Poker festivals usually have a lot on offer around this time of the year as there are hundreds of them in progress around the globe. One of the prestigious ones which recently commenced in Sydney is the long-anticipated The Star Sydney Championships which saw its tenth anniversary this year. From 17th July up until 6th August poker action is set to be in full swing, drawing participants from near and far to the generous payouts available Down Under.
Exactly 10 years ago Sydney witnessed the inaugural edition of this championship, bringing together players from around the globe willing to give their luck a try and make it all the way to some of the top positions on the official leader board of the events. The Star Sydney is the proud host of the Championship which is well-known for its premium style of operation and prize offerings it features. This is the reason why the tenth edition of the poker festival is also set to welcome many premium events over the span of three weeks.
Throughout the poker festival there is usually a total guaranteed prize pool estimated and in this special edition, it is going to amount to some A$2,250,000 which would be divided among the best participants of the poker congregation. There is also going to be one special event taking place on 4th August which would go by the name of 10 Year Hyper Turbo. With the help of its guaranteed prize pool amounting to some $100,000, this event is destined to be a prominent one in the structure of the poker festival.
This Thursday witnessed the third starting flight of the official Opening Event which comes with a guaranteed prize pool of A$500,000 and a buy-in of A$500. This ranks it among the more affordable events which would potentially generate a larger player pool over the span of the four starting flights it is going to feature. Following them, there would be two additional days of action aiming to bring players closer to the Final Table and sift them through so that only the most proficient among them remain on the felt.
Poker Action Brings Millions to Players
Flight 1 of the poker tournament welcomed some 229 enthusiasts willing to go far, however, over the span of the day only 29 managed to make it to the other side. The chip leader at the end of the day was Daniel Shan who succeeded in generating a total of 198,300 in chips and reserved a spot on Day 2.
As for the second starting flight of this event, it managed to attract a total of 241 participants, which turned out being slightly concerning to the organizers of the poker festival. The overlay of this event is set to 1,112 participants which means that the following two flights would have to make up for the relatively low interest and justify the guaranteed prize pool.
The chip leader at the end of this second flight was Dmitry Tymoshenko who is making his first steps on the live poker field. His skills were proved as he bagged the largest chip stack for the day reaching 265,100 in chips. A total of 31 players survived the levels of poker action, meaning that each and every one of them has been reserved a spot on Day 2. Another player worth mentioning was Michael Kanaan, who has total live earnings of $1,249,999, as well as a WSOP Ring from its Sydney stop back in December 2017.
Back then he managed to reach the throne at the Main Event which brought him a paycheck of A$394,837. At the end of Flight 2, he had 175,700 in chips to his name, promising interesting action ahead. The third starting flight which finished just now welcomed some 232 players which is still considered a low number and tomorrow would have to attract more participants to the field.
Paul Henley was the player with the largest chip count once the clock was stopped, bagging a total of 259,800 in chips in order to progress ahead. This defines him as the overall chip leader of the three starting flights, but his unofficial throne might be stolen by another player tomorrow when the race towards the throne resumes.
