The final day of play at the PokerStars.net Australia New Zealand Poker Tour Sydney Main Event has come to a close. There were 27 players still in contention at the start of the day, but after 12 hours of play only one player could take down the title and that was Gordon Huntly from Scotland.

When the day started it was Nicholas Heather who held the chip lead, but that wouldn’t last long as he faltered late in the afternoon. In the end Heather bowed out just shy of the final table in a very solid 12th place.

Eventually only nine players remained and going into the final table it was Liam O’Rourke who had a monster chip lead. O’Rourke put on a bit of show in the lead up to the final table and continued his aggressive play well into the early hours of the morning.

The first elimination at the final table occurred just a short while after it began, with 2008 APPT Sydney Champion Martin Rowe going home in 9th place. At this point it was O’Rourke who held control of the final table, with the young Aussie seemingly involved in every hand.

Not long after Rowe’s elimination, it was Bradley Lancken who would find himself on the rail in 8th place. Shortly thereafter Craig Blight was eliminated in 7th place, before 2012 Aussie Million Main Event Champion Oliver Speidel joined him on the rail in 6th place.

Jason O’Brien and O’Rourke rumbled for much of the final table and as such it was somewhat apt that O’Brien’s elimination would come at the hands of O’Rourke. O’Brien lost a massive flip holding AK against O’Rourke’s 22 and it was out the door in 5th place.

The final four fought fiercely, but this is when it all slowed down. It took over two hours for the next elimination to occur, but finally it was Stewart Ballard who was eliminated in 4th place.

Going into three-handed play it was Huntly who was the chip leader and from there the Scotsman never looked back. When O’Rourke eliminated Anthony Aston in 3rd place, he would going into the heads-up battle with a slight chip lead, but that would change very quickly.

It took less than half an hour for Huntly to take care of O’Rourke. Huntly chipped away and chipped away before O’Rourke eventually fell to the rail in 2nd place to see Huntly head straight to the rail to celebrate with his friends. For his runner-up finish O’Rourke pocketed a very respectable A$144,754.

2012 ANZPT Sydney Main Event Final Table Payouts
1st-Gordon Huntly-$226,812
2nd-Liam O’Rourke-$144,754
3rd-Anthony Aston-$80,214
4th-Stewart Ballard-$62,696
5th-Jason O’Brien-$48,405
6th-Oliver Speidel-$39,185
7th-Craig Blight-$29,965
8th-Bradley Lancken-$23,511
9th-Martin Rowe-$17,518

The second biggest field in tour history has been slashed from 461 players to 207 after the opening two flights of the ANZPT Sydney Main Event at The Star.

The total number of Main Event entrants is more than both 2010 (446) and 2011 (373) and second only to the inaugural ANZPT Sydney in 2009 (493).

The day 1B field of 246 players – one of the biggest single-day fields ever seated at Star Poker – helped build the prizepool to $922,000 with the winner set to take home $226,812. A total of 54 players will earn a slice of the prizepool.

After yesterday eight 60-minute levels, Tam Truong finished with the biggest stack of 115,700 but that was only good for sixth overall on the chip count. Other prominent stacks at the end of day 1B belonged to veteran Bill Kennedy (108,775) and Sheldon Mayer (99,300).

Others returning for day two included Raemin Alexander, Vesko Zmukic, Leo Boxell, Gary Benson, Martin Rowe, reigning ANZ Player of the Year Daniel Chevalier, Graeme Putt, Mel Judah, Dennis Huntly and Lee Nelson along with international visitors Maria Ho and Angel Guillen.

As Ben Blaschke reported in the PMA live reporting blog, Boxell should have had more than his almost 70,000 had it not been for a remarkable lay-down by Ciaran Sharp who folded a set of 9s on an A-8-9 flop after correctly putting Boxell on a set of Aces. Incredibly, having faced elimination had he called Boxell’s shove, Sharp finished the day inside the top 10 with 72,325.

Those who were KOed during day 1B included 2011 Aussie Millions champion David Gorr, Mike Ivin, Josh Barrett, Tim English, Mark Iskander, Ali Khalil, Julius Colman and Haibo Chu.

