Australia New Zealand Poker Tour
ANZPT6 Perth Day 1A: Living like a King
When we say that a huge crowd gathered around the rails of the Crown Perth Poker Room at the start of the ANZPT Perth Main Event this evening, we would not be exaggerating. Far from it. There were several hundred people packed in every corner of the gaming floor around the poker tables and our blogg...more
ANZPT6 Perth: The summer of Poker continues
Summer in Australia. It's a wonderful time to enjoy everything that the land down under has to offer. Sun. Surf. Sporting events. Festivals. Afternoon drinks. Alfresco dining. And there's no better place that encapsulates those elements than the city of Perth.It may be one of the most remote capital...more
ANZPT Auckland: David Lim reigns supreme
There were a few non-believers in the 'This Is It' theory, but they have been proven very, very wrong here on another whirlwind ANZPT Auckland final table. And Danny McDonagh is demanding an apology.In under six hours of play, the twelve players that started the day have been reduced to just one, wi...more
ANZPT Auckland Day 3: The rise and fall
Two players have fallen in two consecutive hands to now leave an all-Australian battle with Nathan Gubieski to take on David Lim for the ANZPT Auckland Main Event title.Kiwi Paul Gahan was the first of the quartet to depart in a coinflip with David Lim. Gahan had managed to quietly progress into the...more
ANZPT Auckland Day 3: The King of spades
There's nothing more exciting in poker than the one-outer. All the chips are in the middle, and one player is left with nothing but one single card in the deck to win the pot. One faint hope. One last breath. To put it in numbers, they are around a 2% chance to win. It's not impossible, but it's not...more
ANZPT Auckland Day 3: Two more on the rail
The ANZPT Auckland final table continues to push onwards and upwards with two more players heading to the rail recently to leave us with our final five.First it was our Cook Islands representative, Greg Stafford.With a raise from big stack David Lim in front of him, Stafford looked down at 9♠9♣ ...more
ANZPT Auckland Day 3: This is it?
An hour and a half into the day and we've already lost five players. We were all starting to think we were well on track for a quick finish today, but then this happened..."This is IT!" exclaimed ANZPT head honcho Danny McDonagh. Oh no. It's those famous last words. The ones that completely jinx wha...more
ANZPT Auckland Day 3: Reaching new heights
In doing a little research about our final twelve players in the ANZPT Auckland Main Event, we couldn't help but be surprised by their lack of previous experience on the poker table.It's rare to see nowadays on a major tour. Perhaps in the early days, you might find a group of new players reach the ...more
ANZPT Auckland Day 3: A dynamic duodecad
Twelve. It's a symbolic number with many things coming in groups of 12.12 months in the year.12 signs of the zodiac.The 12 days of Christmas.The 12 apostles.12 inches in a foot.A dozen red roses.Now after two full days of poker in the SKYCITY Auckland Casino, we have ourselves our own group of 12. A...more
ANZPT Auckland Day 2: Amant holds all the aces
The sun was shining and the birds were singing. It was a beautiful day in Auckland and perfect for the surviving 105 players to head into the climate-controlled comfort of the SKYCITY Auckland Casino to battle it out on Day 2 of the ANZPT Auckland Main Event.After a delayed start, the action was fas...more
ANZPT Auckland Day 2: Blatt goes splatt
The bubble has burst here in the ANZPT Auckland Main Event and it was appropriately brutal. It's already devastating enough for whoever feels the pain of the bubble but that is only compounded when a bad beat is inflicted by a river card from hell.Dean Blatt was the man in the danger zone, and he kn...more
ANZPT Auckland Day 2: Tales from the bubble
The bubble is always a fun time of any poker tournament. Well, it's fun to watch, perhaps not so much fun to play. We're now into Level 14 of play, and the seventh of the day, in the ANZPT Auckland Main Event and our remaining 31 players are starting to smell the cash for the top 24 players.It's not...more
ANZPT Auckland Day 2: Dinner in a hurry
Dinner breaks. Players love them. Reporters loathe them. But they are a necessity on a long day, and we'll be having one today on Day 2 of the ANZPT Auckland Main Event.The questions are, when and for how long?Some tournaments give a big ninety-minute dinner break which is probably a little long. Ot...more
ANZPT Auckland Day 2: Bryan barrels off
Bryan Huang has a liking for New Zealand. He cashed in the inaugural APPT Auckland Main Event back in 2008, before finishing on the final table of the APPT Queenstown event twice - 9th in 2010 and 7th in 2012. Huang even won the Teams event title when he partnered with Brit Sam Razavi in last year's...more
ANZPT Auckland Day 2: Getting to know you
Starting Day 2 of a three-day tournament in a small poker room with over a hundred players is not as simple as it sounds. 105 players is an awkward number for a variety of reasons.It was a busy start to the day for tournament organizers as all eleven poker tables in the SKYCITY Auckland poker room, ...more