AU$2,200 Main Event
Day 1b Completed
2018 WSOP International Circuit The Star Sydney
AU$2,200 Main Event
Day: 1b
Ali Aflatounian Bags Up the Chip Lead After an Impressive Performance on Day 1B
Level 14
: 2,000/4,000, 500 ante
Another 14 levels are in the books for The Star Sydney World Series of Poker International Circuit $2,200 Main Event as Day 1B played out on Saturday, December 8th. The second of four starting flights drew out a total of 225 entries. Combined with the 170 from day one that makes 395 entries so far. Only 42 survived on Day 1B so in total, 73 survivors have advanced to Day 2 so far.
Bagging the biggest stack after the second flight of play was Ali Aflatounian. Aflatounian picked up a big stack in the middle of the day after flopping a set against an opponent and getting paid on multiple streets. But the majority of Aflatounian's chips came from a huge hero call her made against an opponent. Aflatounian held ace-jack on a wet board of 
and his opponent moved all in. Aflatounian thought it over and called only to have his opponent reveal jack-high, shocking the table. With that he took the lead in the chip counts and holds the biggest overall stack after two days of play with 430,500.
Michael King also bagged one of the largest stacks of the day, finishing with 400,000. King stayed relatively unoticed for most of the day, but in the final level of play, King stacked an opponent holding top two pair. King shoved all in on the river and his opponent tanked for quite some time before calling. Players speculated the King's opponent was holding a worse two pair, but King wasn't sold on it, saying that he thought his opponent made a hero call against him. That pot pushed him over 300,000 chips though and he would hold onto that big stack as the day came to a close.
Among other who made it through on Day 1B were the likes of Joel Dodds (290,000), Haoran Zhang (149,500), Michel Bouskila (197,000), George Mitri (128,500), Henry Tran (212,000), Andrew Scarf (196,000), Andy Lee (172,500), Rob Damelian (298,500), Tatjana Zizic (159,500) and Steve Pappas (172,500).
Some who didn't far as well though were Andrew Hinrichsen, Gary Benson, Stevan Chew, Sean Dunwoodie, Najeem Ajez, Billy Argyros, Brett Trevillian, Federico Butteroni, Sam Khoueis, Errolyn Strang andJan Suchanek to name a few. Suchanek had a roller coaster of a day, getting involved in big pots from the start, but in the end, he was caught bluffing by Andy Lee. Lee made a hero call on an ace-high board holding pocket queens and Suchanek just held an open-ended straight draw. He bricked out on the river so Lee took down the big pot to send Suchanek home early.
The Main Event will be taking a break for a few days while several other events will kick off in the next few days. The next coverage of the Main Event will begin on Thursday, December 13 with Day 1C starting at 12:30 p.m. But don't tune out yet. PokerNews will be covering several of the other side events at this stop including the $1,320 Six Max event which begins on Sunday, December 9th at 12:30 p.m. so make sure to tune back in.
End of Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 14
: 2,000/4,000, 500 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
430,500 | 500 |
|
400,000 | 10,000 |
|
375,000 | |
|
|
305,000 | 217,500 |
|
|
298,500 | 8,500 |
|
290,000 | |
|
260,500 | |
|
257,000 | |
|
212,000 | -118,000 |
|
197,000 | 161,900 |
|
196,000 | 101,000 |
|
|
193,500 | |
|
|
181,000 | |
|
172,500 | |
|
172,500 | -6,000 |
|
|
170,000 | 170,000 |
|
166,500 | -113,500 |
|
|
166,500 | |
|
159,500 | |
|
149,500 | 10,000 |
|
149,500 | |
|
|
137,000 | |
|
|
136,000 | |
|
131,000 | |
|
130,500 |
Damelian Blast the River to Take a Big One
Level 14
: 2,000/4,000, 500 ante
Action kicked off with a raise from Rob Damelian to 10,000 from early position. Action folded to middle position where the player there three-bet to 30,000. Action folded back around to Damelian who thought for a bit before calling.
The flop was 
and Damelian checked to his opponent who continued with a bet of 20,000. Damelian called.
The turn was the 
and both players checked this time to see the 
pair the board on the river. There, Damelian decided to lead out, making it 40,000. His opponent thought about it for a bit, but eventually decided to fold so Damelian took down the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
290,000 | 25,000 |
Tran Gets Called
Level 14
: 2,000/4,000, 500 ante
The board showed 
and there was already around 50,000 in the pot.
Henry Tran bet out 40,000 from the big blind. His opponent was seated in middle position and went into the tank for several minutes.
The decision was taking it's toll as Tran's opponent was agonizing over whether to call or not.
Finally Andrew Scarf called time and the player had 40 seconds to make a decision.
"Everything is telling me to call," the middle position player said to himself.
With about ten seconds left in his countdown he made the call only for Tran to flip over 
for a flush.
Tran's opponent tapped the table and showed his 
for top pair before congratulating Tran on how well he played the hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
330,000 | 300,000 |
Wright Scores a Double Knockout
Level 14
: 2,000/4,000, 500 ante
According to players at his table, Nick Wright had two players all in and at risk before the flop. Wright had them both covered for a pot of nearly 300,000.
Nick Wright: 
Opponent 1: 
Opponent 2: 
The flop came down 
giving Wright top two, one of his opponents top pair, and the other player a royal flush draw, but the turn and river were both bricks according to the table so Wright was able to scoop a massive pot to move up the leader board to nearly 300,000 chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
280,000 | 280,000 |
Level: 14
Blinds: 2,000/4,000
Ante: 500
King Sits Atop the Throne
Level 13
: 1,500/3,000, 500 ante
According to Michael King, he opened with a raise to 7,000 and was called by one player in the big blind.
The flop was 
and after a check King put forward a bet of what he said was "pot," or around 16,000. His opponent called.
The turn was the and King's opponent checked for a second time. King now bet 50,000 and his opponent tanked for a bit before calling again.
On the 
river, the player in the blinds checked again. King moved all in with a slightly covering stack for roughly 120,000. His opponent tanked for a good while, several minutes, but ultimately decided to call. King turned up his 
and his opponent frustratedly tossed his card into the muck. With that, King took down a massive pot and moved up the chip counts with nearly 400,000 chips.
After the hand, several of the players made guesses about what the big blind was holding when he called, with some players guessing he was holding 
.
"Ace-four?" King questioned. "I don't think so. I think he called me lighter than that. I think he tried to hero call me."
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
390,000 | 390,000 |
Mai Doubles Through Zhang
Level 13
: 1,500/3,000, 500 ante
Adrian Salter raised to 7,000 from middle position and was called by Kia Arbabi in the hijack and Haoran Zhang on the button. Michael Mai then moved all in for 59,000 from the small blind. Salter and Arbabi mucked instantly. Zhang asked for a count and called.
Michael Mai:
Haoran Zhang:
The board ran out 
to see Mai hold with his higher-kicker resulting in a double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
139,500 | 82,500 |
|
|
127,000 | 97,000 |
Arbabi Takes a Small One With One of the Worst Hands
Level 13
: 1,500/3,000, 500 ante
Action folded around where the player on the button opened with a raise to 6,000. Kia Arbabi called in the big blind.
Both players checked on the 
flop and the 
dropped on the turn. There, Arbabi checked again and his opponent checked begind.
The river was the 
and Arbabi checked a third time. His opponent checked it behind and Arbabi showed down his to earn him the small pot, pushing him to almost 90,000 chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
87,500 | -7,500 |