February 2009 Archives

Welcome to another week of weekly round two results, the biggest tournament of its type anywhere online that can help turn you into the player you want to be. How so? Well, the WR2 is a freeroll tournament (that's a free buy-in) but with a prize pool making for a standard first prize of $276. Better than that each event typically pays 800 players, so there's something for everybody.

To start playing these weekend events start by winning a ticket in one of the many "astronomer" freerolls shown in the PokerStars.net lobby. They're easy to spot, being named after famous astronomers like Hubble and Sagan. Then, finish within the final number of tables detailed on the registration page, and you're in. How's that for straightforward?

This week's winners hailed from two corners of the planet. "Tcorn6" from the United States triumphed in Saturday's event while "Evgeniy8484" from Russia did the same on Saturday.

Congratulations to them and to everyone who made a cash finish. Here's a look at the final results.

Weekly Round 2 - Saturday February 21

1. tcorn6 (United States) - $246.00
2. Rush Zipper (United States) - $166.60
3. LAOWHOO (Republic of Korea) - $112.00
4. Jarlaath (Estonia) - $92.00
5. nashoo158 (Chile) - $72.00
6. Tomas.Kov (Lithuania) - $52.00
7. ROF+3 (Australia) - $35.00
8. astnpwrs992 (United States) - $23.00
9. drminerva (Spain) - $14.00

Weekly Round 2 - Sunday February 22

1. Evgeniy8484 (Russia) - $216.00
2. civver (Germany) - $146.80
3. Yumbolt (United States) - $102.00
4. howardab (United States) - $82.00
5. Bessemer (United States) - $62.00
6. Brunorflima (Brazil) - $42.00
7. nondun (Canada) - $34.00
8. gerri1 (United States) - $22.00
9. Ledzepplin1 (United States) - $14.00

Veterans of the European Poker Tour know that final tables in Copenhagen can take some time. From the epic Mads Anderson/Edgar Skjervold battle of season two, to the four-hour Tim Vance/Soren Jensen heads up of a year ago, television directors know to bring extra tapes, journalists are well-stocked with caffeine pills, and an emergency table has been arranged in the car-park should the casino close before play is done.

That was then, this is now. Thanks in the main to two players -- Jens Kyllönen, from Finland, and Anders Langset, from Norway -- crates of unused tapes will be floating down the Copenhagen canals tonight as wired reporters go buzzing around the city with hours to kill until they can sleep. I write this at 6.45pm, less than five hours after play began on the final table of the season five Copenhagen EPT, and minutes after Kyllönen was named the new champion, earning the equivalent of €878,057 for demolishing his seven adversaries in one of the swiftest ever final days.

Jens Kyllonen

This breakneck resolution reconfirmed every preconception of Nordic poker players we have ever held. Firstly, there were loads of them -- from the final eight, only the French player Eric Larcheveque hailed from a non-Nordic nation. Secondly, they all played supremely quickly and aggressively -- a "dwell" was anyone who thought about a million-chip call for more than about 30 seconds. And finally, they were all exceptionally talented -- it surely says enough that three online superstars Jonas "Tulkaz" Klausen, Rasmus "Jungleras" Nielsen, and Petter "Slaktarn" Petersson were among the first four out. It was that tough.

Yet even among these notable talents, one was especially irresistible. Kyllönen was one of the relative short stacks at the start of play, but there was a rare focus to the Finn and seasoned observers noted early on that if he was to get chips, he could be very dangerous indeed. So it proved. The two massive overnight stacks -- Langset and Nielsen -- clashed in a 700,000 pot early in the day, crippling Nielsen and vaulting Langset clear at the top.

Rasmus Nielsen

Nielsen never recovered and followed Klausen and Larcheveque, both of whom busted in the first level, out the door. That set the stage for Kyllönen's rise.

Five handed, Langset was looking exceptionally comfortable. Rumours had been circulating around the tournament arena for the past couple of days that the young Norwegian had only graduated from the play money to real money within the past month or so.

Anders Langset

But no one believed the story, not because Langset looked dishonest (far from it), but because he had put on such an accomplished display in what was his first-ever live tournament. He'd been chip leader and principal vanquisher for two full days, and here he was with more than the rest of his final four adversaries put together. Even advisors to Copenhagen's prime yarn-spinner Hans Christian Anderson might have tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Listen, Hans. That's a fairytale too far, mate."

Langset, though, was able to sit back and relax as Peterson perished in fifth, before Jussi Nevanlinna and Kyllönen went to battle in a series of Finn-on-Finn escapades. The countrymen seemed to have been targeting one another for much of the final table, and Kyllönen ultimately came out on top when his A-7 out-raced Nevanlinna's pocket fives in a pot from which the latter never recovered. Nevanlinna left us in fourth.

Jussi Nevanlinna

Then there was the tournament-defining hand. Kyllönen and Langset had largely stayed out of one another's way until the gloves came off in a whopping all-in pre-flop clash. Langset had pocket eights and the chance to eliminate his closest opponent; Kyllönen had Kd-Qh and the opportunity to get right back in it.

The two players put their arms around one another and stood as the dealer decided their fate. The flop was good for both: 9d-6d-4h. The turn made things even more interesting: 3d and the river was the clincher for the Finn: Qd. He hit his overcard and his flush for good measure and for the first time Langset was on the ropes.

One further hand between the two and it was all over for the Norwegian: Kyllönen's As-8s flopped the nut flush and picked off Langset's bluff. Langset went to the rail in the same manner he had played for four days: with a huge smile. One suspects we'll see him again.

That left two players, and the absence of Peter Hedlund's name in this report to date is only so that he can get his own full paragraph here, which he so richly deserves.

Hedlund, firstly, is no mean poker player. This is his second EPT final table, and we've seen him through all five seasons of the tour, always offering a threat. But more than that, Hedlund is among the most charismatic players in the whole of the continent: sitting on the same table as him (or in the same tournament room as him, in fairness) means exposure to an incessant rat-a-tat-tat of observations, gags, questions, jokes, usually with himself as the brunt.

Runner-up Peter Hedlund

The waiting staff and bartenders usually get to know Hedlund quite well too, oiling the cogs of this unique machine. And once he got heads up today, he bought beers for the entire crowd around the final table: "You can't beat me, so join me!" seemed to be the tacit invitation.

And so Hedlund and his enthusiastic supporters went heads-up with Kyllönen, who had now begun to sport a baseball cap emblazoned with the apt slogan: "Teenage Millionaire". Hedlund had it all to do, giving up a three-to-one chip advantage to the young Finn. They probed and they jousted for a while, but ultimately it was something of a heads-up cooler. Kyllönen found jacks as Hedlund had A-J. The board ran out in favour of Kyllönen, and that was the end of that.

"I definitely didn't expect anything," Kyllönen said. "I came in as the short stack and tried to play the best game I could. It turned out well."

No kidding. The money was shipped to the 19-year-old teenage millionaire as Finland produced its second EPT champion. Jens Kyllönen is our champion and I suggest you remember the name. I have a feeling you won't be able to forget it in a couple of years.

Good night from Copenhagen. It's Dortmund next. Be back.

Photography: (c) Neil Stoddart

Eight hours ago their tournament hopes were alive. Now, the dream of EPT glory lies in ruins for 32 of 40 players who returned to Casino Copenhagen this afternoon for the business end of another great EPT event.

That we bring this news on the cocktail side of midnight is some indication as to how fast this day flew by. Finals here in Denmark have produced memorable moments; today will hopefully be just a forerunner to what's in store tomorrow - a frenetic and merciless scrap for every last chip by some of the game's best.

Today marked the latest example of Nordics renewing their claim to be the best and most fearless players of the thoroughbred poker breed - with seven of the eight finalists hailing from Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish shores; an unsurprising surge of local poker brilliance, alongside some EPT loyalists, trigger-happy young guns and the odd legend thrown in.

Anders Langset has the honour of leading the overnight chip list with 1.1 million after a solid day in the saddle. With an ever-expanding block of attack chips Langset, who has been playing poker for only three weeks, seemed unstoppable, able to toss in calls without the fear of crippling loss others had to endure - like the Frenchman Eric Larcheveque, today's miracle man, who never seemed to advance beyond 20 big blinds but finds himself with 205,000 tonight, enough for a guaranteed €80,364.

A welcome sight in his second final is Peter Hedlund, a chatty EPT stalwart, who entertains at the table whether opponents like it or not. He lines up alongside Jonas Klausen who has narrowly missed two previous finals (12th in San Remo, 11th in Barcelona) and makes his first appearance seventh in chips.

Peter Hedlund

Spare a thought for Mikael Lundell. He now knows how Klausen feels after departing in ninth place today, one place off the final for a second time, after being inflicted with the same cruel fate in the season five opener in Spain. Klausen has chance to put his demons to bed tomorrow, but Lundell's nightmares will go on.

Mikael Lundell

Here's who'll be back:

Anders Langset, Norway, 1,119,000
Rasmus Nielsen, Denmark, 1,031,000
Jussi Nevanlinna, Finland, 894,000
Petter Petersson, Sweden, 407,000
Peter Hedlund, Sweden, 367,000
Jens Kyllonen, Finland, 366,000
Jonas Klausen, Denmark, 262,000
Eric Lachavaque, France, 221,000

But we lost a lot of good men out there...

If your fetish is for record breaking you no doubt had your eye on the Norwegian player Andreas Hoivold today. The winner in Dortmund on season three was on course for a potential second title, and would have taken a giant step closer had it not been for the seven-four (yep, seven-four) of Rasmus Nielsen, crushing Hoivold's five-three (yep, five-three).

The legions of PokerStars players were great in number and in talent. Tony Mallandain busted in 21st place, €16,371 to the good, having won his seat in a freeroll. Michael Aston, who pledged 5% of his winnings to Friends of Eastgate -- the charity set up by World Champion Peter -- was the unlucky 13th place victim of a poker mugging, his A-Q outdrawn by the K-J of Mikael Lundell.

Michael Ashton

Elsewhere Andrea Benelli missed out on a third EPT final of the season, exiting in 32nd place; while one of poker's elder statesmen, Thor Hansen, fell short of his first EPT final, departing in 17th place.

Thor Hansen

But that's all behind us, now onto the final. We've witnessed a 4am finish (season 2), a come from behind upset (season 3) and a white knuckle four hour heads-up monster (season 4). This is the place of legend - you'd be mad to miss what surprises are in store for season 5.

And that, folks, is that. We'll be back tomorrow for the final.

The tournament officials at Casino Copenhagen tinkered with the schedule today. We were originally intended to play down to 32 players, which would probably have taken about eight levels, but they decided at the last minute to make it 40, perhaps fearing we would be here all night.

Had they forgotten where we were?

Outside terminal one of Scandinavia Airport there is a sign that reads: "Wælcøme to the Höme of Åggressivæ Pøker". And ain't that the truth. We tore through the field in fewer than seven levels, reducing the 184 returning players to the requisite 40 in next to no time, with a bubble bursting to boot. The unlucky player to depart in 41st, one off the money, was Andrew Feldman, the young Englishman seeking his first EPT cash. Feldman has youth and talent to burn, however, and is already likely to be over his disappointment. He will definitely be back.

That means that everyone still seated when Feldman took his leave will be in the black from their visit to Copenhagen. They include the major EPT forces Ramzi Jelassi, Thor Hansen, Andreas Hoivold and Martin Wendt, all of whom are chasing the runaway leaders Anders Langsat, Rasmus Nielsen and Peter Hedlund, conveniently representing Norway, Denmark and Sweden, respectively.

Anders Langsat

Langsat is playing his first major tournament in Copenhagen, and was accompanied here by his father who was anxious yesterday to get a photo of his son with Gus Hansen. Today, Mr and Mrs Hansen should be anxious to get a photo of young Gus with Langsat Jr because while their son is back home preparing for his boxing match on Saturday, Langset is preparing for a serious assault on this title.

Peter Hedlund

Hedlund, meanwhile, is enjoying one of his most successful EPTs. He's been his usual vivacious self at the tables, remaining quiet for approximately 7mins 23secs of the day, shaving four minutes of his previous best. But he's also been magnificently focused throughout, the result of some proper rest and relaxation in the weeks before the tournament. "You're looking good for it," said a friend of Hedlund's in the player lounge this evening. He is.

Rasmus Nielsen

Nielsen, meanwhile, has been relentless, allowing his chips to do most of the talking as he progressed steadily through the field today, never having anything less than a mighty stack and using it to terrifying effect, re-raising with abandon and thundering onwards. He's looking good for a second consecutive final table at EPT Copenhagen, and possibly a finish even higher than his fourth of last year.

It wasn't so great a day for Team PokerStars Pro, who lost Isabelle Mercier and Marcin Horecki early on, then watched Noah Boeken and Luca Pagano also perish, some way deeper but still before the cash.

Marcin Horecki and Isabelle Mercier. (Note the daylight)

The esteemed likes of Annette Obrestad, Arnaud Mattern, Trond Eidsvig, Ilari Sahamies and Danny Ryan also fell by the wayside. There's no shame in that company.

But the gone are now also the forgotten and we turn our attentions to the final table. That will be decided about this time tomorrow. Return here for the full story of how we get there.

Until tomorrow, good night.

And there we have it; day 1b is in the books. In keeping with what we have seen countless times before, this was not a day for the faint hearted. Right from the off, when the seat draw pitted Bertrand Grospellier, Gus Hansen, Michael Tureniec, Jesper Hougaard and Annette Obrestad on a table that went beyond just plain death and into the afterlife, this was always going to be a frantic eight hours of play.

There were 236 players at the start of the day; there are fewer than 90 players left now. All but one of those superstar table-mates faded and died. Only Obrestad remained rooted to her seat on table one as the other legends of the world game drifted away. But they're not alone on the outskirts of this tournament: we also lost Johnny Lodden, Julian Thew, William Thorson, Peter Eastgate, Ivan Demidov, Dario Minieri, Stephen Chidwick, Danny Ryan and Theo Jorgensen.

Johnny Lodden
Eastgate ousted

Jorgensen's fall was among the most dramatic. The man who will enter the boxing ring with Gus Hansen on Saturday went from Rocky Balboa to flea-weight no-hoper within a matter of about 10 level-seven minutes. He first took pocket kings up against Andrea Benelli's pocket eights, only to watch the Italian four-flush him for about 40,000 of his chips.

Jorgensen was soon seen on the ropes and then the canvass after the beats from Benelli kept on coming.

For the Italian, though, it was an entirely different story. He made a final table in Warsaw late last year, followed up with a fourth place in Deauville last month, and now he is the undisputed overnight chip leader, bagging approximately 100,000 chips as I type. He was the tormentor of Ivan Demidov in the early levels, then there were the altercations with Jorgensen, and soon we were looking up the Italian word for "steam-roller".

Andrea Benelli

Italians have been the emerging national force on the EPT this season, but if an Italian triumphs in the land of the Scandi, the cat will well and truly be among the pigeons.

But that is getting way ahead of ourselves. There are another three full days of this one yet, and surviving from the carnage to take their place tomorrow are also the Team PokerStars Pro duo of Isabelle Mercier and Alexander Kravchenko. Then there's Ola Brandborn, Ilari Sahamies, Martin Wendt, Dennis Plejdrup, Andreas Hoivold and Orjan Hold, as well as all those returning from day 1a.

Flight Commander Kravchenko

All static pictures come (c) Neil Stoddart. More of all of this tomorrow. Goodnight!

Ice skaters pic

It's the best place to test your growing poker skills anywhere online. The weekly round two events on PokerStars.net are the biggest events of their kind and give you the opportunity of winning a cash prize for a zero buy in. Make the final table and you'll see your name in light in black type here on the PokerStars.net blog.

This week "That 70s Tom" was victorious, winning $242.20. Not bad for free.

Congratulations to everyone who cashed. Here's a look at how it finished...

Weekly Round 2 - Sunday February 15

1. That 70s Tom - (United States) - $242.20
2. 93didier (France) - $163.00
3. guiltyfeet (United States) - $111.00
4. guido2222 (United States) - $90.00
5. ervengala (Spain) - $70.00
6. canarito1 (Spain) - $50.00
7. uknowme711 (United States) - $35.00
8. troutrunner (Canada) - $23.00
9. wae710 (United States) - $14.00

Less than 24 hours ago the mood in Copenhagen's poker circles was one of jubilee; an evening spent toasting the latest winners at the Scandinavian Poker Awards, names like Eastgate, Sahamies and In de Betou. Tonight though, after eight day 1a levels of play, the mood is more of relief and rest for the 99 survivors after business as usual on the world's best poker tour.

The EPT tournament room is a cauldron type place that turns some into steel, others into soup. But tonight it's one of the old guard and one of season five's new faces who lead: Thor Hansen and Albert Iversen are at the top of the day one pile.

Iversen made a name for himself at EPT Budapest, finishing fourth for €153,216. As it stands now the Dane in the best position to add to that fledgling record, thanks in the main to a crazy 15 minute spell this evening when half a dozen hands sent him to 65,000 and three players to the rail. Like he'd been blessed, Iversen was suddenly unstoppable, watched in awe from the rail as he called all-in after all-in, and emerging as the last man standing each time.

At least that was the case with minutes to go on the day. Suddenly, with minute to spare and from out of nowhere, Thor Hansen, a legend in these parts and a favourite of players and railbirds alike, strapped on a jet pack and flew to the lead, ending the day on 74,700 after a series of never say die hands.

While Hansen worked on his new found lead all three of the Team PokerStars Pros who began today bagged up chips at the end of it, each perched around the average mark. Any feeling of relief they might feel comes at the expense of 126 players who right now have just the emptiness of elimination to remind them of their Copenhagen escapade - and not even the sub zero temperatures can numb that. Ask the likes of former winners Joao Barbosa and Magnus Petersson, or Erik Friberg, Carlos Mortensen and Christian Grundtvig, all of whom found their way to the rail today.

Local players dominate the landscape as far as chip counts are concerned. Hansen and Iversen may be at the head but are followed by countrymen Rasmus Nielsen and PokerStars player Allan Baekke. Laurence Houghtonis doing something similar ending today on close to 50,000. Names such as Eidsvig, Mattern, Biechel and Hedlund will also be back for day two.

The award winners had something else in common apart from their new silverware- they had cleverly opted for a day 1b start. Their toil begins tomorrow, plenty of time for last night's hangover to subside. They'll be joined by a host of big names. From the Team PokerStars stable - William Thorson and Dario Minieri, Isabelle Mercier and Alex Kravchenko, alongside Bertrand Grospellier and a certain couple of PokerStars players Peter Eastgate and Ivan Demidov.

With all that read, watched and digested you're free to do whatever you want, just be sure to be back here for the start of day 1b, that's 2pm sharp.

Till then.

When it comes to winning the weekly round two... Kt didit. More specifically "ktdidit2" ahead of a field of thousands. Ktydidit2's share was a massive $276. Not bad for nothing.

Want your chance at a similar deal? The process is simple. Simply qualify for one of two WR2 events each weekend by wining your ticket in one of the many "astronomer" freerolls advertised in the PokerStars.net lobby. Win your ticket, set aside a few hours at the weekend and test yourself against everyone else.
Congratulations to ktydidit2. Can they do it again?

Weekly Round 2 - Saturday February 7

1. ktydidit2 (United States) - $276.00
2. striker001 (Belgium) - $164.00
3. EricSteph261 (United States) - $100.00
4. muk KZ (Kazakhstan) - $80.00
5. bowlingray (Canada) - $62.00
6. laca37 (Hungary) - $50.00
7. rivercash4me (United States) - $39.00
8. d.logan.camp (Canada) - $30.00
9. bradwatts (United States) - $22.20

Karl Krautschneider Inaugral winner ANZPT Adelaide
Karl Krautschneider has taken the inaugural PokerStars.net ANZPT title at the SKYCITY Casino in Adelaide. Krautschnieder, from Melbourne, rarely let the lead slip during the final table, eliminating most of the other finalists himself. His reward for outlasting them and the 214 others overall, is $170,215.

Overnight the finalists chips were bagged up with the tallies looking like this...

Seat 1 - Bruno Portaro - 552,000
Seat 2 - Mike Stecker - 390,000
Seat 3 - Karl Krautschneider - 662,000
Seat 4 - James Broom - 443,000
Seat 5 - Julius Colman - 596,000
Seat 6 - Tony Dunst - 635,000
Seat 7 - Dean Nyberg - 439,000
Seat 8 - Daniel Noja - 304,000
Seat 9 - Celina Lin - 261,000

On the very first hand James Broom faced a decision for all his chips, holding A-K to a raise. It was too big a hand to fold and Broom pushed forward his 443,000. It was Bruno Portaro's pocket 7s which had a slight lead pre-flop, a lead that held all the way to the river and suddenly there was a little more room around the table. Broom took home $11,740 for ninth place.

Play then settled down for a while, the only significant hand over a 90 minute spell being when Daniel Noja doubled up his 230,000 stack, his Q-J flopping two pairs against Tony Dunst's pocket sevens.

Soon after it was Portaro all-in once more holding the ubiquitous A-K. The money went in on the 9-K-3 flop, and when Krautschneider, holding the calling hand as well as a larger chip stack, tabled his cards he was behind, showing queens. A ten on the turn increased his chances by four outs, getting it the hard way when he found a queen on the river for a set. Bruno Portaro had to be happy with 8th place and $17,610.

A 50 minute hiatus followed, but it was just the calm before a storm of eliminations.

Celina Lin, who had played well from mid-way through day two, was again low on chips. After Dean Nyberg had made a standard raise Lin move all of her chips in. The others folded back to Dean. He had A-K - the last two players had been eliminated holding this same hand - and called. Lin had gone in with sixes and held the lead until the flop of A-3-Q. No sixes on the turn or river, sending Celina Lin out in 7th place for $23,475.

Celina Lin 9th and last female surviving

Take a deep breath, let it out, and before you could take another the short stacked Julius Colman stepped up to the plate. Julius hadn't been in it today so when he saw a J-4-5 flop he pushed with his Q-J. Tony Dunst had raised preflop and there was no good news for Colman who watched Tony show his pocket jacks after being the only caller. A king on the turn left Julius no outs except for the exit door. Julius Colman left us in sixth place for $29,345.

Do the breathing thing again except this time you can't even exhale before another all-in called.

Local online player Dean Nyberg probably thought he was good in this one. Certainly he had very little choice but to lose all his stack here. A flop Ah-Ad-8d started all the trouble. Nyberg was holding Qd-Jd and his bet on the flop was called by Karl Krautschneider. Nyberg check raised the turn when he made a flush with the 6d now showing. Karl flat called before a 7h on the river. Now Dean pushed all-in, groaning loudly when Karl called showing Kd-Td for the nut flush. Dean Nyberg took fifth place and a slip to take to the cashier for $41,085.

Similar turnaround time before the very low stacked American player Mike Stecker decided to get his chips in. When he saw A-4 he bet all he had preflop, which was 230,000. Karl Krautschneider made the call with A-Q. The flop was a nightmare for Mike A-Q-3, leaving him only running fours or a five, two finish to survive. Too much of an ask - Mike Stecker out in fourth place for $52,825.

At this point, the chip counts were as follows...

Karl Krautschneider, Aus, PokerStars qualifier, 2,240,000
Tony Dunst, USA, PokerStars player, 1,240,000
Daniel Noja, Aus, 400,000

Krautschneider held a commanding chip lead with Daniel Noja on the short stack.
Noja was able to gain a lot of ground in the next half hour winning chips from both Dunst and Krautschneider. Noja pulled ahead of Dunst when the following hand came around.

Noja had made top pair with a medium kicker against Dunst's one over card to the board and a flush draw. These two had played some big hands and this one was no exception -all the chips went in. Daniel's pair was a jack, the same card that fell on the turn. But, keeping up the drama, it was the suit that Dunst needed for his flush. Noja needed a repeat on the river but it didn't come.

Noja's final hand came soon after, pushing in with Kc-Jc. But Tony Dunst held Ac-Qc. Noja needed to pair up, but Dunst's nut flush held sway. Daniel Noja out in third place for $64,565.

Krautschneider and Dunst squared off on the table, Dunst in his customary dark grey suit, Krautschneider in a relaxing grey polo shirt. It was a hard call to predict the length of play still to come. These two had been the best two players over the last two days and both had built their stacks through prolonged and aggressive play.

Dunst managed to close the chip gap significantly but Krautschneider pulled away again, making a well timed runner-runner straight.

The two exchanged chips for a while more until a flush draw settled the tournament.

With the blinds at 12,000-24,000, Krautschneider raised to 60,000 which was called. After seeing a flop of 4-2-K with two clubs, Dunst checked and Krautschneider made the same bet of 60,000. Dunst then raised another 140,000. Krautschneider took some time to contemplate his move - he had 8-9 of clubs - before he decided to push. Dunst had been dealt the Kd-2d for two pairs and he called.

The 3d hit the felt on the turn, and with the crowd stretching over the ropes to see the action, we witnessed the end of this main event when the 7c came on the river to complete Krautschneider's flush.

Tony Dunst finishes 2nd in the first ANZPT main event, winning $111,520

We were done with Karl Krautschneider winning the inaugural trophy of the PokerStars Australia and New Zealand Poker Tour, and a cool $170,315!

Congratulations Karl!

The winning hand - flush on the river

His hand made a flush, and now Aussie Karl Krautschneider is flush with cash after winning the first ANZPT event in Adelaide.

The seven of clubs, a card he will remember for a long time, made his flush on the river to bust Tony Dunst.

Dunst, an American who lives in Australia, congratulated Krautschneider as he went off to embrace his supporters on the rail.

Karl had made his way through the tournament making great calls with hands that were slightly ahead - and stayed ahead. He had been very calm and quiet, not berating or admonishing his opponents - simply happy to rake in the chpis.

Many congratulations on your win, Karl.

Karl Kautschneider

Down to the final two

Karl Krautschneider has been eliminating players from this final table all day and has command of the majority of chips. Tony Dunst managed to close that gap slightly by busting Daniel Noja, making the chip counts look like this...

Karl Krautschneider, Aus, PokerStars qualifier, 2,454,000
Tony 'Bond18' Dunst, USA, PokerStars qualifier, 1,824,000

Dunst, always noted for his aggression in these situations, got closer to parity before Krautschneider won a crucial hand, seeing his "nothing" hand become an up-and-down draw on the turn - and a straight on the river against Dunst's two pair.

Now Krautschneider had his lead back again.

The two players exchanged chips for a while until a flush draw settled the tournament.

Just before 5pm, with the blinds at 12,000-24,000, Krautschneider raised to 60,000 which was called. After seeing a flop of 4c-2c-Kc Dunst checked before Krautschneider made the same bet of 60,000. Dunst then raised another 140,000. Krautschneider took some time to contemplate his move - he had 8-9 with one club - and decided to push.

Dunst had been dealt the Kd-2d, so his two pair made for an automatic call.

The 3d hit the felt on the turn, and with the crowd leaning over the ropes to see the action. The 7c came on the river to complete Karl's flush, bringing an end to the tournament.

Tony Dunst finishes 2nd in the first ANZPT main event, winning $111,520

3:30pm - Daniel builds then

Three-way action with Daniel Noja out of the blocks racing. He made some great hands against Tony Dunst and then took chips from Karl Krautschneider. He passes Dunst to go second in chips.

Then one of the classic match up hands...

Noja had top pair on the flop while Dunst had one over card and a flush draw with two cards to come - all the chips went in at this point. Tony made the flush on the turn but it was the Js, giving Noja trips. No full house on the river though.

It was down to Dunst to collect the last of Daniel Noja's chip. Noja went all-in with Kc-Jc, Dunst calling with Ac-Qc. Dunst's hand had a good lead although both players made a club flush. But Dunst's ace won the day.

Daniel Noja third in the inaugral ANZPT Adelaide main event, his prize $64,565

3:03pm - One short stack left

American Mike Stecker hadn't had too many opportunities to advance during the final table, his 390,000 stack quickly reduced to 230,000. He was dealt A-4 and with the blinds at 10,000-20,0000 saw the chance to double up before his stack was eroded compelety. Karl Krautschneider once again obliged with a call, showing A-Q to dominate Mike's hand.

After the board came A-Q-3 Mike's hopes were pinned to runner-runner 4s or a five and a deuce. No such luck and Krautschneider moved further ahead as we go three-way.

Shortly after this the chip counts were

Karl Krautschneider - 2,240,000
Tony Dunst - 1,240,000
Daniel Noja - 400,000

Mike Stecker in fourth place for $52,825.

3:00pm - Pandemonium 3

Julius Colman wasn't fully out of his seat before Dean Nyberg, first to speak, upped the pot by 40,000. Karl Krautschneider, who can't see the table over all his stack, decided to invest.

The flop came Ah-Ad-8d, Nyberg, holding the Qd-Jd, bet 60,000. Krautschneider flat called. The 6d appears on the turn and this time Dean checked his flush. Krautschneider obliged with an 80,000 bet, which Nyberg promptly raised to 225,000. Again Krautschneider called, the hole in his chip stack now allowing him some kind of view of the table. A 7h rivered and Nyberg shipped the remainder of his 500K stack into the middle. Krautschneider never looked like folding, holding the Kh-Th for the nut flush.

Dean Nyberg, local Adelaide boy, will have to be content with fifth place this year

Dean Nyberg fifth in the main event for $41,085

2:55pm - Pandemonium 2

The dust hadn't settled on Celina Lin's departure when Julius Colman decided he needed to find a few more chips. Colman hadn't had good fortune but on a flop of J-4-5 and holding Q-J he decided it is time to put it all on the line after Tony Dunst had raised pre-flop. Dean Nyberg had called pre-flop but got out of the way after Dunst called the all-in. Dunst flipped over two Jacks for top set - Colman started to pack his bags. A king on the turn finished Colman's day.

Julius Colman, sixth in the ANZPT Adelaide main event - $29,345

2:50pm - Pandemonium

Celina Lin, one of the short stacks, went all-in, a response to Daniel Noja's original raise under-the-gun. Five players fold, perhaps what she was looking for holding as she doespocket sixes. Daniel Noja makes the call though with a hand which has featured in all the eliminations today A-K. Celina has no luck on the A-3Q flop. A four on the turn only leaves her two outs, neither of which appear.

We lose Celina Lin from the final table in seventh place today - a great result given here position early on day two.

Celina Lin, finishes in seventh place for $23,475

2:00pm - The acion slows

After the loss of James Broom the table has settled down somewhat.

A big hand sees Daniel Noja doubling up his remaining 230,000 stack, catching two pairs on the flop with his Q-J against Tony Dunst's pocket sevens.

Some 90 minutes after the loss of James Broom it's Bruno Potaro getting his chips all-in again against Karl Krautschneider. Potaro had bet 100,000 on a flop of 9-K-3. Krautschneider tested the waters with a min raise to 200,000. Potaro had shown himself to be the kind of player not to back away from such situations, especially like now holding A-K, and raised all-in. Krautschneider, probably expecting that his Q-Q was good, called. A ten on the turn gave Krautschneider four more outs and he did it the hard way, catching a queen on the river. Krautschneider jumped to over 1.5 million.

Bruno Potaro eliminated in eighth place for $17,610.

Sit down, shake hands with everyone, get introduced by David the poker room manager, highcard for the button. Play the first hand, let Bruno Potaro raise the blinds, check your cards, find A-K, raise, watch Potaro contemplate a call and then go all-in with pocket sevens. Call, watch the board come 3-J-J-8-T, shake hands again and get up go to collect $11,740 for ninth place.

That was James Broom's short final table day.

James Broom - ninth today for $11,740

Final table play will begin shortly in the PokserStars ANZPT Adelaide main event. When the cards go in the air blinds will be pegged back one level to 6,000-12,000.

Here are the triumphant nine...

Seat 1: Bruno Potaro, Melbourne, Australia, 552,000 chips
Potaro's is the great survival story of the ANZPT Adelaide and once again demonstrates the old adage of 'a chip and chair' is still relevant. Potaro spent the majority of day one short stacked, down at one point to as little as 2,000 chips. Now he finds himself in a slightly more comfortable position. Potaro is a business owner in Melbourne and devotes his time to poker and fishing. His best result to date came in the $200 Masters no limit hold'em event at the 2006 Melbourne Championships.

Seat 2: Mike Stecker, California, USA. 390,000 chips
Stecker is a part time tennis instructor and played both tennis and golf to an elite level. He's been playing poker for the last four years, playing events in Ireland, Australia and Macau. This is his first final table, making it depsite being the short stack as the last nine places came into view. A crucial hand saw his aces hold up against eights to double him up and place him in the final table spotlight.

Seat 3: Karl Krautshneder, Melbourne, Australia. 662,000 chips
Karl Krautshneder has been playing poker for four years. Living in Melbourne, he plays regularly at Crown Casino as well as online. Krautshneder is a drug and alcohol clinician, helping council people dealing with addiction. His supporters include his daughter, following his progress on the blog from back home in Melbourne. Karl goes to the final table as chip leader, doubling up late through fellow final table combatant James Broom.

Seat 4: James Broom, Melbourne, Australia. 443,000 chips
One of the young guns of Australian poker, Broom has some great results over the last 12 months. James or Jabba as he is affectionately known, grew up in Melbourne and is well known in Crown Casino. He also plays regularly online at PokerStars. To date his best result was winning the 2008 Melbourne Championships and he followed this with a ninth place at the 2008 PokerNews Cup. James came into day two second in chips and has maintained his momentum despite losing some chips late in the day.

Seat 5: Julius Colman, Melbourne, Australia. 596,000
One of Australia's better known poker players, Colman can often be found in his hometown casino, Crown. His most notable result was finishing fourth in the 2007 Aussie Millions. He has also cashed in Asia Pacific Poker Tour PPT and World Series events. Colman was the chip leader at the start of play today.

Seat 6: Tony Dunst, Wisconsin, USA. 635,000 chips
Born in the United States Tony 'Bond18' Dunst now makes Melbourne his home. One of Australia's best online players, Dunst also has an impressive resume when it comes to live tournaments. His most notable highlight was winning last year's $3,000 no limit hold'em Bellagio Cup IV. Dunst is a great supporter of events in this region having played almost every Asia Pacific Poker Tour event and starts the final as chip leader and the one to watch.

Seat 7: Dean Nyberg, Adelaide, Australia. 438,000 chips
The only local in the field, Nyberg is from Woodcroft in the southern part of Adelaide and will have the crowds to cheer him on, being a regular at this casino. The week has been very successful one for Nyberg who also won one of the side events leading up to ANZPT Adelaide. Nyberg, or 'dinhjo' is also a successful online player.

Seat 8: Daniel Noja, Canberra, Australia. 304,000 chips
A business owner from Canberra, Noja has been playing poker for 15 years. He has hit a rich vein of form recently coming off three consecutive top five finishes in side events at the recent Aussie Millions.

Seat 9: Celina Lin, Melbourne, Australia. 260,000
Lin, 25, was born in Shanghai but now makes her home in Australia where she is a student at Melbourne University - when not playing poker in Macau. Lin's best result occurred when she finished 23rd in APPT Macau in season one. She has also had cashes in the PokerStars Macau Red Dragon events. Celina is a PokerStars sponsored player and is currently working toward her goal of becoming a Supernova Elite.

Play has finished for the night, with the blind level at 8,000-16,000.

It stopped when Tian Shou moved his 150K stack into the middle with pocket eights. Bruno Potaro, who had just raised to 50,000, called Shou with Q-9. Potaro took the lead when a queen hit the flop and it was all over for Shou, exiting in tenth place.

After counting the chips and making the seat draw tomorrow's table look like this...

Seat 1 - Bruno Portaro, Australia, 552,000
Seat 2 - Mike Stecker, USA, 390,000
Seat 3 - Karl Krautschneider, Australia, 662,000
Seat 4 - James Broom, Australia, 443,000
Seat 5 - Julius Colman, Australia, 596,000
Seat 6 - Tony Dunst, USA, 635,000
Seat 7 - Dean Nyberg, Australia, 438,000
Seat 8 - Daniel Noja, Australia, 304,000
Seat 9 - Celina Lin, Australia, 260,000

A great performance by PokerStars player Celina Lin who at one stage today was 25th of 25. Bruno Potaro also deserves a special mention after his comeback from less than 3,000 back on day one.

Play continues at 12:30pm on Saturday, Adelaide time.

Into level 17 and the 19th placed finisher is PokerStars sponsored Emad Tahtouh.
Those remaining are guaranteed to get $5,870.

To see the chip counts as they draw for new seats on last two tables, click here

Just 21 players remain, three players short of the money. Bruno Potaro, whom Sam wrote about earlier, has taken command of the lead with 430,000 in chips. James Broom found a second wind and is currently second with 395,000. Tian Shou, also mentioned below, has a fine tower of chips, adding up to 390,000.

PokerStars player Tian Shou

Two women players remain in PokerStars sponsored player Celina Lin and Mon Kapp, who qualified for this event on Pokerstars. They join Tony Hachem at the less prosperous end of the chip count table.

Just in front of where we sit in the Adelaide SKYCITY poker room is table one. It eady looks a little like the final table based on the chips in play there.

Seat 1 Tian Shou - 383,000
Seat 3 Nobbi Tanaka - 140,000
Seat 5 Julius Colman - 210,000
Seat 6 Derren Bullock - 200,000
Seat 7 James Obst - 190,000
Seat 8 Elliot Smith - 210,000
Seat 9 Mike Stecker - 120,000

Tian won two big pots, both against James Obst, when he showed pocket tens to make a full house and A-Q to make Aces-up queen-kicker. Tian had gone all-in on the river in both hands and Obst had called.

The average chip stack right now is close to 140,000

We're experiencing a heatwave in Adelaide today with the temperature soaring to 43 degrees celsius. Walking outside the casino means keeping to the shade and trying to stay out of the hot spots. It is the same inside the casino with the tension mounting as the short stacks try and stay in the shade and out of the way of the chip leaders.

PokerStars sponsored players Tony Hachem and Emad Tahtouh got off to good starts. Hachem doubled up early when his Ad-9d made a flush against an opponent holding Ah-Kc. Earlier today Hachem began preparing for the day during breakfast with Bruno Potaro and Steve Topakis, who challenged Hachem to complete 100 push ups. Unfortunately he only made it to 80 before he broke down into laughter. He seems just as light hearted now, sitting with plenty of chips with which to take a tilt at the title.

Tahtouh's double up put a smile on his face for the first time this year, when he made a straight on flop against his opponent's two pair. Shortly after Tahtouh was moved to his good friend Joe Hachem's table - which they believe to be the first time they have played together on the same tournament table. They also have the inimitable Billy the Croc at their table so action should be fast and furious.

Emad Tahtouh PokerStars sponsored player looking very stoic (very unlike him) on table three after his double up

One of the great survival stories from yesterday was Melbourne player Bruno Potaro. Seated at the same table as PokerStars sponsored players Ray Sukkar and Aussie Millions fourth place finisher Chris Chronis, Potaro found himself short stacked. For three hours his stack moved between 2,000 and 8,000 chips until late in the day when he managed to make a late charge. By the start of play today he had 77,000 and is in a good position to make the money.

Sukkar and Potaro stayed at the same table for the whole of day 1B. But unfortunately the short-stacked Sukkar was one of the early departures this morning and Chris Chronis was eliminated late on the first day.

At the end of level 12 (level 3 for today) we are down to 43 runners with an average of around 100,000. There have been many moves up the list with James Obst taking the lead on table one with over 245,000. On the same table is Julius Colman, the overnight leader, with an impressive 220,000. These two might stay there all day now as there's will be one of the last two tables of the day on our way to the final nine.

Click here to see the updated list of chip counts

Early on day two at the ANZPT Adelaide and the numbers are slowly dwindling. A total of 77 started the day and there are 56 left as we get to the end of level 11 which takes the average chip stack to a little more than 76,000.

Included among those eliminated were Diego Walsh, Steven Downing, Andrew Demetriou, Joel Dodds, Ray Sukkar, Emanuel Seal and local boy Eugene Juczenko.

Julius Colman and Matthew Jones from Canada still hold the top two spots on the chip table while Toby Meridith, James Broom and Dean Nyberg round out the top five placings. Toby came from a start of 88,000 today and now sports 180,000.

Today's tough table has PokerStars Poker Pro Joe Hachem, PokerStars sponsored Emad Tahtouh, Billy "the croc", Nobbi Tanaka, Matthew Jones and Dean Nyberg in attendance. I heard Tahtouh and Hachem musing over whether they had ever sat together on a tournament table before.

Nobbi Tanaka celebrates everyone folding to his all-in play

Table three looks like not the place to be today

With the completion of day one flight two complete, the field will combine for day two.

We have 77 survivors to return on Friday

Click here to see the full list and their chip counts.

The keyword for the second of the day one flights of the ANZPT Adelaide was "calm".

Gone were the satellite winners from the casino - 60 had appeared from a field of 104 yesterday. Today our first player headed home 90 minutes into the day. Yesterday you will recall our first player went on just the second hand.

There were 111 players today, 104 yesterday - each paying $3,000 AUD to create a record poker prize pool for the SKYCITY casino of $586,950. this will make the winner richer to the tune of $170,215.00 AUD. A total of 18 places will be paid, with 18th place paying $5,870.00.

Some players appear to have a little less work than others.

Julius Colman took over James Broom's lead. If Broom's performance was spectacular yesterday Colman's must have been more so as he posts a 30K-plus lead over the field for the start of day two. Canadian player Matthew Jones was just shy of Broom's total yesterday by some 2,000 chips. These three will attract the most attention tomorrow from chip hungry players and the media.

Julius Colman - Chip leader seems pleased with his chip stack size

Matthew Jones, all the way from Canada, is running third in chips and first in trash-talking comeback lines

I mentioned that the room was very calm and quiet today - that's true bar one exception - table one.

Table one is right in front of where we sit so we were witness to an entertaining battle of wills between Sydney resident Sammy Khouiss and anyone who would bite at his goading.

Matthew Jones was in seat one and Khouiss in seat three. After the constant Khouiss trash talk Jones decided to start some of his own. This normally works in Khouiss's favor but today Jones was the chip victor and Khouiss was eventually dispatched by one of his other opponents, flopping a set of 2s and rivering quads. Ahh, tranquility reigns once more.

Another of the big personality players here is Billy "the croc" Argyros. Argyros had made a good start today and was moved to a table with one of the young chip leaders, Elliot Smith. The hand I watched drew quite a crowd.

Pre-flop Billy had re-raised in position behind the youngster. The flop of Ks-Qs-4s was checked to Billy who thought for a while and went all-in for just under 60,000. Now it was Elliot's turn to think and think and think. He talked to Billy, was ignored, tried again and again, eventually getting a response. More thinking, moving of chips, glancing, restacking, cutting down, stacking and finally calling, showing A-K. Billy tossed his cards over, also showing A-K, but his ace was a spade, giving him the freeroll to a 150,000+ pot . But there was no spade, turn nor river.

Two of the three PokerStars sponsored players starting today made it through to bagging up. Celina Lin signed off on 57,000 while Hachem will return tomorrow with 35,000.

PokerStars sponsored Celina Lin relaxing between hands - slowly gathering chips for an assault on day two
Tony Hachem sharing a joke early in flight two before going on to survive to day two

As I was leaving the poker room live table action was well underway. Top end tables were a 5-5 blind PLO game and a 5-5 blind NLHE game. The elite game was a 10-20 PLO hosting a mix of the successful young guns of the Aussie poker world and some old stagers, each with mountains of $5 and $25 chips and an odd stack of $100's in front of them. No names of course but a few day two survivors obviously needed just a little action before calling it a day.

It has been announced that the 215 players have contributed to a record SKYCITY Adelaide prize pool totalling $586,950. The winner will collect $170,215 while the last man/woman of the 18 places to be paid will take home $5,870.

A full payout table is available by clicking here.

PokerStars qualifier and Australian online phenomenon Tony 'Bond21' Dunst has been playing at the top of his game today on a table that includes sponsored player Tony Hachem and well known Sydney player Joel Dodds. Hachem stopped by to share a few thoughts...

"I sit in the corner of the SkyCity poker room attempting to focus. The room looks more like an old-fashioned pool hall than a poker den with the tables illuminated by the single beam fluorescent lights that hang precariously above each table. The room is full of the best and worst of Australian poker, depending on who you ask.

"I sit quietly for some time, mostly keeping out of the way. It is not until over an hour into the day that I become entangled in a confrontation. My stake is 18,000 with the blinds 75-100 I have As-8s on the button.

"Before the flop I raise to 750 and get two callers. One of them makes a brief speech about how he never calls - but then calls. Curious.

"The flop comes 4s-Kc-6s and the action is checked around to me. I consider my bet and drop 1,300 into the pot. There is a fold and then the person who found it difficult to call starts to talk, telling me he really thinks he has me - and so he calls the bet.

"The turn comes 5s and the action is checked around to me again. I count out 2,800 in chips and bet. He quickly calls me. Now he leads out with a bet of 3,075. I find it very unlikely he has a set since he wouldn't bother with the banter earlier in the hand. I think he has a king and believe he will pay me off with it. So I raise to 8,075 and he winces as he whips the 5,000 chip into the pot.

"I table the flush and he quickly mucks and I return to my stupor."

With 37 minutes to go in the sixth level we're down to 85 survivors from the day's 111 entrants. The average stack is currently 26,100

A fairly full chip count can be found here.

Local face Paul "The Virus" Ravesi has finally arrived well into level three. He joins an already spirited table one that includes Sam Khouiss and Mike "Timex" McDonald. Ravesi sat down to examine what late fees he'd paid in blinds, but quickly noted that he seemed to be in a much better position than normal for this stage of the day.

Wandering around the room, two of the early chip leaders at this point are Chris Chronis and Tony Dunst.

Melbourne-based Chronis has been playing tournament poker at Crown casino for some years now, recording some credible high finishes in Aussie tournaments. As I walked passed his table a few moments ago he was raking in a pot over 20,000, taking his stack to more than 42,000.

Dunst, an adopted Aussie formerly of the United States, has final table finishes here and in the US, and has performed admirably in the WSOP main event in past years. Despite a table that also features Grant Levy and Sam Youssef Dunst has amassed a stack of more than 38,000.

Away from the tables Chris Chronis is a women's fashion designer and owner of a high profile fashion label named after himself. While Tony on the other hand comes to these shores mostly as a poker player and claims his interest in fashion was limited to the models he chased. Regardless, both can play poker at the top end of the game.

Chris Chronis

Tony Dunst flashes a "to camera" look

Day one flight two of Adelaide's ANZPT main event has started quietly. It is as if today's players are the contemplative sort as opposed to yesterday's field which was dominated by local casino satellite qualifiers, 60 in total out of a field of 104.

Scanning the room I can see Tony G, WSOP Bracelet winner Mel Judah, and Irishman George Mckeever. Then there's Tim English, who final tabled at the APPT Sydney event, the ubiquitous Graeme "Kiwi G" Putt, and the successful Tony Dunst, Chris Chronis, Sydney boy Sam Khouiss, Melbourne stalwart Sam Youssef and Queenslander Sean Dunwoodie.

Mel Judah looking relaxed on day one

Graeme Putt "Kiwi G" asseses the opposition

Three PokerStars sponsored players have chosen today to start their campaing - Celina Lin has taken her seat, as has Tony Hachem and APPT Sydney 2007 champion Grant Levy.

Celina Lin sharing a joke with her neighbour

To round out the high-profile players, Billy "The Croc" arrived fashionably late, perhaps taking a leaf from the Phil Helmuth playbook.

To underline my opening comment we're 40 minutes into the first level and 111 players remain - by this stage yesterday five had headed for the rail.

No great chip moves at the moment. Like we said, today has a more conservative feel to it.

The first day of the PokerStars-sponsored ANZPT Main Event began at the SKYCITY casino in Adelaide today, with 104 players sitting down for the 12:15pm "shuffle up and deal" performed by Team PokerStars Pro and WSOP 2005 Champion Joe Hachem.

All 12 tables of the Adelaide casino poker room were in use with the players populating them paying either $3,000 AUD to play or winning there way here through various satellite options on PokerStars. The official count will be known tomorrow but already looks likely to be around the 200 mark.

It wasn't long before the inevitable happened - kings under-the-gun found aces in the big blind, and the tournament found it's first departure with Steve Tapakas the beneficiary, taking the early lead. He eventually survived the day, finishing on 32,000 chips, up on the starting stack of 20,000.

Of the Team PokerStars Pros and other sponsored players, Stewart Scott, the 2009 Aussie Millions champion, departed fairly early. Lee Nelson had Sydney-sider Garry Benson at his table, and these two skirmished often with Benson seeing off Nelson with an A-K broadside to top the Team Pro's A-T.

Joe Hachem slowly but surely built his stack up, finishing on about average with 43,700. PokerStars-sponsored Emad Tahtouh came with his game face on, finishing with 37,900.

Eric Assadourian, another PokerStars sponsored player, lasted to within minutes of the close, calling for all his chips with his A-8 when the board read A-3-5. His opponent, however, turned over A-Q and Eric was on his way to the rail.

That left 37 players to bag chips tonight. They get a day off tomorrow before they link up with the remnants of day 1b tomorrow, returning on Friday to play on.

The bulkiest bag of chips belonged to James Broom with 183,500. The evening had been punctuated by him swallowing up the stacks of players brave enough to take him on. Sure, fortunes often turn around on the second day of events like these but James will be coming back on Friday with a handsome buffer, assuming no one can match his progress tomorrow.

Following Broom is Derren Bullock on 125,000, and the very popular - his entourage on the rail numbered over a dozen - Robert Goodwin on 108,600. Two PokerStars players come next, Karl Krautschneider on 107,100 and Michael Guzzardi with 105,300.

Tomorrow should prove to be equally as calamitous for some and as successful for others.

You can catch up on all the overnight chip counts right here.

Until tomorrow.

Chris "The Barracuda" Newton

In the last few levels here in Adelaide, James Broom has begun to put his mark on the leader board, thinning the field in his process.
Springing from relative obscurity Broom produced some good results in 2006 and 2007 at CROWN casino.  It was at the  Melbourne championships in May last year that he  kicked the big goal taking first place in the $1,100 main event  pocketing $134,602 for the win. He followed up with a ninth placing in the  PokerNews Cup main event in October the same year.

On day one of the ANZPT main event he's amassed a handy stack of 185,000 with the nearest competitor  being local youngster James Obst on 92,000. Obst has spent the day busting opponents, including a 48K swoop on Rose Pesce sitting to his immediate right.

James Broom stacking and counting his chips after another player falls victim

Before most poker tournaments you'll usually find players milling about outside the tournament area, discussing the game, the occasional bad beat, passing time before taking their seats and dropping any hint of camraderie. It's no different on the first floor of the SKYCITY Adelaide casino today. Old stagers mix with "young guns", even some father son combinations. Successful  internet "younger guns"  complete the field of roughly 104 on this day one flight one of the $3,000 main event.

After an inevitable but short delay Tournament Director Danny McDonaugh opens with  thank yous all round before handing the microphone to  Joe Hachem, surely the man who has delivered the most  "shuffle up and deal"  speeches in Australia to date.  Duty done Hachem took his seat with the todays other hopefuls. Once things  were underway the  usual hush came over the room as the  game and the concentration begins.

Action came quickly on hand two. Even with the first level of blinds being 50-100 with a stack of 20,000, David Hovey  under-the-gun on table eight, found himself all-in against Steve Tapakas in the big blind. David showed kings but even before turning them over seemed to know Tapakas had aces. A jack-ten-nine flop provided a few more outs but Hovey was headed from the room when his last hopes fail to arrive. He was joined there by the popular Antonio Casale.

The inaugural PokerStars ANZPT - Australia New Zealand Poker Tour - will soon be kicking off in  the delightful capital of the state of South Australia, Adelaide. The fifth largest city in Australia, the citiy's population is now officially over 1.2 million divided by the Torrens river which split this settlement back in the nineteenth century days when the English arrived to colonise what had been here for centuries.

In a fine show of 19th century land development the principal area of Adelaide, named after the English King's consort Queen Adelaide, was designed, named, planned and sold prior to anyone set sail from England to this new land.

The planning of the city naturally encompassed the streets and is found in other cities like Melbourne, Victoria, where the streets are set out on a grid pattern. Such foresight allowed it's designers to include many squares and park areas either within the city precinct or in the adjoining areas.

 

The city still has the open space charm with wide streets perfect for the 21st century lifestyle. The spirit of the place is one of a overall easy living . I hailed a taxi to make my way from the airport on monday and the driver, who had himself come here as an immigrant for education, summed up the city by stating that it was a calming and tranquil place.

Adelaide has often been called the City of Churches and many, still in their original sandstone, can be found along the main thoroughfares. Adelaide has also established itself as the arts capital of the country over the last 40 years. It hosts both the very  formal Adelaide Festival and, at the other end of the scale, the more irreverant Fringe Festival.

Over ensuing years South Australia has developed into a suplier of wine, meat, seafood, dairy products vegetables and confectionary both to Australia and the world, provides 50% of Australia's wine and 60% of that which is exported.

In sport one of the biggest things to happen in recent years was the hosting of a round of the Formula 1 Grand Prix series between 1985 - 1995. This move by the city heralded a resurgence in top end car racing in Australia and somewhat changed the feeling of the city for a month each year - the interuption occuring because the track was mostly composed of streets just outside the city centre.

The Casino
The Skycity Adelaide Casino resides in one of the spectacular sandstone buildings on the edge of the city central precinct. This heritage listed building began life in 1924 as the railway buildings. Administration offices took up the upper floor with the main Adelaide central railway station occupying the lower floors.

 

During the 1980s redevelopment of the site was proposed with the Adelaide Casino opening for business in 1986. Not long after tournament poker found a new home in Adelaide with many events being run during the 1980s and 90s. This year sees the probable resurgence in big buy-in no-limit tournament poker with the arrival of the PokerStars ANZPT $3,000 event starting Wednesday 4th February.

Stay in touch and I'll do my best to bring you coverage of the event starting 12.15.

You've got to grips with the game, absorbed what you've read and heard from the best players such as Team PokerStars Pros and World Champions and you're ready to take your game to another level. Where to begin? Well, the weekly round two event son PokerStars are the perfect place to start, a freeroll competition that offers real cash prizes and a chance to test your mettle against a whole load of other people with the same idea.

This week top spot went to 44DONNYBROOK who won $276 by virtue of winning a WR2 ticket on one of the "astronomer" qualifying tournaments shown in the PokerStars.net lobby.

Congratulations to 44DONNYBROOK and the 800 players who finished in the money in the Saturday event.

Weekly Round two results - Saturday January 31
1. 44DONNYBROOK (United States) - $276.00
2. pierkunz (Italy) - $164.00
3. AA64 (United Kingdom) - $100.00
4. rb gambler99 (United States) - $80.00
5. SpiderMario (Austria) - $62.00
6. kaveman!113 (United States) - $50.00
7. PapaAFC (United States) - $39.00
8. Alien81555 (Russia) - $30.00
9. mhalltheway1 (United States) - $22.20

When you start a final table as the short stack, you have two real choices: show no fear and go for the win, no matter how unlikely, or exert minimal risk and hope to climb a few cash positions.

Oleg Suntsov was in just this sticky spot yesterday, starting the final table of the inaugural Russian Poker Tour event in St Petersburg so behind the pack he was in danger of being cast adrift.

Oleg Suntsov

In fact, so short was he that his 64,000 chip stack needed to double, double again - and then yet again before he could get up to the dizzy heights of chip leader Dimitru Gaina, from Moldova, who had more than 500,000 in front of him.

Yet Oleg had been chip leader after day one, a fact that implied he would not have been content to sit back at the final table in order to cash a bit extra to add to his bankroll.
And so it proved: he wanted the win, and he wanted it bad. Hours, and eight defeated players later, he had got his prize - the big prize of more than 10 million Russian roubles. That's about $300,000 to you and I.

Impressive stuff, then, from the young Russian, who is a regular player on the tournament scene in his home city of St Petersburg.

,br> Suntsov, right, collects his bumper prize

This was a fine destination to kick off the PokerStars-sponsored Russian Poker Tour. In total, 201 players forked out $5,000 to play - way above expectations - including Team PokerStars Pros Alex Kravchenko, Vanessa Rousso, and Ivan Demidov, the PokerStars-sponsored player who final tabled the WSOP Main Event just months ago.

Such was the interest that esteemed tournament director Thomas Kremser and his staff ran a list of alternates in order to squeeze everyone in.

Here's how the final table looked when they sat down:

1. Dimitru Gaina, Moldova, 501,000
2. Sergey Popuk, Russian, 302,000
3. Sergey Solntsev, Russia, 256,000
4. Vadim Markushevsky, Belarus, 256,000
5. Anatoly Ozhenilok, Russia, 203,000
6. Bulat Bikmetov, Russia, 181,000
7. Evgeny Zaytsev, Russia, 178,000
8. Alexander Pantukhin, Russia, 76,000
9. Oleg Suntsov, Russia, 64,000

First out of the door was Evgeny Zaytsev. He pushed all-in with J-J against Bikmetov's Q-Q, but neither of his two outs arrived to save him.

Soon after, Suntsov got the first of his necessary double ups - against chip leader Gaina. Gaina then completed his riches-to-rags story when he busted, pushing with an open-ended straight draw but running into Vadim Markushevsky's nut flush draw, which filled up on the river.

Dimitru Gaina

Out in seventh place was Ozhenilok, unluckily with As-Ks against Bikmetov's Q-8. The flop was 8s-4s-9x giving Bikmetov the pair, but Ozhenilok the nut flush draw. The turn, Qs, filled his flush and put Bikmetov behind with two pair - but the river was another 8, filling Bikmetov's full house.

Next out - and also very unluckily - was Sergey Popuk, who must have thought his A-A was safe against Alex Pantukhin's K-Q. Nope! The board came K-Q-5-8-7 and Popuk was collecting his coat.

Out in fifth was Bikmetov, who ran his A-8 into Markushevsky's A-J (the turn was a jack and so, in one of those completely unnecessary moments, was the river!).

Markushevsky then dominated for a period - and got lucky to eliminate Solnstev in fourth place, calling with A-5 against 8-8, and waiting until the river to see an ace win him the hand.

Vadim Markushevsky

It was that man Markushevsky again who accounted for the third-place finisher, Pantukhin. This time Markushevsky called with Q-J to 7-7 - and hit a jack on the flop.
Suntsov had been quieter while Markushevsky was on his wrecking-ball run, but he had still moved up to 800,000 when the pair got to heads-up - not far short of Markushevsky's 1.2 million.

Suntsov picked up a few small pots to edge himself into the chip lead and then, as so often happens, one sledgehammer hand finished the three-day tournament off.

Markushevsky raised to 60,000, Suntsov called. The flop came 6-9-3, and both players parted with another 100,000. On the turn - a five - Suntsov bet 220,000, Markushevsky moved all in... call! Markushevsky had K-9, Suntsov the dominating Q-Q, and the harmless two on the river meant Suntsov took the crown.

The event had been a great success, and next the RPT moves to Moscow, where the main event starts on February 25.

If St Petersburg was anything to go by, it should be a cracker.