | 63,000 |
Pongrass growing
Over on Table 26, Matt Pongrass was the beneficiary of of a three-way pot.
The player on the button moved all-in for a little over 20,000 pre-flop, and was called in two spots by the UTG player and Pongrass in the cutoff.
The two in the side pot still had action as they saw a A♥7♥10♣ flop, to which Pongrass continued for 9,500 when checked to, which cleared the UTG player out of the way.
The at-risk player turned over A♦3♠, behind to Pongrass’ A♣Q♥.
The required assistance wasn’t found on the 4♥,10♥ runout, handing Pongrass the pot.
| Player | Chips |
| Matt Pongrass | 61,500 |
Level 8: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Convery triples up
As our reporter arrived to the action, multiple players were on their feet observing a three-way all in, with two players at risk.
Kevin Lee was the first to push his all of his chips into the middle, with Andrew Convery short-calling and the player in the cutoff making the call.
Kevin Lee: 9♥9♣
Andrew Convery: A♠Q♠
Player in cutoff: Q♦Q♥
The flop delivered some spades as Convery hoped for one more on 5♣2♠10♠
A K♣ opened more outs for Convery with the 7♠ giving him one of them to triple-up.
| Player | Chips |
| Andrew Convery | 101,900 |
| Kevin Lee | 43,000 |
| Unknown | BUSTED! |
A sort of assorted unsorted sought-after chip counts
The players have returned from their second break of the day into the final two-hour session before registration closes for Day 1A of the Main Event.
| Player | Chips |
| Gary Lin | 48,000 |
| Tom Maguire | 68,400 |
| Peter Frazis | 157,700 |
| Adam Kharman | 53,000 |
| William Cergars | 121,400 |
| Adrian Pacheco | 59,000 |
| Martin Finger | 29,500 |
| Steve Tupua | 183,000 |
| Ehsan Amiri | 19,500 |
| Joe Sandaev | 121,000 |
| Mark Fester | 111,000 |
| Josh McSwiney | 43,000 |
Level 7: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Sandaev benefits from set-over-set
Adelaide’s Joe Sandaev has won a healthy pot, knocking out a player to sit amongst the top counts leading up to the second break of the day.
We caught the river action with a bet from Sandaev for 12,500 into a pot of approximately 21,000. The player directly to his left moved all-in for a total of 28,300. Sandaev made the call.
Board: 4♠K♦9♥8♦Q♠
Sandaev: K♥K♣
Unknown: 4♥4♦
| Player | Chips |
| Joseph Sandaev | 121,000 |
Tupua building monster stack
We caught the river action on a board that read 5♦3♣7♣2♦2♣.
The small blind player lead for 8,000 into a pot of over 15,000. Greg Davison snap-called from the big blind and Steve Tupua also made the call.
The small blind player immediately mucked their cards, leading Davison to turn over his 8♥3♠ with the hope it was good. Tupua’s A♦A♣ was more than good enough to take the pot instead and grant him a count worth almost five start stacks.
| Player | Chips |
| Steve Tupua | 198,000 |
Quick numbers
The entry count for Day 1 of the WSOPC Sydney Main Event currently sits at 248, with 188 remaining at their seats. Average stack is a touch over 52,000 with registration open until the commencement of level 10 (approx. 8:30pm AEDT)
Level 6: 400/800 (800)
Legends clash
Emanuel “Curly” Seal is in the house, with the Adelaidean finding himself in an early battle against Sydneysider Robert Spano.
We caught some action between the two with Spano the aggressor from middle position, putting 11,500 into the middle on a flop that came 5♥A♠7♦. Seal made the call before they both checked on the 8♥ turn to see the 7♥. Spano down-bet to 3,500 which was enough to garner a fold from Seal and take the pot.
Shortly after that hand, we lost sight of Curly to hear that Spano had busted him. Spano awoke with pocket Jacks against Curly’s Ace-Queen as they both got the chips in pre-flop.
The board ran clean to give Sydney an early lead over Adelaide in this Main Event.
| Player | Chips |
| Robert Spano | 74,000 |
| Emanuel “Curly” Seal | BUSTED! |
Todor finds Hill to die on
Todor Kondevski found a favourable flop for his 9♥9♦, with an all-unders board showing 6♦4♥7♥. With all the chips in the middle on the flop, he was dismayed to see Robert Hill turn over A♦A♣.
The turn A♥ sealed a set for Hill but offered hope in the form of a flush draw, only for the river to brick out with the 4♦ to give Hill the boat and eliminate Kondevski.
| Player | Chips |
| Robert Hill | 90,000 |
| Todor Kondevski | BUSTED! |
Level 5: 300/600 (600)
Hold the Mayo?
Riley Mayo woke up with A♥A♣ on the button and put in a raise pre-flop. Brendan Edmonds placed a three-bet from the big blind with his A♦K♥ before jamming against Mayo’s four-bet.
Edmonds needed help, with Mayo expected to hold more than 92% of the time.
The board ran 9♣4♥2♣3♣5♠ to hand both players a wheel… chop it up!
| Player | Chips |
| Brendan Edmonds | 75,000 |
| Riley Mayo | 31,700 |
Boat over boat
We walked over to Table 21 in the early stages of Level 4, with Harry Basle in a world of hurt facing an all-in from William Cergars.
