Alexander Lynskey Wins WSOP International Circuit Sydney

Sydney’s Star Casino has established itself as the WSOP International Circuit’s most popular venue. The tour’s recent visit was no exception, either, with its A$2,200 Main Event attracting an impressive 1,191 entries to create an A$2,100,000 (US$1,709,770) prize pool, or A$282,000 more than its initial guarantee.

Needles to say, the field consisted mainly of Aussie players, and following seven days of poker it was Australian pro Alexander Lynskey who would eventually triumph over his competitors, including compatriot Matt Pongrass heads-up, to claim the title, as well as a first place prize of A$422,796 (US$303,477). Commenting upon the speed in which the contest was decided on its final day, Lynskey explained:

“I feel fantastic. It went crazy fast in the end. I was expecting the final table to last seven to eight hours. It went way quicker and smoother than I expected, especially with those five knockouts in the first 45 minutes.”

Aussie Pro Alexander Lynskey

Alexander Lynskey, who hails from Brisbane in Queensland, started his poker career grinding MTTs online. In 2011, he then began playing live tournaments, and recorded a number of cashes on the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) and at the Aussie Millions, before traveling to the U.S. in 2015 to play in his first World Series Of Poker.

In 2017, Lynskey subsequently finished runner-up at the $2,620 WSOP The Marathon event for $426,663. This year, however, he recorded his biggest score to date after making a deep run at the $10,000 Main Event Championship, progressing all the way through to the final table before being eventually eliminated in 7th place for a $1,500,000 payday.

Following his latest success down under, Lynskey now boasts $3,745,846 in live career earnings, placing him at number 7 on Australia’s ‘All Time Money List’, with Joe Hachem heading the list on $12,323,085, followed by Jeff Rossiter ($6,650,070), and Jeff Lisandro ($5,626,957).

WSOP International Circuit Main Event

The A$2,200 WSOP International Circuit Main Event took place at The Star Casino in Sydney, and featured 135 money places. Among the recognizable pros seeing a return on their buy-ins was Jeff Lisandro (131st), Brandon Sheils (83rd), Linh Tran (37th), and Ricky Kroesen (10th).

Final Table Action

Rahul Rastogi entered the final table as chip leader, followed by Matt Pongrass, and Alex Lynskey. Lynskey (A-Q) then proceeded to eliminate Luke Martinelli (A-J) in 9th, before being dealt pocket queens and doing likewise to Justin Layden (A-K) in 8th.

Next, Pongrass (Q-Q) took care of Barry Forrester (8-8) in 7th, after which Lynskey (Q-10) resumed his final table domination once more by sending John Sormi (A-9) to the rail in 6th. Continuing his demolition, Lynskey (J-10) busted Sam Capra (A-9) in 5th, followed by Luke Martinelli in 4th. A while later, Pongrass (J-J) subsequently eliminated Rahul Rastogi (J-3) in 3rd to take a commanding chip advantage over Lynskey into heads-up play.

Heads-Up Recap

Pongrass started the final battle holding a roughly 5-1 chip advantage. However, Lynskey soon managed managed a vital double up during an A-10 versus K-K encounter, after which he never looked back.

The deciding the hand then saw Lynskey move all in preflop holding pocket threes, only to receive a call from his opponent with pocket sevens. While Pongrass looked good to double up following a 5-9-K-5 board, a 3 on the river sealed his fate and so he had to be satisfied with a runner-up finish worth A$262,020 (US$188,074), representing his biggest score to date. Meanwhile, Lynskey was crowned the champion, and commenting later on his heads-up battle against Pongrass, stated:

“It was swingy as hell. I was down to four and a half million against his thirty million and got it in with ace-ten against kings and hit an ace and spun it up from there. Then got insanely lucky again on that last river.”

Final Table Results (US$)

1: Alex Lynskey $303,705
2: Matt Pongrass $188,188
3: Rahul Rastogi $138,113
4: Luke Martinelli $104,359
5: Sam Capra $79,638
6: John Sormi $61,298
7: Barry Forrester $47,736
8: Justin Layden $37,570
9: Cameron Chen $29,976