Sydney Championships 2019: Hamish Crawshaw wins Main Event as Sean Ragozzini takes High-Roller title

The Sydney Championships has provided non-stop action and fantastic poker in Australia during the last few weeks, but with the Main Event champion crowned, this illustrious series is now almost at an end. There have been numerous side events taking place in recent days too, along with a AU$20K High-Roller, in which the winner has now lifted the trophy.

Here is all the latest from Sydney.

AU$3,000 Main Event – Winner: Hamish Crawshaw

The Main Event is the tournament everyone wants to be involved with in any series, and the Sydney Championships is no different. 600 players paid the AU$3,000 (US$2,034) entry fee to earn that right in this tournament, creating a prize pool of AU$1,680,000 (US$1,138,788). This represented a record-breaking turnout for the Main Event in this series and ensured a juicy AU$352,800 (US$239,145) top prize to go along with the all-important trophy.

57 of the 280 runners for day 1a survived to see the second day, with 66 surviving from 320 in day 1b. This meant that 123 players returned with their hopes intact on day 2, with the field being steadily shorn by pot shipping as the day progressed. When the dust had settled on a frenetic second day, just 13 remained. Cezary Klimczak had begun the day as chipleader, but had joined the fallen by the day’s end, with his place at the top of the counts being filled by Corey Kempson (3,115,000). Following in 2^nd was Wenjian Qiu (2,330,000).

As the action got down to the final fight for supremacy, the stacks who had been near the top of the counts had either fallen away or were struggling, with Hamish Crawshaw emerging as the major force. The final obstacle standing between Crawshaw and the title was Australia’s Mark Lassau, but despite Lassau’s best efforts, he could not stop his opponent from seizing the title and had to settle for 2^nd place.

The final payouts are as follows:

1^st – Hamish Crawshaw (New Zealand) – AU$352,800 (US$244,348)
2^nd – Mark Lassau (Australia) – AU$218,215 (US$151,135)
3^rd – Joe Antar (Australia) – AU$159,566
4^th – Tu Le (Australia) – AU$118,406
5^th – Peter Robertson (Australia) – AU$89,090
6^th – Wenjian “William” Qiu (New Zealand) – AU$67,956
7^th – Bernie Stang (Australia) – AU$52,550
8^th – Corey Kempson (Australia) – AU$41,194
9^th – Nickolas Oiberman (Australia) – AU$32,726

AU$20K High-Roller – Winner: Sean Ragozzini

The High Roller for this series was just as fascinating as the Main Event, with a AU$20,000 (US$13,557) buy in giving it the tag of most expensive event on the schedule by a considerable distance. 37 players paid for a seat, bringing the total prize pool up to AU$703,000 (US$476,529). This was enough to see AU$316,350 (US$214,438) set aside for the eventual champion.

As you might expect, the field was of a strong standard for this event and some top-quality poker was on offer throughout. With the advent of the final table, the tension was not eased, with just 4 players set to make the money. Sean Ragozzini got the fireworks started early by busting two players, before another two followed them to the rail soon after. The average stack was 60BB’s on the bubble, leading to a slow and methodical grind for the surviving players. This deadlock was finally broken when Vincent Huang ran JJ into the AK of Michael Egan.

It took some time for another player to bust after the bubble, but when that moment arrived, it was followed relatively quickly by a double bustout which crowned the champion. Sean Ragozzini had been keeping busy and had topped the counts before the final hand came. This meant that when players discussed an ICM deal during the break he was able to claim the largest share as the deal was agreed upon. The players then shoved the chips in on the next hand, and Ragozzini was able to outdraw the small ace that each of his opponents held.

The final payouts are as follows:

1^st – Sean Ragozzini (Australia) – AU$223,361 (US$154,699)
2^nd – Tom Rafferty (Australia) – AU$210,900 (US$146,068)
3^rd – Michael Egan (Australia) – AU$105,450
4^th – Ebon Bokody (Australia) – AU$70,300

AU$1,000 6-Max NLH – Winner: Qiang Fu

This event may have only commanded a AU$1,000 (US$678) buy in, but the impressive field size of 356 was enough to boost the prize pool up to AU$356,000 (US$241,315). Of those who started, only 36 would go on to secure a cash, and when the final table was set, the final 9 were competing for a top prize which was approaching six figures.

The early bustouts saw players ladder up by a few thousand, but by the time the action got down to four-handed, things got a little more serious. Michael Oscuro’s subsequent exit in 4^th place saw play become three-handed, with Alex Yazbeck looking to go one better than his 2^nd place finish in the AU$440 Turbo last week. As things turned out, he went one worse, leaving Tu Tran and Qiang Fu to contest the title. Fu was able to take control and end the match before long, earning himself AU$89,003 for his efforts.

Here are the final payouts:

1^st – Qiang Fu (Australia) – AU$89,003 (US$60,331)
2^nd – Tu Tran (Australia) – AU$54,995 (US$37,278)
3^rd – Alex Yazbeck (Australia) – AU$38,167
4^th – Michael Oscuro (Australia) – AU$26,810
5^th – Adrian Salter (Australia) – AU$19,057
6^th – John Rosario (Australia) – AU$13,702
7^th – Nauvneel Kashyap (Australia) – AU$9,964
8^th – Michael Doodson (Australia) – AU$9,964
9^th – Andrew Zhang (Australia) – AU$7,330

Other events

Event 12 – AU$550 (US$373) PLO (Re-Entry)
Entries: 147
Prize pool: AU$73,500 (US$49,826)
Winner: Danny Huynh AU$20,578 (US$13,950)

Event 15 – AU$330 (US$224) Crazy Pineapple (Re-Entry)
Entries: 168
Prize pool: AU$50,400 (US$34,166)
Winner: Michael Cuschieri AU$13,609 (US$9,226)

Article by Craig Bradshaw