On a board that spread A♣6♥A♦7♦K♣, Cergars had his remaining 28,000 chips in front of him.
Basle made the call to see he was up against the nuts, with Cergars A♥K♥ a better boat than the one Basle flopped with his 6♠6♣.
| Player | Chips |
| William Cergars | 85,000 |
| Harry Basle | 21,000 |
Back from the break
The players have enjoyed their first breather of the day, with the 15-minute reprieve now coming to an end as the field now climbs to 193 entries.
Level 4: 300/500 (500)
Zhang spikes a set
On a board that read: A♣Q♠5♥7♠3♣, Tim Zhang put his opponent to the test with an all-in of 18,600 into a pot of over 35,000.
“I’m not loving it,” his opponent replied before putting in the call with A♠10♦.
Zhang turned over his 5♠5♣ to scoop the pot and bust a player.
| Player | Chips |
| Tim Zhang | 75,000 |
Greg goes all-in
Gina Vuksanovic has been left with crumbs after we caught a hand with her and Greg Davison.
Vuksanovic: A♣Q♦
Davison: A♦10♠
The board ran out: 5♣10♦3♦5♦8♣
| Player | Chips |
| Greg Davison | 75,000 |
| Gina Vuksanovic | 4,000 |
Level 3: 200/400 (400)
Larkman wins battle of the short stacks
Marco Perri and Steve Larkman both found themselves relatively short-stacked midway through the second level of play.
We caught sight of an all-in on the turn between the two, each with a flush and straight draw:
Larkman: A♣2♥
Perri: K♣2♦
Board: A♥J♣3♣5♣3♠
The runout offered no further help to either player, with Larkman’s pair of aces good enough to effect the knockout.
| Player | Chips |
| Steve Larkman | 45,000 |
| Marco Perri | BUSTED! |
Petrie dished an early exit
Off the back of titles at the recent WPT League Championship Sydney and the Kings Sydney Millions, Chris Petrie has enjoyed more than $100,000 in live earnings in the past few weeks.
Within the first hour of Day 1A of the Main Event, however, the cards worked cruelly against him in a hand against Feng Yu.
A pre-flop raise from the cutoff saw a call from Yu in the button, whilst Petrie defended his big blind.
The flop came 10♥9♥2♦, to which the cutoff player fired a continuation bet of 1,000.
Yu raised to 4,000. Petrie called and the cutoff folded.
The 5♠ turn saw Petrie lead for a pot-sized bet of 10,500. Yu tanked before jamming, covering Petrie, who made the call for his tournament life.
The two went to showdown.
Yu: 2♠2♣
Petrie: 10♣9♣
The 5♣ was not the board-pairing card Petrie needed, sending him out of the Main Event.
| Player | Chips |
| Feng Yu | 80,100 |
| Christopher Petrie | BUSTED! |
Level 2: 200/300 (300)
Faces in the crowd
Trust me bro!
We don’t often like reporting hands when they’re not shown down, but we’ll make an exemption for Paris Sitzoukis with not much else to report in the first level.
Coming off a runner-up finish in yesterday’s Monster Stack, Sitzoukis opened and won consecutive hands on Table 24, directly prior to him claiming to have woken up with pocket Kings.
He opened to 500 from under the gun, a player on the button three-bet to 2,500 before the big-blind piled in a four-bet to 6,500. Paris then five-bet to 12,000, leading to fast call from the button, before the big-blind six-bet jammed for his 40,000 start stack!
Both Paris and the button folded, with the button open folding pocket Queens.
Cards in the air!
The feature event of the WSOP Circuit Sydney series has begun, and a field of over 100 entries have already found their seats within the first 10 minutes of play.
The action is scheduled for 16 levels on Day 1 or until 15% of the field remains. Each level will be 40-minutes in length and will increase from Day 2 onwards to 60-minutes. Start stack is 40,000.
| Level | Small Blind | Big Blind | Big Blind 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 |
| 14 | 3,000 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 15 | 3,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 |
| 16 | 4,000 | 8,000 | 8,000 |
Level 1: 100/200 (200)
The long wait is over
Good morning and welcome to PokerMedia Australia’s live coverage of the WSOP Circuit Sydney Main Event!
It’s terrific to be back at The Star Sydney for the first time since late 2019 – a very long five years ago – as we bring you all the action from one of the biggest annual events on the Australian poker calendar.
For those with decent memories, it was none other than popular Sydney local Steven Zhou who won that 2019 WSOP Sydney Main Event title, outlasting a 1,124-strong field to claim the $260,904 top prize.
Technically he isn’t the defending champion though: last year the WSOP Circuit relocated to The Star Gold Coast where Englishman Craig Rimmer emerged victorious for $271,184.
Who will etch their name into the record books in 2024? Follow PMA’s live reporting over the next five days to find out! Our team will be on the ground from go to woe bringing you all the action right here at pokermedia.com, so stay tuned from 1:30pm AEDT as we enjoy this long-awaited return to the Harbour City!
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