2019 The Star Sydney Champs

$5K Challenge
Day: 1
12
Event Info
2019 The Star Sydney Champs
Final Results
Winner
Jason Gray
Winning Hand
aq
Prize
171,572 AUD
Event Info
Buy-in
5,000 AUD
Prize Pool
612,750 AUD
Entries
129
Level Info
Level
22
Blinds
20,000 / 40,000
Ante
40,000
Players Left 1 / 129
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Big Stacks and Bustouts

Level 9 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Defending champion John Thomson, Aaron Li and Shivan Abdine were among those to bust. The new big stacks are Majid Saab and Charlie Hawes, with the former just winning a small pot on the river of a board {8-Hearts}{7-Diamonds}{3-Diamonds}{9-Clubs}{j-Diamonds}. Facing a bet of 3,000, Saab raised to 14,000 and his opponent tank-folded to get shown {a-Diamonds}{q-Diamonds} for the nut flush.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Majid Saab au
Majid Saab
185,000
85,000
85,000
Profile photo of Charlie Hawes nz
Charlie Hawes
170,000
60,000
60,000
Day 1 Chip Leader
Profile photo of Gary Benson au
Gary Benson
130,000
16,000
16,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Profile photo of Sandy Sinclair au
Sandy Sinclair
125,000
45,000
45,000
Profile photo of Tolly Sakellariou au
Tolly Sakellariou
120,000
45,000
45,000
Profile photo of Dejan Boskovic Sr au
Dejan Boskovic Sr
110,000
40,000
40,000
Profile photo of Jason Gray gb
Jason Gray
25,000
25,000
25,000
Profile photo of Dejan Boskovic au
Dejan Boskovic
Busted
Profile photo of Jarred Graham au
Jarred Graham
Busted
WSOP 1X Winner
Profile photo of Aaron Li au
Aaron Li
Busted
Profile photo of John Thomson au
John Thomson
Busted
Defending Champion
Profile photo of Shivan Abdine au
Shivan Abdine
Busted
Profile photo of Qiang Fu nz
Qiang Fu
Busted

Tags: Aaron LiCharlie HawesJohn ThomsonMajid SaabShivan Abdine

Level: 9

Blinds: 1,000/2,000

Ante: 2,000

White's Turn To Double Through Clee

Level 8 : 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

Andrew White shoved from under the gun for 14,900 and Terence A Clee called from the early position while the rest of the table folded.

Andrew White: {a-Spades}{7-Spades}
Terence A Clee: {k-Hearts}{q-Hearts}

The flop came {9-Spades}{3-Hearts}{a-Diamonds} with the ace in the window.

The turn brought them the {j-Clubs} which gave Clee a Broadway draw but the river completed the board with the {a-Clubs} for White ti make trips to double up.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Terence A Clee au
Terence A Clee
39,300
14,900
14,900
Profile photo of Andrew White au
Andrew White
33,900
18,200
18,200

Tags: Andrew WhiteTerence A Clee

Hettinger Doubles Through Clee

Level 8 : 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

Terence A Clee had raised from mid-position and Timo Hettinger shoved for 37,700 on the button. The blinds folded and Clee called immediately.

Timo Hettinger: {k-Hearts}{k-Clubs}
Terence A Clee: {a-Clubs}{k-Diamonds}

The board ran out {j-Clubs}{7-Diamonds}{7-Clubs}{q-Hearts}{7-Spades} for Hettinger to stay ahead and improve to a full house to double up.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Timo Hettinger de
Timo Hettinger
79,400
37,700
37,700
Profile photo of Terence A Clee au
Terence A Clee
54,200
46,800
46,800

Tags: Terence A CleeTimo Hettinger

Mehmet Gets Value From Spano

Level 8 : 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

On the heads-up turn of {j-Diamonds}{10-Clubs}{8-Clubs}{7-Clubs}, Robert Spano checked and called a bet of 4,000 by Jake Mehmet to see the {q-Spades} on the river. Spano check-called another bet of 7,500 and mucked when Mehmet tabled {9-Diamonds}{9-Clubs} for a straight.

"Next time give me a nine," Spano joked in table chat.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Jake Mehmet au
Jake Mehmet
85,000
Profile photo of Robert Spano au
Robert Spano
60,000
20,000
20,000

Tags: Robert SpanoJake Mehmet

Huang Gets the Folds

Level 8 : 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

Vincent Huang raised to 3,200 from the cutoff and was called by both Matthew Wakeman on the button and Andrew White in the big blind.

