It wasn't long ago that the number of casino-based poker tables in New Zealand's could be counted on one hand, the country's most famous poker player spoke with an American accent and the country's North Island was a tournament poker wasteland every bit as barren as the volcanic plateau in Tongariro National Park, writes Sean Callander. Slowly but surely, New Zealand has caught up with the rest of the world. The nation's largest casino, SKYCITY Auckland, is now home to one of the region's finest poker facilities that regularly hosts tournament series catering to players of all budgets and levels
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Auckland - Latest Post
Simon Watt
APPT 3 Auckland: Watt a victory
Day 4
APPT 3 Auckland: Watt a victory
It wasn't long ago that the number of casino-based poker tables in New Zealand's could be counted on one hand, the country's most famous poker player spoke with an American accent and the country's North Island was a tournament poker wasteland every bit as barren as the volcanic plateau in...more
APPT Auckland: Final table (level 23)
Live updates from the final table & level 23 (blinds 15,000-30,000, ante 5000) of the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland Main Event brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from SKYCITY Casino in Auckland, New Zealand. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip...more
APPT Auckland: Final table (level 22)
Live updates from the final table & level 22 (blinds 12,000-24,000, ante 4000) of the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland Main Event brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from SKYCITY Casino in Auckland, New Zealand. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip...more
Day 3
APPT Auckland: Final table profiles
Final table profiles for the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland Main Event brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from SKYCITY Casino in Auckland, New Zealand. The latest chip counts can be found by clicking here. Seat 1: Jason Brown, Auckland, New Zealand (709,000 in chips): The married father-of-two...more
APPT Auckland: Level 20 updates
Live updates from day 3, level 20 (blinds 8000-16,000, ante 2000) of the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland Main Event brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from SKYCITY Casino in Auckland, New Zealand. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can...more
APPT Auckland: Level 19 updates
Live updates from day 3, level 19 (blinds 6000-12,000, ante 2000) of the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland Main Event brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from SKYCITY Casino in Auckland, New Zealand. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can...more
Day 2
APPT Auckland: Day 3 seat draw
PokerStars.net APPT Auckland Day 3 seat draw Table 6 Seat 1: Daniel Craker (New Zealand) 131,500 Seat 2: Oleg Epp (Germany) PokerStars Qualifier 145,500 Seat 3: Michael Shinzaki (USA) 346,500 Seat 4: Luke Edwards (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 83,000 Seat 5: Jason Mui (USA) PokerStars Qualifier 88,500 Seat 6: Eric...more
APPT Auckland: Shi left four-lorn as Brown bursts bubble
The final 32 players have been decided after a tense and fiercely contested day two in the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland Main Event. SKYCITY Casino was packed with a wine o'clock crowd for the latter stages of play, which added plenty of atmosphere to the race for the money. The...more
APPT Auckland: Level 15 updates
Live updates from day 2, level 15 (blinds 2500-5000, ante 500) of the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland Main Event brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from SKYCITY Casino in Auckland, New Zealand. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can...more
Day 1B
APPT Auckland: Day 2 seat draw
PokerStars.net APPT Auckland, day two seat draw Table 3 Seat 1: Rohin Rup (New Zealand) 63,300 Seat 2: Angela Whorton (USA) PokerStars Qualifier 21,700 Seat 3: Donald Garcevic (New Zealand) 11,100 Seat 4: Michael Pedley (Australia) 26,200 Seat 5: Richard Lancaster (New Zealand) 65,100 Seat 6: Paul Foltyn (UK)...more
APPT Auckland: Last-chance Lance leaps to lead
Lance Climo has signalled that the locals are not a spent force after clawing to within reach of overall chip leader Emad Tahtouh during the final level on day 1B of the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland Main Event at SKYCITY Casino. He claimed the chip lead after eliminating Tony Dunst...more
APPT Auckland: Diamonds are Hachem's best friend
One for the grandkids ... the orders have just been dispatched for a round of drinks after PokerStars.net Team Australia Pro Tony Hachem just made a royal flush. Midway through level six on day 1B of the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland Main Event at SKYCITY Casino, Hachem declared he was...more
Day 1A
APPT Auckland: Team Pro tops the tables
By Landon Blackhall Day 1A of the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland Main Event at SKYCITY has come to a close and the remaining 67 players have bagged and tagged their chips in preparation for Day 2 on Friday. Play started shortly after noon with a performance by representatives of the...more
APPT Auckland: Leaps of faith
By Landon Blackhall With less than an hour left on day 1A of the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland Main Event, less than 80 of the 135 starters are in line to return on Friday for a shot at a share of the estimated NZD $1 million prize pool. PokerStars.net Team...more
APPT Auckland: Here's cheers to Tahtouh
By Landon Blackhall and Sean Callander Having just returned from the most recent APPT event in Macau, one of the world's great dining destinations, we find ourselves in New Zealand. OK, we're struggling to come up with a signature Kiwi dish but that's not to say that we're lacking...more
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