Day 1 of the 2019 The Star Sydney Champs $5K Challenge Kicks Off Today
The 2019 The Star Sydney Championships is already in full swing in the casino complex right in the center of the city, just a few minutes walk from the popular Darling Harbour area in Sydney. Half-way through the series which contains 17 events in total, eight champions have already been crowned and the second-most expensive event of the schedule awaits.
Day 1 of the $5K Challenge kicks off at 2.15 p.m. local time at The Star Sydney and some of the biggest names of Aussie poker are expected to join the action.
All participants will receive 25,000 in chips and the levels last 45 minutes throughout the tournament with late registration and unlimited re-entry available until approximately 9.50 p.m. local time.
There will be a 10-minute break every three levels and a 30-minute break at the end of level nine, and Day 1 is set to conclude after the completion of level 15.
Day 1 level structure
| Level | Small blind | Big blind | Big Blind Ante |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100 | 200 | 200 |
| 2 | 200 | 300 | 300 |
| 3 | 200 | 400 | 400 |
| 4 | 300 | 600 | 600 |
| 5 | 400 | 800 | 800 |
| 6 | 500 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 7 | 600 | 1,200 | 1,200 |
| 8 | 800 | 1,600 | 1,600 |
| 9 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| 10 | 1,200 | 2,400 | 2,400 |
| 11 | 1,500 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| 12 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 |
| 13 | 2,500 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 14 | 3,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 |
| 15 | 4,000 | 8,000 | 8,000 |
Defending champion of the event is John Thomson, who defeated a 152-entry strong field in July 2018 to claim the trophy and top prize of A$195,000. Among others, Matthew Wakeman, Corey Kempson, and Ken Demlakian reached the final table back then and will aim to do so once more. The top 18 spots were paid and Billy "The Croc" Argyros, Honglin Jiang, Nauvneel Kashyap, and Daniel Laidlaw also cashed.
The PokerNews team will be on the floor to provide all the action of the $5k Challenge, the $1,100 6-Max, the $20k High Roller and the $3k Main Event. The flagship event of the festival comes with a guaranteed prize pool of $1,500,000 and there are still ongoing satellites to win a seat for less.