2019 WSOP International Circuit The Star Sydney

AU$20,000 High Roller
Day: 2
Event Info

2019 WSOP International Circuit The Star Sydney

Final Results
Winner
Jonathan Karamalikis
Winning Hand
q8
Prize
377,625 AUD
Event Info
Buy-in
20,000 AUD
Entries
53
Level Info
Level
21
Blinds
15,000 / 30,000
Ante
15,000

Otto Drops More

Level 20 : 12,000/24,000, 12,000 ante

The two players are grinding out the small pots, most of which are going Jonathan Karamalikis' way.

The latest saw Ryan Otto make it 50,000 on the button and Karamalikis made the call with the flop falling {3-Clubs}{q-Hearts}{j-Hearts}. Karamalikis check-called Otto's 33,000 continuation bet and the dealer revealed the {q-Diamonds} turn to pair the board and brought checks from both players.

The {5-Spades} river also saw no action and Karamalikis took the pot with {k-Hearts}{6-Diamonds} with Otto mucking to drop to 570,000 with Karamalikis climbing back to over 2.2 million.

Player Chips Progress
Jonathan Karamalikis au
Jonathan Karamalikis
2,200,000
500,000
500,000
Ryan Otto nz
Ryan Otto
570,000
-290,000
-290,000

Karamalikis Turns the Screws

Level 20 : 12,000/24,000, 12,000 ante

Jonathan Karamalikis won the first hand back after the break, leading out for a two-thirds pot size bet on the river on a board of {5-Clubs}{3-Clubs}{k-Clubs}{q-Spades}{2-Hearts} from the blinds to take down the 146,000 pot.

The next hand, Karamalikis made it 50,000 to go on the button but folded when Ryan Otto three-bet to 175,000 to end the hand right there.

Player Chips Progress
Jonathan Karamalikis au
Jonathan Karamalikis
1,700,000
100,000
100,000
Ryan Otto nz
Ryan Otto
860,000
-240,000
-240,000

Tags: Jonathan KaramalikisRyan Otto

Level: 20

Blinds: 12,000/24,000

Ante: 12,000

Dinner Break

Level 19 : 10,000/20,000, 10,000 ante

The two remaining High Rollers have headed off for a 30-minute dinner break. Jonathan Karamalikis is still leading with a stack of 1.6 million, though Ryan Otto has managed to claw back to 1.1 million.

When play resumes blinds will be 12,000/24,000 with a 12,000 ante, giving Karamalikis 67 big blinds to Ryan Otto's 46 big blinds.

Player Chips Progress
Jonathan Karamalikis au
Jonathan Karamalikis
1,600,000
-100,000
-100,000
Ryan Otto nz
Ryan Otto
1,100,000
180,000
180,000

Tags: Jonathan KaramalikisRyan Otto

Otto Pressures Karamalikis

Level 19 : 10,000/20,000, 10,000 ante
Heads Up
Heads Up

While Karamalikis may have edged into the chip lead, Ryan Otto is not making it easy for him and is refusing to go down without a fight.

The blinds had not long climbed to 10,000/20,000 with a 10,000 running ante, giving Otto a very playable 30 big blind stack and after the two players battled over a series of small pots, another big hand went down between the duo.

With the board reading {k-Spades}{10-Diamonds}{9-Diamonds}{6-Spades}{8-Spades}, Otto had led out on the river for 56,000, which was close to a two-thirds pot-sized bet. Karamalikis responded with a button raise to 160,000 and Otto had pulled the trigger for his last remaining 456,000 to send Karamalikis deep into thought mode.

It was 296,000 more to call and though he looked sorely tempted, eventually after several minutes of careful contemplation Karamalikis made the fold to drop down to 1.7 million, leaving Otto to scoop the 920,000 pot.

Otto let Karamalikis pick one of his hole cards after the fact, with him choosing the leftmost one, which was the {10-Spades}.

Player Chips Progress
Jonathan Karamalikis au
Jonathan Karamalikis
1,700,000
-300,000
-300,000
Ryan Otto nz
Ryan Otto
920,000
328,000
328,000

Tags: Jonathan KaramalikisRyan Otto

Level: 19

Blinds: 10,000/20,000

Ante: 10,000

Karamalikis Takes the Lead

Level 18 : 8,000/16,000, 8,000 ante
Heads Up
Heads Up

It took close to a full 60-minute level but Jonathan Karamalikis has edged into the chip lead.

Karamalikis had managed to run his stack up to 843,000 before the hand in question played out, with Ryan Otto sitting on 1.8 million in chips.

