Huss Hassan Wins $1,320 Six-Max at the WSOP International Circuit Sydney

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Sam Cosby
5 min read
Huss Hassan, winner of the 2018 WSOP Circuit Sydney $1,320 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Max

Huss Hassan locked up his first World Series of Poker Circuit ring with a victory in the $1,320 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Max event here at The Star Sydney. For his win over the 283-player field, Hassan also earned the top prize of A$104,000 and 50 points towards the Casino Championship race. The score represents Hassan's biggest live score event, topping his previous best by $4,000.

"Feels good man," Hassan said after his victory. "It's my first WSOP Circuit win so starting off with the six-max is pretty good. I bagged a bit in the Main Event so I'm gonna try to take that down as well."

Hassan came into the day as the chip leader, bagging up nearly 100,000 more than Richard Kellett, his nearest competitor. It was after bagging up the lead that Hassan started to feel like he had a really good shot to win the event.

"It was at the end of Day 1 when I finished as the chip leader when I felt like I had a pretty good chance to win," Hassan said. "The field was decent and a lot of the really good players were all short. I felt pretty good about it this morning."

WSOP Circuit Sydney $1,320 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Max Final Table Results:

PositionPlayerCountryPrize (in AUD)Prize (in USD)
1Huss HassanAustralia$104,000$74,988
2Sayed JabbourAustralia$64,264$46,336
3Brett TrevillianAustralia$44,616$32,169
4Luis ArriluceaAustralia$31,304$22,569
5Timo HettingerGermany$22,200$16,006
6Michael FraserAustralia$15,912$11,472
7Zac LowrieAustralia$11,528$8,311

Early Action of the Day

The day kicked off in high gear with the bubble bursting in just a matter of hands. The first player to fall on the day was Tony Tavella who ran queen-ten into the king-queen of Aaron Li with a short stack. Michael O'Grady would be the bubble boy. He shoved all in holding pocket queens but Tristan Bain woke up behind him with pocket kings. O'Grady couldn't catch up and that would send him to the rail in 31st place as the last player to walk away empty-handed.

A flurry of eliminations resulted in a rapid decline of remaining players. Among the fallen were Matt Wakeman, the $5,000 Challenge Champion, as well as Shivan Abdine, Suzy Khoueis, Connie Graham, Michael Asad, Richard Kellett, Sheng Ye, and Graeme Putt just to name a few.

Putt would end up being the final-table bubble boy. Short-stacked, he held on for several eliminations but couldn't survive any longer. After a few ladder spots, Putt moved all in with seven-five and ran into the king-queen of Hassan. Hassan held on to bring the last seven players to the final table and Putt walked away with $11,528 for his 8th place finish.

2018 WSOP International Circuit The Star Sydney $1,320 6-Max Final Table
2018 WSOP International Circuit The Star Sydney $1,320 6-Max Final Table

Final Table Action

Hassan cruised through the day, coming into the final table near the middle of the pack with 651,000 but that would quickly change as he doubled through the chip leader, Zac Lowrie. Hassan got it in with queens against Lowrie's ace-king suit and flopped quads. From there, it was smooth sailing for Hassan.

Lowrie would be the first out at the final table, going from first to last in a matter of minutes. The second to fall at the final table was Michael Fraser, who ran into a bit of a cooler situation when he rivered two pair and Brett Trevillian rivered a set. Fraser led the river with a bet and Trevillian moved all in. Fraser thought it over but eventually called and he would be eliminated in 6th place.

"The cards were going my way."

Next to go would be Timo Hettinger. Hettinger got it in against Brett Trevillian with pocket tens, but couldn't outrace Trevillian's ace-king. The first player that Hassan actually eliminated at the final table would be Luis Arrilucea. Arrilucea got it in with queen-ten suited but was behind Hassan's king-jack suited. He couldn't catch up and would be sent to the rail in fourth place.

Trevillian would be next to go in thrid place. Trevillian called a raise from Hassan before Sayed Jabbour three-bet from the big blind. Hassan folded but Trevillian was not a believer. He moved all in with pocket fours and got snapped off the by the pocket kings of Jabbour. He failed to improve and would be the third place finisher.

Hassan came into heads-up play with a slight disadvantage, but it didn't take him long to turn it around. In one of the major turning points of the match, Hassan got it all in with a straight against Jabbour's overpair to the board. The river would be a brick so Hassan held on to double up. Shortly after he would take the lead then in the final hand of the match, Jabbour would bluff all in on the river holding bottom two pair, fives and fours. Unfortunately for him, Hassan flopped a straight and didn't let go, spelling the end of the match.

"I did definitely feel like I had an edge on him," Hassan said about Jabbour. "And I picked up a few tells during heads up and that helped me out a lot."

Huss Hassan - 2018 WSOP International Circuit The Star Sydney$1,320 6-Max Winne
Huss Hassan celebrates his WSOP Circuit victory with friends in Sydney.

Hassan bagged in the Main Event already, bringing around 260,000 back for day two and says that he's just getting started here at the Star Sydney. He plans to play any other event he can for the rest of the series but did mention that he won't be playing the High Roller. For him, he said he definitely felt like bagging a stack on Day 1 of the Main Event helped him create some momentum for this event as well.

"The cards were going my way," Hassan said. "I am definitely running good. I'm being patient and all that stuff. So I feel good."

PokerNews will be taking a short break here at The Star Sydney but will be back on Wednesday, December 12th with coverage the $20,000 High Roller. Make sure to tune back in for coverage of the entire event.

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Sam Cosby

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