2018 WSOP International Circuit The Star Sydney

Day 1A of The Star Sydney World Series of Poker Circuit $2,200 Main Event brought out 170 entries but by the end of the day only 31 players had survived the first 14 levels of play. Plenty of notables make it out to play but at the end of the night, Michael Confos was the most notable as he bagged the current chip lead heading into Day 2 with 366,000. Confos won a huge pot against Stan L. towards the end of the night when he rivered a flush to crack aces.

Not all were as lucky as Confos though. Among those who played on Day 1A but didn't survive were the likes of Gautam Dhingra, Stevan Chew, Sam Khoueis, Gary Benson, Billy Argyros, Andrew Hinrichsen, Hari Varma, Jason Gray, and The Star Sydney $5,000 Challenge winner Matt Wakeman. Wakeman floated with an above average stack several times throughout the day, but in the end he wasn't able to stay afloat and hit the rail just before the end of the night.

But it was still an exciting day for some, one being Mladen Vukovic. Fresh off a deep run in the $5,000 Challenge here at the Star Sydney, Vukovic was able to build up a massive stack in the middle of Day 1A. For hours, Vukovic couldn't seem to lose a pot. He knocked out several players including Michael Seymour. In the hand, Vukovic won a race with ace-queen against Seymour's fours and that would push him over the 300,000 chips mark. Vukovic finished the day with 298,000 chips which was good enough for the fifth biggest stack so far.

Michael O'Grady also had eventful day. O'Grady started off the day active, playing a multitude of pots against his stacked table. At one point he doubled through Stevan Chew after turning two pair against Chew's top pair. But the talk of the day happened in a massive pot between O'Grady and Najeem Ajez.

According to one of the staff members, O'Grady had moved all in on a flop of after a bet and a raise from Ajez. Ajez was in the tank and at one point said to O'Grady, "I'll show you one if you show me one." O'Grady agreed and Ajez showed the . O'Grady showed his , assuming that Ajez's hand was dead.

Immediately after this, Ajez said, "I call." And as his hand was not dead yet, it didn't hit the muck, his action stood. Ajez turned up his other card, the revealing a flopped straight with . O'Grady was still live with outs to a flush or a straight holding so the floor instructed the rest of the hand to be dealt out.

The turn was the which was safe for Ajez, but the river was the . With that, O'Grady was awarded the pot, making a flush. Ajez was eliminated from the tournament with a shorter stack. After the hand, players at the table continued to discuss the ruling and whether or not Ajez was attempting an angle against O'Grady.

In the end, O'Grady ended up with a massive stack of nearly 250,000 while Ajez hit the rail. O'Grady wouldn't make it through the day though and lost most of his chips after having a rough few levels to end the night.

Some notable survivors from Day 1A include Jonathan Karamalikis (144,000), Brendon Rubie (106,000), Rahul Rastogi (225,000), Jordan Westmoreland (281,500), Julius Colman (193,500), Luke Martinelli (334,000), Jarred Graham (90,500), and Ricky Kroesen as well who finished the night with 339,500 chips, which was good enough for second place in the flight.

Action continues on Saturday, December 8th at 12:30 p.m. with a brand new flight of players on Flight 1B, the second of four flights. Players who survived this flight will combine with the other survivors on Saturday, December 15th where they will play down into the money and beyond. Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews as we will continue with updates for the remaining days.

Craig Blight raised to 9,000 from middle position and was called by Michael C. in the hijack.

The flop came and Blight bet 11,000. Michael C. then raised to 30,000. Blight immediately moved all in for 80,000 and Michael C. snap-called.

Craig Blight:
Michael C.:

The board ran out the and to see Blight spike a diamond on the river to take down the pot with a winning flush.

Luke Martinelli raised to 9,000 from the hijack and was called by Michael O'Grady on the button as well as Jordan Westmorland in the small blind.

The flop came and Westmorland checked. Martinelli continued for 11,000. O'Grady called. Westmorland folded.

The turn brought the and Martinelli bet out another 32,000. O'Grady thought for a minute and called.

The completed the board and Martinelli announced a bet of 95,000 before sliding out the chips.

"Wow! First time ever you've verbalised a bet," O'Grady said, contemplating what to do next.

O'Grady then cut out the necessary amount of chips to make the call and slid them in. Martinelli then confidently tabled his for two pair and took down the pot after O'Grady mucked his hand.

Action folded around to Chris Wookey who moved all in late position for right around 30,000. He was called by Ali Ghezelbash before Jarrod Thatcher moved all in over the top. Action was back on Ghezelbash who called.

Chris Wookey:
Ali Ghezelbash:
Jarrod Thatcher:

The board ran out though and Wookey made trip threes to earn a full triple up. On the other side of the action, Ghezelbash's queens held up against the king-queen of Thatcher and he earned a partial double up as well to around 145,000. Thatcher was left with about 90,000 after the hand.

Action was on the turn in a three-way pot where a player put out a bet of 9,000 with the board showing . Mladen Vukovic was next to act and he just called before a player in late position raised and made it 19,500. The original bettor quickly folded but Vukovic wasn't deterred, he called.

The river was the and this time both players checked. Vukovic revealed his and with two pair he was able to take down the pot.

Vukovic dropped a bit this level, but is now back up over 300,000 chips and still has one of the largest stacks in the room.

Ricky Kroesen and his opponent had committed their chips in preflop with the latter being all in and covered.

Ricky Kroesen:
Opponent:

The board ran out to see Kroesen spike an ace on the river to take down the pot with the higher pair.

Brendon Rubie raised to 6,000 from middle position before the player in the hijack moved all in for 52,500. The action folded back around to Rubie who thought for a minute before making the call.

Brendon Rubie:
Opponent:

The board would run out improving Rubie's pocket pair to a set on the flop resulting in the elimination of another player from the field.