Michael Kanaan Ships 2017 WSOP Sydney Main Event For $394,837

Michael Kanaan (cover image) emerged on top after four days of intense battle to claim the 2017 WSOP Sydney Circuit Main Event title. Kanaan walked away with a cool $394,837, WSOP Circuit ring and will now travel to the United States to represent Star Poker in the $1 million guaranteed Global Casino Championship.

The event saw a total of 1,067 players competing with 289 of them ending up making it to Day 2. The field was bustling with players that are regular fixtures at the Star Poker Room over the course of the past two weeks.

Meanwhile, a few side events also crowned champions these past few days with winners emerging in Timothy Mitchell (Monster Stack – $88,684), Timothy Ulmer (Bounty Event – $36,283) and Nebojsa Blanusa (Omaha Event – $31,677).

Main Event

By the end of Day 2, the field was narrowed down to just 30 players and in about five hours of play on Day 3, the final table was named that comprised of a mix of young players and old school pros.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Sam Alhassan – 8,690,000
2. Karam Bahi – 5,806,000
3. Michael Fraser – 3,825,000
4. Michael Kanaan – 3,760,000
5. Sean Lannon – 2,745,000
6. John Pachos – 2,570,000
7. Vincent Huang – 1,450,000
8. Nabil Edgtton – 1,265,000
9. Daniel Embleton – 1,030,000

Final Table Recap

The first elimination of the final table was witnessed after almost an hour into play and as expected, it was the short-stack, Daniel Embleton who found himself on the rail in ninth place. He was quickly followed by Vincent Huang whose intention to go all the way in the event couldn’t materialize as he was eliminated at eighth place.

Sam Alhassan had started off as the chip leader but unfortunately fell next in seventh place and almost immediately afterwards, Karam Bahi was relegated to the rail in sixth place.

The eventual champion Kanaan then changed gears and eliminated Sean Lannon in fifth spot and it seemed like there was no stopping Kanaan who soon showed Nabil Edgtton the door in fourth place.

Down to three-handed play, Kanaan held an overwhelming lead with 16,000,000 chips against his two competitors, John Pachos and Michael Fraser, who held 6,120,000 and 8,780,000 respectively.

Pachos played valiantly but could not move beyond a third-place finish and with that the heads-up battle between the two Michael’s – Kanaan and Fraser was set.

Kanaan got down to work immediately and ended it all in 30 minutes. The last hand of the event saw Fraser moving all-in with and Kanaan snap called with . The board fanned out and Kanaan sealed the title.

Post his win, the champion said, “I am really excited to represent the Star Sydney at the WSOP (Global Casino) Championship. It is a big tournament and will really give me an opportunity to perform on the big stage. I love playing at the Star Poker Room; it is my poker home ground. It is great to be able to represent them in a major tournament, and hopefully, I will do well.”

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Michael Kanaan – $394,837

2. Michael Fraser – $244,086

3. John Pachos – $181,390

4. Nabil Edgtton – $136,362

5. Sean Lannon – $103,691

6. Karam Bahi – $79,768

7. Sam Alhassan – $62,078

8. Vincent Huang – $48,868

9. Daniel Embleton – $38,924