With the recent elimination of Billy Argyos, we are now one off the money and playing hand-for-hand poker. The next player eliminated will be the "bubble boy", while the rest of the field will be guaranteed a NZD$7,050 min-cash.
David Zhao opened with a min-raise to 8,000 before Billy Argyros three-bet to 23,000 on the button. Dave Wonson took some time before folding his big blind but Zhao wasted no time in announcing himself all in. With 57,000 behind, Argyros made the call and the cards were on their backs:
Zhao:   |
Argyros:   |
It was a coinflip with Arygros’ tournament on the line, and “The Croc” fell behind when the flop arrived 
.
“Jack please,” requested Argyros and the dealer obliged as the 
appeared on the turn to give Argyros the two-outer as he was now in great shape to double up.
“Deuce please,” said Arygros as he thought he’d try his luck once more but this time the poker Gods cruelly brought the 
to give Zhao a bigger full house to win the pot and eliminate Argyros from the tournament two spots off the money.
A massive cooler has just occured over on Table 2, with Michael Kanaan being left crippled in a set vs. set situation against Ken Demlakian. All the chips went in on the turn of a 
board, with Kanaan having Demlakian covered. Kanaan held 
and it was bleak times indeed against Demlakian's 
. The river couldn't give Kanaan the miracle one-outer and so he was left with just 70,000, while Demlakian now houses the largest stack in the room.
The short-stacked Dave Wonson has survived the bubble-bubble by the skin of his teeth with a dramatic double up through Australian Poker Hall of Famer, Billy “The Croc” Argyros.
Wonson held the goods with his last 18,500 in the middle with against Argyros’ 
. That all changed on the 
flop as Argyros spiked two pair to take the lead. The turn bricked the 
but the appeared on the river to give Wonson a nice two-outer for the double up to stay alive.
It exciting news for New Zealand poker, it was announced today that a new addition has been made to the New Zealand Poker Tour (NZPT). The NZPT Auckland event will be held in the SKYCITY Auckland Casino from November 21 – 25 2012 and will offer a NZ$2,200 buy-in. It’s great to see Auckland return to the major poker tournament schedule and with satellites already underway (including one here in the Queenstown poker room at 4pm this afternoon) we should see a big turnout for the NZPT Auckland event in November.
With Aaron Benton all in for his last 9,500 preflop from the button, Ricky Kroesen and Tatjana Zizic both came along in the blinds to see a flop of 
. Kroesen led out for 10,500 into the side pot before Zizic min-raised to 21,000.
Kroesen called as the 
fell on the turn. Kroesen checked and Zizic bet another 20,000. By this stage Benton was already out of his chair in resignation as Kroesen made the call to see the 
complete the board on the river.
Both live players checked the river as Kroesen opened for the best hand. Zizic flashed 
as Benton’s cards hit the muck. With that, we are down to 17 players and are two off reaching the money.
With the elimination of the short-stacked Craig Blight, we are down to 18 players and a table redraw has been done. This is what the final two tables look like.
Table One
| Seat | Player |
|---|---|
| 1 | Ricky Kroesen |
| 2 | Tatjana Zizic |
| 3 | Billy Argyros |
| 4 | Ivan Zalac |
| 5 | David Wonson |
| 6 | Matt Wakeman |
| 7 | David Allan |
| 8 | David Zhao |
| 9 | Aaron Benton |
Table Two
| Seat | Player |
|---|---|
| 1 | Chiu Yeung Lee |
| 2 | Michael Fadersen |
| 3 | David Evans |
| 4 | Ken Demlakian |
| 5 | Bryan Huang |
| 6 | Michael Kanaan |
| 7 | Jordan Westmorland |
| 8 | Stewart Ballard |
| 9 | Jason O'Brien |
Aaron Benton has just been left with only a couple of big blinds, courtesy of the last lady in the tournament, Tatjana Zizic. The hand in question started when Ivan Zalac opened to 9,000 from under the gun. Benton then three-bet shoved for 65,500 on the button. Unfortunately for Benton, Zizic looked down at in the big blind and also shoved in. Zalac then tank-folded and Benton turned over his 
.
A in the window was not good for Benton, and with the rest of the board bricking off, Benton was left with just around 8,000 in chips.
The 19 players are back from their break and ready for more poker. Four more eliminations and we will be in the money, with 15 players guaranteed a NZD$7,050 min-cash.
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