2008 PokerNews Cup Championships - Australia

Day 1 completed

Posted 10-15-2008 10:46 GMT+12

Day 1 Complete

Today's Event #4 began with a nice field of 77 players who put up the AUD $550 to play a friendly game of H.O.R.S.E. A little less than seven hours later, that number has been reduced to the final eight who will return tomorrow to duke it out for the title. Among those who entered but went home early were Roy Vandersluis, Peter Aristidou, James Obst, Van Marcus, Joe Hachem, Sam Khouiss, and Billy "The Croc" Argyros, as well as PokerNews staff members Heath Chick and Filipe Pacheco.

Sean Arazi will take the chip lead into the final table, finishing off play with a stack of 130,500. He'll be the favorite, but Andrew Demetriou, Graeme Putt, and the rest of the final table will be ready to go, and nothing will come easy tomorrow. Here's the way the rest of the table lays out:

Sean Arazi - 130,500
Nick Georgoulas - 83,000
Abel Cabrera - 64,000
Steve Topakas - 56,500
Andrew Demetriou - 43,000
Karib Karib - 39,500
Graeme 'Kiwi G' Putt - 39,500
Kerry Stead - 20,000

Play resumes at 4:00pm local time, so join us then as we play down to the winner of Event #4!

Tags: Sean Arazi.

John Joannou Is The Bubble Boy

Stud Hi/Lo:

On third, John Joannou completed and then Abel Cabrera raised. Joannou called. On fourth, Joannou bet, Cabrera raised, and the Joannou put his last chips in the middle.

Cabrera:
Joannou:

Despite making a full house, Joannou just wasn't full enough and Cabrera's aces full o' fours was good enough to finish off our last player for the day.

Tags: Abel Cabrera, John Joannou.

Down To Nine

Stud:

Oliver Gill:
Andrew Demetriou:

Gill bet his last chips against Demetriou on third. When it was all said and done, Demetriou's jacks and sevens were the best hand and sent Gill to the rail in tenth place, just missing the final table by a few spots.

Tags: Andrew Demetriou, Oliver Gill.

Colina Eliminated By Kiwi G

Stud:

After Robert Collina raised, Graeme "Kiwi G" Putt reraised trying to make a move. Colina wasn't having any of it and put the rest of his chips in. Putt called.

Putt:
Collina:

Hitting his pair of jacks on fourth, Putt was able to eliminate Collina on the hand and we're down to 10 players.

Tags: "Kiwi G", Graeme Putt, Robert Collina.

Kerry Stead Makes Stuart Little

Razz:

All of the money got in on third street, with Stuart Barclay all in for his tournament life versus Kerry Stead. Things looked good for Barclay as the hands were turned up:

Barclay:
Kerry:

Barclay improved further on fourth street, drawing the , while Kerry paired up with the .

Things went downhill from there though. Barclay's next three cards were his last as he picked up to make just a jack low. Meanwhile, Kerry drew well, gathering to improve to an eight low, and sending Barclay to the exit in the wee hours of Day 1.

Tags: Kerry Stead, Stuart Barclay.

Cards Back in the Air

The remaining 13 players have rejoined to get back into action. We'll be playing down to the final table tonight and it's only five eliminations away.

Level 12 started

Posted 10-15-2008 02:22 GMT+12

Break

Players are on a scheduled 10-minute break.

Dropping a Deuce

Stud:

Abel Cabrera found all of his chips in the middle on third street in this round of stud up against Steve Topakas.

Cabrera: ( ) (X)
Topakas: ( ) (X)

Cabrera was able to pull ahead on fifth street when he nailed two pair, but his hopes were dashed for the moment on sixth when Topakas made a better two pair. With only one card to come face down, the dealer needed to hit Cabrera hard for him to stay in the tournament.

Topakas immediately turned up his on the river for no improvement. Cabrera squeezed and squeezed hard to push out the to make a full house with a big sigh of relief. He was able to double back to 40,000, with Topakas dropping to 60,000.

Tags: Abel Cabrera, Steve Topakas.