2019 WSOP International Circuit The Star Sydney

AU$2,200 Main Event
Day: 3
Event Info

2019 WSOP International Circuit The Star Sydney

Final Results
Winner
Steven Zhou
Winning Hand
j9
Prize
260,904 AUD
Event Info
Buy-in
2,200 AUD
Entries
1,124
Level Info
Level
32
Blinds
120,000 / 240,000
Ante
240,000

Pushing and Shoving

Level 26 : 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Trevor Saunders is one of the shorter stacks but is holding onto his tournament life with a firm grip presently, successfully getting two shoves through on the button in two consecutive orbits to tread water.

"I'm calling anyone else but you Trev," joked Huss Hassan from the small blind after Saunder's second shove.

Over on the feature table Steven Zhou and Duy Doc Vu got into some pre-flop chip stack flexing, but nothing came of it, though Vu was able to pick up some free chips without showdown.

It was Vu the man first to act, limping for 60,000 from early position, with Anish Kumar making the call from the cutoff before Zhou squeezed to 430,000 from the big blind. Vu asked Zhou how much more he was playing - around 2.8 million - before sliding out a four-bet to 950,000 in total.

Kumar mucked but has much recovered from losing out to that flush earlier that saw Zhou crack his pocket aces and Kumar has spun his stack back up to 1.8 million.

With the action back on Zhou, he tanked for an ice age before eventually deciding to let it go and Vu raked in the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Huss Hassan au
Huss Hassan
4,100,000
-260,000
-260,000
Duy Vu au
Duy Vu
3,600,000
-100,000
-100,000
Steven Zhou au
Steven Zhou
2,800,000
-1,120,000
-1,120,000
Anish Kumar au
Anish Kumar
1,800,000
1,300,000
1,300,000
Trevor Saunders au
Trevor Saunders
650,000
-5,000
-5,000

Tags: Trevor SaundersSteven ZhouHuss HassanDuy Doc VuAnish Kumar

Updated Chip Counts at the Break

Level 26 : 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Player Chips Progress
Edwin Chiu au
Edwin Chiu
5,180,000
1,760,000
1,760,000
Huss Hassan au
Huss Hassan
4,250,000
150,000
150,000
Steven Zhou au
Steven Zhou
3,680,000
880,000
880,000
Chao Duan cn
Chao Duan
3,555,000
955,000
955,000
Duy Vu au
Duy Vu
3,510,000
-90,000
-90,000
John Zwaine au
John Zwaine
2,700,000
Adrian Attenborough au
Adrian Attenborough
2,340,000
-1,160,000
-1,160,000
Hamish Crawshaw nz
Hamish Crawshaw
1,665,000
-1,335,000
-1,335,000
Anish Kumar au
Anish Kumar
1,335,000
-465,000
-465,000
Tom Rafferty au
Tom Rafferty
1,245,000
-755,000
-755,000
Billy Argyros au
Billy Argyros
1,195,000
160,000
160,000
Lior Segre au
Lior Segre
1,190,000
120,000
120,000
Trevor Saunders au
Trevor Saunders
1,170,000
520,000
520,000
Moustafa Haidar au
Moustafa Haidar
970,000
-130,000
-130,000

Level: 27

Blinds: 40,000/80,000

Ante: 80,000

Tom Rafferty Eliminated in 14th Place (AU$26,729 /~$18,285)

Level 27 : 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Tom Rafferty
Tom Rafferty

It took just two hands after the break to thin the field, with Tom Rafferty moving all-in from under-the-gun plus one for 1.2 million. Action folded around to button John Zwaine who looked seriously tempted but eventually mucked.

It looked as though Zwaine dodged a bullet there though, with Steven Zhou calling immediately in the small blind, with big blind Lior Segre folding to take play heads-up with Rafferty the man at risk.

Tom Rafferty: {a-Spades}{j-Hearts}
Steven Zhou: {a-Clubs}{k-Clubs}

Rafferty was in bad shape, and according to Zwaine, he had also folded ace-jack, which is not what you want to hear when you are all-in.

The run out came {k-Diamonds}{5-Diamonds}{6-Hearts}{q-Hearts}{9-Clubs} and despite picking up a gutshot draw on the turn, Rafferty could not get there and departed in 14th place for AU$26,729 while Zhou stacked up to 5.1 million to draw almost level with chip leader Edwin Chiu.

Player Chips Progress
Steven Zhou au
Steven Zhou
5,100,000
1,420,000
1,420,000
Tom Rafferty au
Tom Rafferty
Busted

Tags: Edwin ChiuJohn ZwaineLior SegreSteven ZhouTom Rafferty

Anish Kumar Eliminated in 13th Place (AU$26,729/~$18,285)

Level 27 : 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Anish Kumar
Anish Kumar

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: {10-Hearts}{10-Diamonds}
Kumar: {q-Diamonds}{j-Hearts}

The flop came {8-Diamonds}{8-Spades}{8-Hearts} extending Segre's lead to a full house.

The {q-Hearts} dropped on the turn improving Kumar to a higher full house.

The {10-Spades} 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 {9-Clubs}{6-Hearts}. He wasn't, after slowly turning over {8-Diamonds}{4-Spades}.

The board ran out {10-Hearts}{k-Spades}{5-Hearts}{j-Clubs}{10-Diamonds}, giving Vu the winning hand with the superior kicker, sending Kumar to the rail in 13th place.

Player Chips Progress
Anish Kumar au
Anish Kumar
Busted

Tags: Anish KumarLior Segre

Saunders Doubles Through Duan

Level 27 : 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Trevor Saunders
Trevor Saunders

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: {10-Diamonds}{10-Hearts}
Trevor Saunders: {k-Diamonds}{k-Clubs}

Saunders had the lead in the hand and the power of the magic banana card protector and the board ran out {j-Spades}{9-Spades}{2-Hearts}{8-Diamonds}{4-Diamonds} to double to 1.2 million, while Duan dropped to 3.2 million.

Player Chips Progress
Chao Duan cn
Chao Duan
3,200,000
-355,000
-355,000
Trevor Saunders au
Trevor Saunders
1,200,000
30,000
30,000

Tags: Trevor SaundersMoustafa HaidarChao Duan

Hamish Crawshaw Eliminated in 12th Place (AU$32,798/~$22,435)

Level 27 : 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Hamish Crawshaw
Hamish Crawshaw

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: {a-Clubs}{3-Diamonds}
Adrian Attenborough: {q-Diamonds}{q-Clubs}

The {8-Spades}{2-Diamonds}{5-Clubs} flop gave Crawshaw some additional outs, but he lost three of those on the {q-Spades} turn with Attenborough spiking top set. The {6-Diamonds} 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
Adrian Attenborough au
Adrian Attenborough
3,800,000
1,460,000
1,460,000
Hamish Crawshaw nz
Hamish Crawshaw
Busted

Tags: Adrian AttenboroughHamish Crawshaw

Haidar Doubles Through Chiu

Level 27 : 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Moustafa Haidar
Moustafa Haidar

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: {a-Diamonds}{q-Clubs}
Edwin Chiu: {k-Spades}{q-Diamonds}

The board ran out {3-Spades}{6-Diamonds}{9-Diamonds}{10-Clubs}{10-Diamonds} 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
Edwin Chiu au
Edwin Chiu
5,050,000
-130,000
-130,000
Moustafa Haidar au
Moustafa Haidar
1,100,000
130,000
130,000

Tags: Moustafa HaidarEdwin Chiu

Billy Argyros Eliminated in 11th Place (AU$32,798/~$22,435)

Level 27 : 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Billy Argyros
Billy Argyros

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: {q-Diamonds}{9-Clubs}
Argyros: {10-Hearts}{5-Hearts}

The flop came {6-Hearts}{10-Spades}{k-Clubs}, improving Argyros to a pair of tens, giving him the lead.

The {3-Hearts} on the turn changed nothing.

"Jack of hearts," announced Argyros, before the dealer produced the {j-Diamonds} 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
Billy Argyros au
Billy Argyros
Busted

Tags: Billy ArgyrosDuy Vu