Sydney Championships Main Event Day 2
POSTED Sun, 05 Aug 2018 10:34am
Dhiya Majeed Leads the final 12 down the home straight in the quest for a Sydney Championships Main Event Champion!
Posted Mon, 06 Aug 2018 1:22am
We began this tournament with 522 runners and of those, just 143 survived to make Day 2.
Now at the end of Day 2, we are down to just 12. 12 who will be vying for the title of 2018 Sydney Championships Main Event Champion as well as picking up the trophy and the $314,265 in prize money that comes with it.
We have some serious poker players among the 12. Firstly, there is Suzy Khouies whose reputation precedes her. Khouies is known for continuously making deep runs in the tournament and has both the poker and trash talking game to ruffle the feathers of her opponents and to get the result she wants.
Ash Gupta is still with us and is widely regarded as a very accomplished poker player, as is Charlie Hawes, the man who unquestionably has the best surname in the business.
We spoke to Martin Ward when the bubble burst and he told us to mark our words, that he would be with us at the final table. With just 12 players left, that may very well become reality.
The man of the moment, however, is Dhiya Majeed. He currently holds a monster chip lead with nearly double the stack of most the field. He had a big double up at one point where he flopped a straight at the same time fellow big stack, Honglin Jiang flopped a set. Sure that could be seen as luck, but part of the art of poker is making the most out of the situations that fall in front of you.
Which is what our final players will be doing tomorrow when they come back at 12:30pm for Day 3, where we play down from 12 players to one champion.
Make sure you tune into the Star Poker Live Reporting Team tomorrow from 12:30 to not miss a minute of the action!
| Dhiya Majeed | 3,135,000 |
| Charlie Hawes | 2,360,000 |
| Andrew Lock | 1,705,000 |
| Mohammed Elkassir | 1,355,000 |
| Suzy Khouies | 1,225,000 |
| Martin Ward | 1,180,000 |
| Ash Gupta | 1,100,000 |
| Michael Levy | 935,000 |
| Brian Law | 860,000 |
| Jason Quarmby | 840,000 |
| Nebojsa Blanusa | 530,000 |
| Michel Bouskilla | 515,000 |
David Leas Eliminated in 13th Place - $19,234
Posted Mon, 06 Aug 2018 1:02am
Amazingly we have lost another player in our final four hands.
David Leas moved all in and was called by Ash Gupta.
Leas: 
Gupta: 
Board: 
We lose another and will be down to our final 12 players when we return tomorrow!
Shivan Abdine Eliminated in 14th Place - $19,234
Posted Mon, 06 Aug 2018 12:55am
Dhiya Majeed is up to his old tricks, this time sending Shivan Abdine to the rail. The money went all in preflop.
Abdine: 
Maheed: 
Board: 
Majeed moves up to 3,100,000 and looks like he could be our chip leader!
Ten Minutes To Go
Posted Mon, 06 Aug 2018 12:50am
With ten minutes left in today's play the tournament staff has announced that there will be three four more hands to be played.
This may be the first time in the history of the Star Poker Room that the number wasn't three more hands!
Piers Carter Eliminated in 15th Place - $19,234
Posted Mon, 06 Aug 2018 12:48am
The money went all in on the flop between Piers Carter and Charlie Hawes with the board reading 
.
Carter looked the goods with 
however the turn 
and river 
gave Hawes a straight with his 
.
Charlie Hawes is up to 1,450,000.
Honglin Jiang Eliminated in 16th Place - $15,931
Posted Mon, 06 Aug 2018 12:45am
Honglin Jiang and Dhiya Majeed got their chips all in to the middle with the board reading .
Jiang felt good with his 
for a set of eights. That was until ihe saw Majeed's for a flopped straight.
It was an unfortunate cooler for Jiang who is eliminated in 16th place.
2 tables
Posted Mon, 06 Aug 2018 12:33am
With that last elimination, we are now down to our final two tables. 16 players leftThe Final Hong Song
Posted Mon, 06 Aug 2018 12:32am
Ryan Hong has been eliminated by Martin Ward (pictured) from the Lynskey Syndicate
A short-stacked Hong shoved for 137,000 and was called by his neighbour Ward.
Hong :
Ward: 
Board: 
Hong has been eliminated from the tournament after being one of the biggest stacks and most feared players throughout.
Ward promised a final table and is now getting closer to making that a reality.
Hawes Can't Outrun the Law
Posted Mon, 06 Aug 2018 12:19am
Brian Law has doubled up at the expense of Charlie Hawes.
It folded to Hawes in the small blind and he moved all in for his final 250,000. Charlie Hawes made the call.
Hawes: 
Law:
Board: 
Law doubles up. It just goes to show that when the race is on. Hawes can't outrun the Law.
DOUBLE KO - HAWES OVER 2MIL
Posted Mon, 06 Aug 2018 12:09am
Dinh Pham moves all in for 429,000 Michael Brahim moved all in over the top 870,000 and action was on Charlie Hawes who moved all in as well.
Pham
Brahim
Hawes
Board: 
Hawes scores the double knock out as they had both players covered and now sits on 2.2mil.
LAST HAND BEFORE BREAK
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 11:48pm
On the last hand before the break, all players folded as they were keen to go on a break. The action was folded to Ash Gupta in the small blind who let it rip, all in, snap call by Frank Martino in the big blind.
Gupta
Martino
Gupta was ahead pre and all the history between these two players when they got on the same table was why Martino snapped called.
Board: 
Martino was looking good on the flop to double up, but the turn gave Gupta the set and it was all over for Martino. Martino leaves us in 20th place as well all go on a well deserved 10-minute break. Gupta has moved to over 1mil.
Lock it down!
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 11:43pm
Elkassir raised to 50,000 and was called by Honglin Jiang and with the action on Andrew Lock who made it 175,000 to go. Elkassir folded and Jiang made the call.
On the flop of 
Jiang checked over to Lock who moved all in. After a lot of thought, Jiang made the call and was in a world of trouble.
Jiang:
Lock:
There was no miracle on the turn or river for Jiang and he has doubled up Andrew Lock to 1,300,000. Honglin Jiang still has a very healthy stack of 1,100,000.
MAJEED SENDS Law home
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 11:41pm
Dhiya Majeed and Brian Law get it all in pre.
Law
Majeed
Board: 
Law is in trouble and needs sopme help. The Ten on the turn does just that and Law is still alive!
CHECK IT DOWN
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 11:20pm
Ash Gupta raises to 40,000 and gets called by Frank Martino and Ryan Hong. They check it down to the river as each of them have solid stacks. The board ran out . Gupta showed the to claim the pot and moved up to 670,000.
Levy forces Pappas to Mortgagee Sale
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 11:10pm
Steve Pappas has been eliminated from the tournament.
The Real Estate Tycoon was getting short stacked and needed to find a place to double up. He thought he had found it when he looked down at his cards to see the . This seemed to be the right move, until Michael Levy called and turned over .
The board ran out as you would expect and Pappas was eliminated from the tournament.
Steve Pappas has played some fantastic poker this week so it was great to see him get a deep run in this event.
The Croc Swallowed by Hawes!
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 11:05pm
Billy 'The Croc' Argyros has been eliminated from this tournament in 24th place after a run in with Charlie Hawes.
Hawes was all in and after much deliberation, The Croc made the call.
Croc:
Hawes:
Board: 
Croc goes to the rail and Hawes moves up to 1,200,000.
One thing is for certain. Anytime Hawes goes up against a wild croc, always bet on Hawes!
Seating Allocations with 24 to go
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 10:48pm
Here are the seats our final 24 players find themselves in.
We have also just started 21, the second last level of the day.
The blinds are now 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante
The average stack of our 24 remaining players is 652,500 and coming 24th will earn you a very cool $11,371!
Not as cool as the $314,265 that first will get you.
| Table 10 | |
| Seat | |
| 1 | Charlie Hawes |
| 2 | Dinh Pham |
| 3 | Steve Pappas |
| 4 | Jason Quarmby |
| 5 | Michael Levy |
| 6 | Dhiya Majeed |
| 7 | Michael Brahim |
| 8 | Billy Arygyros |
| Table 12 | |
| Seat | |
| 1 | Michel Bouskila |
| 2 | Suzy Khouies |
| 3 | Mohammed Elkassir |
| 4 | Eric Assadourian |
| 5 | Honglin Jiang |
| 6 | Andrew Lock |
| 7 | Shivan Abdine |
| 8 | Brian Law |
| Table 14 | |
| Seat | |
| 1 | Nebojsa Blanusa |
| 2 | David Leas |
| 3 | Ash Gupta |
| 4 | Robert Damelian |
| 5 | Frank Martino |
| 6 | Piers Carter |
| 7 | Ryan Hong |
| 8 | Martin Ward |
24 Redraw
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 10:41pm
As we are down to the final 24 players we are now having a redraw of posiitonsChristine Hia Eliminated in 26th Place
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 10:39pm
With a raise in front of her by Mohammed Elkassir, Christine Hia moved all in over the top. It turned out to be the wrong time for this move.
Elkassir:
Hia:
Board: 
That's all she wrote for Christine Hia in this tournament.
Josh Barret Goes Home
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 10:34pm
Josh Barret has been eliminated from the tournament after shoving all in for his final 180,000 and being called by Dhiya Majeed
Barret:
Majeed: 
We were off to the races, well we thought we were until the came out as the door card leaving Barret dead on arrival.
Christine puts the pressure on Shivan
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 10:40pm
There are some things in life that are just difficult. One is sitting next to Malaysian pro Christine Hia in a poker tournament and the other is writing an extremely long and detailed post about a hand only to have your computer crash before you could press send.
Whilst I am dealing with one, Shivan Abdine is dealing with the other having the ultra-aggressive Hia perched next to him as we get down to the serious part of this tournament.
Abdine raised to 38,000 from under the gun and it folded around to Hia in the big blind. On the 
flop Hia checked over the Abdine who bet 45,000. At that point, Hia instantly moved all in, putting Abdine all in.
Abdine was pained by this and thought for several minutes before finally tossing his cards into the muck.
Abdine doesn't get to find out what hand Hia had and the rest of the world doesn't get to read the amazingly poetic and witty post I had written about this hand before the computer crash occurred.
I guess it is a dark day for everybody.
LIKE A BOSS, ELKASSIR
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 10:31pm
Dinh Pham bet out 130,000 and Mohammad Elkassir re-raised to 285,000. Pham not wanting to be outdone from the re-raise 3-bet and grabbed a stack of blues and yellows and shoved it into the middle 500,000. As soon as Pham did that Elkassir moved all in like a flash. Pham contemplated the call but ended up folding after several minutes leaving himself with 219,00. Elkassir skyrockets to the chip lead with over 1.6mil.
QUARMBY WITH THE RIGHT READ
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 10:29pm
With a raise from Andrew Scarf UTG to 50,000. Jason Quarmby defends his big blind and makes the call. The flop comes Quarmby checks to Scarf who moves all in 121,000. Quarmby counts out the chips before making the call.
Scarf
Quarmby
Quarmby picks off Scarfs bluff and awaits to see if he can hold. The turn and river bring the and . Quarmby eliminates Scarf and moves up to 900,000.
Break Time
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 9:21pm
Our 33 remaining players are on the second last break of the night.
There are three more levels to go today.
MARTINO FOR THE DOUBLE UP
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 9:19pm
Edward Anderson opened to 27,000, Frank Martino moved all in 203,000. Anderson asked for a count and made the call.
Anderson
Martino
Board:
With the king on the river Martino makes a four card straight to win and double up to 420,000.
