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Henry Wang, fresh off a final table appearance at the New Caledonia Poker Open, has been eliminated early on Day 1a of the ANZPT Sydney Main Event.
Wang was unlucky to run his 
into 
when all the chips went in and wasn't able to improve.
Stevan “random_chu” Chew had lost a considerable portion of his starting stack early on Day 1a of the ANZPT Sydney Main Event, but has since steadied and moved back to around 18,000.
We watched Chew rake in a pot on a 
board. Mel Judah and Grant Levy were still involved in the hand and they checked to Chew, who bet 1,200. One other player involved in the hand called from the button, while Judah and Levy got out of the way. At showdown, Chew turned over 
, which was enough to scoop some chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
18,000
-6,000
|
-6,000 |
Level: 4
Blinds: 150/300
Ante: 25
We picked up the action in a multi-way pot on flop of 
. It appeared there was a bet from the under-the-gun player, followed by a raise to 2,700 from Michael O’Grady. Action folded back around the table to Tom Grigg's girlfriend Meg Brandenburg in the big blind who flat called. The UTG player came along as well as the 
found its way onto the turn.
Action was checked to O’Grady who thought for a bit before tossing out 6,000. That didn’t shake either opponent as both players made the call to see a big pot in the middle before the 
appeared.
All three tapped the table where the UTG-player opened 
to take down the pot with trip aces to leave both O’Grady and Brandenburg shaking their heads.
“I did raise the flop didn’t I?” sighed O’Grady.
“Well, I had the best hand on the flop,” chirped Brandenburg who said she had 9-7 for a flopped two pair. O’Grady commended that he held a pair and draw.
Ken Demlakian started things off with a preflop raise to 750, which found callers in the blinds, including Josh Barrett in the big. They took a flop of 
where Demlakian’s continuation bet of 1,450 was quickly called by both opponents as the paired the board on the turn.
The small blind checked and Barrett took the lead with a bet of 3,300. Demlakian called as the small blind got out of the way before both players checked the 
river.
“Ace-queen,” said Barrett but Demlakian took it down with 
.
Both Demlakian and Barrett sit with their starting stack of 20,000.
Right now there are two players who stand above the rest, in terms of chip counts, that is. First we have Anthony Aston with a stack toward 80,000 and then we have Alex Lee with 70,000.
Both Lee and Aston have a couple of things in common - they have made the final table of ANZPT Sydney and both are from Canberra.
Lee finished 5th in 2011 when Michael Kanaan won the title and Aston finished 3rd the following year when Gordon Huntly won.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
78,000
18,000
|
18,000 |
|
70,000
70,000
|
70,000 |
Melbournian Ryan Hong has almost doubled his stack as we head toward the tail end of the first half of Day 1a of the ANZPT Sydney Main Event.
Hong scooped up a very handy pot with some aggression on the river of a 
. There was already well over 5,000 in the middle and Hong’s lone opponent had bet 3,000. Hong took quite a while before moving all in, having his opponent with 15,000 behind covered. The player agitatedly tabled face up as he folded and the chips went to Hong.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
35,500
15,500
|
15,500 |
Former APPT Sydney champ and the only dual APPT / ANZPT champion Grant Levy, has just hit the rail.
Levy’s final hand began when a player opened it up to 900 from early position. Srdjan Brkic called from the cut off, Mel Judah called from the small blind and Levy called from the big blind.
On the 
flop, Judah checked, Levy moved all in for 4,750 and the preflop aggressor got out of the way. Brkic called and then it was on Judah. After a few moments, Judah moved all in for over 20,000 and Brkic folded and with that, Levy was at risk.
Levy: 
Judah: 
Levy needed to catch some cards, but the 
turn and the river were no good and it was all over.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
36,000
9,000
|
9,000 |
|
||
|
Busted | |
The players have been sent on a 10-minute break!
See you back soon for more ANZPT Sydney action.
Level: 5
Blinds: 200/400
Ante: 50