The decisive hand saw Ryan Otto raise the button to 32,000 with Karamaliks calling to bring the pair to a flop of {a-Clubs}{q-Diamonds}{10-Clubs}. Karamalikis check-called Otto's continuation bet and the dealer peeled off the {9-Clubs} turn.

This saw a second check from Karamalikis and a 110,000 second barrel from Otto, which Karamalikis called after some time in the think tank to swell the pot to 392,000 coming into the {6-Spades} river.

A third check from Karamalikis saw Otto pull the trigger and move all-in, with the former making a quick call.

Otto turned over {8-Diamonds}{5-Clubs} and Karamalikis claimed the pot with {8-Clubs}{6-Clubs} to seize the lead for the first time in the heads-up confrontation, climbing to 2,000,000 after the hand, while Otto dropped to 592,000 after the hand. The blinds climbed shortly afterwards.

Player Chips Progress
Jonathan Karamalikis au
Jonathan Karamalikis
2,000,000
1,463,000
1,463,000
Ryan Otto nz
Ryan Otto
592,000
-1,535,000
-1,535,000

Tags: Jonathan KaramalikisRyan Otto

Level: 18

Blinds: 8,000/16,000

Ante: 8,000

Roger Teska Eliminated in 3rd Place (AU$153,064/~$104,430)

Level 17 : 6,000/12,000, 6,000 ante
Roger Teska
Roger Teska

Roger Teska had become the shortest stack and tangled in two pots with Ryan Otto that saw his stock drop further in value.

The first was a limped pot that saw Otto complete the small blind and Teska check his option from the big blind to bring the pair to a flop of {8-Clubs}{9-Spades}{k-Spades}, which saw no betting.

The {6-Clubs} turn was also checked through, with the {8-Hearts} river completing the hand, but not the betting, with Otto leading for 25,000 and Teska making the call, but mucking immediately when Otto turned over {8-Clubs}{5-Diamonds} for rivered trip eights.

The second pot two hands later saw Teska the man raising the button to 25,000 and Otto calling from the big blind to bring in a flop of {a-Diamonds}{2-Diamonds}{9-Clubs}, where the action went check, bet 25,000, call.

The {9-Spades} turn was checked by both, with the {10-Diamonds} coming in on the river. This was also checked with Otto taking it down with the {j-Diamonds} for a flush to drop Teska to 340,000 and pad Otto's stack to 1.9 million.

The orbit, Teska's tournament was over. Teska was back on the button and made it 30,000 to go, with Jonathan Karamalikis making the call before Ryan Otto squeezed all-in from the big blind. Teska made a quick call and Karamalikis got out of the way.

Ryan Otto: {4-Clubs}{4-Hearts}
Roger Teska: {a-Clubs}{q-Diamonds}

It was left to a race to decide Teska's fate, and Otto had a winning habit when it comes to coin flips, with that trend continuing on the {5-Clubs}{8-Hearts}{7-Clubs}{7-Hearts}{8-Hearts} run out.

Teska got up to shake both Otto's and Karamalikis' hands and headed off to collect the AU$153,064 on offer for third place, while Otto stacked up to 2,127,000, which will see him bring the chip lead into the heads-up confrontation with Jonathan Karamalikis, who has a stack of 537,000.

The clock has been paused while the WSOP Circuit Ring is brought out and will resume in 10-minutes.

Player Chips Progress
Ryan Otto nz
Ryan Otto
2,127,000
327,000
327,000
Jonathan Karamalikis au
Jonathan Karamalikis
537,000
12,000
12,000
Roger Teska us
Roger Teska
Busted
WPT 1X Winner

Tags: Jonathan KaramalikisRoger TeskaRyan Otto

Karamalikis Ups Aggression

Level 17 : 6,000/12,000, 6,000 ante

Ryan Otto is beginning to turn the screws and vacuum up all the chips he can, increasing his holdings to 1.8 million as level began to wind down with just 15 minutes remaining on the clock.

That left Jonathan Karamalikis and Roger Teska close to evenly stacked with the rest of the chips in play between the pair of them.

However, Karamalikis chose to go on the offensive to win two hands in a row with some aggressive pre-flop re-raising.

The first saw Otto the man opening the action with a button raise to 30,000, folding when Karamalikis three-bet to 105,000 take it down without a flop being dealt.

The second saw Roger Teska make it 30,000 from the button and Karamalikis made it 106,000 to go from the small blind, which was good for some more blinds and antes.

Player Chips Progress
Ryan Otto nz
Ryan Otto
1,800,000
300,000
300,000
Jonathan Karamalikis au
Jonathan Karamalikis
525,000
-25,000
-25,000
Roger Teska us
Roger Teska
418,000
-97,000
-97,000
WPT 1X Winner

Tags: Jonathan KaramalikisRoger TeskaRyan Otto