WSOP Masters(50+Years) Event(Re-Entry)

Craig Blight is the Masters Champion at the 2017 WSOP Sydney Masters Event! - $23,906

Posted Wed, 06 Dec 2017 1:13am

The most amazing thing about Craig Blight winning the Masters Event here at the 2017 WSOP Sydney Circuit Event is that it told the world Craig Blight was over 50! Nobody will ever accuse Blight of only winning a tournament because it was a Masters one, the baby faced assassin is one of the more accomplished tournament poker players in the Greater Sydney Region with over $700,000 in career earnings.

Much like in our Turbo Event yesterday, Craig Blight was absolutely clinical today. He was responsible for eliminating seven out of his eight opponents at the final table. He came in with the chip lead and never looked back until he had picked up all the chips, a WSOP Gold Ring and the $23,906 first place paycheque firmly in his grasp.

This was no easy tournament either mind you, with 177 players starting in this event there was some significant poker talent in the tournament and especially at the pointy end. The final table included notable players such as former Melbourne Champs Main Event Winner Todor Kondevski, Sam Khouiss ($1.2m Tournament Earnings) and Michel Bouskila ($1m Tournament Earnings).

Even with such formidable talent, Blight was still completely unstoppable.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Craig Blight told the Star Poker Live Reporting Team. “I had in mind that I wanted to come here and have a good showing during the WSOP and it is amazing to get the win.

When speaking to Blight about the number of players he knocked out he revealed that the perfect mixture of luck and big stack aggression was what put him in such a great spot today.

“I ran good tonight,” Blight confided. “Sometimes I didn’t have it but honestly a lot of the time I had good cards. It was great having the big stack, you can put a lot of pressure on the other players which really helps. If they are the ones that are all in then they are the ones who have hard decisions to make.”

The only man who came close to our chip leader was Justin Layden. Justin played a good game overall and was just looking for the right moment to attack. Unfortunately for him it proved difficult against a man who had over 75% of the chips in play when when we were four handed.

A nice moment in this tournament was when we saw how valuable the WSOP Circuit Gold Ring is to players. There was a small discussion about hypothetical deals that could be made and players were unable to find common ground..

“I am not trying to be funny,” Blight finally told his heads up opponent. “But I don’t really care about he money. I just want the ring.”

At this point Layden smiled and replied “Me too”.

There are few things more iconic than the WSOP in the world of poker. The fact that these players had the opportunity to play for a WSOP title whilst being in Sydney at the Star Poker Room is a truly memorable event.

“I love the Star Poker Room,” Blight told us. “You can see the amount of work they have put in over the past five years to make it even better for players, they have done a great job.

“I think it is probably the best poker room in Australia now days.”

We hope to see Craig Blight back in the Star Poker Room later in the series as he competes in future events. Blight doesn’t need to wait until another Masters Event. With his level of poker talent he can literally win anything.

Justn Layden Eliminated in 2nd Place - $14,767

Posted Wed, 06 Dec 2017 12:26am

Justin Layden is the runner up of the 2017 WSOP Sydney Masters Event.

Blight raised to 45,000 only to be re-raised to 120,000 by Layden. Blight was having none of it and he moved all in. Blight made the call.

Blight: 

Layden: 

Board: 

Justin Layden is the last man to hit the rail and Craig Blight is our champion!

Brian Payne Eliminated in 3rd Place - $10,629

Posted Wed, 06 Dec 2017 12:23am

Craig 'Old Blue Eyes' Blight made it 50,000 to go and Brian Payne made the call.

On the flop of  Blight bet again, this time Payne moved all in and Blight made the call.

Blight: 

Payne:  

The turn  and the river  sealed the deal and sent Payne to the rail.

We are now heads up!

Todor Kondevski Eliminated in 4th Place - $7,790

Posted Wed, 06 Dec 2017 12:12am

Melbourne luminary, Todor Kondevski, has been eliminated from the tournament in fourth place.

He moved all in and in what appeared to be an instant replay of every other elimination on this final table, Craig 'Looks Good in Leather' Blight made the call.

Kondevski: 

Blight: 

Board: 

We are now three handed and Craig Blight has nearly three quarters of the chips in play!

Final Four Chip Counts

Posted Wed, 06 Dec 2017 12:08am

Brake

Posted Wed, 06 Dec 2017 12:05am

Most of the people involved in this final table had a ten minute break. Sadly (for me) it took me about ten minutes to write that final hand.

Players have resumed playing 10,000/20,000 with a 2,000 ante!

Sam Ioannou Eliminated in 5th Place - $5,810

Posted Wed, 06 Dec 2017 12:03am

With the action folding to Sam Ioannou he moved all in for his final 170.000.

As he normally does, Craig Blight made the call.

Ioannou: 

Blight: 

Board: 

Craig 'I can't believe it's not butter' Blight claims another scalp and moves to what could be an unassailable chip lead

Brian Butler Eliminated in 6th Place - $4,409

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 11:47pm

After an impressive run, Brian Butler has been eliminated in 6th place.

Butler had the princely total of just one big blind when he got to our table but has done a great job to last until now.

Butler moved all in for 103,000 and Jayden Layden made the call.

Layden: 

Butler: 

Board: 

Butler heads to the rail and Jayden Layden is now challenging Craig Blight for the chip lead!

Justin Layden gets a nice double!

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 11:41pm

Justin Layden made it 47,000 to go and with the action on Brian Payne he moved all in. Layden made the call with his 136,000 stack and he had Brian Payne... well, in pain.

Layden: 

Payne: 

Board: 

Layden shoots up to 300,000 in chips!

Sam Khouiss Eliminated in 7th Place - $3,403

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 11:36pm

Craig Blight raised to 35,000 from UTG+1 and it folded around to Sam Khouiss in the small blind who moved all in for his final 53,000. Brian Payne folded from the big blind and Blight made the call.

Khouiss: 

Blight: 

Board: 

Craig 'Big Lips' Blight claims another scalp and Sam Khouiss is off to the cage!

Greg Russell Eliminated in 8th Place - $2,670

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 11:27pm

Greg Russell raised to 25,000 from the cutoff. Craig Blight and Todor Kondeveski both called from the blinds.

We saw a flop of  and after both Blight and Kondevski checked, Greg Russell moved all in for 126,000.

The decision was on Blight who seemed to have a tough one. He eventually moved all in, meaning Kondevski was all in to call. He folded and the cards were turned over.

Russell: 

Blight: 

Blight was in front and the turn  and river did nothing to change that he heads to the rail in 8th place and Craig 'Bang Bang' Blight cements his position as our chip leader!

Michel Bouskila eliminated in 9th place

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 11:06pm

Craig Blight limped from middle position for 12,000 and the Sam Khouiss completes the blinds. The flop was :  and Michel Bouskila and Sam Khouiss check on the blinds, Blight bets out 15,000, Khouiss folds, Michel moves all in and Blight snaps.

Blight: 
Bouskila: 

The runs are  and Blight eliminates Bouskila.

Butler is serving it up on the final table

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 11:02pm

After entering the final table with 4,000 chips, Butler is running hot.

Blight raised on the button to 24,000 and Butler moved all in (again) from the small blind for 52,000. 

Blight
Butler: 

The board ran out

Butler's queens held and he's up to over 100,000 chips, an amazing come back and given the previous run rate here at WSOP Sydney, this short stack could be on to a winner.

Butler Triples up

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 10:52pm

Todor Kondevski raised to 30,000 from early position and a severley short stacked Brian Butler moved all in for 7,000. Big blind Sam Ioannou calls the 30,000 and it's off to the flop.

Flop: 

Ioannou fires 60,000 and Kondevski retreats to safety.

Ioannou: 
Butler: 

The turn comes out  and the river brings the . Butler makes two pair on the river and gets the triple up but he's not out of the woods yet. He still has plenty of work to do if he's going to go any deeper in this event.

Final Table Chip Counts

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 10:42pm

Craig Blight has been the chip leader for a large portion of the evening and is maintainng that lead into the final table.

The final table is set

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 10:22pm

17 for 17

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 9:27pm

Players are on a break

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 9:19pm

Seyed Nasib eliminated in 18th

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 9:18pm

Seyed Nasib (pictured) raised in late position to 14,000 and was promptly re-raised to 45,000 by Sam Ioannou. Nasib made the call.

The Flop: 

Nasib moved all in and was called by Ioannou. 

Nasib:  
Ioannou: 

Despite Nasib's up and down straight flush draw, he did not improve as the board ran out and is sent to the rail in 18th place, collecting $1,186 for his efforts. 

Double elimination - Andrew Kitchen is the bubble boy!

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 9:13pm

In an uncharacteristic flurry of excitement here at the Masters tournament, there was a double elimination to burst the bubble prematurely. There was a three way all-in each covering each other, with big stack Sam Ioannou the only one not at risk. 

Short stack: 
Kitchen: 
Ioannou: 

Ioannou was way out in front and we were bracing ourselves for a either a big upset or for the bubble to be history.

The board ran out:  and the short stacks were gone. Andrew Kitchen threw everything but the sink at the hand, but is now the WSOP Sydney Masters Event Bubble boy!

Blights in no plight

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 9:03pm

The Payne train sinks the love boat

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 10:54pm

We caught the action when Brian Payne (pictured) was against Joe "The Loveboat" Meissner who was all in and at risk.

Payne : 
Meissner: 

The board:  

Payne rivered a straight to deliver a knockout punch straight to The Loveboat. Joe Meissner hits the rail.

A literal coin flip

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 8:37pm

The cut-off raised to 30,000 (7.5BB) and Todor Kondevski went deep into the aquarobics tank. Feeling the pressure he decided to let fate take the wheel and drew a coin from his pocket. 

Kondevski tossed the coin and fate decided that a fold was in order. 

"I folded jacks!" Kondevski said. He took up the offer to see one of his opponents cards before they mucked and turned over a king. "I made a great fold, I knew it!" Kondvski said in closing.

The bank of dad.

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 8:24pm

Not many men over 50 have a spare finger for another gold ring, but one of the final 23 will have a tough decision to make at the end of this tournament. Not only is the fourth WSOP Circuit Ring of the series up for grabs, but some serious bingo money. You can buy a few pads and a spare blotter or two with this kind of cash.

The blinds are aging

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 8:12pm

Meissner knows

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 11:25pm

Former world karate champion, Joe Meissner was all in pre-flop for his final 9,000 and both blinds called. 

The flop: 

Small blind moved all in and the big blind decided to bow out, mucking his cards. 

Meissner: 
Small Blind: 

The small blind's flush draw never came and Meissner now has a fighting chance to stay in the dojo until the bitter end.

Spano cuts him off at the knees

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 7:59pm

We came the table to see the mid position player move all in and Robert Spano (pictured) called with plenty to spare.

All-in player: 
Spano: 

Spano was behind but not for long. It was clear that the universe had big plans for Spano when the board fell  and he continues to climb toward the chip leader.

Big pot for a small blind

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 7:48pm

Craig Blight raised the button to 5,000 and Sam Khouiss quickly calls fromt he small blind. The big blind moved all in for 16,000 and both players call.

Flop: 

Ever patient, the masters checked the  turn and the  river. 

Blight: 
Khouiss: 
Big Blind: 

Khouiss picks up a big pot and helps move us toward two tables.

Kings are out of fashion

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 7:33pm

We caught the action when the late position called Robert Spano's all-in and they were off to the races.

Spano: 
Caller: 

Spano was infront but only barely. The board ran out  and as if they're going out of fashion, Kings are no longer any good in The Star Poker Room.

Spano doubles up as we approach level 13.

Jim Langford is the king

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 7:28pm

Sam Khouiss opened the button to 6,000 and the small blind moved all-in for 18,000. Jim Langford (pictured) was ready to go and shoved over the top. Khouiss gets out of the way.

All-in: 
Langford: 

The board ran out  and Langford's set is not to be trifled with. We are now down to the final three tables.

Quads before the break!

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 7:08pm

Two middle position players limp and Chris Coghlan makes it 6,000 from the cut-off. It's called around to the  flop and the first to act is all in for 25,000. Coghlan was the only one to make the call and their cards were on their backs.

All-in: 
Coghlan: 

Both players flopped a set but Coghlan was the only one smiling. The turn put final nail in the casket when the  hit the felt. Coghlan gets the knock-out is off for a break.

Tea Break

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 7:03pm

Craig is a blight on their tournament

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 7:01pm

The early position min-raised to 4,000 and mid position called as did Craig Blight in the big blind. The flop fell  and Blight checks. The intital raiser goes all in, mid position calls and Blight moves all-in over the top.

Early position: 
Mid position: 
Blight: 

Blight flopped a full house and was well infront. No one improved and Blight has eliminated two players amassing a huge stack in the mean time

Big stack applies the pressure

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 6:49pm

The Masters event is the place for tight, passive play but Seyed Nasab is using his big stack to his advantage. The button opened to 6,000 with two calls including Nasab. The  flop  was checked around to Nasab who moved all in, gentling encouraging his two table mates to muck. 

Nasab is pulling further infront of the pack as 36 players remain in the tournament. 

The Scene

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 5:31pm

There were 177 entrants in the Master's Tournament and now just 65 remain.

Blinds are currently 500/1,000 with a 100 ante.

The Masters Event

Posted Tue, 05 Dec 2017 4:58pm

You may have noticed from the increased number of boiled candy wrappers on the floor of the Star Poker room today that the Masters' tournament is in action!

Now when we say Masters, we don't mean it as in a Golf sense where only the best of the best are on display. We mean it in a living sense. These players have all 'Mastered' the art of living, they have been doing so for at least 50 years!

This tournament promises to be quite the spectacle, or whatever older people like to say. So get out your best pair of reading glasses, your favourite knitted blanket and pour yourself a nice glass of Sherry!

The Star Poker Live Reporting Team will be in at six to bring you all the action!