ANZPT Sydney Main Event day 1B chip count

Toby Ryall 138,500
Nabil Edgtton 125,100
Gordon Huntly 121,400
Rhys Gould 119,600
Toan Nguyen 118,200
Tam Truong 115,700
Nicholas Heather 115,300
Justin Cohen 110,625
William Kennedy 108,775
George Marando 104,950
Sheldon Mayer 99,300
Zhixin Yao 99,150
Gerhard Niess 94,900
Daniel Ibrahim 91,700
Adam Bevis 86,775
Luke Edwards 85,150
Ludovic Citerne 85,150
Tommy Yi 83,700
Jason Pritchard 82,000
Dean Yuen 81,700
Daniel Bang Ortmann 81,400
Did not report 81,225
Jonathan Dangio 81,000
Mishel Anunu 80,600
Suzy Khoueis 78,300
Andrew Li 77,600
Nam Le 75,900
Ben Pockett 75,500
Carl Knox 74,300
Craig Blight 73,000
Ciaran Sharpe 72,325
Quoc Nguyen 71,750
Paul Raseta 71,350
Oliver Speidel 70,900
Daniel Kelly 70,600
Michael Kanaan 70,200
Mario Ljubicic 69,250
Damien Walsh 69,075
Didier Guerin 69,000
James Collopy 68,500
Brent Taunton 67,300
Sam Capra 66,300
Paul Whitehouse 65,800
Mark Griffiths 65,350
Jason O’Brien 64,625
Seyed Nasab 64,050
Joshua Foster 62,600
Mathew Rolfe 61,700
Charbel Boustani 60,150
Luke Brabin 58,875
Michael O’Grady 57,200
Jason Hamilton 57,100
Matviy Bilenky 56,925
Chad Awerbuch 55,450
Raemin Alexander 55,050
Manny Stavropoulos 55,000
Theodor Lothman 54,775
Ian Parnell 54,300
Alec Smith 54,200
Luis Arrilucea 54,075
Brett Daphne 53,500
Did not report 53,425
Stewart Ballard 53,000
Peter Aristidou 52,400
Did not report 51,875
Dale Marsland 51,200
Evan Martin 50,700
Rod Meneses 50,000
Todor Kondevski 49,250
Vesko Zmukic 49,000
Tony Hachem 48,100
David August 47,775
Nick Georgoulas 47,700
Stephane Fontes 47,550
Christian Glissmann 47,300
Erich Stadler 47,025
Alan Bustany 46,900
Leo Boxell 45,700
George Cotaidis 45,400
David Campbell 45,050
Martyn Poytress 44,350
Peco Stojanovski 44,275
David S Lloyd 44,100
Scott Ricotta 43,750
Martin Rowe 43,575
Chris Ayoub 43,500
Darren Potts 43,100
Richard Talaber 42,700
Jing Jie 42,400
Matthew Yates 42,350
Kristina Griffiths 42,150
Dean McIver 42,125
Bradley Lancken 42,050
Ronnie Shabtay 41,100
John Parker 40,150
Martin Drewe 39,550
Anthony Aston 39,350
Tony Sama 39,050
Eric Sclavos 38,800
Did not report 38,425
Stephen Lindeblad 38,300
Omer Silatozija 38,150
Daniel Laidlan 37,200
Nicholas Polias 36,900
John Thomson 36,750
Gary Benson 36,375
Robert Sova 35,675
Minh Hau Nguyen 35,650
Jim Sachinidis 35,200
Sean McMahon 34,900
Manuel Hansimikali 34,550
Louie Elias Srour 34,000
Daniel Chevalier 33,775
Andrew Mellado 33,725
Did not report 33,400
Liam O’Rourke 33,300
Trent Flitcroft 33,200
John Jolly 33,100
Ryan Hong 33,100
Con Angelakis 33,000
Graeme Putt 32,625
Did not report 32,450
Sarah Beard 32,100
Wei Zhu 32,000
Robert Turvey 31,900
Jeff Brian 31,300
Gabriel Cafios 31,250
Stefan Post 31,175
Rined Namrood 30,425
Sebastian Pagana 29,675
Christopher Moutzouris 29,650
Jarrod Holmes 29,475
Guang Yan Yu 29,000
Gary Retallick 28,900
Phillip Hiruwai 27,900
Nurlan Boobekov 27,800
Roy Vandersluis 27,775
Did not report 27,250
Michael Fadersen 27,100
Gaetano Scaravilli 27100
Qi Xu 26,550
Steven Lilley 26,400
Michael Schiffer 26,300
Hung Tu Wang 26,175
Gregory Zabawa 25,125
Kevin Clark 25,000
Laurence Hall 24,925
Edgar Montenegro 24,900
Eric Grigaux 24,775
Trudie Sultana 24,600
Jackson Zheng 24,000
Angelo Hamataj 23,500
Angel Guillen 23,475
Paul Elliot 23,425
Victor Fong 22,650
Michael Mayar 22,650
Billy Argyros 22,600
Simon Jeremy 22,375
Jim Condylis 22,100
Kamel Bekhaled 21,850
Nicholas Lamport 21,700
Alexander Antonios 21,675
Peter Skouteris 21,375
Joel Dodds 21,300
Martin Kozlov 21,000
Mel Judah 19,925
Anthony Wright 19,700
Dennis Huntly 19,650
Adam Agresta 19,600
Peter Apostoleou 19,400
Trevor Saunders 19,300
Jonathan Gamerov 19,200
Michael van Vegchel 19,200
Guy Delahaye 18,850
Shane Eastley 18,750
Adam Brown 17,650
David Hulum 17,300
Mike Comer 17,275
Mark Sarkis 17,200
Xiaobo Wu 17,075
Reza Vakili 17,000
Brandon Huynh 16,875
Alan White 16,800
Hun Wei Lee 16,600
Luke Downers 16,600
Kevin Buckley 15,775
Rana Wilkinson 15,700
Vince Galluccio 15,300
Peter Louskos 15,025
Lee Nelson 14,875
Alan Bertenshaw 14,600
Shaun Elliott 14,200
Robert Bechara 14,050
Maria Ho 13,800
Daniel Iwikau 12,500
Travis Moore 11,475
Aaron Stenlake 11,475
Sefehr Naderi 11,400
Sandy Retallick 11,200
Paul Pedersen 11150
Simon Moshi 11,125
Ryan Boswell 9700
Aaron Lim 9675
Manuel Rodrigues 9400
Andrew Stolz 8800
Did not report 7250
Peter Matusik 7125
Did not report 4650