They all checked through the {8-Spades}{3-Spades}{j-Spades} flop to the {9-Diamonds} on the turn. White bet 3,500 and Huang raised to 15,500. Wakeman quickly folded and White looked at his cards once more before opting to fold.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Terence A Clee au
Terence A Clee
101,000
12,000
12,000
Profile photo of Ehsan Amiri au
Ehsan Amiri
96,700
Profile photo of Vincent Huang au
Vincent Huang
62,900
17,600
17,600
Profile photo of Jason Pritchard au
Jason Pritchard
51,000
11,800
11,800
Profile photo of Peco Stojanovski au
Peco Stojanovski
44,900
16,400
16,400
Profile photo of Timo Hettinger de
Timo Hettinger
41,700
14,100
14,100
Profile photo of Matthew Wakeman au
Matthew Wakeman
40,300
16,100
16,100
Profile photo of Robert Damelian au
Robert Damelian
32,400
Profile photo of Andrew White au
Andrew White
15,700
19,500
19,500

Tags: Andrew WhiteMatthew WakemanVincent Huang

Amiri Triples Up, Gray Falls to Huang

Level 8 : 800/1,600, 1,600 ante
Jason Gray
Jason Gray

Jason Gray raised to 4,000 from under the gun and Vincent Huang called in the early position. Action folded to Ehsan Amiri on the button who shoved for 30,900. The blinds quickly folded and Gray decided to also shove for 44,800. Huang took his time to think it all through but made the call in the end.

Ehsan Amiri: {a-Clubs}{q-Clubs}
Jason Gray: {10-Hearts}{10-Clubs}
Vincent Huang: {j-Spades}{j-Hearts}

The flop came {q-Hearts}{9-Hearts}{a-Hearts} for Amiri to hit two pair but it also gave a flush draw to both Gray and Huang.

The turn brought them the {7-Clubs} which didn't change things, neither did the {5-Spades} on the river as Amiri tripled up and the remainder of Gray's stack was sent Huang's way.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Ehsan Amiri au
Ehsan Amiri
96,700
65,700
65,700
Profile photo of Vincent Huang au
Vincent Huang
45,300
23,300
23,300
Profile photo of Jason Gray gb
Jason Gray
Busted

Tags: Ehsan AmiriJason GrayVincent Huang

Kempson on the Rise

Level 8 : 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

Majid Saab called a bet of 3,500 by Gary Benson on the heads-up turn of {j-Hearts}{10-Spades}{2-Spades}{2-Diamonds} and they ended up checking the {j-Diamonds} river, which saw Benson turn over the {j-Spades}{6-Clubs} for a full house to win the pot.

Benson appears to be the current chip leader, however, Corey Kempson is not far behind one table over. Kempson just won a decent pot off Andrej Senic when an unfortunate runout on the {10-Clubs}{5-Diamonds}{3-Hearts}{3-Spades}{10-Diamonds} board killed any river action.

"Kings," Kempson announced and his {k-Spades}{k-Diamonds} were good enough to win the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Gary Benson au
Gary Benson
146,000
14,000
14,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Profile photo of Corey Kempson au
Corey Kempson
130,000
108,000
108,000
Profile photo of Majid Saab au
Majid Saab
100,000
40,000
40,000
Profile photo of Andrej Senic au
Andrej Senic
90,000
20,000
20,000
Profile photo of Robert Spano au
Robert Spano
80,000
46,000
46,000
Profile photo of Mladen Vukovic au
Mladen Vukovic
75,000
5,000
5,000
Profile photo of Minh Nguyen us
Minh Nguyen
48,000
8,000
8,000

Tags: Andrej SenicCorey KempsonGary BensonMajid Saab

Young Makes the Wrong Call

Level 8 : 800/1,600, 1,600 ante
Michael O'Grady
Michael O'Grady

In the last hand, before the level went up, the flop read {10-Hearts}{a-Diamonds}{6-Diamonds} with just over 6,000 in the middle already.

Michael O'Grady checked in the big blind and Rory Young bet 2,600 from under the gun. O'Grady raised to 7,600 and Young called.

The turn brought them the {4-Hearts}, O'Grady took over the initiative and bet 4,700 which Young called.

The river completed the board with the {q-Hearts}, O'Grady led out for 6,900 and Young took his time to consider his options.

After a while, O'Grady turned around, swung his legs up on the spare seats between them and sat back. "Rory, hurry up, you've played 4 million hands, and now you're thinking for his long?"

Young smiled: "What do you have?"

"F*ck all," O'Grady responded immediately.

Young glanced at O'Grady but didn't act yet.

"Are you trying to read my body language?" O'Grady asked. "What does it say?" he added.

"I am just admiring your shoes," Young replied.

After some more banter back and forth, O'Grady decided to call the clock.

The dealer asked O'Grady to confirm and he replied: "Yeah, why not?"

The floor came over and gave Young 40 seconds to make a decision.

On the 20-second warning, Young made the call but mucked when O'Grady tabled {a-Hearts}{k-Diamonds} for top pair.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Rory Young au
Rory Young
112,000
28,000
28,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Profile photo of Michael O'Grady au
Michael O'Grady
84,000
1,000
1,000

Tags: Michael O'GradyRory Young