LAM UP TRUONG DOWN
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 9:01pm
Brian Lam moves all in 213,00 and was called by Tam Truong in the big blind.
Lam
Truong
Board:
Lam hitting two pair and scores the double up to 430,000 while Truong drops down to 200,000.
Kittos vs Gupta
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 8:55pm
Ash Gupta (pictured) and Chris Kittos appear to have gone to war against each other on Table 12 of the Star Poker Room.
In a recent hand Gupta called a 24,000 raise in the big blind that Kittos had made from the cut off.
The two players so a flop of and Gupta check-called a bet of 40,000 from Kittos. Both players checked the turn and when the hit the river pushed out a stack of 51,000. Kittos called and thought he was good tabling . However, Gupta held for a rivered flush.
"I knew I shouldn't have checked," Kittos cursed to himself as he gave most of his chips over to Gupta.
A few hands later, the two were at it again. Kittos moved all in and Gupta made the call.
Gupta:
Kittos:
Board:
The score is 1 a piece so far. Ash Gupta has 220,000 and Chris Kittos has 185,000
BOKODY SLOWLY COMING BACK
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 8:51pm
Ebon Bokody is trying to get back into this field as he started off the tournament well but has lost pots here and there and is slowly on a downswing. We recently caught him in action on a board of
up against Shivan Abdine. After both players limped checked pre. Abdine check-called the flop bet of 12,000. The comes on the turn and this time Abdine checked again and Bokody bets out 30,000. Abdine folded and Bokody moves back up to 200,000 while Abdine sits well on 600,000.
Ding! Dinh is our Chip Leader!
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 8:33pm
You may think Dinh Pham is trying to keep a low profile in today's event due to the massive hoodie he is getting around in.
Well if you thought that you would be wrong as Pham has been quietly toiling way building a massive stack which has him as our chip leader.
Pham currently sits on 1,100,000 and as we get down to less than 40 runners!
GREAT LAY-DOWN MARTINO
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 8:29pm
Frank Martino opens the action to 25,000 and gets re-raised by Michael Levy to 70,000. Action folds to Harry Basle in the big blind who moves all in 182,000. Martino debates about what to do. In the end, he folded cause he knew he should not get involved. Levy makes the call.
Basle
Levy
Martino backed himself and knew it was the right lay down as he informed the table he folded pocket jacks. Basle at risk was looking to spike one of the two remaining queens in the deck. The board ran out 
. No queen sends Basle to the rail and collects some cash. Levy moves up to 620,00 as the field slowly goes down.
Ollie Neave booted by Jiang
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 8:26pm
Honglin Jiang has sent Oliver Neave out of this tournament in 45th place.
Neave moved all in for his final 110,000 from UTG+1 and it folded around to Jiang in the big blind who made the call.
Neave:
Jiang:
Neave started the hand in front but didn't finish that way with both a King and an Eight hitting the board, giving Jiang two pair and the remainder of Neave's chips as he gets his stack up to 500,000!
WHEN TWO LADIES ARE AT IT
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 8:29pm
We get to the table and see Christine Hia collecting nearly all of Ling Liu's chips. We were told Hia opened the pot and Liu called. It was bet call every street until the river where Hia moved all in with a massive overbet. Liu went with her gut and made the call and was beaten. Hia showed on a board of . Hia zooms up to 916,000 and leaves Liu with only 7,000.
Liu was eliminated shortly after.
WHAT A RUN OUT
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 8:01pm
Chad Awrebuch moves all in and is called by the big blind Nebojsa Blanusa.
Awerbuch
Blanusa
Awerbuch not looking good pre-flop as he got called by an over card. The flop fell flopping Awebuch the flush, Awebuch happy about his flopped flush as he needed a double up. The turn fell the and river the . The board ran out a straight flush chopping the pot. Blanusa happy he didn't lose his chips, but Awebuch unhappy as he didn't get the double up he wanted.
BARRETT TAKES OFF HIA
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 7:50pm
Josh Barrett called the re-raise of Christine Hia of 55,000 and both players saw the flop of both players checked and also checked the turn . On the river of Barrett bet out 40,000 to which Hia re-raised to 140,000. Barrett called to see Hia holding , Barrett took down the pot with . Barrett is now on 770,000 while Hia fell back to 340,000.
BINGO YIN
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 7:42pm
Louis Yin moves all in for 105,000 and gets called by Frank Martino in the big blind.
Yin
Martino
Board: 
Window card is the to get Yin the win, after Yin wins the pot he tells the table that he is a 'bingo player' ready to flip when he can. Yin moves up to 215,000 while Martino drops to 265,000.
Fat Cat uses last life
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 7:42pm
Chris 'Fat Cat' Moussa has been eliminated from the tournament.
He got all in against in a blind vs blind battle. He looked good on the flop having to just fade a Queen for a straight or running spade for a flush. As it turned out he dodged neither of these as both the turn and the river came down spades with the river being the to add insult to injury.
Back
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 7:39pm
Players are fed, watered and hosed and are now back out there for level 18.
Blinds are 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante and with 48 players remaining the average stack is 326,250 meaning players have approx 33 big blinds at this late stage in the tournament.
BIG STACKS GET IT ON
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 6:54pm
Hamish Crawshaw opens to 17,000 and gets re-raised by Chad Awerbuch to 47,000 Crawshaw makes the call. The flop comes Crawshaw checks and Awerbuch bets out 31,000 and is called by Crawshaw. The turn brings the and both players check. The river is the and Crawshaw checks once again, Awerbuch bets out 64,000 and collects the pot as Crawshaw folds. Awerbuch is now on 630,000 while Crawshaw is on 500,000.
Pranzo!
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 6:52pm
It is Dinner Time for our remaining 49 players. We will see you in half an hour!Tom Rafferty is our Bubble Boy
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 6:43pm
As has been a bit of a theme here in this Sydney Championships, the bubble has burst before hand for hand play has actually started!