Payouts

1 $226,812
2 $144,754
3 $80,214
4 $62,696
5 $48,405
6 $39,185
7 $29,965
8 $23,511
9 $17,518
10-12 $11,525
13-15 $9220
16-18 $7837
19-21 $6454
22-24 $5532
25-27 $5071
28-36 $4610
37-45 $4149
46-54 $3688

By Poker Media Australia

He’s played, cashed in and won tournaments all over the world but until now, ultra-popular Melburnian Dennis Huntly had never saluted the judge on home soil.

That all changed when the clown prince of Aussie poker took out the $440 ANZPT Sydney PLO title at Star Poker, outlasting a field of 89 players to pocket a first prize of $10,680. This was the first time he cashed in a non-Hold’em format of the game.

Huntly, who started 2012 in fine firm with 31st in the Aussie Millions Main Event, owns two major trophies – coincidentally from the same tournament; the 2009 and 2012 NZ Poker Champs High Stakes events.

It was a case of pizza and PLO (and almost certainly a few Vodka Red Bulls) as Huntly turned the final table into a party that ended when he sent local player Tommy Yi to the rail as runner-up for $7120.

Others to snare a slice of pizza at the final table included Simon Palmer, Albeir Moussa, Andrew Stergiotis and Ludovic Citerne while Andrew Mellado, who placed seven spots above Huntly in the Aussie Millions Main Event earlier this year (24th) placed seventh.

ANZPT Sydney Event 6: $440 Pot Limit Omaha results

1 Dennis Huntly $10,680
2 Tommy Yi $7120
3 Simon Palmer $5162
4 Albeir Moussa $3382
5 Andrew Stergiotis $2492
6 Ludovic Citerne $1869
7 Andrew Mellado $1602
8 David MacLean $1335
9 Liem Tran $1068
10 Marcus Pritchard $890

By Poker Media Australia

The 22-year-old professional poker player from Cologne stunned the poker world by becoming the first player in history from Germany to win poker’s most prestigious title. Heinz pulled off a masterful performance during the two-day final table session, which began on Sunday afternoon inside the Penn and Teller Theatre at the Rio in Las Vegas and ended late Tuesday night on a confetti-splattered stage accustomed to acts of magic.

With his stunning comeback victory, Heinz collected a whopping US$8,715,638.00 in prize money – the third-highest payout for any poker champion in history. He was also presented with the game’s most coveted prize, the WSOP gold and diamond bracelet – which symbolises poker’s supreme achievement.

The odds were stacked against Heinz from the start. First, he had to overcome the third-largest live tournament field in history, battling 6,865 players from 85 different nations who flooded into the Rio last summer in what was the first hurdle for all aspiring champions. Then, Heinz had to outlast an increasingly tougher field over the initial eight days of play, en route to inclusion in poker’s famed “November Nine” – which refers to the final nine players who ultimately make it to poker’s biggest game. Next came a nearly four-month wait during the interim between July and November, after which Heinz returned to Las Vegas hoping to write the latest chapter of poker history.

Indeed, Heinz’s biggest test was still to come. He arrived at the finale against eight formidable opponents with one of the lowest chip stacks — ranking seventh in chips out of nine players.

But if ever there was a fairy-tale ending to what was one of the biggest and richest poker tournaments of all time, Heinz was perfectly cast in the unlikely role of this year’s poker Cinderella.

During Sunday’s exciting final table session — which included nearly eight hours of thrilling poker action and the elimination of six players — Heinz enjoyed the poker rush of a lifetime. He began play ranked seventh in chips. By the time it was over, the German poker pro ended the night as chip leader.

That left just three players still alive in the quest for the world championship – Heinz, along with Ben Lamb and Martin Staszko.

Play resumed on Tuesday night and from the very first hand dealt, the results were stunning. During the opening moments of the final table’s last stages, Ben Lamb, widely-regarded as the world’s top tournament poker player at the moment, and winner of the 2011 WSOP “Player of the Year” title, busted out in shocking fashion.

