The players are back in their seats following the final break of the day. Two more levels and the surviving players will bag up their chips and prepare for Friday's Day 2.
Ben Richardson's chip stack is now sitting at under 15,000 with a fair chunk of his chips lost during a hand against one opponent on a . We only caught the action from the river, when there was already well over 6,000 in the pot. Richardson was on the button and was faced with a bet of 2,000 from his opponent. Richardson thought long and hard before making the call and then mucked when the player flipped over for a turned set.
Alex Lynskey opened with an under-the-gun raise to 600 which found one caller before Anthony Aston raised it up to 2,200 from the small blind. Lynskey made the call as the third player folded before the flop landed .
Aston continued for 2,300 and Lynskey made the call as the paired the board. Aston slowed down and tapped the table as Lynskey offered a discounted price of 1,800. Aston thought for a few moments but wasn’t going to be tempted as he let his hand go.
Neither player showed, but a few moments later, Aston verbalized that he had ace-king while Lynskey said he held pocket queens.
“Wow, lucky I didn’t make a move!” chucked Aston as he slips to just 8,500. Lynskey is going well with a stack of 37,000.
Earlier in the day, a promotional sit and go was held on the slopes of Coronet Peak in Queenstown. The beautiful mountain scenery and snowy conditions made for a great poker location. Some images from the event can be seen below, while more information about the fun day can be read here on the PokerStars Blog.
Liam O'Rourke was in middle position when he opened up the pot to 600. Billy Argyos made the call on his direct left and the dealer turned over a flop. O'Rourke led for 700 here and Argyros hesitated before making the call.
Both O'Rourke and Argyros then checked the turn and the dealer would turn over the final to complete the board on the river. Again O'Rourke checked here, except this time Argyros would bet 3,600. O'Rourke eventually made the call and then mucked his cards when Argyros turned over for a flopped set. With that, O'Rourke is now struggling, while Argyros is doing great.
APPT President Danny McDonaugh has just announced to the room that all the players are invited to partake in some trademark Queenstown "Frisbee Golf." Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang can be seen pictured partaking in the fun game that plays out just like it sounds - golf rules, but with a bigger hole and with a frisbee instead of a golf ball.
We have just been made aware that no player has been eliminated in the last two hours. However, during that time, Australia's Ken Demlakian has managed to amass the largest chip stack, sitting with around 60,000 in chips.