2018 WSOP International Circuit The Star Sydney

AU$2,200 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info

2018 WSOP International Circuit The Star Sydney

Final Results
Winner
Alex Lynskey
Winning Hand
33
Event Info
Buy-in
2,200 AUD
Entries
1,191
Level Info
Level
33
Blinds
150,000 / 300,000
Ante
50,000

Battle of the Big Stacks

Level 5 : 200/400, 50 ante
Najeem Ajez
Najeem Ajez

With the board showing {3-Diamonds}{3-Hearts}{4-Spades}{5-Spades} Michael O'Grady bet 5,600 from the cutoff and was called by Najeem Ajez on the button.

The {j-Hearts} completed the board and O'Grady reached for his chips and tossed out 11,550. Ajez called shortly after.

O'Grady announced he had aces before turning over his {a-Diamonds}{a-Clubs}. Ajez mucked his hand and O'Grady raked in the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Michael O'Grady au
Michael O'Grady
105,000 37,000
Najeem Ajez au
Najeem Ajez
52,000 -44,000

Tags: Michael O'GradyNajeem Ajez

Benson Slipping

Level 5 : 200/400, 50 ante

Action was three ways on a flop of {8-Spades}{4-Diamonds}{2-Hearts} where Gary Benson checked it from the blinds over to a player in middle position. The player put out a bet of 2,600. Jinah Min then called in late position. Benson called as well.

On the {9-Spades} turn, Benson checked again. The player in middle position checked as well. It was Min's turn to act and this time she put out a bet of 7,000. Benson dropped into the tank and thought for about a minute and a half before releasing and the middle position player folded as well, allowing Min to take down the pot.

With that, Benson dropped down to just about 9,000 chips, putting him on a stack of just over 20 big blinds.

Player Chips Progress
Gary Benson au
Gary Benson
WSOP 1X Winner
9,000 -4,400

Tags: Gary Benson

Some New Faces and Updated Counts

Level 5 : 200/400, 50 ante
Player Chips Progress
Rahul Rastogi au
Rahul Rastogi
89,000 33,000
Chad Awerbuch au
Chad Awerbuch
82,000 52,000
Zhi Ma au
Zhi Ma
74,000 44,000
Paul Rochford au
Paul Rochford
63,000 41,000
Jarred Graham au
Jarred Graham
WSOP 1X Winner
50,000 20,000
Jordan Westmorland us
Jordan Westmorland
41,000 11,000
Ben Richardson au
Ben Richardson
36,500 13,500
Ken Demlakian au
Ken Demlakian
34,000 4,000
Matt Rolfe au
Matt Rolfe
28,000 -2,000
Patrick Fletcher au
Patrick Fletcher
24,000 -6,000
Eric Assadourian au
Eric Assadourian
24,000 -6,000
Jason Gray gb
Jason Gray
24,000 -6,000
Sam Capra au
Sam Capra
23,400 -6,600
Robert Spano au
Robert Spano
22,400 -7,600
Trevor Saunders au
Trevor Saunders
13,500 -17,500
Gary Benson au
Gary Benson
WSOP 1X Winner
13,400 -16,600
Rined Namrood au
Rined Namrood
4,000 -16,000

Level: 5

Blinds: 200/400

Ante: 50

Kroesen Flops a Set and Shows

Level 4 : 150/300, 25 ante
Ricky Kroesen
Ricky Kroesen

Action was on the flop between Ricky Kroesen and one other player. The board was {8-Spades}{7-Clubs}{3-Spades} and the player on the button had a bet of 6,000 out in front of him along with about 6,000 in the middle as well. Kroesen thought for a bit then he moved all in with a covering stack for right around 30,000 effective. The player tanked for a while before he eventually decided to fold.

"Do you want to see this one?" Kroesen asked?

The player nodded and Kroesen obliged and showed down his {7-Diamonds}{7-Spades} for a flopped set. With that, he took down the pot and moved right around 50,000 chips.

Player Chips Progress
Ricky Kroesen au
Ricky Kroesen
52,000 5,000

Tags: Ricky Kroesen

Honest Khoueis

Level 4 : 150/300, 25 ante

The player in middle position raised to 800 and was called by Sam Khoueis seated directly to his left as well as the player in the big blind.

The flop came {4-Clubs}{5-Spades}{a-Spades} and the action checked to Khoueis who bet 1,800. His two opponents mucked immediately.

"How do they know?" sighed Khoueis, before flashing the {a-Hearts} before raking in the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Sam Khoueis au
Sam Khoueis
14,500 6,000

Tags: Sam Khoueis

Some Updated Chip Counts

Level 4 : 150/300, 25 ante
Player Chips Progress
Najeem Ajez au
Najeem Ajez
96,000 21,000
Michael O'Grady au
Michael O'Grady
68,000 39,000
Michael Seymour au
Michael Seymour
67,000 37,000
Jesse Mason au
Jesse Mason
57,000 27,000
Julius Colman au
Julius Colman
55,000 -11,000
Stan L. au
Stan L.
37,300 7,300
Brendon Rubie au
Brendon Rubie
35,000 11,000
Craig Blight au
Craig Blight
33,575 5,975
Ryan Hong au
Ryan Hong
31,000 1,000
Didier Guerin au
Didier Guerin
29,100 -900
Ricky Kroesen au
Ricky Kroesen
28,000
Johan Lees au
Johan Lees
26,500 -3,500
Jonathan Karamalikis au
Jonathan Karamalikis
23,900 -4,800
Andrew Hinrichsen au
Andrew Hinrichsen
WSOP 1X Winner
20,500 -12,500
Andrew Scarf au
Andrew Scarf
17,200 -22,800
Daniel Shan au
Daniel Shan
11,000 -1,100
Sam Khoueis au
Sam Khoueis
8,500 -21,000
Gautam Dhingra au
Gautam Dhingra
Busted
Stevan Chew au
Stevan Chew
Busted

A Small Dent for the $5,000 Challenge Champ

Level 4 : 150/300, 25 ante
Matthew Wakeman
Matthew Wakeman

Action folded around to the hijack where Matt Wakeman opened with a raise to 700. The player in the small blind called as did the player in the big blind.

The flop was {K-Diamonds}{8-Hearts}{4-Clubs} and action checked over to Wakeman who put out a bet of 800. The small blind released but the big blind called.

On the {8-Spades} turn, both players checked and the {6-Hearts} came on the river. There, the big blind led out with a bet of 2,000. Wakeman didn't take too long to release.

Yesterday, Wakeman took down the $5,000 Challenge here at The Star Sydney, besting a field of 215 runners for $255,311 and he's back at it again here today. The pot was a small loss for the recent champion of the $5,000 Challenge, but he's still off to a good start with a stack of roughly 34,000 already.

Player Chips Progress
Matt Wakeman au
Matt Wakeman
34,000 4,700

Tags: Matt Wakeman

Level: 4

Blinds: 150/300

Ante: 25