Main Event
Day 1a Started
2013 PokerStars.net ANZPT Season 5 Queenstown
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2013 PokerStars.net ANZPT Season 5 Queenstown
Buy-in
2,700 NZD
Prize Pool
340,200 NZD
Entries
126
Level
25
Blinds
20,000 / 40,000
Ante
5,000
Welcome to Queenstown for the ANZPT
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It’s five degrees outside (that’s Celsius here in New Zealand or what I like to call “cold”) and as such there is no better place for a poker enthusiast to be than here in the warmth of the SKYCITY Queenstown Casino for the final stop on Season 5 of the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour.
Today we have the first of three Day 1 flights of the ANZPT Queenstown Main Event. Costing NZ$3,000 to enter, we are expecting a capacity field today as this tiny casino only has a setup of five poker tables.
Last year was the largest ANZPT Queenstown ever held with 149 players eventually falling to the might of champion David Allan. We are hoping to get somewhere around that field size again this year, or even better, a handful more.
All the action is set to kick off at 12.30 p.m. local time and by all accounts it’s going to be quite a short day, which is good for both players and us in the media as we can spend more time enjoying all the winter splendor that the beautiful Queenstown has to offer.
Make sure to keep your browser locked on PokerNews and your finger on the ‘refresh’ button as we will be here all day, and week, bringing you live updates from the ANZPT Queenstown Main Event!
Introductions Done and the Cards are in the Air
Andrew Gray is one of the managers here at the SKYCITY Queenstown Casino and he has just spoken to the room on the microphone prior to the beginning of Day 1a of the ANZPT Queenstown Main Event.
"One of the questions i always get from all the players is 'where is Fergburger?", Gray said to the poker room, referring to Queenstown's famous burger joint. "It's down there and there's always a big line."
With the important stuff out of the way, Gray then informed the room that they wouldn't be able to use their mobile phones at the table and that they would be playing six one-hour levels today.
With that, the dealers were told to do what they do best and the action has now kicked off!
Level: 1
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
How it All Works
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
The players have now settled into their seats and the cards are being dealt. Before we have a thorough look around the tiny poker room here (there are just five tables), we thought we would tell you how today is going to work.
Blinds kick off at 50-100 and each player starts with 20,000 in chips. The levels are going to last one hour each and there is going to be a break after every two levels. Today, the first of three Day 1 flights, will last for just six levels before the survivors bag up their chips and get ready to return to the felt on Friday.
The Players at the Tables
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
As previously mentioned, there are only five poker tables here at the SKYCITY Casino for ANZPT Queenstown action. There are only a few gaps on those tables, so we are looking at a field of somewhere over 40 players.
At this point we don't envy the guys at Table 2 as Oliver "SwoopAE" Gill, Jesse "On The Mac" McKenzie, Matt "mjw006" Wakeman and Ben "bazooka87" Gilholme are all seated together. Those are some extremely well-known Aussie online poker players and we are sure that this table will prove to be an exciting one.
Along with the above, some of the other notables around the table include a "who's who" of Australian online poker names including Tom "tollgate" Grigg, Ben "bennybunny18" Richardson, Stevan "random_chu" Chew, Tim "weygang" English, Liam "MON3Y$HOT" O'Rourke and Hugh "jackovich" Cohen. Interestingly Cohen's brother Julian won this event back in 2010, but we are yet to see him around town.
Below is a list of all the notable names that we have noticed so far during this early stages of Day 1a action.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
Gill-holme Mayham
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
We are already informed everyone about Table 2 and all the Aussie online "crushers" that inhabit several of the seats. What we may not have told everyone is that one of those players, Oliver Gill, is quite the talker. It's a small poker room, but over at the media desk, over all the ruffling chips and the table chatter, we can hear Gill word for word. Everyone in the room can hear him. We recently watched Gill partake in a hand and unsurprisingly he was talkative throughout.
The hand in question began with the under the gun +1 player (UTG+1) opening to to 200. The action then folded around to Ben Gilholme in the cutoff and he would make the call. Gill, from the small blind, then three bet to 650. The big blind had a look at his cards and made the call, as did both of the other players involved in the hand.
"Check to see the suit of your cards?" Gill quipped at the big blind.
The dealer flipped over a 
flop and Gill quickly announced a bet of 1,200. The big blind and the UTG+1 both folded and the action was on Gilholme. He made it 2,800 to go and it was back to Gill.
"You got a set or a flush draw or something?" Gill said.
"Nice bet," Gill said as he folded.
"I'm such a nit," he added long after the pot was already in Gilholme's stack. "So easy for you bazooka."
We left the table with our notepad in hand and would hear a few of the players commenting on Gill's non-stop (and somewhat loud) talking.
"Wouldn't poker be boring if everyone was just quiet?" Gill could be heard saying as we wandered back to the media desk.
APPT President Danny McDonagh then announced on the microphone, jokingly, that there was an "excessive chatter" rule in place here at Queenstown that Gill is in danger of breaching. It's unlikely that if such a rule existed that Gill would change his ways, and that's okay by us as it's more enjoyable to watch than some of the players on the tour that we have never heard say a word.
Few More Faces
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
We have noticed a couple of other familiar faces at the tables during this first level of the ANZPT Queenstown Main Event.
One of those players is Jeff Rossiter and while we haven't seen him on the ANZPT very often over the last couple of seasons, he has certainly still been a busy poker player. Back in June, Rossiter finished 2nd in the massive GuangDong Ltd Asia Millions, for which he collected HK$24,500,000 (US$3,161,290). Rossiter won't be able to win anywhere near that monster sum here in Queenstown, but he will certainly be looking to add an ANZPT title to his glowing poker resume.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
Level: 2
Blinds: 100/200
Ante: 0
Francis Looking for Retribution
Level 2
: 100/200, 0 ante
Dean Francis was at the final table of the recent ANZPT Repechage in Melbourne and will be looking to do better here in Queenstown after finishing in 8th place. He's had a fairly strong start so far, recently winning a sizable pot.
We arrived at the action with a 
flop out on the felt and with 3,400 already in the pot. Three players were still involved in the hand at this point and one of them checked to Francis, who bet 1,100. The next player to act opted to folder, while the checking player made the call.
The 
turn would see Francis again bet 1,100 when it was checked to him. Another call and the board would be completed with a 
on the river. Francis bet 1,100 yet again and received another call. At showdown, Francis tabled 
and that was enough to see his opponent's cards into the muck and the handy pot into his stack.