Tom Rafferty has been eliminated in our 55th place and is our bubble boy!
He moved all in for his final 40,000 and was called by Martin Ward (pictured).
Ward:
Rafferty:
Board:
Rafferty heads to the rail in 55th place, luckily he has a great smile and a winning personality and we are sure he will do just fine.
Ward who busted him out had an important message for us. "I am definitely going to make the final table," Ward told us. "Mark my words".
Ok, Martin, they have been marked and recorded. Good Luck!
Ward is actually good friends with 2018 WSOP Final Table Finisher Alex Lynskey and will be hoping to emulate his play in these final stages.
As the bubble has now burst all players are guaranteed at least $5,612
IN WITH CLEE
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 6:47pm
As players are waiting for the bubble to burst we did have multiple hands in action. One was a raise by Andrew Lock to 18,000, Terence Clee moved all in 106,000 and was called by Lock as another player busted on another table.
Clee
Lock
Board:
Running diamonds gave Lock a lock-up on the hand to send Clee to the rail and is the first player to cash as the bubble just burst. Lock is now sitting on 710,000 and Clee is off to the cage to collect is min-cash of $5,612.
Bubble Approaches
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 6:25pm
We are now down to just 56 players remaining in this tournament and just one elimination away from hand to hand play. There is a 30-minute dinner break schedule in less than 30 minutes. Will the bubble have burst by then?Foods On!
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 6:22pm
The Delicious snacks and canapes have once again been provided to players here by the Star Poker Roon.
They are currently going being delivered to players and so far we have spotted some kind of delicious lamb sausage, prawns in a cup and Salmon Nigiri.
Great work Star Poker Room!
FEMALE POWER
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 6:19pm
With a raise of 17,000 to open the pot, Ash Gupta re-raises it to 45,000. Christine Hia looks at the situation and 3-bets to 175,000 both other players folded to the brute force of our smiling assassin. Hia moves up to 550,000 and we are now 4 players away from the money.Slowing Down
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 6:06pm
As we get closer to the money bubble play has slowed down dramatically. Players seem a lot more hesitant to get chips into the middle at the moment.
This is making it very hard to find any hands to report on for you.
Whilst we haven't been able to watch many hands we have had some interesting conversations going around the Star Poker Room.
For example, we found out that Josh Barret just missed the bet he had on the Gold Coast Suns vs Melbourne Demons AFL game. We also found out that whilst Michael O'Grady had won his bet on the game, he had also been sweating Josh's bet so came over to commiserate with him.
It wasn't all just betting talk though, Shivan Abdine, for example, told us that we thought we missed a valuable opportunity not making jokes about how much the 2018 WSOP Main Event Champion, John Cynn, looked like Matthew Wakeman.
We have heard this a few times during the week and personally, we don't really see what the similarity is.
Anyway, as we are speaking about Matthew Wakeman here is a photo we took of him playing this tournament earlier today.
PLAYING STEAD AS CASH BUBBLE NEARS
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 6:03pm
both players check to see the on the turn. Crawshaw checks once again and Brahim bets out 16,000 which is enough to get Crawshaw to fold. Brahim moves up to 450,000 while Crawshaw drops a little to 650,000. Play is at a steady pace as the big stacks in the field are trying not to get into big pots with each other as we 5 players away from the money.
LEVY LUCKS OUT ON WARD
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 5:45pm
"All in, Call!" is heard from the other side of the room we rush over to see Michael Levy all in 73,000 and at risk up against Martin Ward.
Levy
Ward
Board:
Ward flops a set of jacks and looks great to eliminate Levy as we close in on the cash. But the turn and river were not the cards that Ward wanted to see as they ran out to give Levy the straight and a nice double up to 150,000 while Ward was left with 58,000.
Adequate Hawes
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 5:37pm
Charlie Hawes has just doubled up which is great as it is always good to see Hawes managing a bulging chip stack.
Hawes just got paid by some guy who was gone long before we could get his name. We will just call him 'The John'.
The John:
Hawes:
Board:
The John gives all of his money to Hawes before exiting the tournament area and Hawes is now sitting with 283,000.
Not the biggest stack in the room, but an adequate size I am sure you would agree.
ALWAYS FRESH ON SUNDAY
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 5:39pm
Chad Awerbuch bets out 27,000 after Dinh Pham has checked to him Pham calls and we see the river of Pham checks once again to Awerbuch who bets out 60,000 after taking some time to think about what Awerbuch has Pham makes the call. Awerbuch rolls over for a flopped set. Pham quickly flashes the as he mucks his hand. Pham now sits on 120,000 while Chad 'Sunday Fresh' Awerbuch is on 530,000.
Not long till the bubble
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 5:14pm
Just 68 players remain and 54 get paid. The bubble is so close that players can almost taste it!
Blinds are now 3,000/6,000 with a 1,000 ante. This means our purple 500 chips will soon be leaving us.
Take Ten
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 4:42pm
Ok, that's a wrap everyone!
Let's take a ten-minute break to freshen up and then we can come back and get the cameras rolling again.
HUSS JOINS THE 300,000 CLUB
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 4:38pm
With a raise in front of Huss Hassan to 10,00, Hassan re-raise to 29,000 and is called by the initial raiser. Both players look at the flop of the initial raiser check-calls to Hassan as he bets out 17,000. The turn is the and a check once again to Hassan. Hassan bets out a hefty 46,500 to which is folded by Hassan's opponent. Huss Hassan goes over 310,000 as the players are closing in on their second break of the day.
Sisters are doing it for themselves
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 4:30pm
Don't be under any pretense that there is a sisterhood in the poker community where the ladies look out for one another. They are just as likely to bay for each other's blood as their male counterparts are.
We saw this in a recent hand where Suzy Khouies called an all-in bet from Connie Graham on the flop and subsequently eliminated her from the tournament.
