We just noticed that Daniel Neilson was wondering past the media desk and exiting the tournament area. With no chips left in front of his seat, it is safe to say that Neilson's tournament has come to and end. We managed to find out from some of the tournament staff that Neilson recently ran his into the of an opponent. The player his a queen on the flop and apparently, that was it for Neilson.
Denver Lee managed to win his way into the ANZPT Queenstown Snowfest Main Event through a satellite ran here at the SKYCITY Queenstown Casino. Lee didn't have a great start to the day, seeing his stack fall well under 10,000 in chips. However, that has all changed recently, thanks to the following hand.
With a raise and three callers in front of him, a short-stacked Denver Lee moved all in from the small blind with the initial raiser, Campbell Melville, the only one to make the call.
Lee opened and was racing against the of Melville with tournament life on the line. The flop was a dry , and the turn card changed nothing. But the river was the as the ace from space landed to keep the satellite winner’s tournament alive with a nice double up. Lee now has a stack of around 17,000.
Here are some early images from before today's event kicked off. Included in here are some fun shots of APPT President Danny McDonaugh and Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang playing some trademark Queenstown "Frisbee Golf".
The Asia Pacific Poker Tour President, Danny McDonaugh, has just announced that 130 players have already registered for this event - meaning with two days left of registration, we have already surpassed last year's number of 127. A great effort from all the team at PokerStars and here at the SKYCITY Queenstown Casino.
When we arrived at Didier Guerin's table, he was involved in a hand with the player in the small blind and Laurynas Levinskas, from the big blind. At this point the three players were committing some bets preflop and there was around 1,500 already in the middle as the dealer flipped over a flop.
The action was checked to Guerin here and he bet 900. The small blind didn't want to keep playing, throwing his cards into the muck. However, Levinskas wanted to continue, flicking out enough chips to call.
The on the turn saw Levinskas check and didn't slow Guerin down, with another bet being fired out, this time of 2,000. A call from Levinskas and a would complete the board on the river.
"Four thousand, one hundred," said Guerin as he casually tossed out a 5,000-denomination chip.
Levinskas thought for a long time, eventually deciding to make the call. When he called Levinskas stared at Guerin, waiting to see his cards.
"You win, you win," said Guerin, prompting Levinskas to turn over . Guerin's cards slid into the muck and that was the end of the hand. With that, Guerin has around half of the starting stack.
The players are back in their seats following their first break of the day. Four players hit the rail during the first two levels of the day, with 47 of the 51 entrants currently sitting at the felt.
With three limpers in the pot, including Mishel Anunu in the cutoff seat, it was left to the player in the small blind to raise it up to 550. The big blind folded, but all three limpers made the call to see a flop of . Action checked to Anunu who bet 1,500. The button folded, the small blind called and the under-the-gun-player released to see it heads up to the turn.
A quick check to Anunu who fired another 2,300 chips into the middle. The small blind again called as the was a dangerous river card to complete the board. Again the action was checked to Anunu who didn’t hesitate in releasing a third barrel worth 4,100. His opponent threw his head back, clearly unhappy with the way the board ran out, before making a frustrated fold with a shake of the head.
Anunu didn’t show, and neither player spoke a word, as Anunu raked in the pot to move up to 26,000.
David Allan is currently sitting behind the largest stack in the room, so we thought we would watch him play a couple of hands. In the five minutes we stood by his table, he partook in two small hands, winning one and losing the other. Here is how they went down.
From under the gun plus one, Allan opened the pot to 400. The player on his direct left made the call, along with one more player in middle position. Folded around to the blinds, both of those players would call and the dealer would ready a flop. The blinds checked to Allan and he bet 1,900. That amount was too strong for his four opponents, as eight cards would fly into the muck and send the pot to Allan.
The very next hand and Allan would open the pot to 450 from under the gun. Only the player on the button and the small blind would call as the dealer turned over a flop. All three players checked here and and a was dealt on the turn. This time the small blind bet 700 and Allan folded, along with the button player.
![[user162117]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
and was racing against the 
of Melville with tournament life on the line. The flop was a dry 
, and the 
turn card changed nothing. But the river was the 
as the ace from space landed to keep the satellite winner’s tournament alive with a nice double up. Lee now has a stack of around 17,000.
flop.
on the turn saw Levinskas check and didn't slow Guerin down, with another bet being fired out, this time of 2,000. A call from Levinskas and a 
would complete the board on the river.
. Action checked to Anunu who bet 1,500. The button folded, the small blind called and the under-the-gun-player released to see it heads up to the 
was a dangerous river card to complete the board. Again the action was checked to Anunu who didn’t hesitate in releasing a third barrel worth 4,100. His opponent threw his head back, clearly unhappy with the way the board ran out, before making a frustrated fold with a shake of the head.
flop. The blinds checked to Allan and he bet 1,900. That amount was too strong for his four opponents, as eight cards would fly into the muck and send the pot to Allan.
was dealt on the turn. This time the small blind bet 700 and Allan folded, along with the button player.