Two of the tournament short stacks are two prolific online players from across the Tasman Sea in Melbourne, Australia.
Tom 'tollgate' Grigg and Andrew 'fuzzbungle' Hinrichsen have not only great online records on PokerStars.net but also on the live circuit.
Grigg collected the $1,500 Semi Shootout/Bounty tournament at last year's APPT Sydney for just over $30,000 before final tabling the Main Event and collecting nearly $120,000 for his fifth place finish.
As for Hinrichsen, he collected a second placing in the PokerStars.net ANZPT Queenstown Main Event and the Six-Handed event at the PokerNews Cup before finally breaking through with a win in the $2,500 Six-Handed event at the APPT Sydney before winning an Aussie Millions title in the Poker Pro event.
Unfortunately for Grigg and Hinrichsen, they are going to have recall deeply to the way they played those events as they sit with 7,050 and 6,325 respectively - although it is still a playable 35 and 31-big blind chip stack - if they are to not only make day two, but also have a charge at reaching the final table.
With three players committing 500 preflop to see a flop fall, one player fired out 800 before James Honeybone bumped it to 1,600.
With the action back on the preflop aggressor, he three-bet to 3,500 only to have Honeybone four-ball all in for roughly 14,000 as his opponent made the call.
Honeybone:
Opponent:
With Honeybone's set up against an opponent's combo-draw, the on the turn was a safe one for Honeybone before the landed on the river to see him move to 33,000 in chips.
For Honeybone, he definitely favors the SKYCITY Auckland casino after besting a highly-skilled and locally based field in January to win the Auckland Anniversary Poker Championships for a NZ$36,030 ($25,550) payday.
Facing three limpers, Daniel Neilson bumped it up to 1,200 from the button with Michael O'Grady making the call from the small blind before only the original limper called.
The flop fell down and all three players checked it through before the landed on the turn and a bet of 2,500 from Neilson was enough to collect the pot and see him move to 27,000 in chips.
On a flop of , Julian Cohen fired out 500 and was raised to 4,500 by his lone opponent in the hand.
Cohen three-bet all in for 14,250 and his opponent made the call to put 'intimad8or32' at risk just prior to the start of the second level.
Cohen:
Opponent:
With Cohen spiking his two-outer on the flop, he wasn't as confident as he could be since his opponent not only held an overpair, but also a straight draw leaving ten cards in the deck that Cohen didn't want to see fall.
The turn of the changed little, and when the river landed the to improve Cohen's hand to a full house, the Melbournian doubled through to roughly 42,000 in chips.
Another multi-way pot saw seven players commit 300 preflop to see a flop fall.
The big blind fired out 850 and Cole Swannack was the only caller before the small blind check-raised to 2,250. Both the preflop aggressor and Swannack made the call as the rolled off on the turn and a 3,200-chip bet from the small blind was enough to collect the pot.
Swannack slipped to 16,500 after that pot, but the local New Zealander is in a rich vein of form.
Earlier in the year at the New Zealand Poker Championships in Christchurch, Swannack managed a second place for NZ$33,000 before following it just a few weeks later with a third place in the PokerStars.net APPT Macau Main Event for HK$1,177,600.
His two deep runs in just a matter of weeks equated to just under $175,000 in tournament winnings - and although he is too young for the World Series of Poker - Swannack will hopefully look to better both finishes and capture his maiden tournament win here in Auckland.
Six players committed 250 preflop to see a flop fall and the action checked round to a player in middle position who fired out 1,100.
One player called before Damon Lum check-raised from the big blind to 4,200 to force the original raiser to fold before the cold-caller made the call as the landed on the turn and both players checked.
The river landed the and Lum fired out a bet of 7,300 to put his opponent in the tank for over three minutes before eventually opting to lay his hand down.
Lum raked in the pot and moved to 25,300 in chips.