APPT Auckland Main Event Day 1a | 2008 PokerStars.net APPT Auckland

10-08-2008 13:59 UTC-12

Sabat Doubles Up Tucker

donpeters

Despite getting down early on in the day, Edward Sabat has built his chip stack up pretty nicely as of late. Just recently, Sabat was involved in a hand with Koray Tucker on the flop a {J-Spades}

. Sabat called Tucker's final all-in bet and the cards were revealed.

Tucker turned up {K-Spades}

for top pair. Carter Gill was onlooking as he watched his good friend Sabat turn over {J-Clubs}

for top pair as well, but a straight draw to go along with it. "The nine is live, too," mentioned Sabat.

The turn came the {5-Spades}

and the river fell the {3-Diamonds}

. Sabat was unable to improve and dropped back down to 6,000 chips. Tucker moved up to just over 4,000 on the hand.

Tags: Carter Gill Edward Sabat Koray Tucker

10-08-2008 14:15 UTC-12

King Edward

donpeters

We missed the preflop action, but caught the hand after the flop came down {8-Diamonds}

for Edward Sabat and his opponent. After moving his last 5,400 into the middle, Sabat saw his pocket kings up against the pocket nines of his opponent. With over 3,000 already in the middle, this pot could bring Sabat back to where he wanted to be.

The turn gave Sabat a few more cards to worry about when the {6-Spades}

rolled off. The river blanked off with the {Q-Hearts}

, giving Sabat the win. He is now just over the 14,000 chip mark.

Tags: Edward Sabat

Level: 4

Blinds: 100/200

Ante: 25

10-08-2008 14:37 UTC-12

Movin' On Up

[user66118]

We have leveled up, and antes are now in play, meaning no more free hands for anyone.

10-08-2008 14:39 UTC-12

Saab on the Move

donpeters

The flop was laid out {K-Spades}

when David Saab, holding {A-Spades}

for the nut flush draw, put his opponent all-in. His opponent made the call and showed {K-?}

. The turn finished things off quickly when the {7-Spades}

landed. Saab shook the hand of his opponent as the meaningless {3-Hearts}

hit the river.

Saab raked in the pot and is now over 12,000.

Tags: David Saab

10-08-2008 14:46 UTC-12

Distractions

donpeters

Tony Hachem just yelled over to the tournament staff to ask if they could remove some distracting images that he is facing in the poker room. The images in reference are located on banners for the festival. One image is Eric Assadourian and the other is Grant Levy. Both players are just a few tables over playing at the final table in the Omaha tournament.

"How can I play when I am looking at these two?" asked Hachem.

Tags: Eric Assadourian Grant Levy Tony Hachem

10-08-2008 15:02 UTC-12

Saab Looks His Man Up

[user66118]

David Saab got things started with a raise to 600 from early position. The cutoff and the small blind, Fred Madon, both came along to the flop.

It showed up {3-Clubs}

. Madon checked, allowing Saab to continue his lead with a bet of 1,200. The cutoff folded, and Madon pulled out a stack of yellow raising chips. After a moment, he decided to just flat call.

Fourth street: {5-Hearts}

. Both men checked.

The river brought the {2-Spades}

. Without hesitation, Madon announced, "Twenty-five hundred," flipping that amount casually forward.

"Really?!" said Saab immediately. He sat for several minutes, fingering his chips and shooting the occasional glance over at his stone-faced opponent. Finally, after about five minutes, Saab did indeed make the call, prompting Madon to immediately muck his cards. Saab takes down a nice little pot without showdown, and he has climbed up to right around the 20,000-chip mark.

Tags: David Saab

10-08-2008 15:02 UTC-12

Hachem and Saab Chat It Up

donpeters

Tony Hachem was just recently moved to David Saab's table. Upon his arrival, Hachem acknowledged Saab's play at the recent World Series of Poker, "Saab, you played really well at the World Series."

"Thanks," replied Saab.

Hachem then went on to tell Saab that during the Series, "the way you got Hellmuth was the best!"

The two chuckled along with the rest of the table.

10-08-2008 15:21 UTC-12

Emad Tahtouh Busts

donpeters

We caught up with Emad Tahtouh as he was making an exit from the tournament area. According to Tahtouh, Greg Raymer limped under the gun and then Tahtouh raised up the action from middle position with A-2 to 800. Raymer was the only player to call.

The flop came down K-T-2. Emad went on to say, "he checked to me and I bet the pot to commit myself and he shoved with king jack."

Raymer's hand held up and sent Tahtouh to the rail saying, "there's always tomorrow."

Tags: Emad Tahtouh Greg Raymer

10-08-2008 15:35 UTC-12

Naidoo Doesn't

[user66118]

Before the flop, Sherwin Naidoo moved the last of his 650 chips into the pot. Action passed around the table, until Raphael Tansy made the call from the blind. He turned over {A-Hearts}

while Naidoo was racing for his tournament life with {8-Diamonds}

.

The flop hit Tansy well, coming {2-Hearts}

. "You know it's a PokerStars tournament with a flop like that," jested Alex Fitzgerald from across the table.

The turn was safe for Naidoo though, as the {10-Spades}

did nothing to hurt him. The {4-Spades}

hit on the river, giving Tansy the winning wheel and sending Naidoo to the rail with a frown on his face.

Tansy has moved up over his starting stack, and he now sits with about 14,000 in chips.

Tags: Raphael Tansy