$20,000 High Roller
Day 1 Completed
2019 The Star Sydney Champs
$20,000 High Roller
Day: 1
Rafferty Takes the Chip Lead in The Star Sydney Champs A$20,000 High Roller with Nine Left
Level 12
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
With six minutes left in Level 12, nine players bagged up their chips for the final day of the A$20,000 High Roller at The Star Sydney Champs. In total, 37 entries were collected throughout the first nine levels of the day to break another record in the 2019 edition of the series and create an A$703,000 prize pool. The winner will walk away with A$316,350 and accompanying trophy.
Heading to bed with the chip lead is Tom Rafferty with 469,500 in chips, which is worth 117 big blinds. If Rafferty wins when they return, it would be his biggest live cash ever in a tournament to take his career earnings up to almost $800,000. Rafferty added to his stack when he eliminated Andrej Senic with pocket kings and held against pocket sevens.
Rafferty is trailed by Ebon Bokody with a difference of ten big blinds. Bokody finished in second place last year in the same casino during the WSOP International Circuit High Roller and will be looking to better that result. Bokody had the chip lead at one point when he eliminated David Wang, who qualified through one of the in-house satellites.
Closing out the podium is Vincent Huang, who is no stranger to the feature table as he finished in second place only a few days ago, just ahead of Bokody in the $5k Challenge. Huang went on a bit of a run when he first eliminated Travis Endersby and then took out Nauvneel Kashyap to finish in third place in the chip counts.
Even though nine players will return, they’re not in the money yet as only four players will be cashing for at least A$70,300. Gautam Dhingra, Sean Ragozinni, and Michael Egan all bagged below-average stacks but with more than 40 big blinds, they still have more than enough room to play with. It’s a bit of a different story for Mladen Vukovic, Hun Wei “Andy” Lee, and Matthew Wakeman as they bagged fewer than 20 big blinds, so they will be looking to double up from the start of the final day to be in with a shot for that first-place prize.
When the players return at 2:15 p.m. local time, they will finish the last six minutes of Level 12 which features a small blind of 2,000, big blind of 4,000, and a big blind ante of 4,000. Play will continue until a champion is crowned and the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on the floor to bring you all the action.
The stream will be available again via the Run It Up Twitch channel with commentary by Ricky Guan and Jimmy Cappucci with the hole cards on a security delay but the updates here will be live from the start.
Final Table Seat Assignments
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ebon Bokody | Australia | 429,000 | 107 |
| 2 | Tom Rafferty | Australia | 469,500 | 117 |
| 3 | Gautam Dhingra | Australia | 182,000 | 46 |
| 4 | Vincent Huang | Australia | 240,000 | 60 |
| 5 | Mladen Vukovic | Australia | 72,000 | 18 |
| 6 | Michael Egan | Australia | 158,500 | 40 |
| 7 | Hun Wei Lee | Australia | 67,000 | 17 |
| 8 | Sean Ragozzini | Australia | 175,000 | 44 |
| 9 | Matthew Wakeman | Australia | 60,000 | 15 |
End-of-Day 1 Counts
Level 12
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
The remaining nine players have bagged up for the night with 6 minutes left in the current level and a recap of today's action is to follow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
469,500 | 9,500 |
|
429,000 | -1,000 |
|
240,000 | 31,000 |
|
182,000 | -18,000 |
|
175,000 | 4,000 |
|
158,500 | 48,500 |
|
72,000 | -36,000 |
|
67,000 | 7,000 |
|
60,000 | -18,000 |
O'Grady Bubbles the Final Table and Day
Level 12
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Hun Wei Lee shoved from the button and Michael O'Grady called for his last 9,000 in the big blind.
Michael O'Grady: 
Hun Wei Lee: 
The board ran out 
for Lee to hold with the higher hole cards and even improve to trips on the river to eliminate O'Grady in tenth place.
The nine remaining players will bag up their chips for Day 2. The full chip counts and a recap of today's action is to follow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
60,000 | -36,000 |
|
Busted |
Rafferty Claims the Lead
Level 12
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Tom Rafferty raised from under the gun and was called by Ebon Bokody in the big blind. On a 
flop, Bokody check-raised from 7,000 to 19,000 and Rafferty reraised to more than 50,000 in order to force a fold.
Bokody then raised to 15,000 in the small blind and a reraise by Rafferty shut down all further action.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
460,000 | 18,000 |
|
|
430,000 | -35,000 |
Lee Doubles Through O'Grady
Level 12
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Hun Wei Lee shoved from under the gun for 43,000 and so did Michael O'Grady from the button for 56,000. Sean Ragozzini tanked in the big blind but opted to fold in the end.
Hun Wei Lee: 
Michael O'Grady: 
The board ran out 
for Lee find another queen on the flop to double up with.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
96,000 | 54,000 |
|
|
13,000 | -52,000 |
Bokody and Rafferty in the Lead
Level 12
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Tom Rafferty scooped two pots to boost his stack and Ebon Bokody three-bet against Gautam Dhingra to pick up a call. Bokody bet the 
flop for 17,000 and Dhingra folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
465,000 | 35,000 |
|
|
442,000 | 32,000 |
|
|
200,000 | -55,000 |
Huang Folds to Ragozzini
Level 12
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Sean Ragozzini raised to 8,000 from under the gun and Vincent Huang three-bet to 23,000 on the button for the blinds to fold and Ragozzini to call.
The flop came 
, Ragozzini check-called the 17,000 continuation-bet of Huang.
They both checked through the 
on the turn to the 
on the river. Ragozzini barreled a bet of 30,000 over the line which was enough to make Huang fold.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
209,000 | -30,000 |
|
|
171,000 | 71,000 |
Wakeman Doubles Through Lee
Level 12
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Matthew Wakeman shoved from the button for 36,000 and was called by Hun Wei Lee in the big blind.
Matthew Wakeman: 
Hun Wei Lee: 
The flop came 
for Wakeman to hit two pair immediately.
The turn was the 
which didn't change things. Wakeman just needed to avoid another ten to stay alive and the river completed the board with the 
for Wakeman to improve to a full house to double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
78,000 | 25,500 |
|
|
42,000 | -58,000 |
Senic Eliminated by Rafferty
Level 12
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Ebon Bokody raised to 9,000 on the button and Tom Rafferty called out of the small blind. Andrej Senic jammed the big blind for around 125,000 and Bokody folded, while Rafferty called instantly.
Andrej Senic: 
Tom Rafferty:
The superior pocket pair held up on a 
board and Senic was sent to the rail, which reduced the field to the final 10 hopefuls. After the next elimination, the remaining nine players will bag and tag for tonight.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
430,000 | -10,000 |
|
|
410,000 | 140,000 |
|
Busted |