Who Will Win the 2019 WSOPC The Star Sydney AU$20,000 High Roller?
Greetings poker fans, and welcome to the PokerNews live coverage of the AU$20,000 World Series of Poker International Circuit The Star Sydney High Rollers.
Just nine players remain of the 53-strong field, all playing for the AU$377,625 (~$257,640) top prize, in addition to a coveted WSOP Circuit Ring and accolades for defeating a field that was jam-packed with poker talent.
Notables in contention include Caribbean Poker Party champion Roger Teska, Michael Egan, Australia's youngest Poker Hall of Fame inductee Jonathan Karamalikis, and France's Julien Sitbon, all of whom boast seven-figures in live tournament winnings on their poker resumes.
However, the man in the best of positions to take the prestigious honour of becoming WSOPC The Star Sydney High Roller champion is New Zealand's Ryan Otto, who will be returning with the chip lead and a stack of 630,000.
With the blinds continuing at 3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 big blind ante and the level length increasing to 60-minutes, this gives Otto a hefty 105 big blinds with which to make his play for the title, with the rest of the field stacking up as follows:
WSOPC Sydney High Roller Final Table
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Julien Sitbon | France | 110,000 | 18 |
| 2 | Bernie Stang | Australia | 142,000 | 24 |
| 3 | Qiang Fu | New Zealand | 366,000 | 61 |
| 4 | Jonathan Karamalikis | Australia | 128,000 | 21 |
| 5 | Mladen Vukovic | Australia | 360,000 | 60 |
| 6 | Tom Rafferty | Australia | 258,000 | 43 |
| 7 | Ryan Otto | New Zealand | 630,000 | 105 |
| 8 | Michael Egan | Australia | 204,000 | 34 |
| 9 | Roger Teska | USA | 461,000 | 77 |
A total of six players will cash for a share of the AU$1,007,000 total prize pool, with a min-cash good for AU$59,413 (~$40,535), meaning three of the remaining nine players will be departing empty-handed and competition for the hallowed money spots is expected to be fierce.
The final table gets underway at 2:15 p.m. local time, playing concurrently with Day 1c of the WSOPC The Star Sydney Main Event, with live coverage available via the official live stream, which will be on a two-hour dynamic delay meaning that, unlike the tournament, there will be no breaks with the stream catching up with the live action as play progresses.
PokerNews will be bringing you all the tournament thrills and spills as this exciting event plays out to a scintillating conclusion, though so as not to spoil the live stream, updates will be on a two-hour delay meaning posts should start hitting your browser from 4:15 p.m. onwards so stick with us as we make history and crown the 2019 WSOPC The Star Sydney High Roller Champion.