2007 PokerNews Cup - Australia

Day 2 completed

Posted 10-22-2007 23:02 GMT+11

Steve Charles Wins Event #1 ($16,615), Jim Mastorakos Eliminated in 2nd Place ($12,050)

Jim Mastorakos raised to 150,000 from the button and Steve Charles called. The flop was . Charles bet 300,000, Mastorakos moved all in and Charles called. Mastorakos turned up for the nut flush draw, while Charles tabled for top pair. The turn was the , the river was the , and after a quick count by the dealer to confirm that Charles had Mastorakos covered, he was declared the winner, taking home $16,615. Mastorakos earned $12,050 for his runner-up finish.

Congratulations to Steve Charles, who battled back after having his stack crippled to less than a big blind to win Event #1 of the Poker News Cup!

Level 15 started

Posted 10-22-2007 15:48 GMT+11

Steve Charles Gains Some Ground

Jim Mastorakos limped in on the button and Charles checked from the big blind. The flop was and both players checked. The turn was the . Charles checked, Mastorakos bet 100,000 and Charles called. The river was the . Charles bet 200,000 and Mastorakos called. Charles turned over , Mastorakos mucked and Charles dragged the pot.

After the hand, Charles was up to 925,000 while Mastorakos slipped to 700,000.

Updated Chip Counts

Jim Mastorakos 1,250,000
Steve Charles 425,000

At Last, a Flop

Steve Charles limped in on the button and Jim Mastorakos checked his option from the big blind. The flop was. Mastorakos bet 100,000 and Charles called. The turn was the . Mastorakos fired out another 100,000 and Charles called again. The river was the . For the third time, Mastorakos bet 100,000 but this time, Charles folded and Mastorakos dragged the pot.

Small-Pot Poker

Thus far, Mastorakos and Charles have been playing small-pot poker with a hand rarely getting past the flop. A pre-flop raise and a bet on the flop so far has been enough to take the pot.

Level 14 started

Posted 10-22-2007 15:25 GMT+11

Heads-Up

We're now heads-up between Jim Mastorakos and Steve Charles. Mastorakos has the chip lead with 1,000,000 in chips to Charles' 650,000.

Renyuan Liu Eliminated in 3rd Place ($8,726)

Renyuan Liu raised to 100,000 from the button, Steve Charles moved all in from the big blind and Liu called.

Liu
Charles

The flop was , the turn was the , the river was the , and Liu hit the rail in 3rd place, winning $8,726.