$230 NL Hold'em - $75k Guar. | 2008 PokerNews Cup Championships - Australia

10-12-2008 06:38 UTC+11

2008 PokerNews Cup Championships - Melbourne, Australia

[user38449]

One year ago to this very day, final preparations were being made for the first ever PokerNews Cup event, which premiered at the Crown Casino on October 21st, 2007. The flagship event welcomed more than 1,500 players from over 22 countries along the way to crowning local amateur Dory Zayner its inaugural champion.

Fast forward one year later and we find ourselves less than 24 hours away from the opening event of the 2008 PokerNews Cup Championships in Melbourne, Australia. The first event -- a $230 buy-in no limit hold'em tournament -- is set to kick off at 10:10 a.m. on Sunday, October 12th at the Crown Poker Room.

Two additional tournaments have been tacked on to this year's eight-event schedule -- one of which being the Tony G Celebrity Shootout Bounty tournament, scheduled for October 15th at 7:10 p.m. The series' $2,200 buy-in Championship Main Event begins Friday, October 17th and expects to attract over 400 runners.

Main Event satellites are still being held daily at the Crown. For more information, visit the PokerNewsCup website.

Live coverage of Event 1 begins on Sunday at 10:10 a.m. We hope to see you then!

Level: 1

Blinds: 25/25

Ante: 0

10-12-2008 10:18 UTC+11

Shuffle Up and Deal!

[user38449]

The poker room here at the Crown is jam packed full of players for the opening event of the 2008 PokerNews Cup Australia tournament series. The room is so full, in fact, that tables are currently being played 11-handed!

Crown's Director of Poker Operations Jonno Pittock has just delivered the opening address, aided by PokerNews Editor in Chief John Caldwell, and the cards are officially in the air!

10-12-2008 10:27 UTC+11

Some Notables

[user67765]

It's a big field here in the Crown Poker Room with plenty of local amateurs trying their luck in a big event. However spotted amongst the field are quite a few notable players including Marwan Nassif, Russell Watkins, Tamara Volkoff, Roy Vandersluis, Trung Tran, Karib Karib, Steve Bouya, Patrick Fletcher, Jim Sachinidis, George Cotaidis, 2008 Aussie Millions final tablist Antonio Casale, 2007 Victorian Poker Championships Main Event winner Jozef Berec and PokerNews' own John Caldwell.

10-12-2008 10:30 UTC+11

Cakici Triples Early With Kings

[user67765]

In a huge three-way all in confrontation Firat Cakici had the best of it with his {K-Clubs}

against two opponents holding {Q-Diamonds}

and

.

The board fell {6-Diamonds}

to give Cakici a huge triple up to now sit with over 9,000 chips

Tags: Firat Cakici

10-12-2008 10:37 UTC+11

Malaine Likes Action Flop

[user67765]

Josh Malaine is off to a bright start after an action flop of {2-Hearts}

saw all the chips go into the middle. Malaine held {K-Diamonds}

for top set to be in great shape against his opponent's {A-Clubs}

for two pair.

The turn was the {7-Clubs}

and river the {9-Hearts}

to send his opponent to the rail and jump Malaine up to 3,400.

Tags: Josh Malaine

10-12-2008 10:41 UTC+11

Gizimoski Takes Out Two

[user67765]

Nick Gizimoski spiked his gin card on the turn when the board fell {9-Spades}

with all the chips going in against two opponents.

Gizimoski tabled the nuts with {Q-Spades}

as his opponent's sighed and flipped {K-Hearts}

and

respectively.

The river brought the {A-Clubs}

and Nick Gizimoski now sits behind about 9,000 chips.

Tags: Nick Gizimoski

Level: 2

Blinds: 25/50

Ante: 0

10-12-2008 10:50 UTC+11

Blinds Are Up

[user67765]

Today's tournament will move very quickly with players starting with only 3,000 in chips and the blinds moving up every 25 minutes. We expect many players to adopt a "double up or go home" attitude as we've already seen in the early goings.

10-12-2008 10:55 UTC+11

Chrisanthopoulos Dented

[user67765]

Another notable player in today's field is Michael Chrisanthopoulos who is well known for his deep run at the Aussie Millions.

He recently took a hit when he fired out bets on the turn and river on a board of {6-Hearts}

. His opponent immediately moved all in and Chrisanthopoulos insta-folded. He is down to 2,300 chips.

Tags: Michael Chrisanthopoulos