Sydney local Henry Tran has just filled us in on his unlucky day.
Apparently he first lost a big pot when he held 
, three-bet Jesse McKenzie preflop in position and McKenzie called with 
and the made a full house on a 
board. Then Tran ran his into 
for the rest of it.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Australian Poker Hall of Fame member Gary Benson has just picked up quite a large pot. We arrived at the hand in question with four players involved in the pot on the turn of a 
board. The first player to act led out for 800 and only Benson made the call.
On the 
river, it was checked to Benson, who went to bet what looked like 2,400, but before Benson could get the chip out on the felt, his opponent has instantly folded.
Benson is up to 29,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
29,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
|
||
Rami Hakim has boosted his stack to sit as one of the chip leaders.
One big hand that Hakim took down started when he opened it up with a raise from early position and was faced with a three-bet to 1,675 from Ricky Kroesen. Hakim made the call and the dealer turned over a 
flop. Hakim check-called a bet of 1,725 here and then both players checked the 
turn.
On the 
river, Hakim led for 5,500 and Kroesen went deep into the tank, eventually calling.
At showdown, Hakim tabled and Kroesen’s cards went into the muck.
“Nice hand mate,” said Kroesen. “You got my aces.”
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
55,000
55,000
|
55,000 |
|
12,000
7,500
|
7,500 |
Level: 4
Blinds: 150/300
Ante: 25
Ricky Kroesen has had a swingy Day 1a. He told us he's been up to 30,000, down to 25,000, down to 6,000, up to 15,000 and has now steadied at 12,000. We witnessed Kroesen at around his lowest stack when we arrived to a 
flop in a four-way pot. The action was folded to Kroesen, who bet 1,300. One opponent raised it up to 5,000 and after some though, Kroesen made the call.
On the 
turn, Kroesen checked and the flop agressor moved all in for around 7,500. Kroesen made a fairly quick fold and that was that.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
13,000
1,000
|
1,000 |
Dale Marsland has just recalled to us a gift pot he was given a short time ago. Marsland said an opponent decided to move all in dark from under the gun for over 50 big blinds, and Marsland happily woke up with ace-king in the big blind and made the call. His opponent showed ace-five which was perfect for Marsland to take it down.
So why did the player stack off? Was he tilted? Apparently not. He just wanted to go and play in the cash games! That’s all good for a happy Marsland who is now back above his starting stack.
Former Aussie Millions Main Event champion David Gorr has just lost a fair chunk of his stack, though is still travelling along healthy enough with around 17,500.
We picked up the action from the turn of a 
board, with Gorr leading out for 2,200 into one opponent. There was already a considerable amount in the pot at this point and it took quite some time for the player to call and the dealer to flip over a 
on the river.
It was on this final card that Gorr would lead out for 4,000. This time his opponent snap-called.
At showdown, Gorr tabled , while his opponent triumphantly turned over 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
17,500 |
Here are some approximate stacks of a few of the notables alive heading into the second break of the day.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
58,000
58,000
|
58,000 |
|
55,000
31,500
|
31,500 |
|
40,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
|
||
|
38,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
|
|
35,000
6,000
|
6,000 |
|
|
||
|
35,000
16,000
|
16,000 |
|
||
|
33,000
13,000
|
13,000 |
|
26,000
9,000
|
9,000 |
|
24,000
1,500
|
1,500 |
|
23,000
4,000
|
4,000 |
|
23,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
|
22,000
22,000
|
22,000 |
|
22,000
4,000
|
4,000 |
|
19,500
500
|
500 |
|
||
|
18,000
18,000
|
18,000 |
|
|
17,000
3,000
|
3,000 |
|
|
||
|
14,000
6,000
|
6,000 |
|
||
|
12,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
10,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
10,000
500
|
500 |
|
|
8,800
15,200
|
15,200 |
|
|
6,000
7,000
|
7,000 |
|
Busted | |
Five players including Joe Hachem and Luke Brabin paid 650 apiece to see a flop of 
. Action checked to a player in middle position who bet 1,700. Brabin was the lone caller in the big blind as the turn brought the .
Brabin checked to his opponent who bet 2,300. Brabin tossed out 4,400 but was ruled to a min-raise to 4,600. His opponent called and the river was the 
to put four clubs on board.
Brabin reached deep and tossed 9,075 into the middle. His opponent gave it up and Brabin raked in a nice pot to move up to 60,000 in chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
60,000
60,000
|
60,000 |
|
|
||
Approximately 185 players have been sent on what the staff here at The Star are calling a "lunch break."
Play will kick back off in 30 minutes - or around 5:10 p.m. local time.
