AU$2,200 Main Event
Day 2 Completed
2018 WSOP International Circuit The Star Sydney
AU$2,200 Main Event
Day: 2
Alex Lynskey Leads Day 2 of the WSOPC Sydney Main Event
Level 23
: 15,000/30,000, 5,000 ante
Day 2 of the WSOP International Circuit Sydney Main Event has come to an end and there are just 27 players remaining. Leading the way is Australia's Alex Lynskey, who is in the hunt for his first WSOP circuit ring, which would fit quite nicely to a resume that some poker players could only dream of, including a 7th place finish at this year's WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas for $1,500,000.
Lynskey bagged up 3,055,000, edging out John Sormi (2,735,000) and Irishman Ray Bryant (2,355,000) for top honours. Lynskey’s most memorable hand came when he clashed with England’s Brandon Sheils. Lynskey moved all in on the river with the board showing 
and was holding 
. Sheils tank-called with 
and was knocked out. That moved Lynskey to 1.2 million and he used that momentum to build his large stack. Other big stacks that will be moving on to Day 3 include Rahul Rastogi (2,320,000) and Justin Layden (2,035,000) who round out the top five with stacks above two million.
There are plenty of big names still in the hunt including recent WSOPC High Roller winner Luke Martinelli (1,710,000), Ricky Kroesen (1,780,000), Joel Dodds (1,690,000), Stevan Chew (1,185,000), Peco Stajonovski (1,030,000), Sam Capra (1,555,000) and Michael Fraser (1,325,000).
At one stage earlier in the day, with blinds at 6,000/12,000, Capra sat with just 11,000 in chips. He was able to spin that up to finish just outside the top ten stacks when play ended. Fraser is making back-to-back deep runs in the WSOPC Sydney Main Event after last year finishing runner-up to Michael Kanaan. He’ll be hoping to go one better in two days time.
230 players returned today with 135 making the money. Chris Wookey would ultimately become the bubble boy after his aces were cracked by Mark Yazbeck’s pocket nines after a nine spiked on the flop. From there not all of the fan favorites were fortunate enough to survive to the day's end but still profited with a cash. Among the fallen were Jeff Lisandro (131st), Michel Bouskila (124th), Jarred Graham (122nd), Heidi May (119th), Sean Dunwmoodie (102nd), Corey Kempson (94,000), Daniel Laidlaw (71st), James Broom (53rd), Mladen Vukovic (38th), Suzy Khoueis (30th) and Shivan Abdine (29th).
The final 27 players will return to the poker room at The Star on Sunday, 16 December at 12.30pm local time to resume Day 3 and play down to the final table. Blinds will be continuing on Level 23 at 15,000/30,000 with a 5,000 ante. The plan is to play down to the final table, however long that takes, with 10-min breaks every two 60-minute levels and a 30-min dinner break after Level nine.
WSOPC Sydney Final 27 Seat Draw
| Seat | Table 29 | Table 30 | Table 32 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Sormi | Dion Mavrangelos | Michael Fraser |
| 2 | Henry Tran | Dominick French | Joel Dodds |
| 3 | Luke Martinelli | Lio Segre | Richard Davis |
| 4 | Javad Etaat | Victor Teng | Sam Capra |
| 5 | Alexis Tremblay | Joel Cohen | Michael Seymour |
| 6 | Rob Damelian | Matt Pongrass | Michael Nenes |
| 7 | Alex Lynskey | Stevan Chew | Ray Byrant |
| 8 | Peco Stojanovski | Rahul Rastogi | Justin Layden |
| 9 | Cameron Chen | Barry Forrester | Ricky Kroesen |
The PokerNews live reporting team will be on the tournament floor to bring you all the highlights of the action so join us then as we see who has what it takes to walk the road to the final table.
Official End of Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 23
: 15,000/30,000, 5,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
3,055,000 | 1,525,000 |
|
2,735,000 | 2,628,000 |
|
2,355,000 | 880,000 |
|
2,320,000 | -345,000 |
|
2,035,000 | |
|
1,840,000 | 340,000 |
|
1,780,000 | |
|
1,710,000 | -50,000 |
|
1,690,000 | -398,000 |
|
|
1,570,000 | |
|
1,555,000 | -130,000 |
|
1,325,000 | 600,000 |
|
1,265,000 | |
|
1,185,000 | 994,000 |
|
1,160,000 | 100,000 |
|
1,030,000 | -50,000 |
|
995,000 | |
|
995,000 | -65,000 |
|
955,000 | -25,000 |
|
900,000 | -472,000 |
|
|
860,000 | 110,000 |
|
815,000 | -235,000 |
|
585,000 | |
|
560,000 | -1,240,000 |
|
525,000 | 366,000 |
Ruha's Elimination Ends Play For the Day
Level 23
: 15,000/30,000, 5,000 ante
Sam Ruha was all in for 70,000 preflop and was up against two opponents, one of which was Joel Cohen.
