It's just over three months since the final hand was dealt in the PokerStars.net APPT Macau Main Event, and much has changed since Irishman Dermot Blain took down the opening event on season three of Asia's largest and most prestigious poker tour. The heat and humidity of spring has...more
Live updates from final table, level 22 (blinds 12,000-24000, ante 3000) of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be...more
In 2008, the APPT Grand Final featured seven Australians and two international players. In 2009, the APPT Grand Final will comprise seven Australians and two international players. Welcome to the finale of season three of the PokerStars.net APPT, with about 30 minutes to the start of the final table...more
Seat 1: David Formosa, Sydney, Australia (856,000 in chips): This 41-year-old father of two sports centre manager satellited his way into this tournament via Star City Casino and has been playing the game for six years. "I played a couple of the $1500 events in the WSOP, but this...more
Live updates from day 3, level 22 (blinds 12,000-24,000, ante 3000) of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be...more
Live updates from day 3, level 21 (blinds 10,000-20,000, ante 2000) of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be...more
Live updates from day 3, level 20 (blinds 8000-16,000, ante 2000) of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be...more
Live updates from day 2, level 19 (blinds 6000-12,000, ante 1000) of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be...more
Live updates from day 2, level 18 (blinds 5000-10,000, ante 1000) of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be...more
Live updates from day 2, level 17 (blinds 4000-8000, ante 500) of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be...more
Live updates from day 2, level 16 (blinds 3000-6000, ante 500) of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be...more
Live updates from day 2, level 15 (blinds 2500-5000, ante 500) of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be...more
Live updates from day 3, level 14 (blinds 2000-4000, ante 400) of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be...more
It started with a casual conversation in the Star City Poker Room, and ended with the two very nervous Scandinavians standing on a Sydney beach at 7am on a Saturday thinking, "what the hell are we doing here?" Whether it was just bluff or bravado, credit to PokerStars Qualifiers...more
From the moment that 2008 APPT Grand Final winner Martin Rowe was eliminated in the opening hand of the day, the steady stream of departures showed little signs of slowing as the field of 226 was slashed to just 66 in an enthralling day of poker in the PokerStars.net...more
Live updates from day 2, level 13 (blinds 1500-3000, ante 300) of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be...more
Live updates from day 2, level 12 (blinds 1200-2400, ante 300) of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be...more
Live updates from day 2, level 11 (blinds 1000-2000, ante 200) of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be...more
Live updates from day 2, level 10 (blinds 800-1600, ante 200) of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be...more
Live updates from day 2, level 9 (blinds 600-1200, ante 200) of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be...more
Live updates from day 2, level 8 (blinds 500-1000, ante 100) of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be...more
The perception that many visitors have of Australia and the reality are often far apart. No, there aren't kangaroos bounding through the Sydney CBD, we don't speak "Austrian" and don't normally end every sentence with the word "crikey". But thanks to the late, great "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, visitors...more
PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final day 2 seat draw Table 1 Seat 1: Julius Colman (Australia) 24200 Seat 2: Gary Sue Fong (Australia) 30000 Seat 3: Nino Marotta (Australia) 60800 Seat 4: Aaron Benton (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 34700 Seat 5: Anthony Campbell (Australia) 49200 Seat 6: Andrew Capelin (Australia) 43500...more
After two run-of-the-mill day one flights, the gloves were well and truly off day 1C of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final at Sydney's Star City Casino. Perhaps inspired by Danny Green's stunning first-round victory over Roy Jones jnr in the previous evening's IBO Cruiserweight title fight at nearby Acer...more
Joe Hachem tasted success here in Sydney two years ago when he won the first APPT Tournament of Champions, earning his charity of choice the Shane Warne Foundation a $50,000 donation. But it's otherwise been leaning pickings on home soil for the 2005 WSOP champion and PokerStars.net Team Australia...more
By Landon Blackhall The 2009 PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final field has been confirmed at 396, with a total prize pool of AUD $2,376,000. The winner will take home AUD $594,000 with 48 players ensured a slice of the pie over the next two days. One player's who's put his...more
By Landon Blackhall The PokerStars Team Nordics Pro contingent has been reduced from one to zero after 2008 WSOP Main Event champion Peter Eastgate was eliminated at the hands of Taiwanese PokerStars Qualifier Carlos Chang. The action folded around to Chang who raised to 600 pre-flop; another opponent and...more
Early this year, the first induction of the Australian Poker Hall of Fame was announced. The eight inductees were PokerStars.net Team Australian Pro Joe Hachem, PokerStars Sponsored Player Lee "Final Table" Nelson, dual WSOP bracelet winner Mel Judah, Gary Benson, Billy "The Croc" Argyros, Tony G, local poker identity...more
It's one of the most famous landmarks in Sydney - the locals know it as "The Coathanger" but to the rest of the world it's known as the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The 39,000-tonne, 134-metre high steel and concrete structure spans more than 1.1 kilometres from Millers Point adjacent to...more
So you've won your way into one of the Australia's biggest poker tournaments, made your way to Sydney, hung out around Star City and taken your seat in the Main Event. The anticipation, excitement, hopes, dreams are all realised and ... you're heading for the rail inside five minutes....more
One of the best fields ever assembled for a single day on the Asia Pacific Poker Tour is starting to arrive for day 1C of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final here at Star City Casino. Welcome to sunny, summery Sydney for the final day one flight in the last...more
The stars will be out in force tomorrow for the final day one flight in the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final, and they'll be aiming to join the 68 players who survived day 1B of the 109 starters. The total field is at 190, with 119 players through to Friday's...more
By Landon Blackhall and Sean Callander It's hard enough to win one poker tournament at this level, but Jarred Graham has achieved one of the most remarkable feats in Australian poker history with successful defence of the APPT Sydney High Roller title he won in 2008. He won AUD...more
The dealers' cries of "all-in, call" have been increasing through the day in the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final, and through all the carnage Australian David Hibbott has quietly amassed a mountain of chips ... well, actually a kaleidoscope of chips that are spread liberally in front of him. It...more
By Landon Blackhall Ladies and gentlemen, meet Amanda De Cesare. She's a 34-year-old speech pathologist and single mother of two living in Melbourne, who was plucked not-quite-from-obscurity to take part in Joe Hachem's reality television show, The Poker Star. From a field of 11 contestants, she was singled out...more
Tony Dunst's chart-topping day 1A chip count of 104,300 has been surpassed inside four levels on day 1B of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final. First, it was wunderkind Brendon Rubie who broke the 100,000-barrier, and he's recently been joined by a player from the other end of the experience...more
By Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall It's great to see a WSOP bracelet winner in today's 1B field, with American Brian "Rookie" Wilson taking his seat in the Star City Poker Room along with 108 other hopefuls in pursuit of the 2009 PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final title. The 42-year-old...more
By Landon Blackhall The sounds of a poker room don't change all that much from country to country ... the clicking of chips, chatter of players. But here at Star City, the relative tranquility is often broken by a sharp snapping noise AKA the Star City Snap. The men...more
Play is underway in the brand new Star City poker room on day 1B of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final, with more of the region's biggest names in action today. Leading the field is 2008 APPT Grand Final winner and Sydney's own Martin Rowe. The million-dollar man has kept...more
For the first time in recent days, players were greeted by a bright, sunny morning as they headed for brekky at one of the many eateries spread around Darling Harbour, just across the road from Star City Casino. Not quite beach weather, but heading in the right direction. Players...more
A dramatic opening day of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final has been consigned to history after seven one-hour levels in the brand new poker room here at Star City Casino. A total of 81 players took their seats at the start of play, with 51 set to return for...more
After an unscheduled break, players in the APPT Grand Final and APPT High Roller events have returned to their seats. Let's just say there was an altercation between person "A" and person "B", which required the room to be cleared for a few minutes. We're into level six of...more
Star City Casino isn't the only iconic Sydney property receiving a facelift at the moment. More than AUD $1 billion is being invested in the refurbishment of the Sydney Opera House, one of the most instantly recognisable landmarks of a city anywhere on the face of the planet. However,...more
A new feature of the APPT Sydney schedule for 2009 is the positioning of the High Roller tournament at the start, rather than end, of the APPT Grand Final. As such, players have just taken their seats for the AUD $15,300 APPT High Roller event. The line-up of 26...more
By Landon Blackhall While overseas visitors are able to easily identify the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, few (if any) would be able to tell you what or where Martin Place is - though many have already seen it. Reality show fans might remember Martin Place in...more
By Landon Blackhall A starting stack of 30,000, relaxed structure, AUD $1 million first prize ... no need to rush. Right? God bless poker players and their insatiable desire for action! The combatants were Aussies Ricky Kroesen and Con Angelakis. On a flop that read 9♦ 4♣ 7♣, Angelakis...more
Openings don't come much smoother - we're quickly down to business on day 1A of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final at Star City Casino in Sydney. After speeches from Star City's Michael Aherne and APPT President Jeffrey Haas, the order to "shuffle up and deal" was given by PokerStars.net...more
"Andy, did you here about this one?" Yes, Michael Stipe, we've indeed heard that this is the biggest week of sport in Sydney since the 2000 Olympic Games. Welcome to Star City Casino on the shores of Darling Harbour for day 1A of the 2009 PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final....more