There is still one table set up away from the main poker room. That table is set to be the first to break, but until then we thought we would let you know a couple of hands we recently watched.
First it was Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang who was involved in a hand against one opponent on a board. We arrived on the turn to find Huang leading for 1,350 and his opponent calling. The river would see both players check and then Huang let out a sigh and mucking his cards face down instead of showing, therefore sending the pot to his opponent.
We then watched Paul "KingPaulie" Hockin open a hand to 500 from the button and recieve a call from the player in the big blind. On the flop, the big blind check-called a bet of 500. The turn would see the action again checked to Hockin and this time he took it down with a bet of 1,100.
It has been confirmed that Day 1c of the ANZPT Auckland Main Event has had 103 entries. Added with the 44 from Day 1a and the 66 from Day 1b, we have a total field of 213 - six players better than last year's event.
Once we receive the prize pool information we will be sure to let everyone know what they are playing for!
Prominent Kiwi poker player Jackson Zheng has just been eliminated in pretty brutal fashion.
We arrived at the action on the turn of a board, with around 8,500 in the pot and with Zheng leading out for 3,600. Zheng’s lone opponent made the call and a was dealt on the river.
Zhen had around 9,000 behind and took his time before betting 5,000 here. His opponent fumbled out 8,000, intending to raise and then had to make it at least 10,000. Zheng leaned back in his chair, facing a call for his tournament life.
“Flopped a set and have the queen of spades,” said Zheng as he tanked.
We then heard Zheng mention that his opponent must have ace-king with the king of spades before continuing to tank. Zheng counted out his chips a couple of times and made the call.
Zheng’s read was correct as the player turned over . Zheng turned over his and made his way out of the tournament.
Tom Grigg had a big stack earlier in the day but he’s quickly given it back and a recent clash with Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang hasn’t helped his cause.
Grigg opened with a late position raise to 600 and Bryan Huang made the call in the blinds to see a flop of . Huang check-called for 700 as the hit the turn.
Huang tapped the table again and Grigg fired again for 1,550. This time however Huang put in a check-raise to 3,600. Grigg took his time contemplating your decision.
“Have you got a monster?” posed Grigg. Huang gave a shrug as the dealer, rather inappropriately, snapped his hands up and down, motioning in the shape of some sort of monster.
Grigg called and the river was the . Huang led out with a bet of 5,000 with Grigg again giving it plenty of thought before making the call. Huang opened for a flush draw that rivered top pair and that was enough to scoop the healthy pot.
Huang is back up to 25,000 with Grigg slipping to 17,000.
When we saw Kiwi Kani Edwards up out of his chair giving a big fist pump and a little bit of a “Woo!”, we knew he must have made a big hand.
We rushed over to Edwards’ table to find a board on the felt, with Edwards all in holding for a flopped full house. Edwards’ opponent’s were being taken into the muck and with that Edwards was one of the chip leaders with a stack of just under 50,000.
Tom “tollgate” Grigg has stayed characteristically busy since he was moved to a table in the main poker room. Not long after Grigg sat down and we caught him in a hand against one opponent on a flop. There was around 4,000 already in the pot at this point and Grigg bet 1,550 when his opponent checked it over to him.
Both players checked the turn and a completed the board on the river. Grigg’s opponent took a long time before betting 6,500 and Grigg quickly folded.
Our friends over at the PokerStarsBlog recently wrote a piece detailing some of the “adventures of tollgate”, so go check that out.
The official ANZPT Auckland prize pool has been released.
A field of 213 players created a NZ$426,000 prize pool and the top 24 players are set to pick up a piece of that pie. Of course, it is the eventual champion who will rake in the most cash, with the top prize set at NZ$110,760.
Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang has been doing fine today, first chipping up to around 30,000 in chips before currently hovering at 25,000.
We recently watched Huang open up a hand to 700 from early position, which would send a flurry of cards into the muck before it was on the player on the button. At this point it was three-bet to 1,300 and Huang made the call.
Both players checked it to the river of a board, with Huang leading out for 1,500 on the river. His opponent made the call and Huang promptly tabled . That was enough to secure the pot for Huang.