We came up and spoke to Suzy after the hand as she was still stacking the remains of Graham's chips into her overflowing stacks.
"You eliminated your neighbour," we stated to Suzy.
"Yeah, I feel really bad about it too," Suzy said looking for some sympathy.
"You got over it very quickly though didn't you," Michel Bouskila who was sitting on the table commented.
Suzy did not respond to this but merely sat there with a wry smile on her face as she built her stack up to around 350,000
WAN OVER DAM
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 4:09pm
Ngoc Long Dam raises to 11,500, Chad Awerbuch asks to see how much Dam is playing before making the call. Vincent Wan defends his big blind and the three players see the flop of both Wan and Dam check as Awerbuch bets out 13,000. Both players call and we see the on the turn. All three players check and the river comes the once again it is checked through.
Wan
Dam
Awerbuch xx
Wan takes that pot with two pair and moves to 245,000, while Dam sits on 60,000 and Chad 'Sunday Fresh' Awerbuch is on 380,000.
Fogel Turns to Glue
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 4:06pm
Our horse, Luke 'Fogel' Hanna has been eliminated from the tournament.
All of the chips went into the middle with the board reading
Hong:
Hanna:
There was no miracle 2 outer on the river for Hanna and after a fun couple of days, he is off to get a good night's rest to ensure he is ready for a hard day at work tomorrow.
LIU TAMING CROCS
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 3:54pm
Billy 'The Croc' Argyros raises to 9,500, the action folds to Ling Liu who re-raises to 21,000. Argyros wonders what she has this time, trying to get some sort of information from her. He is not sure if he could fold, he continued to ask if she would show her cards if he folds to her. Would she show at least one? Still no response, in the end, Argyros folds and shows the Liu claims the pot and shows the after she tells Argyros to choose one. Liu moves up to 120,000 and Argyros sits on 115,000.
86 remaining
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 3:47pm
As we move to level 15 there are just 86 players remaining.
54 get paid meaning that just 32 players are going home empty-handed.
Blinds are now 2,500/5,000 with a 500 ante. The average stack is 182,093
NGOC KNOCK KNOCKING ON HEAVEN'S DOOR
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 3:37pm
Ngoc Long Dam defends his big blind after a raise to 9,500. Both players check all the way to the river on a board of where Dam bets out 13,000 and is called. Long shows the for the straight as the poker gods brought the running cards to give Dam the win. Dam now sits on 260,000.
The Bouskila Bazooka
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 3:41pm
Michel Bouskila is playing some great poker here on Day 2 of the Sydney Championships Main Event.
In a recent hand, the People's horse, Luke 'Fogel' Hanna raised from Middle Position to 9,000. The action folded around to Ryan Hong who re-raised to 24,500. As Hanna pondered a call the play folded around to Bouskila in the big blind who looked down at his cards and liked what he saw. He slid out 80,000 worth of chips in a very large open 4-bet. The other players got the message and quickly folded awarded some valuable chips to Bouskila.
Michel Bouskila - 180,000
Ryan Hong - 330,000
Luke Hanna - 160,000
XU TAKES ON TAN
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 3:23pm
With the pot sitting on 35,000 we see the flop of Vincent Xu bets out 18,000 and is called by Jerome Tan. The turn is the and Xu leads out for 40,000, Tan makes the call once again. The river is the and both players check. Xu shows which is good to take down the pot. Xu moves up to 280,000 while Tan is sitting on 260,000 after the hand.
WEI ZHU WITH THE SQUEEZE
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 3:08pm
With a raise and a call in front of Wei Zhu, Zhu moves all in 56,500 from the small blind. The initial raiser folds and Zhu is called by the player on the button.
Zhu
BTN
Board:
Zhus kings hold and Zhu moves up to 125,000.
SUZY K WINNING THE ONLY WAS SHE KNOWS HOW
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 3:01pm
, the small and big blind check and we see a bet of 15,500, Nurlan Boobekov makes the call as does Suzy Khoueis from the small blind. The other player folds and we see the turn , Khoueis and our better check to Boobekov who leads out for 41,000. Khoueis makes the call and our other player in the hand folds. The river falls the and Suzy Khoueis bets out 50,000. Boobekov ends up folding and Khouies claims the pot, She shows the and says it is the only way she can win the pot, and that she was surprised she didn't get there. Khoueis moves up to 310,000 while Boobekov falls to 100,000.
More than half
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 2:49pm
As we come back from the break there are just 100 players left in this tournament.
With 54 players getting paid this means that just a little over half of the players who are left in this tournament will be getting paid.
So players, look at the player next to you. Either you or him are going to make the money so you better get him before he gets you!
Blinds are currently 2,000/4,000 with a 500 ante.
The average stack is 156,800 which is still a very comfortable 35 big blinds!
Break
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 2:41pm
Our players are on the first ten-minute break of today's playBoskovic Building
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 2:40pm
Dean Boskovic Jr came into today's event as chip leader. One thing is certain, he has no interest in slowing down the aggressive play that got him there.
He has been aggressive so far on play today, building his stack up to 450,000.
On a recent hand, following a raise from middle position to 7,500 Boskovic called from the button as did Wei Zhu in the blinds.
On the flop the preflop raiser checked to him. Boskovic wasted no time taking over the aggression, putting out a bet of 12,000. The other player called.
The turn was a replica of this with the middle position player again check-calling Boskovic's bet. Both players then checked the river.
Boskovic flipped over for a pair of sixes which beat his opponents for Ace high. Boskovic's stack keeps getting bigger.
LAIDLAW GOING UP
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 2:39pm
Three players to a flop of is checked through by all. The turn brings the and a bet of 7,000 is called by Daniel Laidlaw and Dmitry Tymoshenko folds. The turn is the and Laidlaws opponent bets out 21,000. Laidlaw makes the call.
