The 2019 The Star Sydney Champs has come to a conclusion after more than three weeks of poker action at The Star Sydney near Darling Harbour and the A$3,000 Main Event ended with the victory of Hamish Crawshaw. He came out on top of a record-breaking field of 600 entries to claim the trophy and a payday of A$352,800.
One year ago, the Kiwis Brian Lam and Charlie Hawes finished in second and third place respectively, and this time the trophy will be heading to New Zealand as Crawshaw defeated Mark Lassau in heads-up to claim the lion's share of the A$1,680,000 prize pool.
Crawshaw already cashed in The Sydney Champs Main Event in 2018 and had his breakthrough result on the live circuit earlier this year in another record-setting event on Australian soil. Out of a field of 822 entries in the 2019 Aussie Millions Main Event, he finished 7th for A$242,000 and topped that result here in Sydney.
The Star Sydney regular Joe Antar finished in 3rd place and the final table also featured Crawshaw's countryman Wenjian “William” Qiu, Bernie Stang and Corey Kempson.
Final Result A$3,000 Main Event
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in AUD) | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamish Crawshaw | New Zealand | A$352,800 | $244,348 |
| 2 | Mark Lassau | Australia | A$218,215 | $151,135 |
| 3 | Joe Antar | Australia | A$159,566 | $110,515 |
| 4 | Tu Le | Australia | A$118,406 | $82,008 |
| 5 | Peter Robertson | Australia | A$89,090 | $61,703 |
| 6 | Wenjian “William” Qiu | New Zealand | A$67,956 | $47,066 |
| 7 | Bernie Stang | Australia | A$52,550 | $36,396 |
| 8 | Corey Kempson | Australia | A$41,194 | $28,531 |
| 9 | Nickolas Oiberman | Australia | A$32,726 | $22,666 |
Early Eliminations and a Roller Coaster Final Table
All eyes were set on Corey Kempson when the final 13 players returned their seats, as he held a commanding lead over the remaining finalists. It took just half an hour to set up the nine-handed final table as Peter Dykes, Collin Tran, Joseph Hayek and Kumar K.A departed in the first level of the day.
Crawshaw had started in the middle of the pack but his rise started with a double elimination on the outer table as his pocket deuces held up against the king-six of Tran and the ace-queen of Hayek. A few minutes later, K.A failed to get there with ace-queen against the ace-king of Mark Lassau.
Kempson still held a narrow lead but it was Bernie Stang that dominated the action with his big bet poker. Described by casino regulars as “one that can bring the pain,” Stang jumped into the lead in a pivotal hand of the final table when he got check-raised with king-jack on a jack-high flop. Kempson jammed with pocket queens for the overpair and a king on the turn brought the upset.
Kempson won a flip with ace-king suited against the dreadful pocket queens of Nickolas Oiberman right after but would have to settle for 8th place when his ace-ten suited ended up second-best against the ace-king of Tu Le.
Crawshaw Assumes Control
The chip lead changed just one more time for the remainder of the tournament. Stang dropped back into the middle of the pack and four-bet shoved for more than 30 big blinds with pocket nines, which Crawshaw snap-called holding pocket kings. A jack-high board brought no upset and Crawshaw was in the driver's seat.
With a sizable chip lead, Crawshaw increased the aggression and his stack while the remaining five hopefuls were battling back and forth. Wenjian Qiu would be the first to succumb when his three-bet jam with seven-four suited was called by fellow countryman Crawshaw with pocket nines.
Joe Antar was the shortest stack with five players remaining and scored a vital double through Crawshaw, who also doubled Lassau. But the Kiwi made up for the hiccups by sending both Peter Robertson and Tu Le to the rail. After another Lassau double, Crawshaw claimed the stack of Antar and entered heads-up play with a commanding lead.
Lassau nearly closed the gap at some point in the hour-long duel for the title, but the name at the top of the leaderboard remained the same. Eventually, they got it in after a three-bet pot on a jack-high flop and Lassau was at risk with kings for the overpair. Crawshaw held king-jack suited for top pair and the flushdraw, another club on the turn instantly sealed the victory for the New Zealander.
A Record-Breaking Main Event
Back in 2013, the buy-in of the Main Event was increased to A$3,000 and the attendance has gone up every year. Former champions featured some of the brightest talent and well-known names in Aussie poker such as Daniel Laidlaw, Martin Kozlov and Kahle Burns, who have all earned their merits on the international poker tables as well.
The first of two starting days saw a total of 280 entries and the guaranteed prize pool was already surpassed as soon as the cards for Day 1b went in the air. Another 320 entries boosted the field to 600 entries in total, up from 522 entries in the previous edition in 2018.
The Sydney Champs Main Event Since 2013
| Year | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Top Prize (in AUD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 600 | A$1,680,000 | Hamish Crawshaw | A$352,800 |
| 2018 | 522 | A$1,461,000 | Nebojsa Blanusa | A$314,265 |
| 2017 | 496 | A$1,388,800 | Henry Tran | A$300,000 |
| 2016 | 428 | A$1,198,400 | Kahle Burns | A$297,203 |
| 2015 | 281 | A$786,800 | Ben Jee | A$200,634 |
| 2014 | 235 | A$658,000 | Martin Kozlov | A$171,080 |
| 2013 | 227 | A$635,461 | Daniel Laidlaw | A$165,000 |
Numbers Up Across the Board
The poker room was buzzing during the entire festival and all events attracted fields well above the expectations with almost all well-known faces of the local poker scene in action at the cash game and tournament tables.
Adam Dundovic topped a massive field of 983 entries in the A$500 Cup and David Hirst claimed the trophy in the A$1,100 Monster Stack. Aussie Poker Hall of Fame member Jason Gray triumphed for the second time after 2017 in the $5k Challenge, while Qiang Fu topped a field of 356 entries in the 6-Max Event.
Last but not least, the A$20,000 High Roller ended with a three-way deal. Sean Ragozzini claimed the trophy and second-biggest prize of the entire festival.
Other Highlights of the 2019 The Star Sydney Champs at a Glance
| Event | Buy-In | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Top Prize (in AUD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monster Stack | A$1,100 | 382 | A$382,000 | David Hirst | A$84,039 |
| Cup | A$500 | 983 | A$442,350 | Adam Dundovic | A$84,057 |
| Teams | A$500 | 131 | A$58,950 | Chester Swords & Yita Choong | A$16,508 |
| 5k Challenge | A$5,000 | 129 | A$612,750 | Jason Gray | A$171,572 |
| 6-Max | A$1,100 | 356 | A$356,000 | Qiang Fu | A$89,003 |
| High Roller | A$20,000 | 37 | A$703,000 | Sean Ragozzini | A$223,361 |
While the annual showdown in Sydney is coming to an end, the preparations for the next big festival are already underway as the World Series of Poker Circuit Event will return to Sydney from November 14th to December 9th, 2019.
flop, Crawshaw continued for 600,000 and Lassau gave it some consideration before raising to 2,000,000. Crawshaw moved all in and Lassau immediately called.
turn as Crawshaw hit the flush to leave Lassau drawing dead. His rail already celebrated while the meaningless 
rolled off on the river and Lassau was eliminated in 2nd place for A$218,215.
to keep Crawshaw ahead.
for Le to turn two pair too. 
to keep Robertson ahead.
for Crawshaw to hit a pair of jacks. Only a king could save Robertson's tournament life now.
for Crawshaw to hold with the higher pocket pair to eliminate Stang from the Main Event in seventh place for A$52,550.
for Kempson to hit a lower pair for him to have two outs to stay alive and double up.
which didn't change things as Kempson was sent to the rail in eighth place for A$41,194.
