$1,100 6-Max
Day 1 Completed
2019 The Star Sydney Champs
$1,100 6-Max
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2019 The Star Sydney Champs
Buy-in
1,100 AUD
Prize Pool
356,000 AUD
Entries
356
Level
24
Blinds
20,000 / 40,000
Ante
5,000
Alex Yazbeck Leads 30 Survivors After Day 1 of Record-Breaking Star Sydney 6-Max Event
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 500 ante
Tournament staff at The Star Sydney was very optimistic before the start of the $1,100 6-Max Event and their expectations would not only be met but eclipsed with an incredible turnout. By the time the first three levels were completed, the field size of the previous year was already surpassed and the entries and re-entries kept coming in.
Once the registration had officially closed, a record-breaking field of 356 entries emerged to create a prize pool of A$356,000, which will be shared among the top 36 finishers. Throughout the 15 levels of 40 minutes on Day 1, the money bubble was reached in the final level of the night and half a dozen contenders headed to the payout desk to collect their winnings.
When it came to bagging and tagging, two players had turned their starting stack of 15,000 into more than half a million and Alex Yazbeck claimed the top spot with 549,500, closely followed by Michael Oscuro with 534,000. Yazbeck fired multiple bullets in the event and his father Mark and brother Patrick were also involved in the action, but they failed to make it through to Day 2.
Other big stacks and notables among the 30 Day 1 survivors are Nauvneel Kashyap (408,500), Guangyu Wang (319,500),John Rosario (308,000), Adrian Salter (270,500), Navid King (193,500), Connie Graham (169,500), Michael Seymour (145,500), Sam Capra (124,000), Michel Bouskila (116,000), Dale Marsland (115,000), Chad Awerbuch (71,000) and Vesko Zmukic (46,000).
Among the notables that didn't take home a portion of the prize pool were Shivan Abdine, Matthew Wakeman, Jarred Graham, Hamish Crawshaw, defending champion Hun Wei Lee, Craig Blight, Michael Kanaan, Minh Nguyen, Michael O'Grady, David Wang, and $5k Challenge runner-up Vincent Huang.
Abdine ran his top pair with king-ten into the pocket aces of Crawshaw and re-entered without being able to run up a big stack. Crawshaw was not able to keep up the momentum either and headed to the rail before the dinner break. Wakeman was ousted in a three-way all in when his ace-ten suited and the ace-queen of Matt Pongrass failed to connect with the board as Capra held up with pocket queens.
Dejan Boskovic Sr reached the final table of the $5k Challenge and received A$15,496 for his ninth-place finish. He was also cruising along for most of the day, but that all changed when he flopped top pair with king-queen suited. Connie Graham had the better kicker with ace-queen and Boskovic Sr headed to the rail one hand later. Only a few minutes later, Huang saw his hopes of another final table appearance come to an end when his queen-eight suited couldn't crack pocket kings.
Just before the money bubble, former big stack Luis Arrilucea rivered a full house with ace-queen only for Guangyu Wang to turn over pocket kings for the superior full house on the turn already. The money bubble itself would last all but one hand. Ryan Hong three-bet jammed his short stack with ace-nine and Tu Tran called with six-five suited to hit a pair on the flop.
Among the six players to receive a portion of the prize pool already were Rehman Kassam, Dejan Boskovic, and Andrew White. All remaining 30 players have A$2,385 locked up for their efforts, but the trophy and top prize of A$89,003 will be on everyone's mind when the action kicks off the following day at 12.30 p.m. local time with level 16 and blinds of 3,000/6,000 with an ante of 1,000.
Stay tuned for all the action on the final day, as the PokerNews team will be on the floor from start-to-finish for an exciting day of six-max action.
