July 2010 Archives

The writer in me loves a good storyline. When play kicked off today for Day 4 of the 2010 ANZPT Queenstown Main Event, several of those "good storylines" were in play. Could the overnight chip leader, Vesko Zmukic, go wire to wire? How would the Season 2 point races...more

9:51pm: Andrew Watson eliminated in 2nd place -- Julian Cohen wins ANZPT Queenstown Main Event! After Andrew Watson started trending downwards, he didn't seem to be able to stop. On the final hand of the tournament, Watson opened all in from the button for about 450,000. Julian Cohen snap-called with...more

7:01pm: Short dinner break The last four players, who have been at it for almost seven hours now, have been given 30 minutes to find something to eat. 6:54pm: Spilkin's check-raise doesn't get the desired result On a paired flop of 8♥T♦8♦, Michael Spilkin checked to the pre-flop raiser,...more

4:50pm: Break time The remaining six players are on a ten-minute break. 4:48pm: Rewi hanging around The last kiwi in the field, Emmerson Rewi, has been on the short stack all day. When action folded to his small blind, he moved in for about 35,000. Julian Cohen called with...more

The 2010 ANZPT Queenstown Main Event final table has been decided. The nine players are chasing a first prize of AUD $73,630 and the title of ANZPT Queenstown champion. Play will continue at level 16 (blinds 2500-5000 with an ante of 500) for ten more minutes. From that point...more

2:06pm: Macbeth out (damned spot) Although he managed to triple up to about 10 big blinds, Tim Macbeth ultimately couldn't out-run the reaper. He was all in again, with the best of it again. His K♥T♠ was looking good to double through Julian Cohen's K♣4♣, but it just wasn't Macbeth's...more

Last night we reached the money at the 2010 ANZPT Queenstown Main Event. Today the players will decide amongst themselves who will get the lion's share of the prize pool -- the $73,630 first-place prize. The 3rd-place and 4th-place players on the ANZPT Season 2 points leaderboard, Andrew Scarf and...more

My cab driver from the airport into the center of Queenstown last Tuesday was a woman named Jackie. Jackie looked to be in her early 40s, had a smile from the moment I walked up to her cab until the moment I got out of it, and was a font...more

6:52pm: Steve Smith bubbles; Day 3 concludes It took more than hour, but we finally have our bubble boy of the 2010 ANZPT Queenstown Main Event. In a blind-versus-blind battle, Steve Smith moved all in for an additional 38,600 from the big blind after Bryan Huang was in from the...more

4:01pm: Break 25 players remain. They're now on a short break. 3:56pm: Macbeth happy for the action Action folded all the way to the small blind at Tim Macbeth's table. That player moved all in for about 25,000. Tim Macbeth snap-called with J♣J♥. The small blind showed A♣3♣ and although...more

1:51pm: Break time The players have reached the first break of the day. 1:40pm: Frenette shaking his head Serge Mazza check-called a bet of 11,000 from Yannick Frenette on a 5♣7♥3♣. He snap-called another 11,000 after checking the T♥ turn. When the river fell a scary A♠, both players checked....more

After several light, easy days in Queenstown for the 2010 ANZPT Queenstown Main Event, the real grind will begin today on Day 3. All 50 survivors (35 from Queenstown and 15 from Auckland) of the 119 starters will finally be in the same room together for the first time. They'll...more

On a short Day 2 at the 2010 ANZPT Queenstown Main Event, there didn't expect to be many stories to write about. Three-and-a-half hours of play isn't long enough for sustained skirmishes between players. The short stacks will get it in, sure. Some will double, some will bust, and life...more

4:12pm Play concludes That's it for Day 2. It looks like Team PokerStars Pro Lee Nelson, with a shade more than 115,000 chips, finished play as the chip leader. 50 players will return tomorrow -- 35 from Day 2 here in Queenstown and 15 from Day 2 in Auckland. A...more

2:20pm: Break time The remaining 41 players have been sent on their first and only break of the day. 2:10pm: Hachem frustrated Three pre-flop raises put Tony Hachem in a tough spot. Michael Spilkin (down to 95,000 so far) opened for 1,700. Hachem was next to act and made...more

When I looked out my hotel room window this morning, I spotted a dump truck across the street. It was filled to the brim with recently-split firewood, likely culled from the dense forests of fir trees that carpet this corner of New Zealand. Almost every home and business in...more

Leo Tolstoy opens his epic 19th-century novel Anna Karenina by noting that, "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy after its own fashion." What was true of families in Tolstoy's day is true of poker players today: the happy ones (the winners) are generally alike, but the...more

5:47pm: Play concludes; Zheng leads Day 1B As we suspected, not much changed on the last three hands of the night. The players were content to bag up the chips and try again tomorrow. The Day 1B field looks to be led by Jackson Zheng, who finished with 74,075....more

4:33pm: Last break of the day The remaining 33 players are on a ten-minute break. 4:29pm: A break for Hachem An all-in brought us quickly over to Table 5, where Tony Hachem check-raised a bet of 1,500 all in to about 6,000 on a flop of 5♠6♠2♦. Once Hachem's...more

2:18pm: Break The players have been sent on their first break of the day. 2:15pm: The luck of John Guthrie Chris Levick opened for 450 pre-flop and was called by Sandy Retallick before John Guthrie bumped things up to 1,400. Levick and Retallick both called, then both check-folded to...more

Last night as I was wandering the streets of Queenstown, I passed a small drinking establishment called Tardis Bar and, being a huge fan of Doctor Who, had to enter.  The place was no bigger than about six or seven police boxes and largely devoid of clientele.  I wondered what...more

In many cultures, it's considered good luck if a bird should -- pardon the expression -- crap on you. Nobody will be able to tell you why that's so. Some will say the statistical likelihood of such an event is so low it has to be good. Others will...more

4:44pm: Play resumes The players are back in their seats. This is the last level for today. 27 remain. 4:54pm: Coates runs into Spilkin's straight Any players that might be going out looking for young, single ladies tonight should probably rub Michael Spilkin for good luck before they do...more

2:32pm: Play resumes Cards are back in the air. 2:40pm: Final entrants The late registration for Day 1A is completed. 38 players entered today's field. They'll play three more hours before bagging up the chips. Approximately the same number are expected for tomorrow. All told, the Day 3 field (when...more

12:15pm: Shuffle up and deal! The players have shuffled into the room and taken their seats. They were addressed by Michelle Baillie, the Executive Director of SKYCITY Queenstown. "Thank you all for coming," Baillie began. "We're really excited to host again. This is a great event. We know that...more

It was 8:30am when the first shafts of golden-orange sunlight set the snow-capped tip of Bowen Peak ablaze.  Thanks to a combination of jet lag and sleep deprivation, I was already seated in a local cafe, downing the caffeinated goodness of hot Earl Grey tea and a plate of mouth-watering...more

The World Series of Poker may have wrapped up but the live poker keeps coming with PokerStars. After the UKIPT event ended in Brighton at the weekend, the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour prepares to take center stage in Queenstown. Anyone who attended this event last year will tell you...more

It's a Friday, so you should be cheery. If not, perhaps this news will help a little: PokerStars has just announced the $5,000 Grand Final of this season's Latin American Poker Tour will be held in Argentina! What better place to wrap up the successful season than in Rosario, the...more

PokerStars Macau at Casino Grand Lisboa recorded its most successful Macau Poker Cup (MPC) to date awarding a record HKD $4,257,400 in prize money through six events (July 7-11). PokerStars qualifier Kenichi Takarabe from Japan outlasted 295 players in the featured Red Dragon main event and won HKD $617,700 in...more