The Star Sydney's Licence Stays Suspended to 2027. WPT Australia Still Deals There.

Today's Big Question

Australia's casino watchdog extended The Star Sydney's licence suspension to June 30, 2027 on September 25, saying the operator's governance and anti-money-laundering remediation still is not far enough along. The World Poker Tour is still running its Australia stop inside the building, dealing cards under a regulator-appointed manager through September 30.

What happened

The New South Wales Independent Casino Commission extended The Star Sydney's licence suspension to June 30, 2027 on September 25, telling the operator its governance and anti-money-laundering remediation has still not gone far enough to hand the building back. The suspension has run continuously since October 2022, when the Bell inquiry found the casino unsuitable to hold a licence over money-laundering and compliance failures, and a second inquiry in 2024 found significant shortcomings remained. Regulator-appointed manager Nick Weeks keeps running the casino in the meantime, while the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre separately pursues a A$400 million penalty against Star Entertainment in a federal court case still awaiting judgment.

None of that has stopped the World Poker Tour from dealing cards on the premises. WPT Australia has run at The Star Sydney since September 24 and continues through September 30, four days into a suspension extension that runs another twenty-one months past it.

Why it matters

NICC chief commissioner Philip Crawford said Star "has come a long way" in addressing what got its licence suspended in 2022, in the same ruling that kept the licence suspended for another twenty-one months. That is the sentence a poker tour is currently playing cards underneath. The Star Sydney was unsuitable to hold a casino licence in 2022, unsuitable again in 2024, and unsuitable enough in 2026 to need a court-appointed manager through mid-2027, and the room downstairs has a tournament clock running on schedule regardless. A World Poker Tour stop does not need its host casino to hold a valid licence. It needs a felt, a dealer and a building still standing, and The Star Sydney can offer all three without technically being allowed to run its own casino floor.

In the Spotlight

Daniil Kiselev Was 13th of 15 on Day 3. Two Days Later He Had $1 Million.

What happened

Daniil Kiselev won the Mediterranean Poker Party's $5,400 Main Event on September 28 for $1,000,000, the largest live score of his career, out of a 972-entry field at the Merit Crystal Cove Resort in Cyprus. He returned for the final two days in 13th place among the 15 players left, after climbing back from 23,000 in chips with blinds at 4,000/8,000 on Day 1, and finished the tournament as chip leader before beating Mehmet Biskin heads-up. Biskin took $621,000 for second; Jordan Woodall was third for $420,000.

Why it matters

A live field of 972 players is a lot of people to out-survive once, let alone after climbing back from the tournament's edge first. Kiselev did the comeback on Day 1 and the outlasting on Day 3, in that order, which is the harder way to win a million dollars.

The Explainer

A 23-Year-Old Accountant Turned $1,899 in Earnings Into €150,000 in One Weekend

What happened

Lucas Archeny, a 23-year-old accountant from Bourg-en-Bresse, won the Winamax Poker Open Aix-les-Bains Main Event on September 27 for €150,000, beating a 2,873-entry field that built a €1,185,974 prize pool on a €500 buy-in. He had $1,899 in recorded live tournament earnings before the win, across two prior cashes.

On the way to the title he eliminated French poker streamer Mathieu Pontin in third for €74,000 and Day 3 chip leader Timothee d'Anfray in fourth for €51,500, then beat Etienne de Soultrait heads-up. De Soultrait took €105,000 for second.

Why it matters

Archeny called it multiplying his biggest career score by fifteen, and said he was not about to go start playing huge live tournaments with the money. A €500 buy-in field of 2,873 people produced a winner whose entire poker resume, before Saturday, fit in two lines.

Follow the Money

Aleksandr Razinkov Won the $3,300 Mystery Bounty. The $100,000 Bounty Went to Someone Else.

What happened

Aleksandr Razinkov won the Mediterranean Poker Party's $3,300 Paradise Mystery Bounty for $85,000, beating Aleksei Istomin heads-up in a 290-entry field, spiking a ten to turn pocket tens into the winning hand. The tournament's single largest mystery bounty, $100,000, had already gone to Chengxu Hu during Day 2, to a player who did not reach Sunday's final table. Istomin took $55,000 for second.

The Circuit

WSOP Circuit Malta Handed Out Its First-Ever Ring to an 808-Entry Field

What happened

Ivan Botvinkin won the WSOP Circuit Casino Malta €300 Mini Main Event on September 28 for €35,000, the first ring awarded at the Circuit's first-ever Malta stop, beating an 808-entry field at the InterContinental in St. Julian's. Edoardo Danesi took €23,050 for second, and Day 3 chip leader Andre Scerri finished 29th for €1,080. Seventeen more ring events run at the stop through October 5.

Missed a day?

Catch up on the last few days.

SEPT 27 Day 022 - The Overlay Edition

King's Resort Guaranteed €500,000 for a PLO Title. It Paid the Gap Itself.

Marek Uharcek is primarily a cash game player. On September 27 he won the King's Million €1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship in Rozvadov for €95,000, beating 2012 WSOP bracelet winner Jan-Peter Jachtmann in fourth before closing out Lucas Giebing heads-up. The 286-entry field fell short of the guarantee, and King's Resort paid the difference itself.

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