Day 2 Seat Draw
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 1 | Navid King | Australia | 193,500 | 32 |
| 20 | 2 | Miray Badaoui | Australia | 162,000 | 27 |
| 20 | 3 | Thomas Amir | Australia | 179,500 | 30 |
| 20 | 4 | John Rosario | Australia | 308,000 | 51 |
| 20 | 5 | Dale Marsland | Australia | 115,000 | 19 |
| 20 | 6 | Alex Yazbeck | Australia | 549,500 | 92 |
| 22 | 1 | Vesko Zmukic | Australia | 46,000 | 8 |
| 22 | 2 | Michael Doodson | Australia | 15,500 | 3 |
| 22 | 3 | Guangyu Wang | Australia | 319,500 | 53 |
| 22 | 4 | Zhankang Chen | Australia | 128,500 | 21 |
| 22 | 5 | Adrian Salter | Australia | 270,500 | 45 |
| 22 | 6 | Steve Pappas | Australia | 40,000 | 7 |
| 30 | 1 | John Thomson | Australia | 90,000 | 15 |
| 30 | 2 | Tu Tran | Australia | 151,500 | 25 |
| 30 | 3 | Matthew White | Australia | 92,500 | 15 |
| 30 | 4 | Andrew Zhang | Australia | 195,000 | 33 |
| 30 | 5 | Connie Graham | Australia | 169,500 | 28 |
| 30 | 6 | Andrew Miller | Australia | 108,500 | 18 |
| 31 | 1 | Michael Oscuro | Australia | 534,000 | 89 |
| 31 | 2 | Chad Awerbuch | Australia | 71,000 | 12 |
| 31 | 3 | Akshay Kapoor | India | 92,000 | 15 |
| 31 | 4 | Lachlan Dykes | Australia | 96,500 | 16 |
| 31 | 5 | Mark Leslie | Australia | 107,500 | 18 |
| 31 | 6 | Alan Casas | Australia | 139,000 | 23 |
| 32 | 1 | Nauvneel Kashyap | Australia | 408,500 | 68 |
| 32 | 2 | Michel Bouskila | Australia | 116,000 | 19 |
| 32 | 3 | Sam Capra | Australia | 124,000 | 21 |
| 32 | 4 | Qiang Fu | Australia | 143,000 | 24 |
| 32 | 5 | Michael Seymour | Australia | 145,500 | 24 |
| 32 | 6 | Win Tan | Australia | 228,500 | 38 |
End-of-Day 1 Counts (full)
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 500 ante
Day 1 has wrapped up with 30 players remaining and a full recap of today's action is to follow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
549,500 | 119,500 |
|
534,000 | 4,000 |
|
408,500 | 298,500 |
|
319,500 | -25,500 |
|
308,000 | 163,000 |
|
270,500 | 10,500 |
|
228,500 | 228,500 |
|
195,000 | -65,000 |
|
|
193,500 | 83,500 |
|
179,500 | 179,500 |
|
169,500 | 9,500 |
|
162,000 | 46,000 |
|
151,500 | -500 |
|
145,500 | 15,500 |
|
143,000 | 3,000 |
|
139,000 | -1,000 |
|
128,500 | 128,500 |
|
124,000 | -66,000 |
|
116,000 | -34,000 |
|
115,000 | -23,000 |
|
|
108,500 | -14,500 |
|
107,500 | -15,500 |
|
96,500 | -33,500 |
|
92,500 | |
|
92,000 | 92,000 |
Play Ended
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 500 ante
The full chip counts and a recap of today's action are to follow.
Doodson Left With a Chip and a Chair
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 500 ante
In the penultimate hand of the night, Michael Doodson and Matthew White got their stacks in with White at risk.
Matthew White: 
Michael Doodson: 
The board came 
and White doubled.
Doodson went all in blind the next hand and faced White once more.
Michael Doodson: 
Matthew White: 
On a board of 
, Doodson rivered two pair to bag a miracle stack for Day 2. "Oh come on man, I have to work," he bemoaned the outcome of the hand. Whether or not he will show up in time for the restart remains to be seen.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
92,500 | 92,500 |
|
15,500 | 15,500 |
White Can't Run His Stack Up
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 500 ante
Andrew White was all-in from the button and was at risk as he was called by Pappas with the bigger stack in the small blind.
Andrew White: 
Steve Pappas: 
The board ran out 
for Pappas flop top pair and improve to two pair on the turn and to an even better two pair on the river to eliminate White in 31st place for A$1,869.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
47,000 | -3,000 |
|
Busted |
White and Seymour Chop
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 500 ante
Andrew White shoved from under the gun for 16,000 and was called by Miray Badaoui on the button and Michael Seymour in the big blind.
Both Seymour and Badaoui checked through the entire 
board. Seymour tabled 
, White tabled 
for the same hand. Badaoui showed 
for Seymour and White to chop the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
130,000 | 20,000 |
|
|
116,000 | -34,000 |
|
|
26,000 | 9,500 |
Leslie Doubles Through White
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 500 ante
Andrew White shoved from the hijack and Mark Leslie called in the big blind for 57,000.
Mark Leslie: 
Andrew White: 
The board ran out 
for Leslie to hold with the higher pocket pair to double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
123,000 | 60,200 |
|
|
16,500 | -70,500 |
Moussa and Lim No More
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 500 ante
Chris Moussa clashed with Alan Casas and his could not beat the 
of Casas on a 
board. Moussa had to ship over 68,500 to his table neighbor and soon after ended up all in for the remainder of his short stack.
Michael Oscuro flat-called on the button and the blinds got out of the way.
Chris Moussa: 
Michael Oscuro:
The board came and Moussa became the next casualty in the money. David Lim followed from one table over one moment later and that reduced the field to the final 31.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
530,000 | 40,000 |
|
|
140,000 | 30,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Zhang Outflops Kassam
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 500 ante
Andrew Zhang defended out of the blinds and flopped bottom two pair with 
against the for top pair by Rehman Kassam on the flop. The turn and river were blanks and Kassam headed to the payout desk.
Soon after, Dejan Boskovic followed and that reduced the field to the last 33 hopefuls.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
260,000 | 80,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |