AU$2,200 Main Event
Day 3 Completed
2019 WSOP International Circuit The Star Sydney
AU$2,200 Main Event
Day: 3
Final Table Set in WSOPC The Star Sydney Main Event; Edwin Chiu Leads
Level 27
: 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Just nine players remain out of the 1,124-strong AU$2,200 World Series of Poker International Circuit The Star Sydney Main Event after what proved to be the quickest day of poker played in the Series so far.
Only 24 players returned for the penultimate day, all guaranteed a payday of at least AU$15,444 (~$10,565), though all had their eye firmly focused on the AU$410,264 (~$280,610) top prize.
The man in the best of positions to take that is the same man who topped the Day 2 counts, with Australia's Edwin Chiu bursting the final table bubble in dramatic fashion to send Moustafa Haidar to the rail and retake the chip lead, all in one fell swoop.
Haidar got his last 1.35-million in chips in with a four-bet from the small blind after an Adrian Attenborough cutoff open and a Chiu button three-bet and found his pocket jacks racing against the latter's ace-queen of hearts.
Despite hitting top set on the jack-high double heart flop, Haidar was unable to fade the hearts, with Chiu making the nut flush on the river to set up the official nine-handed final table.
Steven Zhou will be returning as the second largest stack, breathing down Chiu's neck with a total of 6,205,000 in chips, with these two the only players to return with stacks of 6-million.
Other notables still in with a shout include Huss Hassan (4,500,000) and Adrian Attenborough (4,150,000), with the latter making his second final table in the space of a week, having finished runner-up to Shivan Abdine in the$5k Challenge for an AU$160,610 payday.
Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trevor Saunders | Australia | 940,000 | 12 |
| 2 | Steven Zhou | Australia | 6,205,000 | 78 |
| 3 | Adrian Attenborough | Australia | 4,150,000 | 52 |
| 4 | John Zwaine | Australia | 3,065,000 | 38 |
| 5 | Duy Vu | Australia | 2,775,000 | 35 |
| 6 | Lior Segre | Australia | 2,585,000 | 32 |
| 7 | Chao Duan | China | 3,465,000 | 43 |
| 8 | Edwin Chiu | Australia | 6,335,000 | 79 |
| 9 | Huss Hassan | Australia | 4,500,000 | 56 |
Day 3 Action
A total of 117 players will cash for a share of the AU$2,248,000 (~$1,537,570) prize pool, with the 24 returning Day 3 players already having locked up AU$15,444 (~$10,565).
It was Huss Hassan who got the ball rolling with the early elimination of Adrian Slater after calling the latter's all-in small blind three-bet and while Hassan's speculative eight-six offsuit was trailing Salter's suited ace-ten, Hassan flopped the open-ended straight draw, which came in on the turn to leave Salter drawing dead.
Two other players departed in the first level played, with the UK's John Duggan falling at the hands of a rampant Hassan who woke up with pocket nines after Duggan moved all-in pre-flop with pocket eights.
Day 1a frontrunner Diarmuid O'Kane returned as one of the shorter stacks and could not improve, three-betting all-in with ace-eight offsuit from the small blind only to run into the pocket queens of Chiu.
The next level saw the pace of bust-outs increase with five players falling in the space of just one hour with Rehman Kassam (21st for AU$18,344), Germany's Marc Camphausen (20th for AU$18,344), Jules Wilson (19th for AU$18,344), Jensen Chow (18th for AU$22,030) and Shane De Clifford (17th for AU$22,030) all hitting the rail, with the latter two enjoying a ladder up in the process.
The speedy pace of bust-outs continued after the first 10-minute break with Duc Vu cracking Dean Blatt's pocket aces with the mighty six-four of hearts in a five-bet pot that saw Vu spike his flush on the turn, with Blatt departing in 16th place for an AU$22,030 payday.
Akshay Kapoor followed Blatt to the rail shortly afterwards, falling at the hands of Hassan who earned his third scalp of the day when Kapoor committed the last of his chips with a suited king-queen and ran into Hassan's ace-queen.
The fourth level played saw the field thinned down to the final nine with Tom Rafferty (14th for AU$26,729), Anish Kumar (13th for AU$26,729), Hamish Crawshaw (12th for AU$32,798) and Billy 'the croc' Argyros (11th for AU$32,798) all falling in quick succession.
The fourth and final day will play out at 12:30 p.m. local time on Monday, December 9 with the PokerNews live reporting team on hand to bring you all the tournament thrills and spills as we see who has what it takes to become the 2019 WSOPC The Star Sydney Main Event champion, so join us then.
Final Table Chip Counts
Level 27
: 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
6,335,000 | 1,285,000 |
|
6,205,000 | 1,105,000 |
|
4,500,000 | 250,000 |
|
4,150,000 | 350,000 |
|
3,465,000 | 265,000 |
|
3,065,000 | 365,000 |
|
2,775,000 | -735,000 |
|
2,585,000 | 1,395,000 |
|
940,000 | -260,000 |
Moustafa Haidar Eliminated in 10th Place (AU$32,798/~$22,435)
Level 27
: 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
The final table bubble burst in dramatic fashion, with Moustafa Haidar the man to come up just short of a seat at the nine-handed official final with Edwin Chiu the man to bring Haidar's Main Event run to an end.
It was Adrian Attenborough who instigated the countdown to Haidar's exit with a raise to 160,000 from the cutoff, with Chiu three-betting to 450,000 from the button. Haidar peeked down at his cards in the small blind and moved all-in for 1.35-million in total.
Attenborough quickly folded and Chiu thought it over for close to 30-seconds before choosing to make the call and it was off to the races.
Moustafa Haidar: 
Edwin Chui: 
It was Chiu with the ace-queen for a change and Haidar held the fish hooks with the sweatiest of sweaty flops coming down 
to give Haidar top set and Chiu the nut flush draw to appreciative 'ooohhs!' and 'aaahhs!' from the rest if the table.
Sensing the excitement, the watching rail crowded around and Haidar was on his feet calling for a brick. The dealer flipped over the 
turn to ratchet the tension up to almost unbearable levels and paused over the last card...
"Hold!" shouted Haidar, but with a snapping sound like the crack of a whip the dealer slapped down the 
river and Haidar's tournament was done. Haidar headed off to collect the AU$32,798 on offer for 10th place, while Chiu edged back into the chip lead, stacking up to 6,335,000 after the hand, with play concluding immediately afterwards.
RIU Action Replay: Bad Beat Alert
Level 27
: 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Billy Argyros Eliminated in 11th Place (AU$32,798/~$22,435)
Level 27
: 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Duy Vu raised to 175,000 from the button. Billy Argyros moved all in for 625,000 from the big blind. Vu asked for a count, deliberated for a minute, then called.
Vu: 
Argyros: 
The flop came 
, improving Argyros to a pair of tens, giving him the lead.
The 
on the turn changed nothing.
"Jack of hearts," announced Argyros, before the dealer produced the on the river.
The wrong red jack came out for Argyros, improving Vu to a straight, resulting in Agyros hitting the rail in 11th place.
One more elimination is needed for the day before we reach the final table.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Haidar Doubles Through Chiu
Level 27
: 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Moustafa Haidar has a habit of running ace-queen into king-queen to win double-ups and that trend continued when Edwin Chiu opened the action from the button with a raise to 125,000.
Haidar moved all-in from the small blind for 505,000 in total and Chiu tossed in the extras and the table had a little chuckle when the cards were turned over.
Moustafa Haidar: 
Edwin Chiu: 
The board ran out 
and Haidar bagged yet another double to climb back into contention with a stack of 1.1 million, while Chiu dropped slightly to a little over 5 million in chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
5,050,000 | -130,000 |
|
1,100,000 | 130,000 |
Hamish Crawshaw Eliminated in 12th Place (AU$32,798/~$22,435)
Level 27
: 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
The action is coming to the boil, with Hamish Crawshaw departing the very next hand after Trevor Saunder's double. It was Adrian Attenborough the man to usher Crawshaw to the rail after opening the action from the button with a raise to 125,000.
Crawshaw moved all-in from the small blind for around 1.2 million and Attenborough made a quick call, the speed of which made it look as though Crawshaw was in a great deal of trouble - and that was indeed the case.
Hamish Crawshaw: 
Adrian Attenborough:
The 
flop gave Crawshaw some additional outs, but he lost three of those on the 
turn with Attenborough spiking top set. The river was the last card Crawshaw would see in the Main Event and he hit the rail in 12th for an AU$32,798 payday, while Attenborough stacked up to ~3.8 million.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,800,000 | 1,460,000 |
|
Busted |
Saunders Doubles Through Duan
Level 27
: 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
There was a limp from Moustafa Haidar in early position and Chao Duan called from the cutoff before Trevor Saunders moved all-in from the button for 670,000. After the rest of the table got out of the way, Duan made the call to put Saunders at risk.
Chao Duan:
Trevor Saunders: 
Saunders had the lead in the hand and the power of the magic banana card protector and the board ran out 
to double to 1.2 million, while Duan dropped to 3.2 million.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,200,000 | -355,000 |
|
|
1,200,000 | 30,000 |
Anish Kumar Eliminated in 13th Place (AU$26,729/~$18,285)
Level 27
: 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Anish Kumar moved all in for 1,335,000 from under the gun. Lior Segre committed his remaining 1,030,000 from the small blind.
Segre:
Kumar:
The flop came extending Segre's lead to a full house.
The dropped on the turn improving Kumar to a higher full house.
The spiked on the river, giving Segre the winning hand with the nut full house, dropping Kumar to 305,000.
"Here we go," announced Kumar, who was in the big blind next hand. "It'll be a nice time to get a walk," he joked.
The action folded around to Duy Vu in the small blind, who deliberated for a moment, before pushing out a raise which had Kumar covered. Kumar snap-called blind with a total of 225,000 behind.
"I got to be ahead, right?" said Kumar, after Vu flipped over . He wasn't, after slowly turning over 
.
The board ran out , giving Vu the winning hand with the superior kicker, sending Kumar to the rail in 13th place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |