2008 PokerNews Cup Championships - Australia

Day 1b completed

Posted 10-22-2008 12:06 GMT+12

Day 1b Concludes

That wraps up our coverage from Day 1b of the 2008 PokerNews Cup Main Event. A healthy field of 239 players took to the felt today with many big name players failing to make it through the day. Eliminations included Jonathan Karamalikis, Jay Kinkade, James Obst, David Steicke, Peter Aristidou, Roy Bhasin, Sam Khouiss, Tony Dunst, Celina Lin, Mark Vos and Van Marcus.

Those who were more fortunate and will look forward to unbagging their chips tomorrow afternoon include Lee "Final Table" Nelson, Andrew Scott, Ali Khalil, Andrew Demetriou, Maurie Pears, Paul Khoury and Tino Lechich.

Of course the big story of the day lies with our near-chip leader Dory Zayneh. Dory was the 2007 PokerNews Cup Champion and will be looking for back-to-back titles which would be an incredible achievement. Also bagging up a wealth of chips is Sydney-sider Sam Sayed who brings a dangerous big stack game into Day 2 play.

Roughly 78 players from today will join the 47 survivors from yesterday as they come together for the first time tomorrow for Day 2 action in the 2008 PokerNews Cup Main Event. Join us tomorrow at 12:10pm for our continued coverage live from the tournament floor of the Crown Poker Room. We look forward to your company then!

Tags: Dory Zayneh.

Scott Eliminates an Opponent On the Last Hand

Andrew Scott raised to 3,500 from middle position on the last hand of the night at his table. A player in the cutoff reraised all in for 10,700. Action folded back over to Scott and he made the call.

"You're ahead," said Scott as he turned over . His opponent turned up .

The board ran out , ending the night on a bad note for Scott's opponent. Scott on the other hand, picked up some more chips and finished the day with 105,000.

Tags: Andrew Scott.

Lechich Takes One Late

On one of the last hands of the night, Tino Lechich raised to 3,200 from middle position and Laszlo Kapitzke reraised out of the small blind to 7,100. Lechich made the call.

The flop came down and Kapitzke bet out 6,500. Lechich tanked and asked the dealer to spread the pot. He then made the call after about a minute.

The turn brought the and Kapitzke checked. Lechich took his time before announcing "Ten thousand," as he tossed out two yellow chips. Kapitzke quickly folded and shook his head.

Lechich moved up to about 68,000 on the hand.

Tags: Tino Lechich.

Pavlou Eliminates Casale

Harris Pavlou raised from early position to 3,100 and the table folded around to Mark Casale who moved all in from the small blind. Pavlou made the call.

Pavlou:
Casale:

The board landed giving Pavlou the pot and eliminating Casale from the tournament within sight of a Day 2 berth.

Tags: Harris Pavlou, Mark Casale.

Four Hands Left

The staff has just announced that Day 1b is very near its conclusion. With eight minutes left on the clock, each table will play four more hands, and then the chips will be bagged and tagged for those lucky enough to have made it through to tomorrow.

A Fine Way to End the Night

Lee Nelson put in the first raise from the button, making it 3,600 to play. In the small blind, John Dalessandri reraised to a total of 10,500. Nelson makes the call, and it's heads up from here on out.

The flop reveals . Dalessandri moves all in for 15,500, wihch Nelson quickly calls.

Showdown:
Dalessandri:
Nelson:

With all of his chips in the middle of the table, John Dalessandri is on the ropes, just two cards away from the exit. The turn is a useless . With one foot in the grave, Dalessandri somehow manages to spike the on the river, winning him the pot with triple kings and drawing a huge reaction from the table and the spectators.

After pulling that miracle cowboy out of the deck, John Dalessandri has doubled up to 58,000, leaving Lee Nelson trailing with 53,000.

Tags: John Dalessandri, Lee Nelson.

Santo Takes Late Pot Off Chip Leader

Luke Santo raised to 4,000 preflop from middle position and Dory Zayneh came along from the cutoff.

They saw a flop of and Santo checked to Zayneh who fired out 5,000. Santo made the call. The on the turn was checked through as the hit the river. Santo led for 8,000 and Zayneh said "Your ace-king wins" as he made the crying call.

Sure enough, Santo tabled for the rivered straight to collect the pot.

Tags: Dory Zayner, Luke Santo.

The Classic Steal, Re-Steal, Re-Re-Steal

Ali Khalil started the action with a raise from the button to 3,100. Johnny Huynh might have sensed a steal attempt and decided to put in the 3-bet of an additional 5,500.

The big blind folded and Khalil deliberated over his decision and perhaps sensing a re-steal attempt he decided to put in the 4-bet of an additional 11,000.

The pressure was back on Huynh and he decided against playing a big pot out of position and released his hand as Khalil flashed !

The Peppermint Hippo is up to 116,000 and looking in good shape for Day 2.

Tags: Ali Khalil, Johnny Huynh.

Sam Gorr Calls the Sherif

We join the action on the flop in a pot between Sherif Derias and Sam Gorr. The dealer spreads out . Derias leads out with a bet of 6,500, and Gorr calls.

Fourth street brings the , and both players check. Fifth street is the . Derias leads again, this time with 12,500 chips. Gorr makes the call, and it's showdown time. Derias tables , having made two pair on the last two cards. It's no good though; Gorr flips over for the better two pair. He drags in a sizable pot, chipping up to 117,000. Derias is hurting, down to his last 18,000 checks.

Tags: Sam Gorr, Sherif Derias.