His elimination was not as stunning as the manner in which it occurred, which many observers would have thought unthinkable.

On the first hand dealt during the three-handed session, Lamb made a baffling move, trying to steal from opponent Martin Staszko in what can best be described as a highly-risky decision. Facing a strong pre-flop raise from his Czech opponent, Lamb re-raised again holding king-jack – quite a marginal hand. Staszko, holding pocket sevens, shoved all-in which left Lamb shaking his head pondering a bad situation. Pot-committed to the hand, Lamb reluctantly called. Staszko was all-in for his tournament life.

Lamb found himself only a slight dog to the underpair. But he knew he’d played the hand way too strongly. When five blanks hit the board, Lamb was left with a severely short stack. He was eliminated just ten minutes later.

Accordingly, Lamb joined the ranks of all those before who were eliminated and are now forced to look forward to next year, and beyond.

Nonetheless, Lamb could certainly take great pride in what was a remarkable accomplishment. He collected his biggest poker payout ever, US$4,021,138.00 for third place. He also became this year’s undisputed “Player of the Year.” The former gold bracelet winner’s summer accomplishments were so strong that he had the title locked up no matter where he finished at the Main Event final table. As it stands now, Lamb ended up with a gold bracelet, a third-place finish in the Main Event, a runner-up finish in another event, and five top-12 finishes. Even more remarkably, Lamb only entered a dozen or so events this year.

With Lamb’s stunning departure, two Europeans were left to battle for the world championship. Staszko (Czech Republic) began heads-up play holding a slight chip lead over Heinz (Germany).

Heads-up play lasted for more than six hours, falling somewhat short of the longest duel in history set 28 years ago by Tom McEvoy and Rod Peate in the 1983 finale (which lasted about 7.5 hours). During this final duel, the two Europeans battled back and forth, exchanging the chip lead several times. With an ongoing chorus of chants and songs in the packed gallery normally heard in a World Cup soccer match, the two finalists in poker’s world championship were serenaded to play the best poker of their lives. And that’s exactly what happened. Both players burrowed in, neither giving the other an inch.

After Heinz regained the chip lead on what was the ninth and final chip-lead change of the duel, a short time later he began to pull away and was ahead by about a 5 to 1 margin. The final hand was dealt when Heinz bested Staszko holding ace-king. Neither player made a pair, which meant Heinz’s ace-high played as the winning hand.

As runner up, Martin Staszko became the richest Czech poker player in history. He earned a mammoth, if temporarily unsatisfying, consolation prize amounting to US$5,433,086.00. Incredibly, Staszko came into the finale as the player with the least live poker experience. A chess master, Staszko used his expert gamesmanship to learn a new trade and will be a player to watch for many years ahead.

Heinz’s championship victory was memorable for other reasons, too. The final table was watched in more countries and in a live format than ever before. For the first time in history, poker players and fans everywhere tuned in and watched all the action via a live stream as well as on the ESPN network. Comprehensive coverage included expert analysis and player hole cards being shown to viewers – a WSOP first.

No doubt, just as the sun was rising back in Europe, many blurry-eyed Germans were awakening to the big news that one of their own had done what only 36 others have done in history. Heinz will return to his native Germany in a new role – as poker ambassador and the reigning world champion.

PIUS HEINZ FACT SHEET
-The winner of $10,000 buy-in WSOP Main Event Championship was Pius Heinz, from Cologne, Germany.
-Heinz is a 22-year-old professional poker player. He has been playing full-time for about four years.
-Heinz was born in Euskirchen, Germany.
-Heinz’s parents are divorced. His mother works as a civil servant. She accompanied him to Las Vegas and cheered his victory.
-Heinz is single.
-Heinz attended a university for two semesters, but did not complete his college degree. He decided to focus on poker and put himself to the test at this year’s WSOP. Prior to making it to the final table, Heinz stated that he was going to re-evaluate his career decision and perhaps return to school or take another job at some point.
-This was the first year that Heinz attended and played in the WSOP.
-This was Heinz’s second time to cash in a WSOP event. He finished seventh in a $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament (Event #48), which paid US$83,286.00.
-With this victory, Heinz now has one win, two final table appearances, and two cashes at the WSOP. Heinz’s career WSOP earnings now total $8,798,924 in prize money.
-Heinz is to be classified as a professional poker player, since he has been playing full time for about four years. He has played much more online poker than live poker during his lifetime.
-Prior to playing at the final table, Heinz was asked if he would hypothetically take second place if it were offered to him (he started play at the final table ranked in seventh place). Heinz conveyed that he would have accepted the runner up position, which paid US$5.4 million.
-This is only the second time in history that a player from mainland Europe has won poker’s world title. The only previous mainland European winner was Peter Eastgate (2008). However, players from Great Britain (Mansour Matloubi — 1990) and Ireland (Noel Furlong — 1999) have also won.
-Heinz is the first WSOP Main Event champion in history from Germany.
-Heinz is the seventh German player in WSOP history to win a gold bracelet, which is the eighth WSOP victory for a player from Germany (Eddy Scharf has two wins). The other German players with WSOP victories include – Matthias Rohnacher, Thomas Bihl, Michael Keiner, Sebastian Ruthenberg, and Katja Thater.
-Young players have done exceptionally well in the WSOP Main Event. With Heinz’s win, the last four world champions were aged 23, 21, 21, and 22 respectfully at the time of their victories.
-Heinz collected US$8,715,638.00 in prize money. He was also presented with the game’s most coveted prize — the custom-designed WSOP gold and diamond bracelet.
-Heinz was presented the gold bracelet by defending world poker champion Jonathan Duhamel, who won his title on the same stage one year ago.
-As the WSOP Main Event Champion, Heinz achieves instant fame, fortune and immortality. Heinz is now universally acknowledged as the reigning world poker champion.

PIUS HEINZ INTERVIEWS
Note: The following interview took place prior to the start of the final table on November 6th:
Question: Did Sunday go as planned?
Heinz: No. This day went much better than planned, obviously. I came in seventh and after the first break which was 30 minutes into the action, I had the least amount of chips of anyone. When I first sat down, I was really nervous. But then during the break, I realised that I still had 20 big blinds left and I was determined to play as good as I can and see what happens.
Question: The final table atmosphere, with all the lights, cameras, and big crowds was very different from back in July. How did that affect you?
Heinz: I honestly enjolyed it. It didn’t make me nervous. The reason I was nervous during the first 30 minutes was not the crowd I don’t think. It was just that I was finally sitting at the final table. But I enjoyed what happened. It was a lot of fun.
Question: You came into the final table as one of the shortest stacks. Now, you enter Tuesday’s session as the chip leader, which is a complete reversal. How does that change the way you approach the finale?
Heinz: Obviously, being the chip leader is really, really good. It gives me the ability to be more creative. When you are playing with 25 big blinds, you are kind of handcuffed as to what you can do. You can’t do as much, especially post-flop. Now with many more chips, you have a lot more room to manuever and can do a lot more creative things.
Question: When you are playing at this level, with so much deep thinking and pressure of everyone watching every move, is it fun?
Heinz: Yeah, it is. This is what makes it so much fun. The final table is really tough. Each player was very good and I respected each one of them. When you are playing against those kinds of players, it gets to be really fun. Obviously, it also gets a lot tougher. The mind game is a much bigger part of it than the cards actually are. Of course, it helps to have good cards. But the mental game is a big part of it.
Question: The mental part of poker seems to have taken a new twist this year because of the live coverage and the break. There is a whole lot more information out there. Is that something that was noticable to you as you played on Sunday?
Heinz: Yeah, definitely. You have to think about it. But I don’t think it’s the most important factor because whenever you play a pot you have a decent opinion about your opponent and his range (of hands). It really doesn’t matter what particular (past results you consider) because you already have an idea of the range of hands he will play in that situation. You can always go back and see — did he bluff me in that situation or not? But that can also mess with your confidence, as well. If you think the guy is never bluffing and he bluffed you on a hand (you find out later), that affects your confidence. On the other hand, if you think he always has the nuts here and he in fact had the nuts, you feel a lot better about your fold. So, this influences the decisions you make, but it’s not the most important thing.
Question: What did you think of Ben Lamb’s play, on Sunday?
Heinz: He played good — as always. But today, I think I got the better of him because I just got better cards than he did. I respect his game a lot and respect him as a person, as well. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens (on Tuesday).
Question: What about Martin Staszko’s play, on Sunday?
Heinz: I think Martin was really card dead today. But the hands he played, he did not make any big mistakes. So, he is going to be tough to play against as well. I guess Ben and I are the favourites to play heads up. But you should definitely know that Martin will make it tough on us.
Question: What do you expect to happen on Tuesday night, playing the final session of poker’s world championship?
Heinz: When I sat down to play today, like I said before — I was really nervous. It was the only time in the entire three months we were off that I felt that way. I might feel the same way again when I first sit down on Tuesday. But when we start playing again and I get into my game, I am hoping things will go my way. All I can do is play the best I can, and hope for the best.

Note: The following interview took place a few moments following his victory on November 9th:
On his feelings immediately after winning a WSOP gold bracelet: “This is the happiest day of my life, obviously. I really am speechless right now. I could not imagine this would ever happen to me.”
On what he expects the reaction to be in Germany to becoming the first-ever German world poker champion: “They are going to be very excited. I think this does a lot of poker back in Germany. It is very big already there, especially with people my age. But I really can’t imagine what’s happening right now. I am just so happy to come here and win. It’s really a dream for me.”
On what was going through his mind during the final hand: “I knew I had Martin because I was dealt ace-king. It would be difficult for him to have a better hand than me. So, I was just hoping to not get unlucky on the last hand. It was like a dream, really. It’s hard for me to think about what was going through my mind because it was like I was dizzy. I was a little nervous again when the final table started back (Tuesday). But when the last hand was played, I was just thinking to myself not to get unlucky. When I heard all the cheering for me, I just could not believe it.”
On having his mother and sister and many friends supporting him: “They were cheering for me the entire time and they were very loud. I tried to focus on the game, but they were cheering the whole time. I could hear the others too in the crowd who were cheering for the others. But I was able to focus really good. I was so happy that my family came to Las Vegas to be here. My mother went to the hotel room because she was so nervous. She could not watch the final.
On Martin Staszko’s play: “I thought he played really great. He was very tough for me because we played such a long time heads up.”
On what he plans to do during the days and weeks ahead: “I am not sure right now. All I can think about is this moment. It’s like once in a lifetime I will get to have this. So, I want to enjoy it while I can. I have not really even thought about tomorrow. All I can think about is right now and what happened tonight. It’s really unbelievable.”

By Nolan Dalla

New Zealand based poker player, Jamil Dia won the final of the 2011 New Zealand Poker Championships Main Event to walk away with over $35,000 in prize money.

Dia took out 90 other players including well known NZ Poker names such as Soren Eriksen (2009 and 2010 Main Event Winner), “Kiwi G” Graeme Putt and Mike King (comedian and poker enthusiast) to claim the coveted Main Event title.

“It has been such a great tournament, I still can’t believe I’ve won!” says Dia

The 2011 NZPC, hosted by Christchurch Casino, has been in full action over the past week with a number of events played and over $335,000 in prize money given away. The objective of this year’s event, after being postponed in April, was to simply create an escape for locals while encouraging visitors back to the city, Christchurch Casino is happy to announce that this was achieved above expectations and reflected in the demand this year having to add seats to many of the events. “This year has really shown us what a strong legacy the NZPC has; we are most definitely the Home of New Zealand Poker” says Christchurch Casino Poker Manager, Warren Wyllie.

The NZPC Main Event and Wellington Poker Champs Main Event both rounded out nine action-packed days of poker at the Christchurch Casino. With many upcoming competitions and more prize money to be given away, keep updated and follow Christchurch Casino- Home of New Zealand Poker on Facebook.

Results table: All Event Winners
Women’s Event: Ranea Baker
Min Tran Event: Chul Hoon Lee
Deepstack Turbo: Graeme Putt
Omaha Champs: Andrew Dimock
Canterbury Champs: Adrian Robinson
South Island Champs: Shane Foglietta
NZPC Main Event: Jamil Dia
Wellington Champs Main Event: Mike King

Pennsylvania’s Poker pro Steve O’Dwyer now residing in Las Vegas has taken out the first-ever Epic Poker Pro-Am which was held at Palms Casino Resort.

The 29 year old bested a field of 190 players in a very tough tournament to take home $23,810.00 and a $20,000 ticket into Epic Poker League’s main event.

O’Dwyer started the six handed final table as chipleader ranked 129th in the Global Poker Index. His ranking will now be shooting up as a result.

O’Dwyer has over $1,000,000.00 in tournament winnings to his name and has always been under the radar.

This is how the final table finished:
1st – Steve O’Dwyer
$20,000 Main Event seat plus $23,810
2nd – Brandon Meyers
$20,000 Main Event seat plus $11,900
3rd – Andy Bloch
$20,000 Main Event seat plus $7,540
4th – Clifford Waite
$20,000 Main Event seat plus $5,160
5th – Jeremiah DeGreef
$20,000 Main Event seat plus $3,570
6th – Micah Raskin
$20,000 Main Event seat plus $2,780

Of all the poker tours in the world, there may be no circuit fueled more by national pride than the Latin American Poker Tour. Where else will you find players and fans packing bags with their country’s flag on the off-chance they can drape it over their shoulders during a victory celebration? Where else will galleries fill and empty based on the double-up or elimination of one player? Where else other than the LAPT?

During its first five events, the LAPT had the dubious distinction of never crowning a winner from Latin America. That changed midway through Season 2. Now, the waves of national pride that swell with each LAPT main event are the kind of which surfers dream.

Inside the tube of that international wave rode the LAPT Punta del Este main event, the largest LAPT event ever in the country. Though the LAPT has never missed a chance to stop in Punta del Este, no Uruguayan has ever raised the country’s flag over the winner’s trophy. That changed this week as Uruguayan Alex Komaromi beat out a field of 422 players and claimed his country’s first LAPT championship.

The Season 4 Punta del Este final table was guaranteed a winner from Latin America. It hosted one Uruguayan, one man from Venezuela, one from Argentina, one from Peru, and four men from Brazil.

Only once before in LAPT history has a Brazilian won an LAPT event. That happened in Chile a few months ago. Today, the Brazilians had half the remaining field. They came with their flags, their fans, and their greatest chance in months to score an LAPT victory.

Instead, fate dealt them the first four exits. One by one, the Brazilians dropped. Rafael Monteiro lost A♣Q♣ all-in against Engelberth Varela’s A♠K♣. A short-stacked Fernando Araujo’s A♠K♦ fell to Varela’s J♥T♣. Nelson Neto went down with A♥Q♠ versus Alex Komaromi’s pocket eights. Felipe Pasini couldn’t find any outs with Q♦J♦ over Komaromi’s pocket tens. In a quadruple-shot of Brazilian horror that lasted less than two hours, all four were gone.

Perhaps the greatest beneficiary of the Brazilians bad fortune was a man from Peru. Carlos Watanabe had sat quiet while the carnage raged around him. His style earned him an extra $50,000. With the Brazilians gone, Watanabe waited just a couple of minutes before getting his final few big blinds all-in with pocket fives against Varela’s Q♠J♣. The Q♣ fell on the turn and Watanabe was gone.

Three-handed, the chip counts were as follows:

Alex Komaromi (Uruguay) — 5.47 million
Engelberth Varela (Venezuela) — 1.9 million
Claudio Piedrabuena (Argentina) — 780,000

With those three players remaining, Uruguay still had a great shot at its first title. Argentina, which already has a few winners, was a dark horse for a new trophy. Meanwhile, PokerStars Supernova Engelberth Varela was working to pick up his country’s first LAPT championship. He had that chance for about an hour.

Komaromi opened the betting with a raise to 130,000. Piedrabuena got out of the way, but Varela called in the big blind. On a flop of A♥7♣3♣, Varela check-called a 160,000 bet from Komaromi. He did it again for 335,000 on the Q♠ turn. The dealer put out the 5♠ on the river. Again Varela checked. He had just short of a million chips in front of him. Komaromi announced he was all-in. Varela took a long time to make his decision, but ultimately called with A♦6♠, no good against Komaromi’s A♣8♣.

It looked to be a fast heads-up fight. Komaromi held a better than 7-1 chip lead on Piedrabuena. It could’ve been just one quick all-in to give Uruguay it’s first championship.

Instead, Piedrabuena went to work. He pounded every hand pre-flop with all-ins. After doubling up once with aces, he began firing out 10x big blind raises. It was clear he was planning to play all-in if Komaromi didn’t want to give up his blinds. It went on that way for half an hour before Komaromi took a stand with A♥J♠. Piedrabuena held pocket tens. They held and gave the Argentinean the chip lead. It lasted for just one hand. Moments later, Komaromi’s A♦K♠ held against Piedrabuena’s A♠T♥. He was back.

Komaromi would never fall back again.

“I always thought that this was mine,” Komaromi would say later.

Komaromi came in for a raise to 150,000 and Piedrabuena made the call. Both players checked the flop of 4♠7♣K♦. On the J♣ turn, Piedrabuena checked, Komaromi bet 225,000, and Piedrabuena announced he was all-in for around 1.3 million. Komaromi snap-called with J♥4♥. Piedrabuena had K♣T♣ for top pair with the flush draw. He blanked on the 2♦ river and finished in 2nd place for $141,220.

Rafael Monteiro, 8th place, $18,360
Fernando Araujo, 7th place, $27,770
Nelson Neto, 6th place, $37,190
Felipe Pasini, 5th place, $46,600
Carlos Watanabe, 4th place, $65,430
Engelberth Varela, 3rd place, $88,970
Claudio Piedrabuena, 2nd place, $141,220
Alex Komaromi, 1st place, $244,720

This is the fourth time the LAPT has visited this fine city on the Atlantic coast. Each time, the Uruguayans were forced to watch someone from another country take the trophy home in their luggage. Now, the trophy doesn’t need to be shipped through customs. It will stay on Uruguayan soil.

Surrounded by his friends, Komaromi said, “I’m really excited right now. It’s crazy. Everything came out right. We’re probably going to go party.”

Congratulations to Alex Komaromi for winning Uruguay’s first LAPT title and $244,720.

By Brad Willis

When the day started at the PokerStars.net APPT Melbourne Main Event, we knew we were in for a cracking final table. In fact, we knew that on day one when we looked around the field of 260 players and realised how stacked this field truly was. APPT champs, ANZPT winners, Aussie Millions gold rings and WSOP bracelets. Whoever would win this event was going to have to earn it.

So it’s fitting that the man to rise above them all is a man who has a decorated poker career that is the envy of most players in the Australasian region. While Leo Boxell is definitely part of poker’s old guard, his last 18 months have produced some incredibly consistent results as he continues to defy the trends of the modern game to keep the Internet whizz kids under control.

There was certainly a new school versus old school feel to this final table, as well as an intriguing Trans-Tasman rivalry between Australia and New Zealand.

In the thick of both wars was Phil Willcocks who was a dominant force throughout the final table, whether it was pounding on the blinds of Steve Bouya and Leo Boxell, or three-betting the youngsters in Jackson Zheng and Will Jones.

However it was Van Marcus who drew first blood when he doubled up with A♦A♥ against the Q♦Q♣ of Julius Colman. Unfortunately for Colman he just never got out of the blocks and when his 9♠9♥ ran into the K♠K♣ of Will Jones, Colman was first to the cashier in 9th place.

Will Jones and Steve Bouya were the early movers with some big cards, while Jackson Zheng and Phil Willcocks slipped down the chip count leaderboard. Zheng would be next to go when he three-bet shoved his K♣Q♥ to find himself racing with Willcocks’ 4♦4♣. Zheng couldn’t pair up and he was eliminated in 8th place.

The big-ball strategy of PokerStars qualifier Eddie Mascardi saw him come unstuck in 7th place when he ran his A♥8♦ into the A♠A♣ of Will Jones, while Michael Frydman’s similar game plan saw him shove his 9♠9♥ into Leo Boxell’s T♦T♥ to bust out in 6th.

As the dinner bell tolled, it was Will Jones who held a narrow lead over the final five, but the deadlock couldn’t be broken for some time as play became tight and intense. Eventually it was Van Marcus who would be first to crack as fell just short in his quest to become the first player to win two APPT titles. Marcus committed his short stack on a Q♥K♥5♥ flop with K♣J♦ but a sneaky Phil Willcocks had laid the perfect trap with his A♥A♦. Willcocks improved to a flush on the turn to leave Marcus drawing dead and departing in 5th place.

Tasmania’s Will Jones was also gunning for a unique double as he was seeking his second trophy of the week after being part of the successful Tasmanian State of Origin team earlier in the series. He may have picked up the nickname “Willy Lowball” in that event for his Razz prowess, but he proved that No Limit Holdem is his true calling with a strong showing on this final table. In fact, he was unlucky to be eliminated in 4th place in one of the key hands on the final table.

The action flop was 9♠K♦5♠ as Willcocks let out for 175,000. Steve Bouya folded but Jones raised it to 425,000 before Willcocks moved all in. Jones insta-called with 9♥9♦ for a set but Willcocks was far from gone with his 7♠6♠ combo draw. Willcocks made his straight on 8♥ and rubbed salt into the wound with the 3♠ river.

It was the difference between elimination and a monster chip lead as Willcocks set out to pound on his last two foes. He was the most aggressive player, but he was left as merely a bystander when Steve Bouya shoved all in with 9♦9♠ on a J♦5♦2♣ flop. It backfired when Boxell called and opened A♠A♣ as the turn and river bricked out.

Bouya had to be content with 3rd place as Boxell nabbed the chip lead entering heads-up play. From there it was a titanic two-hour struggle where both players had chances to win it all.

After shoving all in preflop on the very first hand of heads-up play, Boxell continued to swing wildly. He regretted this approach when he shoved his 2♥2♦ into the Q♠Q♦ of Willcocks to give the Kiwi a big double up, but he quickly recovered after making a backdoor flush to trump Willcocks’ top pair.

Boxell had a chance at the title with a coinflip holding ace-king against pocket jacks but the bare board gave Willcocks another double up before it was Willcocks’ turn to sweat the trophy. The 6♠5♣7♦ flop saw Boxell call it off with 6♥3♠ for a pair and straight draw against Willcocks’ K♠K♥. Boxell spiked the 4♥ on the turn for a straight to leave Willcocks a dejected man.

Willcocks slid backwards from there until he made his final stand with a triple barrel on a board of 2♥Q♠6♦4♠J♥. Boxell deliberated before calling with 4♣2♠ for two pair which was too good for Willcocks’J♠T♥.

The rail gave Boxell a tremendous round of applause as everyone respected the incredible achievement of the future Australian Poker Hall of Famer. While the APPT trophy is his, he also grabs $330,000 in prize money and the lead in the ANZ Player of the Year race. Congratulations Leo!

Final Table Results

1st Leo Boxell (Australia) – $330,000
2nd Phil Willcocks (New Zealand) – $207,600
3rd Steve Bouya (Australia) – $116,000
4th Will Jones (Australia) – $88,600
5th Van Marcus (Australia) – $73,300
6th Michael Frydman (Australia) – $58,000
7th Eddie Mascardi (Australia) (PokerStars Qualifier) – $45,800
8th Jackson Zheng (New Zealand) (PokerStars Qualifier) – $36,700
9th Julius Colman (Australia) – $27,500

The next event on the local calendar is the APPT Snowfest event in Queenstown, New Zealand which kicks off August 23rd. This is one you won’t want to miss, so make sure you qualify now on PokerStars!

By Heath Chick