AU$2,200 Main Event Day 1b | 2019 WSOP International Circuit The Star Sydney

12-01-2019 17:10 UTC+10

Damelian Hits Set to Edge In front

Ben Wilson

Level 8 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

A sizable pot played out between Robert Damelian and an opponent that saw the former send the latter to the rail and seize a slight chip lead in the tournament.

With the board reading there was a substantial amount of chips in the pot already, and this increased after Damelian's opponent moved all-in and was quickly called.

Opponent:
Robert Damelian:

Damelian had flopped a set and just needed to fade his opponent's open-ended straight draw, and duly did so with the river coming . Damelian's opponent headed for the rail while Damelian stacked up to 150.000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Robert Damelian	150,000 116,000	116,000

Level: 8

Blinds: 500/1,000

Ante: 1,000

12-01-2019 16:57 UTC+10

Hope Wins Big Flip to Take Lead

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Ben Wilson

Level 7 : 400/800, 800 ante

It's tight at the top and it appears that Daniel Hope is currently leading the field after winning a timely double at the expense of an unfortunate tablemate.

All the chips had gone in pre-flop and Hope was the at-risk player, teetering on the brink of elimination on the turn with the board reading . However, the arrival of the river saw Hope get there, and he celebrated with a tap of the table and a shout of 'Yes!'

After stacks were counted down, Hope's opponent was left with around 6,400 while Hope edged into a slight chip lead with a stack of 145,000.

Brad Kain is close behind with a little over 140,000, while Malcolm Trayner has dropped down the pecking order slightly and is sitting on a stack of 135,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Daniel Hope	145,000 145,000	145,000
Brad Kain	140,000 5,000	5,000
Malcolm Trayner	135,000 10,000	10,000

Tags: Brad Kain Daniel Hope Malcolm Trayner

12-01-2019 16:40 UTC+10

Meneses Wins From Hirst

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Ben Wilson

Level 7 : 400/800, 800 ante

David Hirst opened the action from under-the-gun with a raise to 2,000 and action folded around to the small blind, who made the call, before Rod Meneses pumped it up to 5,500 with Hirst the only caller.

The flop saw checks from both players, with the coming in on the turn. That was as far as the hand went, with Meneses' 7,500 delayed continuation bet enough to get it done and he stacked up to 81,000 after the hand, while Hirst dropped to around 101,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
David Hirst	101,000 29,000	29,000
Rod Meneses	81,000

Tags: David Hirst Rod Meneses

12-01-2019 16:29 UTC+10

Attenborough Gets Shove Through

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Ben Wilson

Level 7 : 400/800, 800 ante

There was a raise to 2,300 from early position, with Adrian Attenborough choosing to defend from the big blind, three-betting to 7,100. After some deliberation, Attenborough's opponent made the call and the flop came down .

This saw Attenborough continuation bet 4,300 and receive a second call, with the dealer burning and turning .
That was as far as the hand went, with Attenborough shoving the turn for 13,000, which was enough to take it down.

Player	Chips	Progress
Adrian Attenborough	31,600 16,600	16,600

Tags: Adrian Attenborough

12-01-2019 16:22 UTC+10

Registration Closed

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Ben Wilson

Level 7 : 400/800, 800 ante

Registration is now closed with the final number of Day 1B entrants coming in at 208, with 138 of these still in the running and back in their seats.

Level: 7

Blinds: 400/800

Ante: 800

12-01-2019 16:10 UTC+10

Psarras Doubles, Yu Busts

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Ben Wilson

Level 6 : 300/600, 600 ante

A short-stacked Michelle Psarras got the last of her chips in pre-flop with from the button and Bin Yu made the call from the big blind with .

Yu paired his queen on the flop and maintained his lead on the turn but the river saw Psarras avoid elimination and climb to 10,000, while Yu was left with 5,000.

All this went in blind from the button the next hand, with Ehsan Amiri making the call from the big blind to put Yu at risk.

Bin Yu:
Ehsan Amiri:

The runout came and Yu hit the rail as Amiri climbed above starting stack to 35,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ehsan Amiri	35,000 3,000	3,000
Michelle Psarras	10,000 14,000	14,000
Bin Yu	Busted

Tags: Bin Yu Ehsan Amiri Michelle Psarras

12-01-2019 16:10 UTC+10

Assorted Pre-Break Counts

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Ben Wilson

Level 6 : 300/600, 600 ante

The 205-strong Day 1B Main Event field is off on the second 10-minute break of the day. Recent arrivals before the break included James Obst and Geoff Mooney, both of whom have climbed above starting stack. The man to catch, however, is Malcolm Trainer who has spun his stack up to 145,000, closely followed by Brad Kain on 135,000.

However, Ken Demlakian, Rod Gibbs, Shivan Abdine and George Mitri have all hit the rail over the last couple of levels.

When play resumes post-break, registration will close so the field still might increase slightly.

Player	Chips	Progress
Malcolm Trayner	145,000 27,000	27,000

Brad Kain	135,000 45,000	45,000
David Hirst	130,000 19,500	19,500
Luke Edwards	84,000 46,000	46,000
Zhi Ma	63,000 1,000	1,000
Brian O'Farrell	60,000 2,000	2,000
Billy Argyros	56,600 6,600	6,600
Geoff Mooney	41,000 41,000	41,000
James Obst	40,000 40,000	40,000

Ehsan Amiri	30,000 2,000	2,000
Charlie Hawes	28,000 3,500	3,500
Adrian Attenborough	15,000 3,500	3,500

Michael Kanaan	12,000 16,000	16,000
Michelle Psarras	10,000 14,000	14,000
George Mitri	Busted
Rod Gibbs	Busted
Ken Demlakian	Busted

12-01-2019 15:32 UTC+10

Aces Good for Ma and Zhang

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Ben Wilson

Level 6 : 300/600, 600 ante

Two players have recently woken up with the pocket rockets and both got paid out. The first man with the best starting hand in poker was Zhi Ma, who had made it 1,000 to go from early position. A player in middle position min-raised to 2,000 and button David Hirst four-bet to 6,200 with Ma the only caller.

The flop saw Ma check the action over to Hirst, who continuation bet for 4,200, which Ma called to bring in the turn. That was it for the betting in the hand, with both players also checking the river, with Ma scooping the pot with .

Over on one of the other tables, we caught Daniel Laidlaw battling in a hand against Yisi Zhang with 5,000 in the pot on a flop of . Laidlaw, sitting on the button, had a bet of 2,000 out on the felt in front of him, but had been check-rasied to 5,500 by Zhang, who was in middle position.

Laidlaw made the call to bring in the turn and that was it for the betting in the hand, with both players checking that and the river. Zhang showed his to scoop the pot and climb to 44,000, leaving Laidlaw with half of his starting stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
David Hirst	110,500 1,500	1,500
Zhi Ma	62,000 10,500	10,500
Daniel Laidlaw	15,200 15,200	15,200

Tags: Daniel Laidlaw David Hirst Yisi Zhang Zhi Ma