AU$2,200 Main Event
Day 2 Completed
2019 WSOP International Circuit The Star Sydney
AU$2,200 Main Event
Day: 2
Edwin Chiu Leads Final 24 Players in WSOPC The Star Sydney Main Event
Level 24
: 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Day 2 of the World Series of Poker International Circuit The Star Sydney Main Event has concluded with the 1,124-strong Main Event whittled down to the final 24 players, who are competing for a top prize of AU$410,264 (~$280,610), in addition to the coveted WSOP Circuit Ring.
The man leading the charge is Australia's Edwin Chiu, who put on a dominant display of power poker to top the counts over the nine 60-minute levels played.
Chiu returned as one of the top 20 stacks with over 320k but climbed into pole position midway through the day after clashing in a huge hand with Sydney cash grinder Jo Snell in a three-bet pot.
Snell made an ill-timed three street bluff with ace-high and Chiu called him down with a flopped set of fives which was good for a pot of over 3-million chips. While Snell still had a playable 500k stack after the hand, he was unable to recover and departed in 61st place, taking home AU$6,137 for his deep run.
Despite doubling up Billy 'the croc' Argyros during one of the last levels played, Chiu only briefly relinquished the chip lead to Hamish Crawshaw, reseizing it as play began to wind down to bag up an impressive 4,505,000 in chips.
The next closest rival for the top spot is Huss Hassan, who also enjoyed a great day at the tables, railing three separate players in two consecutive hands to bag the second largest stack and will return for the penultimate day with 2,875,000 in chips.
Australia's Adrian Attenborough rounded out the top three after being involved in the vast majority of the live-streamed feature table action to conclude play with a stack of 2,400,000, finishing ahead of Crawshaw, who was the only other player to bag up a stack of over 2-million and will be returning for Day 3 with a stack of 2,030,000.
Other notables still in contention with decent-sized stacks include Duy Doc Vu (1,895,000), Akshay Kapoor (1,400,000), Dean Blatt (1,290,000), Billy 'the croc' Argyros (1,250,000), $5k Challenge finalist Marc Camphausen (1,125,000), China's Chao Duan (1,090,000), and Day 1a frontrunner Diarmuid O'Kane (600,000), though the latter is one of the shorter stacks.
Day 2 Action
A total of 182 players returned for Day 2, all looking to win a slice of the AU$2,248,000 (~$1,537,570) prize pool, and with only the top 117 places paying out, 65 of them would be departing empty-handed.
Notables to come up short of the cash spots included High Roller champion Jonathan Karamalikis, Daniel Laidlaw, Corey Kempson, and Marc Seymour.
The money bubble came and went in rapid fashion, with Jun Zheng the man to depart in the most unenviable position, committing his last two big blinds with ten-nine of spades and losing out to the seven-four of clubs of Michael Hahn, who ran out a straight to guarantee the 117 remaining players a payday of at least AU$3,687 (~$2,520).
Hahn would later depart in 64th place for an AU$5,598 payday. Other notables to make the money but not the last three eight-handed tables included Day 1d frontrunner Andrew Zheng (45th for AU$7,598), Tony Kambouroglou (49th for AU$6,789), Martin Ward (62nd for AU$6,137), Poker Hall of Famer Gary Benson (67th for 5,598), 2009 Aussie Millions Main Event champion Stewart Scott (79th for AU$5,148), High Roller finalist Julien Sitbon (97th for AU$4,361) and Australia's Geoff Mooney (114th for AU$3,687) to name but a few.
The 24 remaining survivors will return for the penultimate Day 3, which will kick-off at 12:30 p.m. local time and will play down to the official nine-handed final table, however long this may take. The PokerNews live reporting team will be on hand to bring you the highlights of all the action, and you can watch all the action via the official live stream so join us then as we walk the road to the final table.
