Luke Martinelli Leads as the Final Table is Reached on Day 1 of the $20,000 High Roller at WSOPC The Star Sydney
The $20,000 High Roller drew out a total of 50 entrants and re-entrants over the first day of play, creating a prizepool just under $1,000,000. By the end of Day 1 that number was reduced to 9 players remaining and the final table was reached. The leader after the first day of play is Luke Martinelli who bagged up 570,000 chips.
Martinelli picked up the chip lead in the last few levels of play when he turned the nut straight on a queen-high board and Sam Higgs turned the second nut straight. Both players got the money all in and Martinelli walked away with a monster pot. From there, he didn't let off the gas and bagged the biggest stack in the tournament so far by a wide margin.
Also making it to the final table were Gautam Dhingra, who finished third in the $5,000 Challenge earlier this series, and Robert Spano who finished fifth in the same event. Michael Egan brings the second biggest stack into Day 2 with 381,500 and Jan Suchanek sits in third with 304,000.
Here's a look at how the rest of the final table stacks up:
| Seat | Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gautam Dhingra | 224,500 | 45 |
| 2 | Ebon Bakody | 291,500 | 58 |
| 3 | Sosia Jiang | 283,500 | 57 |
| 4 | Luke Martinelli | 570,000 | 114 |
| 5 | Jason Pritchard | 84,000 | 17 |
| 6 | Jan Suchanek | 304,000 | 61 |
| 7 | Robert Spano | 131,000 | 26 |
| 8 | Michael Egan | 381,500 | 76 |
| 9 | Qiang Fu | 280,000 | 56 |
Action kicked off just after 2 p.m. on December 12 bringing out three-tables worth of players. That number would expand as new players entered and busted players re-entered bringing the final count to 50 entries. The first to fall on Day 1 was Stevan Chew. Chew called a four-bet from Sosia Jiang holding aces. He attempted to trap Jiang on a seven high board, just calling her bets and he snapped her off on the turn. Jiang was holding kings and was in rough shape, but the river was a king, giving her the lead and sending Chew out as the first player to go. Chew would later re-enter but couldn't make much happen and was sent to the rail again.
Last year's champion, Andy Lee, also fell on Day 1. Lee fell at the hands of Suchanek just after the dinner break. Lee shoved 17 big blinds in preflop over a raise with ace-six of hearts, but Suchanek woke up behind with aces and snapped him off, sending the former champion to the rail. Others to hit the rail on Day 1 include the likes of Alex Lynskey, Kahle Burns, Michael O'Grady, Warwick Mirzikinian, Mladen Vukovic, and Jared Graham.
Only 5 of the final 9 players will be paid with the winner receiving $356,250, a World Series of Poker Circuit ring and 50 points towards the race for Casino Champion. A mincash in the event is worth $101,365.
Action kicks back off on Thursday, December 13th at 2:15 p.m. local time, but PokerNews' coverage of the event will be delayed by 90 minutes, so as to match with the live stream of the event. Be sure to tune back in so you can read all about it.