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There will be no more entrants on Day 1a of the ANZPT Auckland Main Event and so we can tell you that 44 players have entered so far. That number is relatively small, but it is very likely that both tomorrow’s Day 1b and Friday’s Day 1c will eclipse this amount and see the total entrants storm past 200.
With seven levels set to play out today, we expect the field to whittle down to less than three tables of players.
Considering the player started the day with 20,000 in chips, Jean Tae's stack of around 75,000 is quite an achievement for these early stages of the event.
We recently caught Tae adding a few more chips to his growing stack. We arrived to find Tae and one opponent both committing 1,200 on a 
flop. The turn was a 
and Tae continued his aggression, making it 3,000 to go. The player opted to get out of the way and the pot went to Tae.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
75,000 |
Australian Poker Hall of Fame member Leo Boxell has had much success in poker events all around the world, but has yet to win an ANZPT. Boxell’s best result in an ANZPT was back in 2011 when he finished 4th in the ANZPT Gold Coast Main Event.
Boxell is at the felt today and will be doing his best to make a deep run here in Auckland. Unfortunately for Boxell we saw him lose some chips to one opponent on a 
board.
We caught the action from the turn, where Boxell led for 700 and his opponent flat-called. The river was a #Qs and this time Boxell led for 1,200. Another call and Boxell would table #Ad#Jc. The player turned over #Ad#Ks and that was enough to win the hand.
The players are back from their break and the cards are back in the air at the SKYCITY Auckland Casino.
Level: 3
Blinds: 100/200
Ante: 25
The players have been sent on their first 10-minute break here on Day 1a of the ANZPT Auckland Main Event.
ANZPT Season3 Adelaide runner-up Jesse McKenzie has just recalled to us how he was eliminated early on Day1a of the ANZPT Auckland Main Event.
Apparently McKenzie three-bet to 1,200 holding 
after a player McKenzie had history with opened to 500. The player made the call and a 
flop was spread on the felt. The player checked and McKenzie bet 1,250. It was then check-raised to 3,000 and McKenzie made the call.
The turn was a 
and this time the player led for 4,000. McKenzie recalls that he thought long and hard here, considering jamming, but eventually deciding to just flat. He also recalled that he felt pretty confident that king-high was good here.
On the 
river, McKenzie’s opponent moved all in for 9,000. McKenzie eventually called off his smaller stack.
“You got me,” the player said to McKenzie, moving ever-so slightly toward the muck.
“I’ve only got King-High,” responded McKenzie as he tabled
“Oh, a pair of sevens,” the player said as he turned over 
.
Just like that, McKenzie was eliminated holding king-high.
We noticed that affable New Zealand poker player Jack Efaraimo was no longer in his seat and wondered what happened. Then Efaraimo came over to see APPT President Danny McDonagh.
"You playing tomorrow, Jack?" asked McDonagh.
Efaraimo simply laughed, then told McDonagh how he got aces cracked and ace-king cracked and that was it. As far as we can tell, Efaraimo is one of only two players to have the rail so far on Day 1a of the ANZPT Auckland Main Event.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
APPT Macau High Roller champ Xiao Yu Jia was a late arrival today but he’s wasted little time in getting busy on his table.
We caught Jia raising the action to 2,200 on the turn after three players had committed 800 on the flop of 
. Two players let their hands go, but the third player made the call before tapping the table on the 
river.
Jia bet out 2,800 and his opponent thought briefly before he verbalized a call. We were looking for hearts but Jia revealed black cards – his 
straight rather deceptive as his opponent sighed and mucked. Jia climbs up to 28,500.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
28,000
6,000
|
6,000 |
It has just been announced to the players that we will be playing seven levels today, with short breaks after every two levels and no dinner break. Being that today is the first of three Day 1 flights, this sets precedent for the next two days of action. Seven levels and no dinner break should have us out the door at around 8.30pm local time.