Day 3 Seat Draw
| Name | Table/Seat | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| John Duggan | '30/1 | 825,000 |
| Trevor Saunders | '30/2 | 655,000 |
| Huss Hassan | '30/3 | 2,875,000 |
| Adrian Salter | '30/4 | 615,000 |
| Akshay Kapoor | '30/5 | 1,400,000 |
| Rehman Kassam | '30/6 | 585,000 |
| Hamish Crawshaw | '30/7 | 2,030,000 |
| Mostafa Haidar | '30/8 | 650,000 |
| Edwin Chiu | '31/1 | 4,505,000 |
| Chao Duan | '31/2 | 1,090,000 |
| Diarmuid O'Kane | '31/3 | 600,000 |
| John Zwaine | '31/4 | 1,225,000 |
| Jules Wilson | '31/5 | 1,425,000 |
| Jensen Chow | '31/6 | 895,000 |
| Dean Blatt | '31/7 | 1,290,000 |
| Adrian Attenborough | '31/8 | 2,400,000 |
| Steven Zhou | '32/1 | 875,000 |
| Lior Segre | '32/2 | 1,160,000 |
| Duy Doc Vu | '32/3 | 1,895,000 |
| Tom Rafferty | '32/4 | 1,240,000 |
| Marc Camphausen | '32/5 | 1,125,000 |
| Anish Kumar | '32/6 | 1,400,000 |
| Billy Vasilios | '32/7 | 1,250,000 |
| Shane De Clifford | '32/8 | 1,860,000 |
End of Day 2 Chip Counts (full)
Level 24
: 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
4,505,000 | 75,000 |
|
2,875,000 | 250,000 |
|
2,400,000 | 1,100,000 |
|
2,030,000 | |
|
|
1,895,000 | |
|
1,860,000 | -55,000 |
|
1,425,000 | 725,000 |
|
1,400,000 | 100,000 |
|
1,400,000 | 400,000 |
|
1,290,000 | -215,000 |
|
1,250,000 | 160,000 |
|
1,240,000 | -510,000 |
|
1,225,000 | -175,000 |
|
1,160,000 | -140,000 |
|
1,125,000 | 125,000 |
|
1,090,000 | -610,000 |
|
975,000 | 66,000 |
|
895,000 | 15,000 |
|
825,000 | -175,000 |
|
655,000 | -215,000 |
|
650,000 | -350,000 |
|
615,000 | 481,000 |
|
600,000 | -220,000 |
|
585,000 | 95,000 |
Crawshaw Busts Tan to Conclude Play
Level 24
: 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
The clock has paused and the field is now down to the last 24 players with the elimination of Jerome Tan concluding the days' action.
Hamish Crawshaw was the man to stop the clock and bring Tan's tournament to a halt after opening from the hijack for 85,000 with 
with Tan committing the last of his chips with 
.
Both players missed the runout by miles, meaning Crawshaw's kicker played and Tan headed off to collect AU$13,128 for his 25th place finish.
The remaining 24 players are in the midst of bagging and tagging with full end of day chip counts and write up to follow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,030,000 | 680,000 |
|
Busted |
Last Level
Level 24
: 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
The 25 remaining Main Event players are coming into the final stretch and it's a race to see which comes first - one more bust out or the conclusion of the last 60-minute level.
Level: 24
Blinds: 20,000/40,000
Ante: 40,000
Hassan Eliminates Gloess, Mcdonnell and Tchong in Consecutive Hands
Level 23
: 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Michael Gloess moved all in for 285,000 from the hijack and was called by Michael Tchong in the cutoff. Huss Hassan moved all in for 465,000 from the small blind. Tchong called with more behind.
Hassan: 
Tchong: 
Gloess: 
The board ran out 
, to see Hassan scoop both the main and side pot, sending Gloess to the rail.
The following hand, Mathew Mcdonnell jammed for 625,000. Hassan moved all in over the top.
Mcdonnell showed 
, but would not improve against Hassan , seeing him eliminated as well.
The third hand in succession saw Hassan open to 60,000. Michael Thcong moved all in for around 400,000. Hassan called.
Hassan had 
and Tchong revealed 
. The ace-high held for Hassan sending him up the leader board
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,625,000 | 2,155,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted |
Camphausen Guns Down Lei
Level 23
: 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Poker is all about timing and for Yang Lei his was a little off. Lei committed the last of his chips from under-the-gun with 
and was unfortunate to see Marc Camphausen wake up with a monster in the big blind, tabling 
.
Lei was in bad shape and it didn't get any better on the 
runout to bring the field down to 27. Camphausen stacked up to 1 million after the hand, while Lei headed to the cage to collect AU$11,285.
The next elimination gets the ladder up payment and will depart with AU$13,128.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,000,000 | 595,000 |
|
Busted |
Kapoor and Duan Play Three-bet Pot
Level 23
: 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Akshay Kapoor opened the action with a raise to 60,000 from the cutoff and was three-bet to the tune of 165,000 by Chao Duan on the button. Kapoor made the call to swell the pot to 330,000.
The flop came down 
and after mulling it over for a few seconds, Kapoor checked the action over to Duan. The Chinese player thought long and hard over the perfect bet sizing before deciding that 125,000 was the best amount, and Kapoor's cards quickly hit the muck leaving Duan free to scoop the sizable pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,700,000 | 400,000 |
|
|
1,300,000 | 537,000 |
Chiu Shoves on Crawshaw
Level 23
: 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Hamish Crawshaw raised to 65,000 from middle position. Edwin Chiu then re-raised to 175,000 from the hijack. The action folded back around to Crawshaw, who thought for over a minute, before three-betting to 500,000. Chiu took just as long before making the call.
The flop came 
and Crawshaw fired out 225,000. Chiu took his time before matching the bet.
The turn dropped the 
and Crawshaw reached for his chips and slid out 450,000. Chiu then moved all in for around 2,400,000 which had Crawshaw well covered. Crawshaw mucked almost instantly.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,430,000 | 1,130,000 |
|
|
1,350,000 | -1,630,000 |