Opponent
Laidlaw
Laidlaw takes the pot after his opponent missed his flush draw. Laidlaw moves up to 255,000.
AUSTIN VS ARGYROS
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 2:34pm
Manu Austin raises from the small blind to 8,000 and is called by Bill 'The Croc' Argyros in the big blind. The flop falls Austin c-bets 6,500 and Argyros calls to see the on the turn. Austin bets out 13,500 and Argyros sizes up the bet with what he has left in his stack and chooses to fold. Austin goes up to 120,000 and Argyros drops to 41,000.
BRAHIM OVER 200,000
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 2:15pm
Three players saw the flop of and with the pot already at over 55,000 before any flop betting action would happen things were looking like all the action happened pre. Check, check and the button bet out 14,000 and only Michael Brahim made the call. Both players checked the turn and river of . Brahim turned over which was good to win the pot. Brahim moves up to 220,000.
Hia gives some to Bokody
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 2:15pm
Ebon Bokody raised to 6,000 from the cut off and it folded to Christine Hia in the big blind who made the call.
Hia then check-called a bet of 6,000 from Bokody on the flop and again the 12,000 bet he made on the turn.
Both players then checked the river and the cards were turned over.
Hia: - A Pair of Jacks
Bokody: - A Pair of Aces
Bokody takes the pot down and moves up to 305,000. Christine Hia is still sitting comfortably with 160,000.
TAN ELIMINATES ONE
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 2:03pm
Jerome Tan raises to 7,000 and gets re-raised to 18,000 by Rafe Aman action is folded to the big blind who moves all in for 43,500. Tan makes the call and Aman asks how much before making the call also. The flop drops , Tan thinks about his option and moves all in. Aman now realised he should of shoved pre and ended up folding his hand.
Tan
BB
Tan with the over pair to the big blinds pair, the turn and river complete the board with the . Tan moves up to 165,000.
McLovin - Doing it for the Horses!
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 1:53pm
Most poker players who frequent the Star Poker Room are not impressed when they find out they have been labeled the Star Poker Live Reporting Team Horse for that day's event.
To say that our tips have been a mock would be a severe understatement. In the past two years that we have been picking horses in this room only a couple have made it to the money. In fact, most have crashed and burned in glorious fashion from the moment that we announced them as our horse for the day.
The exception to this rule appears to be Luke 'McLovin' Hanna.
Hanna has taken the title of 'horse' like... well, like a champion racehorse! He is currently sitting on 220,000 and playing some of the best poker of his career.
In a recent hand, Hanna eliminated Timothy Mitchell from the event. The chips went all in preflop with Hanna holding the to Mitchell's . The board ran out sending Mitchell to the rail and our horse, Luke 'McLovin' Hanna on his way to being a black type listed thoroughbred!
Bring it home Fogel!
Poker Jewellery
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 1:44pm
From our quick calculations, there are currently five WSOP Bracelet winners still active in this Sydney Championships Main Event.
We have still in the tournament:
Gary Benson - 1996 WSOP Seven Card Stud Bracelet Winner
Heidi May - 2017 WSOP Ladies Event Bracelet Winner
Jarred Graham (pictured) - 2013 WSOP Pot Limit Omaha 8 or Better Bracelet Winner
Michael Addamo - 2018 WSOP No Limit Holdem Marathon Event Bracelet Winner
Andrew Hinrichsen - 2011 WSOP Europe No Limit Hold'em Bracelet Winner
Interestingly, whilst writing this we have noticed that all of our bracelet winners are short-stacked! Let's see if they can survive!
VASILIOU GETS SOME EXTRA CHIPS
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 1:37pm
Jason Quarmby raised to 5,000 and gets called by the CO and Billy Vasiliou in the big blind. The flop comes down Vasiliou checks and Quarmby bets out 6,500, the CO calls and Vasiliou raises it to 14,300. Quarmby makes the call but the CO folds. The turn brings the and both players check. The river falls the , Vasiliou bets out 15,400 and Quarmby calls and Vasiliou shows to claim the pot. Vasiliou moves up to 160,000 while Quarmby is still in with 80,000.
LAM WITH THE RIGHT CALL
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 1:19pm
Brian Lam raised pre-flop and got re-raised by Natalie Segon, Lam made the call. The board end up running out Lam fired out 10,000 on the river to which Segon moved all in covering Lam. Lam took some time to make the call as he revised the hand history. Lam trusted his gut and made the call.
Segon
Lam
Lam shoots up to 140,000, leaving Segon with under 10,000.
Cash Money Baby!! - 1st Prize $314,265
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 1:16pm
Our record-breaking field of 522 runners has provided us the biggest Sydney Championships prize pool in the tournaments proud 10-year history!
We have a total of $1,461,600 to be divided among our top 54 finishers. Our champion will be getting a fair chunk of that change with a very delectable $314,265 coming their way.
Making our final table of nine will score you at least $29,158 and a min-cash still represents a great return on your investment at $5,612!
Full payout details below:
| 1 | $314,265 |
| 2 | $194,290 |
| 3 | $141,935 |
| 4 | $105,220 |
| 5 | $79,131 |
| 6 | $60,364 |
| 7 | $46,698 |
| 8 | $36,642 |
| 9 | $29,158 |
| 10-12 | $23,517 |
| 13-15 | $19,234 |
| 16-18 | $15,931 |
| 19-21 | $13,373 |
| 22-24 | $11,371 |
| 25-27 | $9,792 |
| 28-30 | $8,550 |
| 31-33 | $7,556 |
| 34-36 | $6,767 |
| 37-45 | $6,124 |
| 46-54 | $5,612 |
The Best of The Best
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 1:08pm
As you would expect, getting down to the pointy end of a tournament as prestigious as the Sydney Champs, the number of quality players on each table is significant.
Here are some of the key matchups we are looking at!
