$5K Challenge | 2019 The Star Sydney Champs

07-27-2019 14:43 UTC+10

Gupta's Turn to Double Up

Shirley Ang

Level 16 : 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Andrian Chin raised to 20,000 from the hijack and Ashish Gupta shoved in the big blind for 118,000 in total. Chin cut out calling chips and then decided to make the call.

Ashish Gupta:
Andrian Chin:

The board ran out for Gupta to find a pair of kings on the river to stay alive and double up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ashish Gupta	246,000	66,000
Andrian Chin	115,000	-137,000

Tags: Andrian Chin Ashish Gupta

07-27-2019 14:39 UTC+10

Amiri Thriving on Outer Table

Christian Zetzsche

Level 16 : 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Ehsan Amiri won a pot off Ebon Bokody in a three-way pot after a flop and then took on Charlie Hawes. The Kiwi, who started the day in the top spot, raised to 20,000 in the cutoff and Amiri three-bet to 50,000 on the button. No call followed and Amiri took over the lead.

In the meanwhile, Timo Hettinger has not played a single hand and his stack has been reduced to around 11 big blinds.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ehsan Amiri	440,000	102,000
Charlie Hawes	400,000	-100,000
Ebon Bokody	270,000	-10,000
Vesko Zmukic	250,000	48,000
Timo Hettinger	110,000	-43,000

Tags: Charlie Hawes Ebon Bokody Ehsan Amiri Timo Hettinger

07-27-2019 14:33 UTC+10

Nguyen Doubles Through Gupta

Shirley Ang

Level 16 : 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Ashish Gupta raised from mid-position and action folded to Minh Nguyen in the big blind who shoved for 97,000 extra on top of the raise. Gupta tanked for a while, cut out calling chips, and then made the call.

Minh Nguyen:
Ashish Gupta:

The board ran out for Nguyen to stay ahead with the higher hole cards to double up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Minh Nguyen	253,000	99,000
Ashish Gupta	180,000	-118,000

Tags: Ashish Gupta Minh Nguyen

07-27-2019 14:29 UTC+10

Aces for Zmukic

Christian Zetzsche

Level 16 : 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Majid Saab limped first to act and Charlie Hawes did so from the button, Ehsan Amiri from the small blind. Vesko Zmukic checked in the big blind and it was Saab that bet the flop for 25,000 to win the pot.

Zmukic then raised the button to 26,000 and Sandy Sinclair called in the big blind. On a flop, Sinclair check-folded to a bet of 56,000 and was shown the .

The next hand, Sinclair opened to 27,000 in the small blind and Ebon Bokody three-bet to 65,000 from the big blind to scoop the pot uncontested.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ebon Bokody	280,000	56,000
Sandy Sinclair	280,000	-57,000
Majid Saab	275,000	26,000
Vesko Zmukic	202,000	20,000

Tags: Charlie Hawes Ebon Bokody Ehsan Amiri Majid Saab Sandy Sinclair Vesko Zmukic

07-27-2019 14:23 UTC+10

Gray Doubles Through Boskovic Sr

Shirley Ang

Level 16 : 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Dejan Boskovic Sr raised to 27,000 from mid-position and Jason Gray shoved from the cutoff. Action folded back to Boskovic Sr who asked for a count. The dealer confirmed Gray had 97,000 behind and Boskovic Sr made the call.

Jason Gray:
Dejan Boskovic Sr:

The board ran out for Gray to hold with the higher kicker to double up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jason Gray	219,000	97,000
Dejan Boskovic Sr	95,000	-97,000

Tags: Dejan Boskovic Sr Jason Gray

07-27-2019 14:20 UTC+10

"Worth The Run" for Hawes

Christian Zetzsche

Level 16 : 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Chip leader Charlie Hawes missed the first hand and came running to his seat for the second hand, in which he opened to 20,000 first to act. Vesko Zmukic called from two seats over and they headed to the flop. Hawes checked and called a bet of 28,000 before they checked the turn and river.

Hawes tabled and that won the pot. "Worth the run," Hawes joked.

Player	Chips	Progress
Charlie Hawes	500,000	71,000
Vesko Zmukic	182,000	-48,000

Tags: Charlie Hawes Vesko Zmukic

07-27-2019 14:15 UTC+10

Shuffle Up and Deal

Shirley Ang

Level 16 : 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

The 14 remaining players have taken their seats spread out over the two tables and the dealers have been instructed to shuffle up and deal with the button in Seat 9.

Level: 16

Blinds: 5,000/10,000

Ante: 10,000

07-27-2019 11:10 UTC+10

Who Will Be Crowned the $5k Challenge Champ?

Shirley Ang

Day 2 of the $5k Challenge in the The Star Sydney Champs is set to kick off at 2:15 p.m. local time with 14 players out of 129 entries returning to battle it out today. The winner will walk away with the lion share of the A$612,750 prize pool as the first-place prize is worth a whopping A$171,572. Every player who takes their seat at the table today is already guaranteed A$10,343 but they will all be aspiring to claim the title and the prize money that comes with it.

Charlie Hawes is ahead of the pack with 429,000 in chips. Hawes is followed by Ehsan Amiri (338,000), Sandy Sinclair (337,000), Ashish Gupta (298,000), and Andrian Chin (252,000). With the average stack amounting to 23 big blinds, the final day could go fast as levels last 45 minutes each and a 10-minute break will take place after every three levels.

A live stream will be available again with commentary provided by Jamie Kerstetter and Ashley Sleeth via the Run It Up Twitch channel with a security delay as the hole cards will be shown. The PokerNews live reporting team will be on hand to bring you all the updates in real-time until a champion has been crowned so stick around to find out who will take it down..

Final Day Seat Draw

Table	Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
30	1	Sandy Sinclair	Australia	337,000	34
30	2	Ebon Bokody	Australia	224,000	22
30	3	Timo Hettinger	Germany	153,000	15
30	6	Charlie Hawes	New Zealand	429,000	43
30	7	Ehsan Amiri	Australia	338,000	34
30	8	Vesko Zmukic	Australia	230,000	23
30	9	Majid Saab	Australia	249,000	25

32	1	Andrian Chin	Australia	252,000	25
32	2	Jason Gray	United Kingdom	122,000	12
32	4	Minh Nguyen	Australia	154,000	15
32	5	Mladen Vukovic	Australia	158,000	16
32	7	Ashish Gupta	Australia	298,000	30
32	8	Vincent Huang	Australia	211,000	21
32	9	Dejan Boskovic Sr	Australia	192,000	19

Tags: Andrian Chin Ashish Gupta Ashley Sleeth Charlie Hawes Ehsan Amiri Jamie Kerstetter Sandy Sinclair

$5K Challenge

Day 2 Started