Both live players checked down the 
board before Cohen tabled 
for two pair on the river.
Ruha reluctantly tabled his 
before exiting in 28th place.
The remaining 27 players will bag for the night and return tomorrow with five minutes left in level 23.
Stay tuned for an end of day wrap shortly.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Khoueis Becomes Rastogi's Next Victim
Level 23
: 15,000/30,000, 5,000 ante
Suzy Khoueis moved all preflop for 155,000 and was matched by Rahul Rastogi.
Rahul Rastogi: 
Suzy Khoueis: 
The board would run out perfectly for Khoueis until the river dropped a jack to see Rastogi take down the pot with a pair.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,665,000 | 150,000 |
|
Busted |
Capra Chips Up Against Seymour
Level 23
: 15,000/30,000, 5,000 ante
Michael Seymour raised to 65,000 from the button. Sam Capra then re-raised to 165,000 from the big blind. Seymour called.
The flop came 
and Capra slid out 160,000. Seymour called shortly after.
Both players then checked the 
on the turn followed by the on the river.
Capra tabled his 
and took down the pot after Seymour mucked his hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,685,000 | 1,173,000 |
|
|
1,060,000 | 495,000 |
Stojanovski Eliminates Demetriou
Level 23
: 15,000/30,000, 5,000 ante
Dillon Demetriou moved all in for 195,000 from middle position and was called by Peco Stojanovski in the big blind.
Peco Stojanovski: 
Dillon Demetriou: 
The board ran out 
to see Stojanovski improve to two pair resulting in Demetriou being eliminated.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,080,000 | 840,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Martinelli Eliminates Endersby
Level 23
: 15,000/30,000, 5,000 ante
Travis Endersby raised to 85,000 from under the gun plus one and was called by Luke Martinelli in the hijack.
The flop came 
and Endersby bet 135,000. Martinelli called.
The dropped on the turn and Endersby moved all in 475,000 and was snap-called by Martinelli who had him covered.
"You got a flush?" asked Endersby before Martinelli turned over his 
for the nut flush. "The flush," stated Endersby after realising, before flipping over his which was drawing dead.
The meaningless 
completed the board and Martinelli was awarded the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,760,000 | 340,000 |
|
Busted |
Rastogi Storms to the Front After Eliminating Zhang
Level 23
: 15,000/30,000, 5,000 ante
Haoran Zhang raised to 60,000 from the cutoff and was called by Rahul Rastogi in the big blind.
The flop came 
and Rastogi checked. Zhang continued for 40,000. Rastogi called.
The turn dropped the and Rastogi checked again. Zhang then moved all in for 346,000. Rastogi asked for a count then called a minute later.
Rahul Rastogi: 
Haoran Zhang: 
Rastogi had turned the best hand making a pair. Zhang was now drawing to a jack to make a straight but the on the river wouldn't see that happen and Zhang was sent to the rail.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,515,000 | 715,000 |
|
Busted |
Vukovic Doubles Pongrass; Gets Eliminated by Kroesen in Following Hand
Level 23
: 15,000/30,000, 5,000 ante
In the space of two hands just before the break Mladen Vukovic was eliminated from the tournament.
In the first hand Vukovic raised from under the gun and was called by Matt Pongrass in the big blind.
The flop came 
and Pongrass checked. Vukovic bet 40,000. Pongrass called.
The turn brought the 
and Pongrass check-called another bet totalling 225,000.
The completed the board and Pongrass made it three checks in a row. Vukovic shoved for just under a million having Pongrass covered. He snap-called.
Vukovic tabled for two pair but had been rivered by Pongrass who made a better two pair holding .
The next hand Ricky Kroesen raised to 50,000 from middle position. Pongrass called from the small blind. Vukovic then shoved for his last 500,000 from the big blind. Kroesen came over the top for 1,400,000. Pongrass opted to release his .
Kroesen:
Vukovic: 
No help would come for Vukovic as he was sent to the rail. Kroesen moved to over two million in chips after the hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,100,000 | |
|
|
1,500,000 | 350,000 |
|
Busted |