Table 1 - Tony Tavella, Andrew Hinrichsen, Suzy Khoueis, Chris Kittos, Eric Assadourian, Didier Guerin, Nick Nicolau
Table 2 - Rod Meneses, Jason Quarmby, Ash Gupta, Connie Graham,
Table 3 - Nabil Edgtton, Mathew Wakeman, Alan Casas, Dinh Pham
Table 4 - Dmitry Tymoshenko, Shivan Abdine, Huss Hassan, Hannah Lee, Luis Arrilucea, Jarred Graham
Table 6 - Jesse Mckenzie, Jarryd Godena, Chad Awerbuch, Brett Murtagh, Gary Benson
Table 7 - Sammy Lusciano, Daniel Laidlaw, Sam Khouiss, Brendon Rubie
Table 9 - Luke Hanna, Toothpick Tony, Roy Vandersluis
Table 12 - Michel Bouskila, Nurlan Boobekov, Heidi May, Aharon Shabtay, Michael Addamo
Table 13 - Dejan Boskovic, Curly Seal, Gregg Russell, Mitchell Watson,
Table 14 - Billy The Croc, Aaron Berenstein, Ashleigh Tran, Sam Simon
Table 15 - Steve Pappas, David Borg, Rafe Aman
Basically wherever you go, expect to find tough players on your table!
FINALLY WINS A RACE
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 1:07pm
Sam Khouiss gets it all in 15,800 against Daniel Laidlaw. Khouiss has and the board runs out . Khouiss flops a set and doubles through, the dealer was too quick that we were unable to catch the cards that Laidlaw held. Khouiss is now on 35,000.
LUONG HAS KINGS
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 12:57pm
With a raise in front of him to 5,500, Anthony Luong moves all in for 35,200 and gets called.
Luong
Raiser
Board:
Luong Kings hold and the under pair did not improve, Luong moves up to 75,000.
Time to get serious
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 12:54pm
143 players started today and we will once again be playing 11 levels of 60 minutes a piece as we work our way towards the final table.
Unless we see a disgusting amount of coolers it is unlikely we will reach the final table before then but we should definitely be in the money by that stage.
For those wondering, the bubble will burst at 54 players being paid (full prize details will be provided shortly).
WAN OFF TO A GOOD START
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 12:48pm
Day 2 of the Star Sydney Championships 2018 Main event has started well for Vincent Wan, on the board of Jesse McKenzie checks the following player also checks, Wan bet out 6,000 and McKenzie calls our third player folds. The turn falls the and both players check. The river is the and McKenzie leads out for 16,500 and Wan Makes the call. McKenzie shows for trip aces and Wan shows for the river straight. Wan collects more chips and goes to 220,000.
Day 2 Allocations
Posted Sun, 05 Aug 2018 11:23am
Play begins at 12:30pm
| Last Name | First Name | Table | Seat | Chip Count |
| Abdine | Shivan | 4 | 7 | 217000 |
| Addamo | Michael | 12 | 6 | 32800 |
| Alam | Fred | 10 | 5 | 24300 |
| Aman | Rafe | 15 | 6 | 65400 |
| Arbabi | Kiavash | 7 | 3 | 92200 |
| Argyros | Bill | 14 | 8 | 55200 |
| Arrilucea | Luis | 4 | 3 | 88800 |
| Assadourian | Eric | 1 | 2 | 83800 |
| Austin | Manu | 14 | 7 | 83000 |
| Awerbuch | Chad | 6 | 9 | 70100 |
| Bain | Tristan | 1 | 6 | 92300 |
| Barrett | Joshua | 14 | 9 | 284900 |
| Basle | Harry | 8 | 9 | 41600 |
| Benson | Gary | 6 | 4 | 72400 |
| Blanusa | Nebojsa | 9 | 2 | 77400 |
| Bokody | Ebon | 11 | 1 | 202200 |
| Boobekov | Nurlan | 12 | 3 | 63000 |
| Borg | Luke | 10 | 10 | 108300 |
| Borg | David | 15 | 1 | 97000 |
| Boskovic | Dejan | 13 | 1 | 366600 |
| Boskovitz | Anthony | 14 | 10 | 74000 |
| Bouskila | Michel | 12 | 5 | 216100 |
| Brahim | Mufit | 6 | 8 | 184700 |
| Burns | Kahle | 11 | 8 | 70700 |
| Canaj | Besjan | 14 | 4 | 73800 |
| Carter | Piers E. | 14 | 5 | 174100 |
| Casas | Alan | 3 | 2 | 60000 |
| Clee | Terence | 10 | 2 | 309000 |
| Cohen | Joel | 11 | 10 | 51700 |
| Conomos | John | 5 | 9 | 57700 |
| Crawshaw | Hamish | 13 | 9 | 204000 |
| Dam | Ngoc Long | 6 | 7 | 95400 |
| Damelian | Robert | 11 | 2 | 139000 |
| Darbani | Hauman | 6 | 3 | 74300 |
| D'lapico-bien | Lawrence | 10 | 7 | 144800 |
