We arrived to find Full Tilt ANZPT Ambassador Tom Grigg facing a check-raise on the turn of a board. Grigg had led for 900 when it was checke to him and his opponent then raised it up to 2,000. Grigg called and a completed the board. Both players checked and Grigg tabled . His opponent flipped over for just ace-high and the pot went to Grigg.
Vijay Sunder had a very poor start to the day, falling to just a few thousand in chips. He recently got those chips in preflop against 2011 ANZPT Sydney champion Michael Kanaan, with Sunder in good shape holding against Kanaan's . The board ran out , with Sunder having a bit of a sweat, but ultimately scooped the pot.
Amanda De Cesare is one of the most prominent Australian female poker players. She has more than $200,000 in tournament results on her resume. De Cesare is in today's field and hasn't started to badly, moving her stack up over 25,000 in chips before losing some in a hand we recently watched.
It started when a player opened it up to 450, the player on his direct left called, ANZPT Auckland champion David Lim called from the cut off an De Cesare called the button. The small blind then three-bet to 1,550, which the original aggressor called. The other two players folded to De Cesare and she put in the extra chips.
The flop would see the small blind lead for 1,250, which only De Cesare called. Both players checked the turn and a river would see De Cesare faced with a bet of 3,900. De Cesare tank-folded and the pot went in the opposite direction of her stack.
Despite losing these chips De Cesare is still going strong on around 23,000.
There have been 161 entries so far on Day 1a, with registration open until the first break. Added with Day 1b's field, that brings the total to 244 players - a new record for ANZPT Perth when the buy-in is more than the $1,100 buy-in which featured in 2012. Great effort from the team at Crown Perth and the PokerStars.net Australia New Zealand Poker Tour.
There are plenty of familiar faces stationed in the tournament area in the main poker room. These include the most recent ANZPT Auckland runner-up Nathan Gubieski and fifth-place finisher Nicolas Oger, along with crushers such as WSOP bracele winner Andrew Hinrichsen, Full Tilt ANZPT Ambassador Liam O'Rourke, brothers Edison and Minh Nguyn, James Broom and Tristan Bain.
Day 1a of the ANZPT Perth Main Event is split up into two sections. The media desk is stationed over in the main gaming floor area. These are some of the players at the tables, including the most recent ANZPT Auckland champion, David Lim
Like on Day 1a, the players on Day 1b will play six 60-minute levels. Each player starts with 20,000 in chips and the first level of the day is 50/100. There will be 10-minute breaks after every two levels.
The room is packed full of the majority of 100 plus online satellite qualifiers, so let's go see who we recognise!
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board. Grigg had led for 900 when it was checke to him and his opponent then raised it up to 2,000. Grigg called and a 
. His opponent flipped over 
for just ace-high and the pot went to Grigg.
against Kanaan's 
. The board ran out 
flop would see the small blind lead for 1,250, which only De Cesare called. Both players checked the 
river would see De Cesare faced with a bet of 3,900. De Cesare tank-folded and the pot went in the opposite direction of her stack.
