With the first of three Day 1 flights drawing to a close last night, we now return to the SKYCITY Casino for continued action on Season Six of the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour.
Today is Day 1b of the ANZPT Auckland Main Event and that means it's time for the PokerStars.net online qualifiers to take to the felt. There will be over 50 players who won seats into this NZ$2,200 event at the tables today and we expect some of those players will be a few of the most prominent online crushers from around Australia and New Zealand.
One player who will be at the felt today is this year's ANZPT Queenstown champion Jono Bredin. The young Aussie's story was one of the biggest of the year and we know he will be eager to once again claim a major poker title on New Zealand soil.
There were 44 players at the beginning of Day 1a and at the end of the night, 22 remained. Eric Chang set the benchmark with a stack of just under 100,000 and so that's what players on Day 1b will be aiming for.
If we hope to surpass last year's field of 206 players, we are going to need to see a field of well over 70 players partake in today's action. Only time will tell if we are able to do that. Until then, make sure to return to PokerNews for all the live updates from ANZPT Auckland. Day 1b
Just like on Day 1a, today will see seven 60-minute levels play out. Each player starts with 20,000 in chips and the blinds kick off at 50/100. By the end of the day the blinds will be 400/800 with a 100 ante.
As previously mentioned, the majority of the PokerStars.net online qualifiers will be at the felt today, so we expect a much larger field than yesterday's 44 players. There are currently eight tables in action, with registration open until the end of level two.
Taking a look around the SKYCITY Auckland poker room and we have spotted quite a few familiar faces. A couple of those players were involved in last year's ANZPT Auckland final table. Pravin Harji finished 3rd in that event, while Miroslav Sheynin finished 6th.
This year's ANZPT Queenstown Jono Bredin is also at the felt, along with the likes of Koray Turker, Daniel Levy, Cole Swannack, 2012 ANZ Player of the Year Mishel Anunu.
Also at the felt is ANZPT Queenstown fifth-place finisher Jon Pierre Narbey. Avid fans of the ANZPT will remember that Narbey was involved in the infamous hand that took almost 20 minutes to play out and unbelievably saw the clock called three separate times on one single street of action.
[Removed:17] is one of New Zealand's most successful poker players and he is at the tables here on Day 1b of the ANZPT Auckland Main Event.
Yan has had a huge 2013, amassing almost $500,000 in live tournament winnings. Yan started off the year finishing sixth in the Aussie Millions Main Event, then kept up the solid results throughout the year, finishing third in the APPT Melbourne Main Event and posting solid results in a few events around Europe.
Yan is currently fourth on New Zealand's all-time tournament money earner list and if his form of the last twelve months is anything to go by, he will continue to rise up that list in the years to come. Earlier this year PokerNews' Chad Holloway spoke to Yan about everything from his poker career to his future aspirations.
Prominent Kiwi player Koray Turker hasn’t been seen at ANZPT events much in the last couple of years, but he is here today and will be looking to make an impact on Day 1b of the ANZPT Auckland Main Event.
Turker didn’t have a great start to the day, quickly seeing his stack almost chopped in half, before he managed to win some chips back in quite a large hand that recently played out on his table.
It started with Turker limping from middle position. Pascall Delannoy was in the hijack and three-bet to 550, before Wayde Rickhuss called out of the cutoff. Back on Turker and he also made the call.
On the flop, Turker checked and Delannoy bet 800. Rickhuss made the call and it was back on Turker. After a few moments, Turker made it 2,600 to go. Delannoy opted to fold, while Rickhuss made the call.
The turn was a and Turker quickly jammed for 9,925. Rickhuss tanked before opting to let it go. As Turker raked in his new chips, the two players discussed what they thought the other player had. Turker said he through Rickhuss had ace-queen.
Turker is now back to a little under starting stack.
Pravin Harji knows what it takes to go deep in the ANZPT Auckland Main Event. Last year Harji finished 3rd in this event. Harji has started well here on Day 1b of this year’s tournament.
We arrived to find Harji calling a four-bet from an opponent in the cut-off position. The dealer raked in the bets just as we arrived, but we do know that Harji had three-bet to 1,500 after the cut-off opened to 500.
On the flop, Harji checked and his opponent led out for 3,600. Back on Harji and he didn’t hesitate as he raised it up to 7,500. This bet forced the player to tank and eventually fold.
“Tens?” the player asked as Harhi raked in the pot.