There was a commotion at one of the Main Event tables with an area manager in discussion with the dealer.
The situation was this. On a board of , Cheng-Wei Lin had bet 6,000. Opponent Dennis Huntly had said "I have a big hand," and turned over . Lin had interpreted this as an open-fold, pushed his cards to one side which were scooped into the muck by the dealer.
The cards were irretrievable from the muck and Lin was arguing his case that Huntly had, in fact, folded his cards. The area manager initially ruled that the pot was Huntly's but Lin dug his heels in and tournament director Joel Williams was called.
After he was explained the situation he spoke with both players. His ruling was that the pot was to be awarded to Lin.
Huntly had opened his cards with no pair and Lin had interpreted that as a fold. At that point, the dealer should have clarified whether it was a fold or not.
"If that happens," Williams told PokerNews after the hand, "Then Dennis probably says 'Of course it's a fold' and they muck his cards.
"Huntly didn't call, and the only reason [Lin's] folded is because of Huntly opening his cards."
Huntly accepted this ruling and Lin was awarded the pot.
There have been several casualties already on table 17 and that included Martin Ward and 2014 WSOP APAC bracelet winner Sam Higgs.
After spending the previous days with high stakes PLO cash games at Crown Casino, Higgs late-regged on Day 2 and immediately lost half of his stack. He then doubled through Ali Ghezelbash with quads nines, holding on a board of when the last 9,900 went in after the river.
Soon after, however, the seat that formerly belonged was empty and Ghezelbash had far more in chips. According to Ghezelbash and other players at the table, a three-way flop of was checked and they got it in on the turn. A short stack held for a pair, open-ender and flush draw. Higgs isolated with for top pair and a gutshot, while Ghezelbash snap-called with for the nut straight. There was no upset on the river and Ghezelbash jumped well above the average.
In addition to the Young Achiever Award handed out to Alex Lynskey at the start of play, Joe Hachem was also on hand earlier to induct the latest player into the Australian Poker Hall of Fame.
"This player is the youngest inductee to the Australian Poker Hall of Fame ever," said Hachem. "He'sbeen playing poker since he was in nappies basically. He's won tournaments all across the world, both live and online."
The 2019 inductee to the Australian Poker Hall of Fame is Jonathan Karamalikis.
Jonathan Karamalikis Poker Achievements
- 4th on the Australian all-time money list ($4.1m+ in lifetime earnings)
- $6,533,635 in online earnings under the name xMONSTERxDONGx
- 2nd Bellagio Cup XIII July 2017 (US$523,343)
- 2012 ACOP Taipa High Roller (US$478,292)
- 2010 APPT Sydney Main Event (AU$459,510)
- 2010 Aussie Millions Bounty (AU$122,700)
- Five Aussie Millions final tables
"Thank you," said Karamalikis. "It’s important to get recognition, especially with something that lasts forever."
Farid Jattin started the day with an above-average stack and has since not only increased that but taken over a commanding lead. In the final hand of the previous level, Marc Seymour raised to 1,800 first to act and Jattin defended the big blind. The flop came and Jattin check-called a bet of 4,200 before doing so again for 12,000 on the turn.
The came on the river and Jattin splashed in a stack of T-5,000 chips. Seymour only had around 45,000 behind and eventually called it off. Jattin turned over for a flushdraw that improved to running two pair, and Seymour was eliminated with for top pair.
Jue Gao raised to 2,500 from the hijack before the player on the button re-raised to 7,800. The decision fell back to Gao who picked up a stack of 5,000-chips and pushed them forward forcing his opponent all in. He was matched almost immediately.
Jie Gao:
Opponent:
Gao had his opponent dominated until the flop fell . The board would then run out the and to see Gao hit running spades giving him the winning hand with a flush.
An excited Gao jumped up from his chair in celebration before sitting back down and raking in the pot.