| Dowling | Andre | 5 | 1 | 134400 |
| Edgtton | Nabil | 3 | 10 | 86400 |
| Elkassir | Mohammed | 12 | 10 | 219300 |
| Endersby | Travis | 12 | 4 | 114700 |
| Gendle | Justin | 11 | 4 | 52600 |
| Godena | Jarryd | 6 | 10 | 83500 |
| Gorr | Samuel | 14 | 2 | 90500 |
| Graham | Connie | 2 | 3 | 93500 |
| Graham | Jared | 4 | 2 | 87700 |
| Guerin | Didier | 1 | 10 | 38400 |
| Gupta | Ashish | 2 | 2 | 175100 |
| Haidary | Mostafa | 4 | 1 | 34900 |
| Hanna | Luke | 9 | 4 | 137000 |
| Hassan | Hussain | 4 | 6 | 170400 |
| Hassan | Osama | 7 | 7 | 84800 |
| Hawes | Charlie | 2 | 1 | 184000 |
| Heung | Wayne | 9 | 3 | 36200 |
| Hia | Christine | 5 | 3 | 127700 |
| Hinrichsen | Andrew | 1 | 3 | 166000 |
| Hong | Ryan | 12 | 1 | 360900 |
| Hovagimian | Vahe | 8 | 10 | 67000 |
| Inns | Anthony W | 5 | 2 | 79500 |
| Ioannou | Sam | 11 | 9 | 95700 |
| Jiang | Honglin | 5 | 8 | 109500 |
| Kambouroglou | Antonis | 9 | 6 | 97600 |
| Kehoe | Dylan | 10 | 3 | 121000 |
| Khoueis | Suzy | 1 | 4 | 124800 |
| Khouiss | Samir | 7 | 9 | 52800 |
| Kittos | Chris | 1 | 1 | 102000 |
| Laidlaw | Daniel | 7 | 1 | 130600 |
| Lam | Brian | 5 | 6 | 84500 |
| Leas | David | 3 | 7 | 70700 |
| Lee | Hannah | 4 | 9 | 107500 |
| Lee | David | 10 | 6 | 58200 |
| Levy | Michael | 8 | 6 | 218200 |
| Li | Jin | 1 | 9 | 138300 |
| Liu | Ling | 3 | 8 | 115200 |
| Lock | Andrew | 10 | 1 | 143600 |
| Lockwood | Blake | 1 | 8 | 65000 |
| Lockwood | Stephen | 4 | 8 | 39900 |
| Long | Jian | 8 | 1 | 103200 |
| Lowrie | Zackery T | 2 | 6 | 26100 |
| Lucisano | Salvatore | 7 | 5 | 135900 |
| Luong | Anthony | 8 | 7 | 43100 |
| Majeed | Dhiya | 15 | 10 | 44100 |
| Mamacas | George | 8 | 8 | 30100 |
| Manning | Greg | 9 | 7 | 150300 |
| Martino | Frank | 13 | 7 | 237000 |
| Matsioukkou | Michael | 7 | 10 | 48000 |
| May | Heidi | 12 | 9 | 49800 |
| Mccully | Joshua | 8 | 4 | 63400 |
| Mcguigan | Matthew | 7 | 4 | 150000 |
| Mckenzie | Jesse | 6 | 2 | 156000 |
| Mehta | Pratik | 14 | 1 | 85900 |
| Meneses | Rod | 2 | 10 | 177800 |
| Mitchell | Timothy | 9 | 1 | 44500 |
| Moussa | Chris | 3 | 9 | 130800 |
| Murtagh | Brett | 6 | 6 | 223200 |
| Natoli | Teresa-ann | 2 | 8 | 202700 |
| Neave | Oliver | 11 | 7 | 78900 |
| Nguyen | Duy | 2 | 9 | 120300 |
| Nguyen | Hoang | 4 | 4 | 51300 |
| Nicolaou | Nicholas | 1 | 5 | 35800 |
| Noja | Daniel | 13 | 2 | 40600 |
| O'grady | Michael | 10 | 8 | 152200 |
| Pacheco | Adrian | 13 | 8 | 84000 |
| Pappas | Steve | 15 | 2 | 167500 |
| Parkhill | Ashley | 15 | 3 | 53100 |
| Pham | Dinh | 3 | 6 | 249200 |
| Qiu | Wenjian | 15 | 4 | 64700 |
| Quarmby | Jason | 2 | 7 | 175600 |
| Rafferty | Tom | 8 | 3 | 145000 |
| Rock | Elvira | 5 | 4 | 207200 |
| Roe | Bridges | 5 | 5 | 85800 |
| Rubie | Brendon | 7 | 2 | 22100 |
| Russell | Gregg | 13 | 6 | 71900 |
| Safi | Nafiz | 12 | 2 | 87000 |
| Sahin | Ismail | 15 | 8 | 53200 |
| Sama | Tony | 3 | 1 | 56300 |
| Scarf | Andrew | 10 | 4 | 107100 |
| Seal | Emanuel | 13 | 10 | 43800 |
| Segon | Na Wei | 5 | 7 | 110900 |
| Shabtay | Aharon | 12 | 8 | 48100 |
| Sharpe | Ashley | 11 | 5 | 42100 |
| Silajdzija | Omer | 9 | 10 | 77300 |
| Simon | Sam | 14 | 3 | 48300 |
| Smith | Adam | 2 | 4 | 121500 |
| Tan | Win Meng | 15 | 5 | 57500 |
| Tavella | Antonio | 1 | 7 | 257100 |
| Tran | Ashleigh | 14 | 6 | 104300 |
| Truong | Tam | 4 | 10 | 139000 |
| Tymoshenko | Dmitriy | 4 | 5 | 250700 |
| Tyulyakova | Anastasia | 9 | 8 | 43300 |
| Vandersluis | Roy | 9 | 5 | 34300 |
| Vasilou | Billy | 2 | 5 | 110200 |
| Wakeman | Mathew | 3 | 5 | 56800 |
| Wan | Vincent | 6 | 1 | 199900 |
| Ward | Martin | 3 | 4 | 145400 |
| Watson | Mitchell | 13 | 4 | 17700 |
| Xiao | Jerry | 13 | 3 | 62600 |
| Xie | Hong | 7 | 6 | 37200 |
| Xu | Vincent | 15 | 9 | 237400 |
| Yang | Lei | 5 | 10 | 65800 |
| Yawari | Ibrahim | 3 | 3 | 131100 |
| Yin | Louis | 11 | 3 | 79400 |
| Youssef | Carlos | 8 | 5 | 57200 |
| Yu | Guang Yan | 15 | 7 | 108500 |
| Zhu | Wei | 13 | 5 | 77700 |